A new approach to interpreting late Pleistocene microlith industries in southwest Asia

Antiquity ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 68 (259) ◽  
pp. 275-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Neeley ◽  
C. Michael Barton

Archaeologists have long assumed that morphological variability in microliths primarily reflects cultural differences among the makers. This forms the basis for differentiating major cultural/temporal traditions in the late Epipalaeolithic of southwest Asia. An alternative explanation for morphological variability is proposed which emphasizes the dynamic aspects of lithic technology in hunter-gatherer societies and questions current explanations of culture change.

AMERTA ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Suryatman Suryatman ◽  
Sue O’ Connor ◽  
David Bulbeck ◽  
Ben Marwick ◽  
Adhi Agus Oktaviana ◽  
...  

Abstract.  The  Lithic  Technology  at  Talimbue  Site,  Southeast  Sulawesi:  Continuing  Technology from Late Pleistocene up to Holocene Periods. The Talimbue site at Southeast Sulawesi is packed with  lithic  and  these  offer  a  new  perspective  on  the  lithic  technology  of  Sulawesi.  The  absence  of information  on  the  prehistoric  lithic  technology  of  Southeast  Sulawesi  is  a  factor  of  interest  that makes  research  on  knowledge  of  the  Talimbue  site  necessary.  Lithic  artefacts  were  manufactured from  the  terminal  Pleistocene  to  the  Late  Holocene.  This  research  will  disentangle  the  details  of the lithic technology at the Talimbue Site. The analyzed flaked stone artefacts fall into 3 categories, which are retouched flakes, debitage and cores. For its part, debitage was classified into 3 categories, which are complete flakes, broken flakes and debris. The retouch index was also measured so as to provide a quantitative estimate of the level of retouch intensity of the retouched flakes. The results of  the  analysis  indicate  changes  in  the  stone  flake  technology  during  the  period  of  occupation  of the Talimbue Site. The change of technology occurs because the process of adaptation caused by a change of environment. Abstrak. Temuan  litik  yang  sangat  padat  di  Situs  Talimbue  di  Sulawesi  Tenggara  menunjukkan sebuah persepektif baru dalam kajian teknologi litik di Sulawesi. Kekosongan informasi teknologi litik masa prasejarah di wilayah Sulawesi Tenggara adalah hal yang menarik dikaji dalam penelitian di Situs Talimbue. Artefak litik digunakan dari masa Pleistosen Akhir hingga masa Holosen Akhir. Penelitian ini akan menguraikan secara detail bagaimana teknologi litik di Situs Talimbue. Artefak batu diserpih yang dianalisis menjadi 3 kategori, yaitu serpih diretus, serpihan dan batu inti. Serpihan kemudian  diklasifikasi  menjadi  3  kategori,  yaitu  serpih  utuh,  serpih  rusak  dan  tatal.  Pengukuran indeks retus juga dilakukan bertujuan untuk mengestimasi secara kuantitatif tingkat intensitas retus terhadap serpih yang telah diretus. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan perubahan teknologi artefak batu diserpih terjadi selama masa hunian di Situs Talimbue. Perubahan teknologi terjadi karena adanya proses adaptasi yang disebabkan oleh perubahan lingkungan.


2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (9) ◽  
pp. 2682-2687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian A. Tryon ◽  
Isabelle Crevecoeur ◽  
J. Tyler Faith ◽  
Ravid Ekshtain ◽  
Joelle Nivens ◽  
...  

Kenya National Museums Lukenya Hill Hominid 1 (KNM-LH 1) is a Homo sapiens partial calvaria from site GvJm-22 at Lukenya Hill, Kenya, associated with Later Stone Age (LSA) archaeological deposits. KNM-LH 1 is securely dated to the Late Pleistocene, and samples a time and region important for understanding the origins of modern human diversity. A revised chronology based on 26 accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dates on ostrich eggshells indicates an age range of 23,576–22,887 y B.P. for KNM-LH 1, confirming prior attribution to the Last Glacial Maximum. Additional dates extend the maximum age for archaeological deposits at GvJm-22 to >46,000 y B.P. (>46 kya). These dates are consistent with new analyses identifying both Middle Stone Age and LSA lithic technologies at the site, making GvJm-22 a rare eastern African record of major human behavioral shifts during the Late Pleistocene. Comparative morphometric analyses of the KNM-LH 1 cranium document the temporal and spatial complexity of early modern human morphological variability. Features of cranial shape distinguish KNM-LH 1 and other Middle and Late Pleistocene African fossils from crania of recent Africans and samples from Holocene LSA and European Upper Paleolithic sites.


