Artifacts as Landscapes: A Use-Wear Case Study of Upper Paleolithic Assemblages at the Solutré Kill Site, France

Данная работа посвящена анализу зооморфных скульптурных изображений из бивня мамонта со стоянок Быки-1 и Быки-7, I культурный слой (бассейн реки Сейм, Русская равнина). Радиоуглеродные некалиброванные даты этих памятников находятся в диапазоне 18–16 тыс. л. Поделки отличаются по форме, но их объединяет набор технологических приемов изготовления, стилистика и схематизация зооморфных изображений. Аналогичен и их археологических контекст. Предметы оставлены древними людьми преднамеренно при покидании стоянки. Несмотря на выявленные различия, мы полагаем сходную семантику и их предназначение, связанные с конкретными охотничьими ритуалами. Особое внимание уделено образу коня/лошади, который, по одной из гипотез, имеет важное значение в мировосприятии древних обитателей этих стоянок. The paper represents an analysis of the zoomorphic sculpture ivory objects from the Upper Paleolithic sites of Byki-1 and Byki-7, layer I (Seym River Basin, Russian Plain). Radiocarbon uncalibrated dates for these sites fall within 18 and 16000 BP. Figurines differ in form, but they are united by technological methods of manufacturing and the style / schematic of the zoomorphic image. Their archaeological context is similar. The items were left by the ancient people deliberately while leaving the site. We believe their similar semantics and purpose of zoomorphic figurines associated with specific hunting rituals. Particular attention is paid to the image of a horse / horse, which, according to one hypothesis, is important in the worldview of the ancient inhabitants of these sites.

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PORTABLE ART OBJECTS DISCOVERED IN THE UPPER PALEOLITHIC OF ROMANIA

10.25681/iaras.2019.978-5-94375-308-4.22-23 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

E.-C. Nitu ◽

O. Cirstina ◽

F.-I. Lupu ◽

M. Leu ◽

A. Nicolae ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Identity ◽

Mediterranean Area ◽

Upper Paleolithic ◽

Aesthetic Value ◽

Art Objects ◽

Use Wear ◽

New Findings ◽

North Eastern ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Individual

In addition to their undeniable aesthetic value, ornaments are the element that may differentiate the various social groups or individuals belonging to certain groups. More specifically, body decoration is closely related to social identity. The ornament, as a form of communication, has a certain advantage over other means of communication because, once displayed, perhaps even more than language itself, the individual wearing it need not make any effort to deliver his/her message, social sta-tus, their belonging to a group etc. The first adornments used during the Paleolithic are beads, while perforated shells are among the earliest examples of this sort. In a few cases, the perforated shells come from species rarely used in the Paleolithic, brought from long distances, in terms of the settlements in which they were found so, apart from individualizing and characterizing a certain group, they may represent important documents regarding migrations over wide areas and even regarding the origin of a culture. This is shown by new discoveries made in an early Gravettian layer at the Poiana Cireului site (Piatra Neam, north-eastern Romania), dated between 30 ka and 31 ka BP (Niu et al., 2019). The ornaments discovered here include a unique association of perforat-ed shells represented by three species of mollusks: Lithoglyphus naticoide, Litho-glyphus apertus and Homalopoma sanguineum (an exclusively Mediterranean spe-cies). This occupation differs from Central and Eastern European Gravettian tradi-tions through the symbolic behavior of the communities, defined by the use of perfo-rated shells of freshwater and marine (Mediterranean origin) mollusk belonging to species very rarely used in the Palaeolithic. Poiana Cireului is one of the very few Gravettian sites where perforated Homalopoma sanguineum shells were found and is the only Gravettian settlement where Lithoglyphus naticoides shells were used. We present the ornaments discovered and the results of analysis performed to identify the perforation methods and the use-wear traces. The presence of a Mediterranean species at the Poiana Cireului settlement located more than 900 km from the nearest source suggests the connection of communities here with the Mediterranean area. In the light of these new findings, the origin and diffusion of the Gravettian from the Mediterranean to the east of the Carpathians are a hypothesis that should be considered. Niu, E.-C., Crciumaru, M., Nicolae, A., Crstina, O., Lupu, F. I., Leu, M. (2019). Mobility and social identity in the Early Upper Palaeolithic: new personal ornaments from Poiana Cireului site (Piatra Neam, Romania). PLOS ONE, 14 (4), e0214932. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214932

