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A faunal assemblage was recently recovered from the Krosinko site in Poland, marking a new site in the Warsaw–Berlin ice-marginal valley. Analysis and radiocarbon dating of the remains revealed the presence of two subassemblages: one Late Pleistocene (at least MIS 3–2) and one Holocene (MIS 1), with the former being taxonomically highly diverse. By referring to previous Polish studies, the Pleistocene mammal bone assemblage allowed us to reconstruct the biogeography of its individual components: woolly mammoths, woolly rhinoceri, horses, giant deer, red deer, fallow deer, reindeer, steppe bison, aurochses, bears, and cave lions. The biogeography was later combined with radiocarbon chronology using 21 dates from Krosinko. The wide range of radiocarbon dates (48.4–26.4 ka BP) probably reflects different chronological distributions of species resulting from the changing climate and environment as well as the diverse original sources of the bones. The remains, which constituted a single, compact geological horizon, was possibly deposited in a single geological event around 26 ka BP, as inferred from the most recently produced radiocarbon date. Radiocarbon datings of woolly rhinoceros remains have shown the species to have been present around 38 ka BP, a time that it had previously been considered to have been non-existent in Europe (with no evidence having been discovered for the period 40–34 ka BP). This result alters the stratigraphic gap range for the woolly rhinoceros in Europe to 40–38 ka BP. The clear dominance of woolly mammoth and woolly rhinoceros specimens reflects the structure of the Mammuthus–Coelodonta faunal complex. The main representatives of this complex preferred the dry and cold conditions that characterized the palaeoenvironmental conditions in Krosinko in MIS 2 and thus in Central Europe, as shown by the integration of the results of the fauna and those of the sediments in which they were deposited. These palaeoenvironmental features are related to the mammoth steppe, which was a long-lived biome in Eurasia and whose diversity influenced the faunal distribution. Thus, the species-by-species review of taxa performed in this paper, against the background of previous results from Poland, illuminates the individual responses of taxa to changing environmental conditions in response to climatic ones. These changes led to the disappearance of the mammoth steppe and near or total extinction of the fauna species inhabiting it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sites identified as the Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP or transitional industries) in Central Europe (CE) have become subject to extensive discussion on the possible interactions between anatomically modern humans and indigenous human species which inhabited the area in the Marine Isotopic Stage 3 (MIS 3, 50–35 ka BP). An open-air site Dzierżysław 1 (SW Poland), known for nearly a hundred years, played a crucial role in envisaging scenarios associated with the development and adaptation of the EUP society. In the late 20th c., due to the excavations in the southern part of the site, it was given status of a multicultural site, with artefacts assigned to the Micoquian, Bohunician and Szeletian culture. This paper presents the findings of the multi-faceted revision of this site. We present the results of field work and chronometric analyses based on a new set of samples and archaeological study of archive records. The use of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) showed that all the sediments of the site should be assigned to the Plenivistulian (MIS 4/3 and MIS 2). The new chronometric assessment indicates the absence of deposits corresponding to the transitional industries' time window. The sedimentological data integrating with spatial distribution of finds and raw material variation as well as state of preservation and typo-technological features of lithic artefacts indicate that the inventory represents a compilation of the late Middle Palaeolithic (MP, Micoquian) and classical Upper Palaeolithic industries (Aurignacian or Gravettian) with very few pieces corresponding with indeterminate EUP industry. The revision throws a light on the situation in the Moravian Gate and areas north of the Carpathians and Sudetes. The results suggest that sites from the late MP are more numerous than those from the EUP. It seems that the over-representation may result from a long time of accumulation during the MP period. It cannot be excluded that the small number of EUP sites reflects a marginal role of the area north of the Sudetes and Carpathians in the human occupation system of that time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yiluo region in the middle Yellow River has been a core area of archaeological inquiry for understanding the origins of the first dynastic states in China. In order to investigate the social changes on a regional scale, a systematic full-coverage regional survey project was carried out from 1997 to 2018, covering an area of 1183 km2 in the Yiluo region. This paper analyzes the settlement patterns of 451 sites of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages (ca. 6000–200 cal. BC), providing the most comprehensive pictures yet, of the spatial and temporal relationships of settlement distribution during a nearly 6000-year time span. The paper demonstrates a developmental trajectory from a landscape dotted with scattered, small Neolithic villages to a highly centralized dynastic heartland in early Chinese civilization. The evolutionary pathways were not straightforward, but were characterized by episodic fluctuations in population density, and the rise and fall of complex societies. Holocene climatic fluctuations may have played significant roles affecting human activities, but it is the human responses to external challenges in various ways that ultimately determined the trajectories of social evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an overview of the results obtained by collaborative use of integrative multidisciplinary investigation of a highly unique geological section discovered in the south-eastern part of the Gulf of Finland. The main aim of this study is to identify the Late Pleistocene palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic changes in the study area during one of the most controversial periods in the Late Pleistocene history, which is the MIS 5. Our approach to achieving the goal is based on the investigation of feldspar-based infrared optically stimulated luminescence (IR-OSL) dated records of pollen-induced palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironmental proxies. Palynological analysis and IR-OSL dates of 29 samples for the first time produced a detailed, characterised and dated sequence of palynological zones M6 to M8 ranging from ca. 94 ka to ca. 70 ka and made it possible to determine the chronological sequence of climate changes in this interval. Representative pollen spectra from 69 samples provided convincing evidence of a warm interval of interglacial rank at least during the latter half of MIS 5. The data obtained in the present study from well-preserved deposits of the second half of MIS 5 provided a novel insight into the palaenvironmental conditions during this period. These results seem to contradict the widely held view according to which the last interglacial stage with the climate conditions similar or warmer than today corresponds to only a small part of marine isotope stage (MIS) 5 of the deep-sea stratigraphy, i.e. MISs 5e lasting ca. 11 ka, and the period from 100 ka to 80 ka is attributed to an Early Weichselian glaciation, which in Northern Eurasia reached its maximum at about 90 ka. However, the findings obtained during the present study are also convincingly confirmed by those of our previous long-term investigations of warm climate-related shell-bearing deposits of various origins from Northern Eurasia including climatically highly sensitive Eurasian Arctic palaeo-shelf area. These results indicated that the overwhelming majority