scholarly journals The châtelperronian Neandertals of Cova Foradada (Calafell, Spain) used Iberian imperial eagle phalanges for symbolic purposes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo ◽  
Juan Ignacio Morales ◽  
Artur Cebriá ◽  
Lloyd A. Courtenay ◽  
Juan L. Fernández-Marchena ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Specific Area ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Middle Paleolithic ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Imperial Eagle

Evidence for the symbolic behavior of Neandertals in the use of personal ornaments is relatively scarce. Eagle talons, which were presumably used as pendants, stand out due to their abundance. This phenomenon seems to appear concentrated in a specific area of Southwestern Europe during a span of ca. 80 Ka. Here we present the analysis of one eagle pedal phalange recovered from the Châtelperronian layer of Foradada Cave (Spain). Our research broadens the known geographical and temporal range of this aspect of Neandertal symbolic behavior, by providing the first documentation of its use among Neandertals in Iberia, as well as of its oldest use in the peninsula. The recurrent appearance of large raptor talons throughout the Neandertal timeframe, including their presence among the last Neandertal populations, raises the question of the survival of some cultural elements of the Middle Paleolithic into the transitional Middle to Upper Paleolithic assemblages.

scholarly journals The châtelperronian Neandertals of Cova Foradada (Calafell, Spain) used Iberian imperial eagle phalanges for symbolic purposes

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo ◽  
Juan Ignacio Morales ◽  
Artur Cebriá ◽  
Lloyd A. Courtenay ◽  
Juan L. Fernández-Marchena ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Scale ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Specific Area ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Middle Paleolithic ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Mediterranean Europe ◽  
Anatomically Modern Humans ◽  
Imperial Eagle

The use of personal ornaments by Neandertals is one of the scarce evidence of their symbolic behaviour. Among them stand up the eagle talons used presumably as pendants, in an analogous way than anatomically Modern Humans (Homo sapiens) did. Considering the broad range and time scale of Neandertals distribution across Eurasia, this phenomenon seems to be concentrated in a very specific area of Southwestern-Mediterranean Europe during a span of ca. 80 ka. Here we present the analysis of one pedal phalange of a large eagle recovered in Foradada cave site, Spain. Our research confirms the use of eagle talons as symbolic elements in Iberia, expanding geographically and temporally one of the most common evidence of symbolic behaviour among western European Neandertals. The convergence in use of large raptor talons as symbolic elements by one of the last Neandertal populations raises the survival of some cultural elements of the Middle Paleolithic into beginnings of the Upper Paleolithic.

scholarly journals The Châtelperronian Neanderthals of Cova Foradada (Calafell, Spain) used imperial eagle phalanges for symbolic purposes

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. eaax1984 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Rodríguez-Hidalgo ◽  
J. I. Morales ◽  
A. Cebrià ◽  
L. A. Courtenay ◽  
J. L. Fernández-Marchena ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Specific Area ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Middle Paleolithic ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Imperial Eagle

Evidence for the symbolic behavior of Neanderthals in the use of personal ornaments is relatively scarce. Among the few ornaments documented, eagle talons, which were presumably used as pendants, are the most frequently recorded. This phenomenon appears concentrated in a specific area of southern Europe during a span of 80 thousand years. Here, we present the analysis of one eagle pedal phalange recovered from the Châtelperronian layer of Foradada Cave (Spain). Our research broadens the known geographical and temporal range of this symbolic behavior, providing the first documentation of its use among the Iberian populations, as well as of its oldest use in the peninsula. The recurrent appearance of large raptor talons throughout the Middle Paleolithic time frame, including their presence among the last Neanderthal populations, raises the question of the survival of some cultural elements of the Middle Paleolithic into the transitional Middle to Upper Paleolithic assemblages and beyond.

scholarly journals The châtelperronian Neandertals of Cova Foradada (Calafell, Spain) used Iberian imperial eagle phalanges for symbolic purposes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo ◽  
Juan Ignacio Morales ◽  
Artur Cebriá ◽  
Lloyd A. Courtenay ◽  
Juan L. Fernández-Marchena ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Specific Area ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Middle Paleolithic ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Imperial Eagle

Evidence for the symbolic behavior of Neandertals in the use of personal ornaments is relatively scarce. Eagle talons, which were presumably used as pendants, stand out due to their abundance. This phenomenon seems to appear concentrated in a specific area of Southwestern Europe during a span of ca. 80 Ka. Here we present the analysis of one eagle pedal phalange recovered from the Châtelperronian layer of Foradada Cave (Spain). Our research broadens the known geographical and temporal range of this aspect of Neandertal symbolic behavior, by providing the first documentation of its use among Neandertals in Iberia, as well as of its oldest use in the peninsula. The recurrent appearance of large raptor talons throughout the Neandertal timeframe, including their presence among the last Neandertal populations, raises the question of the survival of some cultural elements of the Middle Paleolithic into the transitional Middle to Upper Paleolithic assemblages.

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

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.

The Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in the southern Levant: New insights from the late Middle Paleolithic site of Far’ah II, Israel

2020 ◽  
Vol 237 ◽  
pp. 106304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mae Goder-Goldberger ◽  
Onn Crouvi ◽  
Valentina Caracuta ◽  
Liora Kolska Horwitz ◽  
Frank H. Neumann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Middle Paleolithic ◽  
Southern Levant ◽  
Paleolithic Site

The Upper Paleolithic—However It Got Here, It's Here: (Can the Middle Paleolithic Be far behind?)

1981 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 926-928 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Cotter
Keyword(s):  
New World ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Middle Paleolithic ◽  
Old World

Morphological similarities in bone technology between Old World and New World Pleistocene epoch assemblages are noted, and their implications are explored.

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

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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