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PERSONAL ORNAMENTS DISCOVERED IN THE EARLY UPPER PALEOLITHIC OF POIANA CIREȘULUI-PIATRA NEAMȚ (ROMANIA)

10.25681/iaras.2019.978-5-94375-308-4.20-21 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

E.-C. Nitu ◽

O. Cirstina ◽

F.-I. Lupu ◽

M. Leu ◽

A. Nicolae ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Identity ◽

Mediterranean Area ◽

Upper Paleolithic ◽

Aesthetic Value ◽

Use Wear ◽

New Findings ◽

North Eastern ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Individual ◽

Early Upper

In addition to their undeniable aesthetic value, ornaments are the element that may differentiate the various social groups or individuals belonging to certain groups. More specifically, body decoration is closely related to social identity. The ornament, as a form of communication, has a certain advantage over other means of communication because, once displayed, perhaps even more than language itself, the individual wearing it need not make any effort to deliver his/her message, social sta-tus, their belonging to a group etc. The first adornments used during the Paleolithic are beads, while perforated shells are among the earliest examples of this sort. In a few cases, the perforated shells come from species rarely used in the Paleolithic, brought from long distances, in terms of the settlements in which they were found so, apart from individualizing and characterizing a certain group, they may represent important documents regarding migrations over wide areas and even regarding the origin of a culture. This is shown by new discoveries made in an early Gravettian layer at the Poiana Cireului site (Piatra Neam, north-eastern Romania), dated between 30 ka and 31 ka BP (Niu et al., 2019). The ornaments discovered here include a unique association of perforat-ed shells represented by three species of mollusks: Lithoglyphus naticoide, Litho-glyphus apertus and Homalopoma sanguineum (an exclusively Mediterranean spe-cies). This occupation differs from Central and Eastern European Gravettian tradi-tions through the symbolic behavior of the communities, defined by the use of perfo-rated shells of freshwater and marine (Mediterranean origin) mollusk belonging to species very rarely used in the Palaeolithic. Poiana Cireului is one of the very few Gravettian sites where perforated Homalopoma sanguineum shells were found and is the only Gravettian settlement where Lithoglyphus naticoides shells were used. We present the ornaments discovered and the results of analysis performed to identify the perforation methods and the use-wear traces. The presence of a Mediterranean species at the Poiana Cireului settlement located more than 900 km from the nearest source suggests the connection of communities here with the Mediterranean area. In the light of these new findings, the origin and diffusion of the Gravettian from the Mediterranean to the east of the Carpathians are a hypothesis that should be considered. Niu, E.-C., Crciumaru, M., Nicolae, A., Crstina, O., Lupu, F. I., Leu, M. (2019). Mobility and social identity in the Early Upper Palaeolithic: new personal ornaments from Poiana Cireului site (Piatra Neam, Romania). PLOS ONE, 14 (4), e0214932. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214932

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Two Newly Recognized Paleoindian Tool Types: Single- and Double-Scribe Compass Gravers and Coring Gravers

American Antiquity ◽

10.2307/282168 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 62 (3) ◽

pp. 508-522 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

John Tomenchuk ◽

Peter L. Storck

Keyword(s):