of the warm climate-related dates (ca. 82%) is also concentrated in the latter half of MIS 5 in the time range between 110 ka and 70 ka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the second half of the Upper Paleolithic, Europe seems to have been divided in two vast techno-cultural entities with their particular chronological sequence: the Western Europe “classical sequence” and the Epigravettian sequence in the South. Essentially because of an imbalance of data and differences in methodologies between these two regions, their Upper Paleolithic sequences have rarely been compared. Thanks to the development of lithic technology in Europe and a recent active research about the Late-Glacial, it is today possible to attempt such a challenging exercise of comparing these two long sequences. In this paper, we solely focus on the Late Glacial. If the rare existing attempts of comparison focused on typology of lithic assemblages, our paper aims for a more global approach of lithic industries, based on recent technological studies. This approach allows highlighting key elements in term of human behaviors. Our data suggest a similar process of change between Western Europe and the Epigravettian during GI-1 (Bølling–Allerød). All the criteria of the so called “azilianization process” are actually present in the Epigravettian evolution sequence. This similar trend within both evolution sequences stopped abruptly, during the GS-1 (Younger Dryas). During this period and the very beginning of the Holocene (Preboreal), a massive return of blades and bladelets with high qualitative standards occurred in Western Europe while the simplification process is still in course in the Epigravettian region. In this paper, we attempt to compare the various responses of vegetation to the major climatic instability of the Late Glacial across Europe using a critical survey of the available environmental data. Considering the boundary that could have represented the Alps between Epigravettian and the Western Europe sequence, two high-resolution environmental sequences from north and south of the Alps are especially examined. Are the differences in terms of environmental changes between these two areas significant? Did they play a role in human behaviors and motivate technological changes? The comparison of palaeoenvironmental data with archaeological results tends to comfort some hypothesis of environmental determinism proposed by scholars, but also provide new elements moderating regional models that cannot really be applied at a continental scale. Climatic correlations with socioeconomic changes highlighted in this paper are no more than one possible way of investigation that will need to be tested and discussed in further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the newly established radiocarbon dates of the Late Upper Palaeolithic (LUP) settlement in Gvardjilas Klde in the Imereti region in Georgia. The analysed samples were collected by Stefan Krukowski in 1916 during his fieldwork in the cave. Krukowski identified two separate UP cultural horizons. The older one was connected with what he called layer 10, and the younger one - with layer 11. The obtained radiocarbon dates confirm the results obtained by Krukowski. The older settlement phase can be dated to 19.7–18.8 ky cal. BP, while the younger one to 15.8–14.7 ky cal. BP. The end of human occupation can be linked to the beginning of the Holocene. Interestingly, the presented probability density models show that Gvardjilas Klde was occupied interchangeably with other sites in the region. There is no other site in the Imereti region with chronology similar to any of the settlement phases in Gvardjilas Klde. The only chronologically corresponding sites are Mezmaiskaya Cave and Badynoko Rockshelter in the Northern Caucasus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the properties of quartz sampled at different sites in the Riss, Iller, Mindel, and Isar Valley of the northern Alpine Foreland of Germany and ties in with a previous study of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of glaciofluvial sediments from the type regions of the Würmian, the Rissian, and the Mindelian Glaciations. The previous investigation showed severe underestimation of quartz ages compared to the existing tentative chronology based on morphostratigraphic evidence as well as fading uncorrected feldspar Infrared Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL) ages. In this paper we present laboratory experiments and data analyses such as pulse annealing and isothermal decay measurements, D e (t) and NR(t) plots as well as curve fitting analyses to demonstrate that the quartz has unfavourable luminescence characteristics. We conclude that the quartz from the study area is not suitable for OSL dating using standard single-aliquot regenerative-dose techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rock art dating has been one of the major challenges since its discovery and recognition. The methods have evolved through the last century, beginning with the study of superpositions and style until to the application of numeric methods since the 1990s. The aim of this paper is to evaluate and publish an up-to-date database of all of the numerical dates currently available for Iberian prehistoric rock art sites. For this purpose, the manuscript reviews all the methods applied so far to Iberian rock art discussing the limits, the sampling involved, and the problems affecting the results. After that, we present and discuss the most relevant results related to each cultural graphic tradition (Palaeolithic, Levantine, Schematic and Megalithic rock art) assessing their value and limitations. Finally, we reflect on the future of rock art dating: unfortunately most of the motifs are not dateble in numeric terms, meaning we still have to combine traditional with numerical methods; but also, we need to keep working on the problems affecting these methods to be able to create a more reliable chronological framework of use to address other issues such as group mobility, cultural networks, and reutilisation of symbolic elements, to name a few. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preservation of palaeoenvironmental and archeological records in cave and rock shelter contexts is often called into question for Pleistocene sequences. Records are always fragmentary and the preservation of sediments and archaeological remains is partial and differential, according to site history. The karst deposits are often frequently described as disturbed due to post-depositional processes and phases of erosion over time. However, taphonomical analyses and some very well-preserved evidence attest to the capacity of caves to record data. Systematic and interdisciplinary fieldwork and studies allow for the reconstruction of some characteristics of Neanderthal occupations in their biostratigraphical and geochronological context. The geographic area under consideration here is the Rhône Valley. The right bank of the Middle Rhône Valley has yielded more than ten Middle Palaeolithic sites. Some of them have been studied recently through interdisciplinary fieldwork, providing new data on the end of the Middle Pleistocene and the beginning of the Upper Pleistocene. For this paper, we focus on four sites dated from the end of MIS 5, MIS 4 and the beginning of MIS 3, containing layers with evidence of Neanderthal occupations: Saint-Marcel, Abri du Maras, Abri des Pêcheurs and Le Figuier. All these sites are rock shelters or cave chambers and porches belonging to a karst system. The aim of our research program is to provide as much data as possible on Neanderthal occupations in their environmental contexts, in order to describe subsistence strategies and land use throughout time and potential links with climatic changes. In this paper, we evaluate the feasibility of assessing the relationship between climatic change and behaviour during the Middle Palaeolithic by describing the main archaeological material and palaeoenvironmental records of these four sites. Then, in the discussion, we conjointly examine