Intentional fragmentation as a specific initial Upper Paleolithic technology at the Kara-Bom site (Mountain Altai, Russia)

Purpose. Recent investigations have highlighted an Asian variant of the so-called Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) broadly comparable in age and material culture to techno-complexes further to the west, but also showing distinct derived features. Several principal common technological features characterize the IUP in East Asia. The main targeted products of flaking were medium or large blades, the latter sometimes of very significant size, and the number of bladelets is also large. Primary flaking is characterized by alternate bidirectional reduction of cores in which spalls, alternately detached from opposing platforms along the long axis of the core, determined the shape of targeted blank: pointed blades. Reduced cores were prismatic, sub-prismatic and flat. Burin-core reduction for bladelet and small blade production was the specific knapping technology employed in the IUP of southern Siberia and Central Asia. Here, we describe and provide corroborating evidence for another distinct technological method employed in the Initial Upper Paleolithic – intentional fragmentation (IF). The most effective means of understanding knapping technology are refitting studies of archaeological collections. This article examines several examples of refitted fragmented cores and blades, as well as debitage as the by-product of blank breakage. Results. Our refitting study includes assemblages from all excavation units and partially divided, relatively homogenous raw material types, representing a diachronic assemblage of Middle and Upper Paleolithic materials, even in very disturbed excavation areas. The present study illustrates the best examples of directional reduction associated with core preparation and tool blank production because of the lack of statistical information for some Upper Paleolithic assemblages from this site. We reconstructed the process of intentional fragmentation for burin-cores and a few large and medium blades. Often, blank breakage produced butterfly-like debitage. Pieces of fragmented blades could have been used as tools. Typical attributes of IF consistently appearing on two transverse edges of blanks and present in the assemblage of artifacts prove the anthropogenic character of these flaking traces. Conclusions. It is probable that intentional fragmentation was used in the Initial Upper Paleolithic assemblage at Kara-Bom because of the influences of mobility and transportation of stone raw material by local settlers. They transported a significant proportion of raw material from primary chert outcrops situated 4–5 km from the Kara-Bom site.

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The Age of Upper Paleolithic Sites in the Middle Dnieper River Basin of Eastern Europe

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s0033822200041734 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 43 (2B) ◽

pp. 1077-1084 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Z A Abramova ◽

G V Grigorieva ◽

G I Zaitseva

Keyword(s):

Material Culture ◽

Eastern Europe ◽

River Basin ◽

Upper Paleolithic ◽

Raw Material ◽

Subsistence Economy ◽

Deep Impact ◽

The Third ◽

Dnieper River Basin

This paper discusses the comparative chronology of Upper Paleolithic sites in the Middle Dnieper River basin, based on archaeological and radiocarbon evidence. Three chronological periods of the development of the Upper Paleolithic are distinguished in this area. According to the data obtained, the third period is similar to the European Magdalenian, yet its economies were different. The base of the subsistence economy for Dnieperian hunters was the procurement of mammoth, while reindeer was the most important for the subsistence of European Magdalenian. The abundance of mammoths and the raw material in the form of mammoth tusks made a deep impact on both the economy and material culture of the hunters in the Dnieper River basin. The 14C dates confirm the chronological subdivision.

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Sibudan

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.013.35 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Manuel Will

Keyword(s):