AMERTA ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Truman Simanjuntak

Abstract. The Life of Early Modern Human in Indonesia: A Preliminary Synthesis. The Late Pleistocene period or, in broader sense, the second half of the Upper Pleistocene, was in general related to the emergence and development of Early Modern Human (EMH) in Indonesia. Archaeological evidences have more or less confirmed their existence - with records of their unique behavior - within the period. In spite of the still obscure date of their initial occupation, the available radiometry dating reveals that this early Homo sapiens had inhabited Indonesia, and Southeast Asia in general, at least since ca. 45 kya up to the end of the Ice Age. Some of the most prominent behavior phenomena, which distinct modern human to early men's behavior who inhabited Indonesia since millions of years previously, are: (I) exploitation of wider geographical area within the archipelago; (2) change of activity orientation from open-air areas to natural niches, such as caves and rock shelters; (3) development of lithic technology that produced flake tools, replacing the chopper/chopping tool groups; and (4) more advanced and diverse systems of subsistence with more varied animals to hunt. The entire phenomena of behavior are the main focus of this paper. Abstrak. Rentang waktu Plestosen Akhir atau paruh kedua Plestosen Atas pada umumnya merupakan periode yang mengait dengan kemunculan dan perkembangan Manusia Modern Awal (MMA) di Indonesia. Bukti-bukti arkeologi sedikit banyaknya telah meyakinkan keberadaannya, berikut rekaman perilakunya yang khas, dalam periode tersebut. Terlepas dari pertanggalan kolonisasi awal yang belum diketahui pasti dari manusia modern awal ini, pertanggalan radiometri yang tersedia menampakkan bahwa mereka telah menghuni Indonesia, dan Asia Tenggara pada umumnya, paling tidak sejak sekitar 45 ribu tahun lalu hingga akhir kala Plestosen.Beberapa fenomena perilaku yang paling menonjol, yang membedakannya dari perilaku manusia purba yang mendiami Indonesia sejak jutaan tahun sebelumnya, adalah: (1) ekploitasi geografi yang semakin luas di kepulauan; (2) perubahan lokasi hunian dari bentang alam terbuka ke relung-relung alam seperti gua dan ceruk; (3) pengembangan teknologi litik yang menghasilkan alat-alat serpih menggantikan alat-alat yang tergolong kelompok kapak perimbas/penetak; dan (4) sistem mata pencaharian yang lebih maju dan beragam dengan eksploitasi lingkungan (flora dan fauna) yang lebih bervariasi. Keseluruhan fenomena perilaku tersebut akan menjadi pokok bahasan tulisan ini.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. e98359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Will ◽  
Gregor D. Bader ◽  
Nicholas J. Conard

Radiocarbon ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 850-858 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. T. Moore

The early village of Abu Hureyra is significant because of its great size (ca. 11.5 ha) and long sequence of occupation (ca. 11,500–7000 bp) that spans the transition from late Pleistocene hunting and gathering to early Holocene farming, and the cultural change from Epipaleolithic to Neolithic. The 40 accelerator dates obtained for Abu Hureyra provide new information on the development of agriculture in Southwest Asia. The dates have demonstrated that the site was inhabited for much longer than the few conventional radiocarbon dates for the site had suggested. The gap between the Epipaleolithic and Neolithic villages seems to have been brief. A change in climate and vegetation, dated at ca. 10,600 BP, during the span of occupation of the Epipaleolithic village, precipitated an adjustment in the foraging way of life of its inhabitants just before the inception of agriculture. Dating of individual bones and seeds has shown that the wild progenitors of sheep and several cereals were present near Abu Hureyra in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, well outside their present areas of distribution. This has implications for where those species may have been domesticated. A rapid switch from exploitation of the gazelle to herding of sheep and goats during the Neolithic occupation occurred ca. 8300 bp.


2020 ◽  
Vol 535 ◽  
pp. 48-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian-Ping Yue ◽  
Shi-Xia Yang ◽  
Ya-Mei Hou ◽  
Ben A. Potter ◽  
You-Qian Li ◽  
...  

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