the data from each site to assess this key question, even though the low resolution of cave and rock shelter records makes it difficult to establish an accurate chronology for human occupations and to provide a detailed description of the environment around the site for each human occupation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent paper by Ochoa and García-Díez (2013) the available evidences for a chronology of western Pyrenean Paleolithic cave art are critically analyzed and discussed, and an alternative chronological organization is proposed on the basis of stylistic comparison. In this paper we discuss the critics made to the immediate context dating proposals in Altxerri B, Askondo and Etxeberri by giving the detailed information that has been recently published (Garate and Rios-Garaizar, 2012; Garate et al., 2012; González-Sainz et al., 2013). We also discuss the validity of the stylistic comparisons proposed by Ochoa and García-Díez (2013) for the Gravettian and the Magdalenian art. Finally we discuss the problems for establishing a reliable chronological framework for Paleolithic rock art in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My inspiration for an undergraduate dissertation (1972) on the origins of the Vinča group and, then, a PhD on the group as a whole (1976) came from a 1971 trip to the Belo Brdo tell. The PhD was transformed by new analyses to become the 1981 BAR publication - a processually-oriented work which, in an unexpected way, remains the only general synthesis of the Vinča group until this very day. In this self-critical and -reflexive paper, based upon the keynote speech I was invited to present to the Tübingen 2019 'LBK – Vinča' Conference, I look backwards to those aspects of the synthesis which remain relevant; examine those parts which have been overtaken by more recent research; and consider why it is that the synthesis has yet to be superceded. It is interesting that landscape studies and especially settlement studies remain some of the most relevant parts of my research. Although new fieldwork has led to incrementally better distribution maps, the basic premises remain true of the changes in settlement structure from Starčevo to Vinča. The remote sensing revolution, the Bayesian analyses of unimaginably large numbers of AMS dates and the contextual recording of finds have made the greatest impacts on Vinča research. Site planning and site size studies have progressed enormously. The analyses of site densities of figurines still poses important research questions but lacks the current contextual detail of figurine deposition. Apart from congenital idleness, I cannot imagine why no other specialist has written a new synthesis of the Vinča group. It is not that no new 'cultural syntheses' have appeared in the Balkans - syntheses are not yet a threatened species. Admittedly, a rather large amount of new material has appeared in the last 50 years - together with a tendency to paint pictures on smaller canvases. Yet my hope for the next 50 years is that several new general syntheses will be written on the Vinča group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents results of archaeological study of one particular moment in time regionally determined as the middle Neolithic period in Drava river valley (northern Croatia). The main aim is reconsidering old periodical and chronological sequences in use for this period. Recent archaeological research carried out on several sites yielded new data about middle Neolithic settlement infrastructures and the remains of material culture. For the first time, remains of Linear Pottery culture (LBK) were recognized south of Transdanubia sheading new light on dispersal of this culture in its early phase. Combined with new interpretation of some old excavation results and new radiocarbon dates from recent excavations, transition from early Neolithic Starčevo culture to middle Neolithic Linear Pottery culture, emergence of Ražište style and its development under the early Vinča influence are outlined. Differences in pottery tempering, decoration and firing are discussed as well as the main types of vessels. New interpretation for 5450–4900 cal BC chronological sequence in this specific micro region is given. Results are compared with data from wider southwestern Carpathian region adding to newly developed discussion about Starčevo–LBK–Ražište–Vinča connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tibetan Plateau is one of the last areas populated by modern humans because of its harsh environment. Due to the paucity of reliably dated archaeological sites, the history of the peopling of Tibet is unclear. However, more than 110 microblade sites discovered on the Plateau indicate large-scale migration. This paper reviews microblade assemblages in seven geographical regions in terms of the specific techno-typologies, and divides them into three types. Based upon results obtained from 17 archaeological sites and techno-typological comparisons, we argue that microblade sites on the Plateau fall within three periods, 14-10 ka BP, 8-7 ka BP and 5-3 ka BP. The techno-typology of sites in the first period is still unclear. Assemblages are dominated by flake blank exploitation cores represented by wedge-shaped nuclei during the second period. Conical microblade cores and pottery coexisted during the latest period. A combination of chronology, techno-typology and the locations of microblade sites discovered on and around the Tibetan Plateau supports the conclusion that people bearing microblade technology originating in North China migrated to the Plateau via a northern route. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geological sequences of numerous Lower and Middle Palaeolithic sites of central and southern Italy, found in fluvio-lacustrine contexts and rich both in archaeological and palaeontological remains, have recorded various volcanic events all along the Middle Pleistocene timescale. These sedimentary sequences made of detritic and volcanic materials are suitable to compare independent numerical geochronological methods and thus develop a multi-method approach relying especially ESR method applied to optically bleached fluvial quartz and the 40Ar/39Ar on single grain isotopic method applied to potassium feldspars. In this present paper, geochronological data obtained using these two methods were used on several Middle Pleistocene Italian sites including volcanic and fluvial but also archaeological levels: Isoletta and Lademagne in Lazio and Notarchirico in Basilicata. In this contribution, ESR age estimates were performed using a multi-centre approach from Al, Ti–Li and Ti–H centres. We demonstrate for these sites that ESR-based framework is overall consistent with the 40Ar/39Ar chronology that over the 700 and 350 ka time window. This comparison validates the multi-centre approach proposed and demonstrates that the use of Ti–H for samples with equivalent doses higher than 280–300 Gy leads to systematic age underestimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is devoted to the Middle and Upper Pleistocene stratigraphy of the Vychegda River basin, located in the far northeast of Europe, in the Timan–Pechora–Vychegda subzone of the Middle–Late Pleistocene glaciations. The available litho-/chrono-/biostratigraphy data were have been obtained from more than 20 natural outcrops along the valley of Vychegda and its tributaries, which were studied lithostratigraphically. Also radiocarbon, OSL, IR-OSL and 230Th/U dating was performed, together with pollen and palaeocarpological analyses. The oldest glacial deposits are related to the Pechora horizon (MIS 8), and the oldest numerically dated relate to the Rodionovo horizon (Schöningen, MIS 7), embracing the chronostratigraphic archive of the last ~250 ka. The Vychegda horizon (Drenthe + Warthe, MIS 6) includes surficial tills, glaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine sediments dated back to 186–111 ka. This ice sheet produced the ice-dammed lake which overflowed into the Kama-Volga and Caspian basin. The Last Interglacial–Glacial cycle is