Material Culture ◽

Southern Africa ◽

Temporal Variability ◽

Middle Stone Age ◽

Raw Material ◽

Western Cape ◽

Mis 3 ◽

Reduction Methods ◽

Core Reduction ◽

Spatio Temporal

The Sibudan is a technocomplex within the cultural stratigraphy of the southern African Middle Stone Age (MSA), first formulated in 2012. The term was introduced as a working concept to organize the spatio-temporal variability in material culture among the archaeological record following the Howiesons Poort during Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3; ~59–24 ka). In contrast to the more widely used name “post-Howiesons Poort” (“post-HP”)—an umbrella term resting primarily upon temporal aspects—the Sibudan possesses a formal definition based on characteristic elements of its lithic technology. The site of Sibudu, located in the eastern part of southern Africa (KwaZulu-Natal), serves as type locality since it has yielded a rich and high-resolution record of modern human occupations during MIS 3. The Sibudan type sequence at Sibudu, dated to ~58 ka and encompassing twenty-three layers, features both characteristic traits and diachronic variability. The consistent techno-typological elements include predominantly local raw material procurement, concomitant use of multiple core reduction methods (Levallois, discoid, platform, and bipolar), manufacture of flake and blade assemblages, as well as soft stone hammer percussion for blades. Temporal variability exists in the proportions and morphologies of tools and unifacial points in particular—including Tongati, Ndwedwe, and asymmetric convergent tools—the presence of bifacial points, as well as the frequency of blank types and different core reduction methods. Comparative studies since 2014 suggest a spatio-temporal extension of the Sibudan in the eastern part of southern Africa during early MIS 3 (~58–50 ka), with marked differences to assemblages of similar ages along the southern coast and Western Cape. The concept is thus not a direct substitute or congruent with the “post-HP” and “Sibudu technocomplex.” On a more interpretive level, the Sibudan has featured in discussions on the trajectory of cultural evolution among early modern humans, the scale and mechanisms of behavioral change during the MSA, and theoretical debate on the relevance of technocomplexes.

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Serial Analysis of the Gut and Respiratory Microbiome in Cystic Fibrosis in Infancy: Interaction between Intestinal and Respiratory Tracts and Impact of Nutritional Exposures

mBio ◽

10.1128/mbio.00251-12 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 172

Author(s):

J. C. Madan ◽

D. C. Koestler ◽

B. A. Stanton ◽

L. Davidson ◽

L. A. Moulton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cystic Fibrosis ◽

Respiratory Tract ◽

Microbial Communities ◽

Effective Means ◽

Significant Proportion ◽

Gut Colonization ◽

Pulmonary Damage ◽

Chronic Colonization ◽

High Degree ◽

Over Time

ABSTRACT Pulmonary damage caused by chronic colonization of the cystic fibrosis (CF) lung by microbial communities is the proximal cause of respiratory failure. While there has been an effort to document the microbiome of the CF lung in pediatric and adult patients, little is known regarding the developing microflora in infants. We examined the respiratory and intestinal microbiota development in infants with CF from birth to 21 months. Distinct genera dominated in the gut compared to those in the respiratory tract, yet some bacteria overlapped, demonstrating a core microbiota dominated by Veillonella and Streptococcus. Bacterial diversity increased significantly over time, with evidence of more rapidly acquired diversity in the respiratory tract. There was a high degree of concordance between the bacteria that were increasing or decreasing over time in both compartments; in particular, a significant proportion (14/16 genera) increasing in the gut were also increasing in the respiratory tract. For 7 genera, gut colonization presages their appearance in the respiratory tract. Clustering analysis of respiratory samples indicated profiles of bacteria associated with breast-feeding, and for gut samples, introduction of solid foods even after adjustment for the time at which the sample was collected. Furthermore, changes in diet also result in altered respiratory microflora, suggesting a link between nutrition and development of microbial communities in the respiratory tract. Our findings suggest that nutritional factors and gut colonization patterns are determinants of the microbial development of respiratory tract microbiota in infants with CF and present opportunities for early intervention in CF with altered dietary or probiotic strategies. IMPORTANCE While efforts have been focused on assessing the microbiome of pediatric and adult cystic fibrosis (CF) patients to understand how chronic colonization by these microbes contributes to pulmonary damage, little is known regarding the earliest development of respiratory and gut microflora in infants with CF. Our findings suggest that colonization of the respiratory tract by microbes is presaged by colonization of the gut and demonstrated a role of nutrition in development of the respiratory microflora. Thus, targeted dietary or probiotic strategies may be an effective means to change the course of the colonization of the CF lung and thereby improve patient outcomes.

