On the EUP beyond the pale.

[Jacques Cinq-Mars]

All,

Given the slow and apparently difficult realization on the part of many that the African-Levantine connection may not be, after all, the unique source/explanation for the initial diffusion/intrusion of most things EUP (Early Upper Palaeolithic) in Europe and contiguous Asia, the following publication appears rather timely and promising. We’ll see.

Jacques Cinq-Mars

Brantingham, P. Jeffrey, Steven L. Kuhn, and Kristopher W. Kerry (eds.). 2004. The Early Upper Paleolithic beyond Western Europe. The University of California Press.

Contributors: O. Bar-Yosef, A. Belfer-Cohen, R. L. Bettinger, P. J. Brantingham, N. R. Coinman, A. P. Derevianko, R. G. Elston, J. R. Fox, X. Gao, J. M. Geneste, T. Goebel, E. Güleç, K. W. Kerry, L. Koulakovskaia, J. K. Kozlowski, S. L. Kuhn, Y. V. Kuzmin, D. B. Madsen, A. E. Marks, L. Meignen, T. Meshveliani, K. Monigal, P. E. Nehoroshev, J. W. Olsen, M. Otte, M. C. Stiner,J. Svoboda, A. Sytnik, D. Tseveendorj, L. B. Vishnyatsky

DESCRIPTION:

This volume brings together prominent archaeologists working in areas outside Western Europe to discuss the most recent evidence for the origins of the early Upper Paleolithic and its relationship to the origin of modern humans. With a wealth of primary data from archaeological sites and regions that have never before been published and discussions of materials from difficult-to-find sources, the collection urges readers to reconsider the process of modern human behavioral origins.

Archaeological evidence continues to play a critical role in debates over the origins of anatomically modern humans. The appearance of novel Upper Paleolithic technologies, new patterns of land use, expanded social networks, and the emergence of complex forms of symbolic communication point to a behavioral revolution beginning sometime around 45,000 years ago. Until recently, most of the available evidence for this revolution derived from Western European archaeological contexts that suggested an abrupt replacement of Mousterian Middle Paleolithic with Aurignacian Upper Paleolithic adaptations. In the absence of fossil association, the behavioral transition was thought to reflect the biological replacement of archaic hominid populations by intrusive modern humans.

The contributors present new archaeological evidence that tells a very different story: The Middle-Upper Paleolithic transitions in areas as diverse as the Levant, Eastern-Central Europe, and Central and Eastern Asia are characterized both by substantial behavioral continuity over the period 45,000-25,000 years ago and by a mosaic-like pattern of shifting adaptations. Together these essays will enliven and enrich the discussion of the shift from archaic to modern behavioral adaptations.

CONTENTS:

List of Figures and Tables
Preface

1. On the Difficulty of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transitions
P.J. Brantingham, S.L. Kuhn, and K.W. Kerry

2. Early Upper Paleolithic Backed Blade Industries in Central and Eastern Europe
J.K. Kozlowski

3. Continuities, Discontinuities, and Interactions in Early Upper Paleolithic Technologies: A View from the Middle Danube
J.A. Svoboda

4. Koulichivka and Its Place in the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition in Eastern Europe
L. Meignen, J.M. Geneste, L. Koulakovskaia, and A. Sytnik

5. Origins of the European Upper Paleolithic, Seen from Crimea: Simple Myth or Complex Reality?
A.E. Marks and K. Monigal

6. The Beginning of the Upper Paleolithic on the Russian Plain
L.B. Vishnyatsky and P.E. Nehoroshev

7. Emergence of the Levantine Upper Paleolithic: Evidence from the Wadi al-Hasa
J.R. Fox and N.R. Coinman

8. New Perspectives on the Initial Upper Paleolithic: The view from Üçagõzlõ Cave, Turkey
S.L. Kuhn, M.C. Stiner, and E. Güleç

9. The Upper Paleolithic in Western Georgia
T. Meshveliani, O. Bar-Yosef, and A. Belfer-Cohen

10. The Aurignacian in Asia
M. Otte

11. The Middle-Upper Paleolithic Interface in Former Soviet Central Asia
L.B. Vishnyatsky

12. The Early Upper Paleolithic of Siberia
T. Goebel

13. Origin of the Upper Paleolithic in Siberia: A Geoarchaeological Perspective
Y.V. Kuzmin

14. Initial Upper Paleolithic Blade Industries from the North-Central
Gobi Desert, Mongolia
A.P. Derevianko, P.J. Brantingham, J.W. Olsen, and D. Tseveendorj

15. The Initial Upper Paleolithic at Shuidonggou, Northwestern China
P.J. Brantingham, X. Gao, D.B. Madsen, R.L. Bettinger, and R.G. Elston

16. The Early Upper Paleolithic and the Origins of Modern Human Behavior
S.L. Kuhn, P.J. Brantingham, and K.W. Kerry

References
List of contributors
Index

ABOUT THE EDITORS:

P. Jeffrey Brantingham is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Steven L. Kuhn is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arizona and author of Mousterian Lithic Technology: An Ecological Perspective (1995). Kristopher W. Kerry is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Arizona.