associated with the Sula horizon (Eemian + Lower Weichselian, MIS 5), and the Nenetsky superhorizon with the Laya (Middle Weichselian, MIS 4), Byzovaya (Middle Weichselian, MIS 3) and Polar (Upper Weichselian, MIS 2) horizons, reflecting alluvial and aeolian sedimentary environments. The chronostratigraphic record of the Byzovaya (67–27 ka) and Polar (27–1 1.7 ka) horizons is well supported with 14C, OSL, IR-OSL and 230Th/U-dates and biostratigraphic data. Unlike the predecessors' descriptions no glaciolacustrine deposits had been identified for these horizons. The Holocene floodplain, aeolian and peat bog deposits dated from 11.7 ka are widespread over the Vychegda catchment area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The earliest stages of the MSA show the emergence of a number of technical innovations accompanying the appearance of uni-bifacial pointed tools that are the hallmarks of this period. Within the oldest sites of Gademotta and Kulkuletti, a specific technical process applied on convergent tools has been identified: the lateral tranchet blow technical process. This paper questions the value of this process in terms of technical skills and functional purpose and to a broader extent, its value as a chrono-cultural marker. The first clue of this study is to provide an accurate evidence of the intentionality of the tranchet blow process based on the identification of the recurrent technical stages implied in this process. With regards to the study of the emergence of projectile technology in the literature, the morpho-functional significance of this process is also questioned. The hypothesis supported in this paper favor the interpretation of the use of the tools with tranchet blow scars as cutting tools rather than hunting weapons. Therefore, the penetration function of those MSA triangular tools may precede their function as projectile. The discussion shows that, so far, the use of the tranchet blow process was restricted to the oldest sites of Gademotta and Kulkuletti. Since it has been recognized in Tiya surface collections, this process may be considered as a chrono-cultural marker for the Ethiopian MSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The relative and numerical chronological position of the technological and typological variants of the Mousterian in southwest France has been the subject of debate for over fifty years. Since the advent of both ESR and TL dating methods in the 1980s, a database of chronometric dates for a growing number of sites has been steadily accumulating. A recent summary by Guibert et al. appears to show a complex pattern of broadly overlapping Mousterian variants in the late Middle Palaeolithic and has led some to conclude that Bordes'' initial interpretation of these variants, as distinct cultural groups, was essentially correct. This paper adds to this database with new thermoluminescence dates from Pech de l''Azé IV. This site, originally excavated by Bordes in the 1970s, contains a deep sequence of Mousterian assemblages, which express considerable technological and typological variability and which are associated with well-preserved faunal remains. Excavations were undertaken from 2000 to 2003, in part to gain a better understanding of the geological context of the assemblages and also to obtain chronometric data. In this paper, new TL dates for the levels 3B, 4C, 5A and 8 are presented. The deepest of these, the Typical Mousterian of Layer 8, is placed in Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5c. Another Typical Mousterian industry from level 5A dates to the transition from MIS 5 to MIS 4. Level 4C, which is rich in scrapers, is placed in MIS 4, while the Mousterian of Acheulian Tradition is attributed to MIS 3. At a local scale, these new dates allow for the integration of the Pech de l''Azé IV sequence with chronometric dates available for the nearby sites of Pech de l''Azé I and II, and at a more regional scale they provide additional data points from the more poorly dated late interglacial and early MIS 4 period. These dates are in line with the emerging pattern suggesting that the Mousterian variants, as they are defined, overlap considerably in time, and call into question their interpretation as a succession of chronological units, while a correlation with climate change of the technological units is not clear either. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Under the background of climate change, droughts have occurred widely and frequently in North China in recent years. Using tree-ring to study droughts has advantages such as accurate dating, strong continuity and high resolution. This paper uses the Chinese pine ring-width of Xiaowutai Mountain, China, to analyze the correlations between the ring-width and climatic factors. The results show that the standard and residual chronologies of Chinese pine have significant correlations between spring precipitation, 0 cm ground temperature in May, average relative humidity of April and May, hours of sunshine and percentage of sunshine in May, and Z index of spring. The Chinese pine ring-width is fundamentally affected by the precipitation of the study area. 0 cm ground temperature, average relative humidity and hours of sunshine all affect the ring-width by affecting the soil water content indirectly. The years when the Chinese pine ring-width index of Xiaowutai Mountain falls into 0–0.80 could indicate spring drought years. This paper has demonstrated the feasibility of applying tree-rings to study the spatial and temporal development of drought in the study area. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper provides a preliminary chronostratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental framework for the Late Pleistocene archaeological sequence at Melikane Rockshelter in mountainous eastern Lesotho. Renewed excavations at Melikane form part of a larger project investigating marginal landscape use by Late Pleistocene foragers in southern Africa. Geoarchaeological work undertaken at the site supports in-field observations that Melikane experienced regular, often intensive, input of groundwater via fissures in the shelter''s rear wall. This strong hydrogeological connection resulted in episodic disturbances of the sedimentary sequence, exacerbated by other processes such as bioturbation. Despite this taphonomic complexity, a robust chronology for Melikane has been developed, based on tightly cross-correlated accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C with acid-base-wet oxidation stepped-combustion (ABOx-SC) pretreatment and single-grain optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. The results show that human occupation of Melikane was strongly pulsed, with episodes of Late Pleistocene occupation at ∼80, ∼60, ∼50, ∼46–38 and ∼24 ka. At least three additional occupational pulses occurred in the Holocene at ∼9 ka, ∼3 ka and in the second millennium AD, but these are dealt with only briefly in this paper. Implications of the Late Pleistocene pulsing for the colonisation of high elevations by early modern humans in Africa ahead of dispersals into challenging landscapes beyond the continent are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Iberian Peninsula plays a central role in the current debates on the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition and the Neanderthal extinction. This is largely due to the chronological data which some authors have suggested show a clear divide between Northern Iberia, where the Upper Palaeolithic appeared as early as 36.5 ka 14C BP, and Southern Iberia, where the Middle Palaeolithic survived until ca. 32–30 ka 14C BP or later. The best example of this view is the Ebro Frontier hypothesis. However, there are chronological data in both Northern and Southern Iberia that do not fit this pattern, and some of the evidence supporting the Ebro Frontier hypothesis has been questioned in recent years. This paper focuses on the chronology of the final Middle Palaeolithic of Northern Iberia, where several assemblages have been found to post-date the first Upper Palaeolithic in the