scholarly journals 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 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Between two worlds: Cova Eirós and the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition in NW Iberia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arturo de LOMBERA-HERMIDA ◽  
Xose-Pedro RODRÍGUEZ-ÁLVAREZ ◽  
Alicia AMEIJENDA IGLESIAS ◽  
Mikel DÍAZ RODRÍGUEZ ◽  
undefined Iván REY-RODRÍGUEZ ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Subsistence Strategies ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Nw Iberia ◽  
Early Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Anatomically Modern Humans ◽  
Late Survival ◽  
Early Upper

Iberia, a natural cul-de-sac peninsula, plays a major role in the study of the Neanderthals demise and its eventual relationship with the spread of Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) in Europe. The site of Cova Eirós (Galicia, Spain), located in NW Iberia, contains Middle and Upper Palaeolithic levels, based on the cultural remains recovered at the site. No human remains directly associated with those levels were discovered yet. The available radiocarbon dates from the levels 2 (c. 35 ka cal BP, Early Upper Paleolithic) and 3 (c. 41 ka cal BP, Late Middle Paleolithic), point to a late survival of Neanderthal groups in North Iberia and to a relative quick arrival of the AMH, c. 35-36 ka cal BP, with respect to other territories of the Iberian Peninsula. The archaeological record shows clear differences between the Middle and the Upper Palaeolithic occupations, regarding raw-material acquisition, lithic technology and subsistence strategies. The location of Cova Eirós in the westernmost margin of the Cantabrian Rim and in the Atlantic Façade, makes this site a key place to understand the spread of the first AMH and the progressive demise of Neanderthal populations.

Dzudzuana: an Upper Palaeolithic cave site in the Caucasus foothills (Georgia)

Antiquity ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 85 (328) ◽  
pp. 331-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ofer Bar-Yosef ◽  
Anna Belfer-Cohen ◽  
Tengiz Mesheviliani ◽  
Nino Jakeli ◽  
Guy Bar-Oz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Modern Human ◽  
Northern Slope ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Bone Tools ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
Art Objects ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Southern Caucasus ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Point Of Reference

The report announces the important radiocarbon-dated sequence recently obtained at Dzudzuana Cave in the southern Caucasus foothills. The first occupants here were modern humans, in c. 34.5–32.2 ka cal BP, and comparison with dated sequences on the northern slope of the Caucasus suggests that their arrival was rapid and widespread. The rich, well-dated assemblages of lithics, bone tools and a few art objects, coloured fibres, pollen and animal remains deposited at Dzudzuana through 20 millennia provide an invaluable point of reference for numerous other sites previously excavated in western Georgia. Detailed information has been placed in a supplementary excavation report online. The data support the significance of these excavations for a better understanding of modern human dispersals.

Early Upper Paleolithic in Eastern Europe and Implications for the Dispersal of Modern Humans

Science ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 315 (5809) ◽  
pp. 223-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. V. Anikovich ◽  
A. A. Sinitsyn ◽  
John F. Hoffecker ◽  
Vance T. Holliday ◽  
V. V. Popov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Luminescence Dating ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dating ◽  
Figurative Art ◽  
Early Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Don River

Radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating and magnetic stratigraphy indicate Upper Paleolithic occupation—probably representing modern humans—at archaeological sites on the Don River in Russia 45,000 to 42,000 years ago. The oldest levels at Kostenki underlie a volcanic ash horizon identified as the Campanian Ignimbrite Y5 tephra that is dated elsewhere to about 40,000 years ago. The occupation layers contain bone and ivory artifacts, including possible figurative art, and fossil shells imported more than 500 kilometers. Thus, modern humans appeared on the central plain of Eastern Europe as early as anywhere else in northern Eurasia.

The emergence of bone-working and ornamental art in the Caucasian Upper Palaeolithic

Antiquity ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 84 (324) ◽  
pp. 299-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liubov V. Golovanova ◽  
Vladimir B. Doronichev ◽  
Naomi E. Cleghorn
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
New Work ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
Early Modern Humans ◽  
Ornamental Art

New work from the Caucasus is revolutionising the timing and character of the shift from Neanderthals to early Modern humans in Eurasia. Here the authors reveal a powerful signal of that change from excavations at Mezmaiskaya: the abrupt appearance of a well-formed bone industry and ornaments.

scholarly journals The Use of Ochre and Painting During the Upper Paleolithic of the Swabian Jura in the Context of the Development of Ochre Use in Africa and Europe

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 185-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sibylle Wolf ◽  
Nicholas J. Conard ◽  
Harald Floss ◽  
Rimtautas Dapschauskas ◽  
Elizabeth Velliky ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Anatomically Modern Humans

Abstract While the earliest evidence for ochre use is very sparse, the habitual use of ochre by hominins appeared about 140,000 years ago and accompanied them ever since. Here, we present an overview of archaeological sites in southwestern Germany, which yielded remains of ochre. We focus on the artifacts belonging exclusively to anatomically modern humans who were the inhabitants of the cave sites in the Swabian Jura during the Upper Paleolithic. The painted limestones from the Magdalenian layers of Hohle Fels Cave are a particular focus. We present these artifacts in detail and argue that they represent the beginning of a tradition of painting in Central Europe.

New Evidence of the Late Neopleistocene Peopling of the Lower Ob Valley

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-20
Author(s):  
I. D. Zolnikov ◽  
A. A. Anoikin ◽  
E. A. Filatov ◽  
A. V. Vybornov ◽  
A. V. Vasiliev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
West Siberian Plain ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Paleolithic Site ◽  
The North ◽  
Available Information

This study focuses on the early human occupation of the arctic part of the West Siberian Plain and introduces the finds at the Paleolithic site Kushevat (Shuryshkarsky District, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug), discovered in 2020. Geological and geomorphological characteristics of the Lower Ob region are provided, the chronology of the key Middle and Late Neopleistocene sequences is assessed, and criteria underlying the search for Paleolithic sites in the area are outlined. We describe the discovery and excavations at Kushevat, its stratigraphy and its faunal remains. On the basis of correlation with neighboring key Late Neopleistocene sections with a representative series of absolute dates, the age of the site is estimated at cal 50–35 ka BP. Results of a traceological study of a possibly human-modified reindeer antler are provided. Findings at Kushevat and the available information on the early peopling of northern Eurasia suggest that the boundary of the inhabited part of that region must be shifted ~200 km to the north. The Ob, therefore, is one of the last major Siberian rivers where traces of the Early Upper Paleolithic culture have been found. The discovery of a stratified site in its lower stretch is a milestone in the Paleolithic studies in the region. A large area over which faunal remains are distributed, and the presence of lithics among the surface finds, suggest that Kushevat is a highly prospective site for future archaeological studies of the early stages in the human peopling of the region.

The contribution of use -wear for stone tool identification at the Upper Paleolithic site Shuidonggou Locality 2, North China

2020 ◽  
Vol 535 ◽  
pp. 29-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peiqi Zhang ◽  
Xiaoling Zhang ◽  
Nicolas Zwyns ◽  
Fei Peng ◽  
Jialong Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North China ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Paleolithic Site ◽  
Use Wear
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