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PARTICIPATION OF THE INSTITUTE FOR THE HISTORY OF MATERIAL CULTURE (THE MOSCOW BRANCH) OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE USSR IN THE ACTIVITIES OF THE EXTRAORDINARY STATE COMMISSION (1943–1944)

Краткие сообщения Института археологии (КСИА) ◽

10.25681/iaras.0130-2620.260.540-555 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

А.А. Кудрявцев ◽

С.А. Володин

Keyword(s):

Material Culture ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Research Institution ◽

Hard Time ◽

Archaeological Collections ◽

State Commission ◽

Institute Staff ◽

History Of ◽

Academy Of Sciences ◽

Burial Grounds

В 1943–1944 гг. сотрудники Института истории материальной культуры принимали участие в работе Чрезвычайной государственной комиссии (ЧГК). Это выражалось в составлении инструкций по установлению стоимости различных археологических памятников для определения нанесенного им ущерба в период оккупации, составлении их списков и анкетировании. В 1944 г. ИИМК по заданию ЧГК организовал восемь экспедиций в освобожденные районы РСФСР и УССР с целью обследования ряда поселений и курганных могильников, а также музеев с археологическими коллекциями, пострадавших в военные годы. Участие в деятельности ЧГК позволило Московскому отделению ИИМК сохранить основные функции научного учреждения в тяжелый период войны. In 1943–1944 the staff of the Institute for the History of Material Culture was involved in the work performed by the Extraordinary State Commission. The Institute staff prepared guidelines to be used in assessing the value of various archaeological sites to determine the damage caused to the sites during the occupation period, prepared relevant lists and conducted questionnaire-based interviews. In 1944 by order of the Extraordinary State Commission, the Institute organized eight expeditions to the liberated regions of the Russian SFR and the Ukrainian SSR in order to survey a number of settlements and kurgan burial grounds as well as museums with archaeological collections damaged during the war. Involvement in the activities of the Extraordinary State Commission enabled the Moscow Branch of the Institute to continue performing its main functions as a research institution during the hard time of the war.

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Book review: The prehistoric apprentice: Investigating apprenticeship, know-how and expertise in prehistoric technologies; L’apprenti préhistorique: Appréhender l’apprentissage, les savoir-faire et l’expertise à travers les productions techniques des soci

Journal of Lithic Studies ◽

10.2218/jls.5629 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Manek Kolhatkar

Keyword(s):

Material Culture ◽

Cultural Change ◽

Spatial Organization ◽

Raw Material ◽

Cultural Norms ◽

Technological Organization ◽

Wide Range ◽

French And English ◽

Culture Variability

Describing cultural change and variability and inferring sociocultural dynamics about past people and communities may be among archaeology’s main goals as a field of practice. In this regard, the concept of skill has proved its usefulness to, time and again, expand the breath of archaeologists and lithic technologists’ analyses. It covers a wide range of applications, from apprenticeship, cognition, paleo-sociology, spatial organization. It is one of the main causes for material culture variability, up there with raw material constraints, design, technological organization or cultural norms. Yet, while skill has certainly been the focus of some research in the last decades, it remains quite peripheral, when considering how central the concept should be to technological inquiries. Whatever the reasons may be, this book, edited by Laurent Klaric and fully bilingual (French and English), aims at changing that, and argues for skill to become a central concern in lithic technology. Its chapters do so strongly and the end-result is a book that should become a reference for lithic technologists, whatever their research interests or schools of thought may be.

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Elephant bones for the Middle Pleistocene toolmaker

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0256090 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (8) ◽

pp. e0256090

Author(s):

Paola Villa ◽

Giovanni Boschian ◽

Luca Pollarolo ◽

Daniela Saccà ◽

Fabrizio Marra ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Upper Paleolithic ◽

Raw Material ◽

General Idea ◽

Early Pleistocene ◽

Stone Tool ◽

Middle Pleistocene ◽

Medium Size ◽

Bone Tools ◽

Lithic Industry ◽

Taphonomic Analysis

The use of bone as raw material for implements is documented since the Early Pleistocene. Throughout the Early and Middle Pleistocene bone tool shaping was done by percussion flaking, the same technique used for knapping stone artifacts, although bone shaping was rare compared to stone tool flaking. Until recently the generally accepted idea was that early bone technology was essentially immediate and expedient, based on single-stage operations, using available bone fragments of large to medium size animals. Only Upper Paleolithic bone tools would involve several stages of manufacture with clear evidence of primary flaking or breaking of bone to produce the kind of fragments required for different kinds of tools. Our technological and taphonomic analysis of the bone assemblage of Castel di Guido, a Middle Pleistocene site in Italy, now dated by 40Ar/39Ar to about 400 ka, shows that this general idea is inexact. In spite of the fact that the number of bone bifaces at the site had been largely overestimated in previous publications, the number of verified, human-made bone tools is 98. This is the highest number of flaked bone tools made by pre-modern hominids published so far. Moreover the Castel di Guido bone assemblage is characterized by systematic production of standardized blanks (elephant diaphysis fragments) and clear diversity of tool types. Bone smoothers and intermediate pieces prove that some features of Aurignacian technology have roots that go beyond the late Mousterian, back to the Middle Pleistocene. Clearly the Castel di Guido hominids had done the first step in the process of increasing complexity of bone technology. We discuss the reasons why this innovation was not developed. The analysis of the lithic industry is done for comparison with the bone industry.