region, and be of a similar age to the final Neanderthal occupations of the south. In order to improve the chronological framework of the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic boundary in the Northern Iberian Peninsula, a radiocarbon dating program is focused on sites from both the Cantabrian and Mediterranean regions. The first results of this program are presented in this paper. New radiocarbon dates have been measured by two laboratories using a range of pre-treatment methodologies. These do not support a late Middle Palaeolithic in Northern Iberia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The formation of shell middens by hunter-gatherers and research into them has been a common field of study in different parts of Atlantic Europe. Although evidence of marine resource exploitation has been identified since the Middle Palaeolithic, and an increase can be seen during the Upper Palaeolithic, it is during the Mesolithic when true shell middens have been identified, apparently showing an increase in the exploitation of coastal areas. This paper summarizes the available information about the formation of shell middens and the exploitation of the coast in several regions of Atlantic Europe, and discusses the main research problems, as the differences in availability of information, the definition and characteristics of shell middens, the relation between shell middens and molluscan exploitation and the problems regarding the chronology of the sites. Finally, the paper proposes the main approaches that should be pursued by future research into this topic. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

La Güelga cave is located at the bottom of a mountain valley in the Eastern part of Asturias (Northern Spain), 186 m above sea level and 15 km far away from the coast. It currently comprises a group of caves that were occupied during the Middle and Upper Paleolithic periods (MP and UP respectively). In recent years, we have studied the levels of La Güelga cave –D Zone-proposing a sequence for the MP/UP transition: Mousterian-Aurignacian-Châtelperronian, which we review in this paper after a detailed analysis of the chronostratigraphy. We also provide new radiocarbon dates for the Mousterian, Aurignacian and Châtelperronian levels. Finally, the geoarchaeology, taphonomy, archaeological data, and chronology suggest that the interstratification -initially identified on the basis of stratigraphic observations during excavation-cannot be maintained. In any case, the stratigraphy of the internal D Zone of La Güelga cave is one of the most interesting from the Cantabrian region for analyzing the last phases of the Mousterian and the rise of the Aurignacian in the North of the Peninsula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we discuss the occupation process of Central Brazilian Plateau during the end of the Pleistocene and the early Holocene calling attention on two main issues: technology and mobility. We work in two spatial scales, local and regional, in order to indicate some long-term processes during the period between 13,000–7000 BP. Based on site distribution, archaeological remains and chronology we propose four distinct periods that should correspond to different phases of the peopling process of this region. Finally, we discuss hypotheses that might explain these changes and we emphasize the importance of integrating practical and symbolic aspects in order to interpret the archaeological record and construct territorial histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the framework of the long-standing debate regarding the chronology of Spanish Levantine rock art, the hypotheses proposing its cultural affiliation to the Epipalaeolithic and Mesolithic societies are largely based on the socio-economic activities depicted in the Levantine scenes, in particular hunting. This position is closely related to the belief that there is a radical opposition between hunter-gatherers and agropastoralist – wild vs. domestic – where hunting is not envisaged to have neither a complementary economic purpose nor a significant social and symbolic role during the settlement and expansion of the “Neolithic package”. In order to assess the validity of Levantine hunting scenes as a chrono-cultural marker of Epipalaeolithic-Mesolithic societies, this paper explores the role of hunting in Neolithic societies of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin (6 th -3rd millennium cal BC). To do this, economic data, from archaeozoological and isotopic studies permitting the evaluation of wild and domestic animals consumption patterns, along with other social, identity-related and symbolic elements, such as the funerary record, personal ornaments and Levantine iconography itself, will be taking into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent excavations and radiocarbon work conducted at Cocina Cave (Valencia region, Eastern Iberia) provide new insights into the transition from foraging to farming in the eastern Iberian Peninsula between 8000 and 7300 cal yrs. BP. Cocina cave was discovered in 1940 and excavated by L. Pericot from 1941 to 1945. J. Fortea continued excavations in the 70s. Despite early international recognition and great promise of significance, the materials recovered from these excavations have only been partially analyzed and published. A new project started in 2012 is focused on these cave deposits with the main goal of understanding the occupation sequence during the neolithization process in the Western Mediterranean. The project includes a complete analysis of cultural material and biological remains of the previous excavations and integrates a 3D reconstruction of the stratigraphy and spatial analysis of the recorded artifact distributions. The results presented in this paper highlight the chronological position of materials deposited by the last hunter-gatherers and first farmers in Cocina cave based on data from the 1941 and 1945 trenches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of Neolithization of Southern Italy and Sicily covers about 500 years (6200–5700 cal BC) and involves two cultural horizons: Archaic Impressed Ware or “Impresse Arcaiche” and Advanced Impressed Ware or “Impresse Evolute”. In Southern Italy the Neolithic peopling from the East is characterized by a “package” of plenty domesticated plants and livestock; in Sicily the adoption of the new economical system is apparently more slow and with no evidences of ruptures between the Mesolithic groups and first farmers. In this paper we present the chronological and cultural framework of the sixth millennium BC within the area of investigation, with an up-to-date bibliography about settlement and economic strategies, palaeoenvironment and climate. In Southern Italy several open air sites are known and well investigated, in Sicily researches have been concentrated along the shoreline caves. Both regions show similarities in settlement strategies on the long duration. From a cultural point of view, to a first homogeneity of the “Impresse Arcaiche” aspects, after 5800 cal BC, the emergence of original and distinctive features designs different geographical areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the latest results of archaeological research in Epigravettian deposits of Blazi Cave in north-central Albania. This Epigravettian site is the first of its kind in Albania with a large sample of stone artifacts, faunal remains and dating material. The study material stems from the last remaining Late Pleistocene deposits in this cave and therefore characterizes the site in its totality. AMS 14 C dates place the cultural layers between 18 and 17 ka cal. BP. This age model coupled with the density of anthropogenic remains attests an intensive use of the shelter by hunter-gatherers in the final phase of the Last Glacial Maximum. The radiocarbon results place the Blazi data into the early phase of the Late Adriatic Epigravettian complex. This chronology is corroborated by certain technological and typological traits identified within the stone tool sample. Analysis of the faunal