[Daryl Habel]

All,

Given the slow and apparently difficult realization on the part of many that the African-Levantine connection may not be, after all, the unique source/explanation for the initial diffusion/intrusion of most things EUP (Early Upper Palaeolithic) in Europe and contiguous Asia, the following publication appears rather timely and promising. We’ll see.

Jacques Cinq-Mars

Hi Jacques,

Thanks for the news on this new publication.  A quick look through the contributing authors and contents tells me that _my_ "realization" is not likely to be "slow and apparently difficult".  It is a bit pricy ($75 plus shipping), however.  On the other hand, I'm sure to gain some new insights, so I closed my eyes and pushed the "order" icon for 2-day UPS delivery through the University of California website.

Anticipating the book will be worth the expense.  I'll let everyone know what I think when it gets here.

Dar

[lagarvelho]

Dar:

I don't know if you or Jacques saw this on palanthsci, but I posted the URL to order the book there,  becauseI thought *you* would be interested, even if nobody else was.
Anne G

[trehinp]

Fascinating, indeed. Too bad the price is so high... But this seems to be the case for most scientific books :-(

From the short description and the table of content it seems that so far there were no discoveries of advanced representational art in this part of the world, comparable to that of Chauvet or Cosquer or theVogelherd horse statuette or the Willendorf Venus.

Is that the case ?

What I am getting at is that the absence of such type or figurative art, while very advanced lithic technologies and great advances in socialisation skills were already there, would confirm the hypothesis that I made earlier on this forum, concerning an independent development of art in relation to the general culture in the Palaeolithic society.

Prehistoric artists, from the upper Palaeolithic through to the late Magdalenian, may have been rare singularities among the prehistoric populations.

Can anyone confirm or infirm the fact that there were so far no figurative art found in this part of the world : the Levant, Eastern-Central Europe, and Central and Eastern Asia?

Thanks.

Paul

[Daryl Habel]

Hi Paul

There is one example of parietal art in a cave in the Urals with a few drawings on the wall, and there is another place in Siberia where there is a panel of parietal art on a cliff face.  However, most authorities do not consider them to be Early Paleolithic in age.  More like 10,000 years old or later in the Neolithic, I think.  Off top-of-head that's all I can think of.  Mostly your right about this.

Examples of Early Paleolithic mobillary art shows up about 30 ka in Siberia and becomes much more prevalent after 25 ka.  I'll see what I can find in my files about the cave and cliff face, and post it to the appropriate board in a day or so.

Supposedly, a few examples of parietal art were found in the strata of some southern German caves also, known from purported pieces of exfoliated cave walls, also suggest wall paintings (late Gravettian and Magdalenian in age), but these aren't very well documented yet.

Dar

[Daryl Habel]

[snip]

From the short description and the table of content it seems that so far there were no discoveries of advanced representational art in this part of the world, comparable to that of Chauvet or Cosquer or theVogelherd horse statuette or the Willendorf Venus. Is that the case ?
[snip]
Can anyone confirm or infirm the fact that there were so far no figurative art found in this part of the world : the Levant, Eastern-Central Europe, and Central and Eastern Asia?

Thanks.
Paul

Paul,

I've posted the info on parietal art to the proper board.  I'd just add here that Paleolithic mobile representational art is found at numerous Gravettian-age and later sites all across Central and Eastern Europe and as far as Lake Baikal in Siberia.  But not found so often, if at all, in Southwestern (Middle East) and Southern (Indian subcontinent) Asia.  It's only the parietal art that is rare.

Dar

[Daryl Habel]

Anticipating the book will be worth the expense.  I'll let everyone know what I think when it gets here.

In keeping with my promise, now that the book "The Early Upper Paleolithic Beyond Western Europe" has arrived in good fashion and I've had a read through all the chapters, I must say that, while it is rather expensive, this is an excellent source of the latest information available from regions of Eurasia not usually covered in most summarizations of the "Early" Upper Paleolithic.  (Lots of maps, artifact drawings, and tables but, sorry, no photographs.)  Nevertheless, although I keep pretty close track of what's going on in Eastern Europe and Central/Northern Asia, some sites and data presented were news even for me.  I consider it well worth the price, and would add that everyone should try to read this book.  If you can't afford to buy it,  recommend it highly to your local librarian if they don't already have it ordered.  There's really nothing else published that is quite like it for a comprehensive summary of the MP/UP "transitional" situation "east of the Danube" 

Dar

[lagarvelho]

Dar:

It really does sound good.  If I can't do anything else, I can probably get it from Interlibrary Loan and have a look.  Then when I *can* afford such things, I'll go out and buy it.  I've done that before and I can do it again.  It's the sort of thing  that one should probably have in one's library if possible
Anne G