North American ◽

Comparative Studies ◽

Organic Materials ◽

Upper Paleolithic ◽

Use Wear ◽

Small Collection ◽

Concentric Circles ◽

Thin Disks ◽

Tool Types ◽

Experimental Use

A small collection of gravers from the Fisher site, an Early Paleoindian (Parkhill complex) site in Ontario estimated to date between 10,400 and 11,000 years B.P., produced two previously unrecognized tool types: single- and double-scribe compass and coring gravers. Experimental use-wear studies on replicated tools confirm that the compass and coring gravers were probably used on organic materials for engraving single or concentric circles, cutting thin disks, and boring holes. Although not identified as such, the compass graver occurs widely in North American Paleoindian assemblages and, judging from the presence and context of similar tools in the Eurasian Upper Paleolithic and Siberian Neolithic, may represent a specialized tool designed to express decorative, artistic, or symbolic aspects of Paleoindian culture. Together with other tools in Paleoindian assemblages, the new tool types promise to contribute to comparative studies concerned with the origin, development, and spread of Paleoindian cultures.

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Symmetry and Middle Paleolithic Points: A Case Study of Iran's Middle Paleolithic Points

10.21203/rs.3.rs-257471/v2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Nasim Feizi ◽

Hamed Vahdati Nasab

Keyword(s):

Long Range ◽

Critical Factor ◽

Upper Paleolithic ◽

Middle Paleolithic ◽

Sectional Area ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Projectile Points ◽

Projectile Motion ◽

Length Width

Abstract The throwing capacity of Middle Paleolithic points has been an important issue since the discovery of the Neanderthals toolbox. In the Middle Paleolithic, hominins (Neanderthals or H. sapiens) made trusting points with limited or no throwing capability. Projectile points as a long-range weapon were replaced the trusting and guaranteed the survival of modern humans. Several attempts have been made to recognize the aerodynamic differences between Middle and Upper Paleolithic Points. However, up to now, far too little attention has been paid to the symmetry and projectile motion rules related to it. In this paper, symmetry and other morphological features, including length, width, weight, cross-sectional area, flatting, and elongation, have been measured on 280 points collected from five Iranian Middle Paleolithic sites. In addition, the Iranian Middle Paleolithic data is compared with several Middle, Upper, and Neolithic sites outside of Iran. The results indicate that the evolution of symmetry alongside increased elongation and proportionality in measurable characteristics was a critical factor in creating projectile points.

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New insights into the Upper Palaeolithic of the Caucasus through the study of personal ornaments. Teeth and bones pendants from Satsurblia and Dzudzuana caves (Imereti, Georgia)

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0258974 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (11) ◽

pp. e0258974

Author(s):

José-Miguel Tejero ◽

Guy Bar-Oz ◽

Ofer Bar-Yosef ◽

Tengiz Meshveliani ◽

Nino Jakeli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cervus Elaphus ◽

Detailed Comparison ◽

Upper Paleolithic ◽

Northern Eurasia ◽

Upper Palaeolithic ◽

The Caucasus ◽

Use Wear ◽

Anatomically Modern Humans ◽

Southern Caucasus ◽

Aesthetic Values

The region of western Georgia (Imereti) in the Southern Caucasus has been a major geographic corridor for human migrations during the Middle and Upper Paleolithic. Data of recent research and excavations in this region display its importance as a possible route for the dispersal of anatomically modern humans (AMH) into northern Eurasia. Nevertheless, within the local research context, bone-working and personal ornaments have yet contributed but little to the Upper Palaeolithic (UP) regional sequence’s characterization. Here we present an archaeozoological, technological and use-wear study of pendants from two local UP assemblages, originating in the Dzudzuana Cave and Satsurblia Cave. The ornaments were made mostly of perforated teeth, though some specimens were made on bone. Both the manufacturing marks made during preparation and use-wear traces indicate that they were personal ornaments, used as pendants or attached to garments. Detailed comparison between ornament assemblages from northern and southern Caucasus reveal that they are quite similar, supporting the observation of cultural bonds between the two regions, demonstrated previously through lithic techno-typological affinities. Furthermore, our study highlights the importance attributed to red deer (Cervus elaphus) by the UP societies of the Caucasus in sharing aesthetic values and/or a symbolic sphere.

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