remains suggests a repeated use of the shelter in the warmer summer period. Blazi Cave functioned as a specialized ibex hunting site and therefore fits into a larger complex of task localities in the wider region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the nature of the variability noted in the Late Middle Paleolithic lithic technology of the Eastern Cantabrian Region. The sequence at Axlor exemplifies this variability revealing important changes in technology from ca. 55–45 ka BP. A major shift from stable occupations with a Levallois-based technology to shorter occupations with a Quina-based technology is observed. The critical analysis of the available information for the Middle Paleolithic assemblages in the region reveals six major phases: an Early Middle Paleolithic (170–100 ka BP), an undefined Middle Paleolithic (90–60 ka BP), a Vasconian (Discoid technology with cleavers – 60–50 ka BP), a Levallois Mousterian (55–50 ka BP), a Quina Mousterian (50–45 ka BP) and a Late Mousterian (45–40 ka BP). Although the Levallois and Quina Mousterian phases seem to be adaptations to the rapid environmental changes happening during the first phases of MIS3 (between DO16–17 and DO12), there are other factors that also influenced the configuration of these different technological systems, such as the modification of settlement systems or changes in Neanderthal group organization, and the resulting transformation of social needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns the dating of the Palaeolithic rock art of the Fuente del Trucho cave. We used the U–Th method to date calcite crusts superimposed to the paintings. Whenever sub-samples of a single crust could be dated we obtained stratigraphically consistent results and the correction for detrital contamination is negligible. Our results are strictly reliable as minimum ages and suggest that the decoration of this site is of a Gravettian or earlier age, even though a Solutrean chronology cannot be excluded in a few cases. These results are upheld by stylistical comparison with Spanish and French parietal and mobiliary art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is recognized as a cold and dry period that marks the maximum southward extension of the Scandinavian Inlands in Europe. In Asia, the ice sheet did not expand from the Arctic into Siberia, yet the LGM had a significant impact at high latitudes and elevations, as well as in regions with a continental climate. How much these changes affected the human occupation of Siberia and Mongolia is still a matter of debate and various models dealing with continuity, discontinuity, demographic movement and adaptation have been put forth. The present paper is a critical review of available empirical data regarding the impact of the LGM on landscapes and human settlements in Mongolia. This review underscores the caveats in the data collected and further analyses are proposed to test several basic hypotheses. The results obtained suggest that during Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 3 and MIS 2, there were hiatuses in the human occupation of Mongolia. These gaps are potentially linked with significant changes in climate. It is recognized that one of the main breaks in the cultural sequence is associated with the LGM, suggesting that Mongolia experienced periods of depopulation associated with this dramatic climatic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper describes the molar morphology of primitive arvicolines Mimomys cf. davakosi , Mimomys cf. gracilis , Pliomys cf. destinatus , Pitymimomys ex gr. inceptor from Zverinogolovskoye locality. The biochronology and biostratigraphy of identified taxa indicate the Early to Middle Pliocene (latest Ruscinian to early Villanyian, MN 15 – MN 16a) age for the Zverinogolovskoye mammalian assemblage. The vole fauna includes common species occurring in Western Europe and West Siberia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After nearly 150 years of research, many aspects of the emergence of the Acheulian techno-complex in Europe are still under debate. They include: the chronology of the appearance of the Acheulian, its geographical origin, the technology and typology of its assemblages, the actual stages (if any) of its development and the tempo and intensity of its spread into Europe. In this paper, we offer an eastern perspective for exploring these issues. We examine the European evidence in light of the current knowledge of the Lower Paleolithic sequence in the Levant. The primary contribution of this viewpoint is the identification of a ‘Large Flake’ stage within the European Acheulian which, we suggest, should be seen as the earliest stage of the Acheulian presence in this part of the world. While well-defined elsewhere, the Large Flake Acheulian sites of Europe are found primarily in the Iberian Peninsula. We suggest that all other, later, Acheulian sites in the continent can be attributed to the stage defined in the Levant as ‘Late Acheulian’. The resulting chronological and cultural implications are discussed below. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Southern Caucasus/Transcaucasia was occupied by human groups throughout the Pleistocene from 1.8 Ma (Dmanisi). A long chronological gap currently separates this earliest assemblage from the first evidence of (Acheulean-type) bifacial technology, as assemblages with bifaces do not seem to be older than 500 ka. Acheulean sites are frequent on the southern edge of the Great Caucasus but are absent on the northern side. Most of these are badly or non-dated open-air sites. There are, however, three cave sites in Georgia with archaeological sequences comprising lithic assemblages related to the Acheulean: Koudaro I, III and Tsona, located on the Great Caucasus. The altitude of these sites ranges from 1500 to 2200 m (a.s.l.) indicating occupations in a high mountainous context. Following a new technological analysis of the lithic series, this paper focuses on the assemblages from Koudaro I and Tsona and describes the strategies implemented for core and bifacial technologies in relation to palaeoenvironmental data and raw material procurement. Koudaro I indicates that both debitage and shaping took place in the cave, whereas only various heavy-duty tools were brought to Tsona, probably for short-term and specialized occupations. Acheulean groups occupied high altitudes during temperate periods and raw material procurement suggests hominin mobility between the low plateaus and the Caucasian valleys. The sites suggest that Acheulean groups extended their available territories into the Great Caucasus when climatic conditions were propitious. Moreover, comparisons between Levantine and Georgian series suggest that the southern flanks of the Great Caucasus mountain range gave rise to a local evolution of Acheulean features after the arrivals of hominin groups with the bifacial technology, likely from the Levant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Belgian territory has yielded a rich archaeological record related to the Ancient Palaeolithic, with 442 locations from this period. Of these, some were recovered in stratigraphic position and provide archaeological, chronostratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental data on the Lower to Middle Palaeolithic transition. In this paper, we present the oldest archaeological remains from the Belgian territory, from the first documented human settlements to the beginning of the Middle Palaeolithic (MIS 8). We then discuss the chronostratigraphic distribution of the sites, land-use strategies, and the Lower to Middle Palaeolithic transition in relation to the issue of the emergence of sophisticated prepared-core technologies, such as Levallois, in the North-Western European context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we aim to document the history of aeolian processes within the southern Sahara as part of the INQUA Dune Atlas. We review available luminescence ages for sand dunes across the southern Sahara to develop an improved understanding of the dune chronology on a regional