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The absolute chronology of Boker Tachtit (Israel) and implications for the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in the Levant

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2014657118 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 118 (25) ◽

pp. e2014657118

Author(s):

Elisabetta Boaretto ◽

Marion Hernandez ◽

Mae Goder-Goldberger ◽

Vera Aldeias ◽

Lior Regev ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Material Culture ◽

Late Phase ◽

Optically Stimulated Luminescence ◽

Upper Paleolithic ◽

Middle Paleolithic ◽

Lithic Assemblage ◽

Early Upper Paleolithic ◽

The Absolute ◽

Dramatic Shift ◽

Early Upper

The Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) is a crucial lithic assemblage type in the archaeology of southwest Asia because it marks a dramatic shift in hominin populations accompanied by technological changes in material culture. This phase is conventionally divided into two chronocultural phases based on the Boker Tachtit site, central Negev, Israel. While lithic technologies at Boker Tachtit are well defined, showing continuity from one phase to another, the absolute chronology is poorly resolved because the radiocarbon method used had a large uncertainty. Nevertheless, Boker Tachtit is considered to be the origin of the succeeding Early Upper Paleolithic Ahmarian tradition that dates in the Negev to ∼42,000 y ago (42 ka). Here, we provide 14C and optically stimulated luminescence dates obtained from a recent excavation of Boker Tachtit. The new dates show that the early phase at Boker Tachtit, the Emirian, dates to 50 through 49 ka, while the late phase dates to 47.3 ka and ends by 44.3 ka. These results show that the IUP started in the Levant during the final stages of the Late Middle Paleolithic some 50,000 y ago. The later IUP phase in the Negev chronologically overlaps with the Early Upper Paleolithic Ahmarian of the Mediterranean woodland region between 47 and 44 ka. We conclude that Boker Tachtit is the earliest manifestation of the IUP in Eurasia. The study shows that distinguishing the chronology of the IUP from the Late Middle Paleolithic, as well as from the Early Upper Paleolithic, is much more complex than previously thought.

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Studije tehnologije i studije materijalne kulture: mogućnosti bliže saradnje na primeru koštanih artefakata

Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology ◽

10.21301/eap.v12i3.2 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 703

Author(s):

Selena Vitezović ◽

Ivan Vranić

Keyword(s):

Material Culture ◽

Research Strategy ◽

Raw Material ◽

Significant Shift ◽

Faunal Remains ◽

Technology Studies ◽

Archaeological Material ◽

Theoretical Perspectives ◽

History Of ◽

State Of Affairs

Bone artefacts are among the less thoroughly studied classes of archaeological material, especially in the case of particular periods and regions. The reasons behind this are not uniform. The most obvious and general are linked to the research practices of culture-historical archaeology, often neglecting bone artefacts, considering them not sufficiently attractive or informative. The most significant shift towards recognition of a set of potential information gained from bone objects was achieved in the framework of studies of prehistoric technology during the second half of 20th century, especially in the French archaeological school. This research strategy raised a number of questions concerning the acquisition of raw material, modes of production and usage of objects, whose interpretative potential gained in power, leading to the increased attention paid to faunal remains in archaeological investigations. Yet this source of information on the actual details of relations between people and material culture, opened by technology studies, has not been sufficiently explored. It may be suggested that the reasons are the narrow specialization of researchers and insufficient inclusion of the gathered information into the wider interpretive framework, various traditions and lack of cooperation among the national archaeological “schools”, language barriers etc. However, the main reason behind this state of affairs may be sought for in non-integrated theoretical perspectives and the lack of clearly articulated interpretive position of researchers seeking to apply the knowledge gained from technology studies, considering this strategy as an “objective, scientific method”, providing concrete answers clearly complying to the expectations of the dominant archaeological paradigm.The paper offers a critical review of a number of examples of application of technology studies in archaeology and possible directions of a more integrated and theoretically informed approach. One of the obvious solutions may be sought in the direction of another research strategy – material culture studies. The aim of the paper is thus to link these two approaches, whose theoretical foundations are not uniform today, but the history of the ideas and the mode of articulation of the basic theoretical assumptions indicate similar theoretical roots.