basis and attempt to correlate periods of sand accumulation. This was achieved by analysing dune age by country, as well as by latitude and longitude. The results show a very patchy spatial distribution of dune ages with large gaps that encompass some of the largest sand seas. Despite these gaps, some related patterns in dune morphology and stratigraphy appear to be consistent between northern Nigeria and southern Mali where older linear dunes are distinct from younger Late Holocene transverse and barchanoid dunes. Elsewhere in Mauretania linear dunes with different orientations appear to have accumulated at different times, most likely in response to changes in atmospheric circulation. Regional climatic changes are identified where dunes are transgressed by lake deposits within endorehic basins. We identify four locations where dune accumulation is terminated by lacustrine transgressions, two of which, in Lake Chad and the Bodélé Depression, occur shortly after the last glacial maximum (LGM). The third example at Gobiero in Niger occurred later, in the early Holocene, around 8.4 ka and a fourth marks a later transgression of Palaeolake MegaChad after 4.7 ka. Larger-scale latitudinal and longitudinal distributions in dune ages across the southern Sahara do not show any consistent patterns, though this may be due to the small sample size relative to the study area. In addition, local variations in external controls such as wind regime, rainfall, vegetation and sand supply need to be considered, sometimes on a site by site basis. Limiting the analysis to dune ages determined using the single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol indicates a lack of dune preservation during the LGM and the Younger Dryas, times associated with increased dust input to the oceans which is assumed to indicate increased aeolian activity. The SAR dune dates suggest that preservation of dunes at the onset of succeeding humid intervals is an important component of the dune record. The most striking examples of this phenomenon occur where dunes are preserved within endorehic basins by lacustrine transgressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The INQUA Dunes Atlas project has developed a global digital database of chronological information for periods of inland or continental sand dune accumulation and stabilization. The database comprises information on the site location (including coordinates), dune type, and stratigraphic context, pertinent analytical information (e.g. luminescence procedures), and literature citations to the original data source. This paper discusses the background to the project, the concept and structure of the chronologic database that forms its core, and gives some examples of the scope of the database and ways in which it can contribute to greater understanding of the spatial and temporal variability in dune development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several Acheulean sites dated between stages MIS 12 to 9 are located around the town of Amiens in the Somme Valley. These include: Cagny-la-Garenne I, Cagny-la-Garenne II, Cagny-la-Ferme de l'Epinette, Cagny-l'Epinette, Revelles and Gentelles. The aim of this paper is to present the chronological situation and context of each of these sites and to ascertain the continuity or the discontinuity of the main behavioral aspects of the raw material procurement patterns, the core types and the biface and tool-flake status. We also examine numerous aspects of shaping and knapping, such as the presence of hammerstones or specialized classes of lithics. A synthesis of data underlines changes in the main categories of lithic artifacts and variability or convergence in the production systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological and historical remains of great value are emerging from melting snow and ice across the globe as rising temperatures and changing weather patterns lead to the degradation and decline of snow patches, ice sheets and glaciers. Rescuing the heritage remains that exist within some of these sites is a serious challenge for cultural heritage management (CHM) systems and regimes in a number of ways. This paper is a review of some of these challenges. It begins with an overview of the geographical and chronological distribution of glacial archaeological sites and finds from around the world. The institutional CHM context within which this sub-discipline has emerged is described, as are some of the difficulties associated with managing frozen heritage sites and finds. An overview is also given of some of the field and methodological responses that have been applied in different regions until now. Finally, a number of management related issues in need of special attention in the future are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Holocene sequence of the Kebara wetlands, a groundwater–surface water interaction zone ecosystem, was studied in a borehole (Core A), retrieved from the eastern trough of the Carmel coast of Israel. A multi-proxy approach was used for environmental reconstruction, and new ages were added for reassessment of the chronology. The fauna (mainly ostracods), flora, and palaeo-salinity estimates indicate marginal wetland that experienced shrinkage and enlargement, reflecting changing hydrological and climatic conditions. New luminescence ages of sediments and radiocarbon dating of terrestrial seeds in the upper part of the sequence provide a more reliable and accurate chronology. The lower part of the core, between about 14,000 and about 7000 BP, indicates mainly wetter conditions, while the upper part, dated to the last 7000 BP, suggests drier conditions in general, with a few wetter episodes. The almost total disappearance of the fauna in the core after about 6000 BP is in agreement with regional climate records that document increasing aridity in the Levant. A comparison of modern δ 18 O and δ 13 C (water and ostracod) values from the Timsah ponds, the present remnants of the wetland, with the values derived from ostracods in the drilling indicates that, like today, the past wetlands were fed mainly by the karstic carbonate-rich Yarkon-Taninnim mountain aquifer. This paper emphasizes the importance of understanding the sources of the water feeding the wetlands for the re-assessment of previous chronology that was based on total organic carbon (TOC) 14 C dating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Aralo-Caspian region includes a ninth of the total number of ‘desert kites’. These are located at a considerable distance from the large concentrations of the Near East and the Levant. A combined fieldwork and satellite image analysis, undertaken in September 2013 on the southwestern fringe of the Ustyurt plateau, allowed us to record and describe 143 kites of different morphological types and to obtain new chronological data. Within the framework of the Globalkites research project, set up at the scale of the whole distribution area of kites, a GIS database was constructed using a methodology successfully tested in other regions (Armenia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia). This paper is a detailed description of the kites of this region, focusing on location in the landscape, morphology, architecture and chronology. Despite the lack of accurate information about their use, relationships with animal migration routes can sometimes be suggested. Our chronological data show that the south-western Ustyurt kites have a long history of use and were abandoned only very recently. Some architectural details and morphological features, commonly observed on Near Eastern kites, lead to the conclusion that Ustyurt kites belong to a single phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the Alto de las Picarazas site (Andilla-Chelva, Valencia) which is made up of a group of karst cavities that contains Lower and Middle Pleistocene deposits. In Cavity I, a wide Early Pleistocene sequence under a Middle Pleistocene deposit has been preserved. In Stratum IV, evidence of human presence, such as lithic industry and mammal bones with butchery marks, has