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Dietary Inferences for the Sunghir Humans

The People of Sunghir ◽

10.1093/oso/9780199381050.003.0021 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Erik Trinkaus ◽

Alexandra P. Buzhilova ◽

Maria B. Mednikova ◽

Maria V. Dobrovolskaya

Keyword(s):

Upper Paleolithic ◽

Raw Material ◽

Bone Collagen ◽

Human Consumption ◽

Eastern European ◽

Cultural Layer ◽

Carbon And Nitrogen ◽

Mineral Compositions ◽

Taphonomic Analysis ◽

And Behavior

In addition to the functional, anatomical, and paleopathological reflections of the biology and behavior of the Sunghir humans, it has been possible to make indirect inferences regarding their average dietary profiles. These considerations derive from the mineral compositions of bone samples from Sunghir 1 to 4 (Kozlovskaya 2000d), carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data from the bone collagen of Sunghir 1 to 3 (Richards et al. 2001; Dobrovolskaya et al. 2012), and postcanine buccal microwear for Sunghir 1 to 3 (Pinilla 2012; Pinilla and Trinkaus in press). As noted in chapter 2, the site contained an abundance of large mammal remains, of which the bison, horse, saiga, and especially reindeer remains were undoubtedly brought to the site for human consumption. There was also an abundance of mammoth remains. There has been an ongoing debate as to the extent to which the mammoth remains, found at a number of central and eastern European and Siberian Mid Upper Paleolithic (MUP) sites, reflect human consumption, are largely incidental to the human presence having accumulating along the banks of gullies and streams, and/or were gathered from the landscape for use as raw material and even fuel (e.g., Soffer 1985; Derevianko et al. 2000; Svoboda et al. 2005; Wojtal and Wilczyński 2013). Systematic taphonomic analysis of the Sunghir faunal assemblage has not been undertaken, but Bader (1978) did notice the differential presence of mammoth skeletal elements at Sunghir, suggesting differential transport of body portions presumably for human consumption. Moreover, the mammoth bones were distributed through the cultural layer and apparently did not exist as a bone accumulation on the periphery of the site. At the same time, the faunal profile of the cultural layer contained a diversity of carnivores, of which the cave lions, wolves, and possibly brown bears could have been partially responsible for some of the herbivore remains at the site. It is possible that humans were hunting and eating the bears, given occasional cutmarks on bear bones at other MUP sites (Wojtal 2000; Münzel and Conard 2004).

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On Vastness and Variability: Cultural Transmission, Historicity, and the Paleoindian Record in Eastern South America

Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências ◽

10.1590/0001-3765201520140219 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 87 (2) ◽

pp. 1239-1258 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

ASTOLFO G.M. ARAUJO

Keyword(s):

Population Structure ◽

South America ◽

Material Culture ◽

Cultural Transmission ◽

Raw Material ◽

Cultural Norms ◽

South American ◽

Human Occupation ◽

Cultural Traditions ◽

Early Human

Eastern South America, or what is today Brazilian territory, poses interesting questions about the early human occupation of the Americas. Three totally distinct and contemporaneous lithic technologies, dated between 11,000 and 10,000 14C BP, are present in different portions of the country: the Umbu tradition in the south, with its formal bifacial industry, with well-retouched scrapers and bifacial points; the Itaparica tradition in the central-west / northwest, totally unifacial, whose only formal artifacts are limaces; and the "Lagoa Santa" industry, completely lacking any formal artifacts, composed mainly of small quartz flakes. Our data suggests that these differences are not related to subsistence or raw-material constraints, but rather to different cultural norms and transmission of strongly divergent chaînes opératoires. Such diversity in material culture, when viewed from a cultural transmission (CT) theory standpoint, seems at odds with a simple Clovis model as the origin of these three cultural traditions given the time elapsed since the first Clovis ages and the expected population structure of the early South American settlers.

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