been found. Remains of Allophaiomys ruffoi and Soergelia minor in this stratum give the site a Early Pleistocene chronology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the analysis of the ichtyoarchaeological record from Los Bananos site (Goya, Corrientes, Argentine). The aim of this study is to render a first evaluation to the role played by fish in subsistence during subsequent occupations of the site. The site is located in the alluvial plain of Middle Paraná River, beside Paraná Miní creek, and it has provided new information about pottery and lithic technology, subsistence, chronology ( 14 C), site formation processes, etc. Bones from Los Bananos have been divided into three assemblages (LB1, LB2 and LB3), according to associated cultural materials. The pre-Hispanic populations that occupied this area by the end of the Late Holocene based their subsistence in hunting, gathering and fishing. Also, the makers of a distinctive ceramic ware associated with LB1 assemblage (related to Goya-Malabrigo entity - lato sensu -), relied on small-scale horticulture. Preceding materials of the other sets (LB2 and LB3) do not present necessary characteristics for cultural association as shown in LB1. The assemblages will be discussed in sequence of their deposition; and compared with results from other related sites. The results of zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of the faunal remains suggest that fish was an important resource in LB1. While from LB3 analysis, we will see that fish constituted a complementary resource in the diet. Thus, we can infer that, the role of animals in the diet of the site's prehistoric inhabitants changed during the time deposits were laid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce the papers of the QI Special Issue: Climate Change and Archaeology which were presented at the Second Frison Institute Symposium at the 2014 Society for American Archaeology annual meeting. Papers here examine the links between climate and cultural change, calling attention to the difficulty of determining the role played by climate in cultural change. Issues include whether chronological resolution of climate and cultural change is sufficient to determine that the former “caused” the latter. An additional issue is, assuming the chronological correlation is resolved, whether an observed behavioral or technological change can be attributed to climate change, or if the correlation is spurious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We offer a comment on the paper: “When did the Anthropocene begin? A mid-twentieth century boundary is stratigraphically optimal” by Jan Zalasiewicz et al. (2015), Quaternary International , 383, 196–203. We consider this proposal in the context of the procedures and terminology employed by the International Union of Geological Sciences which underpin the formal designation of chronostratigraphic units. Our conclusion is that there is no practical value in establishing the lower boundary of a new interval of geological time in the mid-twentieth century; equally, there is no sound stratigraphical basis for designating an additional chronostratigraphic unit above the Holocene in the international Geological Time Scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyse the transition Late Palaeolithic–Mesolithic in a restricted northern area into the Ebro Basin (from Álava to Huesca provinces), where this phase is still not well established. Between the end of the Alleröd and the start of the Boreal, the lithic assemblages are based on microlaminar industries with a predominance of backed pieces, related to the Magdalenian tradition. Despite this common microlaminar tradition, some internal differences suggest the possibility of evolution in time and perhaps in space. In order to develop an internal classification in the studied area, we analyse some backed types, and especially the chronological and regional relationship among the different industries tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to review the current state of research for the Early Neolithic (c.5000–c.4300 cal BC) in Cantabrian Spain. Bayesian chronological models have been constructed to examine the neolithisation process and assess the role radiocarbon dates may play in understanding this period. The models suggest that the disappearance of hunter-gatherer societies took place after the first Neolithic groups were active in the region. These results agree with the archaeological record for the Early Neolithic and are compatible with a “mosaic” neolithisation process in which local Mesolithic groups clearly participated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This volume presents some of the contributions resulting from a conference on recent developments in studies of the NE Asian Palaeolithic and Pleistocene that was held in June, 2013, in Yinchuan, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, in the Peoples' Republic of China, near the famous Palaeolithic site complex of Shuidonggou (SDG). At this conference, over 60 papers were presented on new evidence from China, and others on Mongolia, Korea, Japan, and Siberia, and of these, 22 are published here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the modes of dispersal, variability, and chronology of the Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) of Southern Siberia and the northern Central Asia. Several types of tool-markers, a peculiar type of reduction technology and two types of adornments, specific to the area under study, are distinguished. Based on current data, the author concludes that about 45,000 years ago, there was a rapid eastern movement of populations from a core region in part of the mountains of the Russian Altai towards central Mongolia and southwestern Transbaikal. In these regions, about 43,000–40,000 years ago, a second center of a blade-based IUP appeared. It was characterized by specific forms of tools, reduction technologies and personal adornments similar to those in the core region. Thus, the transfer of a whole set of a unified cultural tradition occurred. Therefore, based on the geographic and temporal distribution of tool-markers, ancient populations moved along the most southern of the possible routes, i.e. over the territory of present-day Mongolia and northwest China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature and variability of Chinese Paleolithic culture remain unclear because the method of studying lithic industries has been essentially typological, and few regions have been intensively researched. A technological and techno-functional methodology provides a new perspective for exploring the cognitive modes of hominids and interpreting the intra and inter-regional homogeneity and variability of Paleolithic cultures. Over the last few decades, numerous Paleolithic sites with stone artifacts were excavated in the Hanshui River Valley. Based on a new methodology and recent discoveries, this paper reviews the Paleolithic sites of the Hanshui River Valley and studies representative industries to investigate regional lithic production and human behaviors. In terms of operative schemes, débitage and façonnage coexisted at nearly all sites and showed continuity and stability throughout the Pleistocene. For débitage , the Type C was present in nearly all sites. For façonnage , operative scheme 1 (unifacially-knapped on matrix of simple bevel) was predominant. The operative schemes of both débitage and façonnage were extremely similar in that great emphasis was placed on the selection of natural technical characters rather than on intentional preparation. For inter-regional variability, the percentage of bifaces was much lower (<5%) than in Acheulean Complex and the operative schemes for producing these tools were different from those of Acheulean bifaces, which suggested a clear distinction of techno-cognitive modes between hominids of the Hanshui River Valley and those of the West. Regarding intra-regional variability, the technological and techno-functional method provides a new perspective for interpreting the variability of hominids' techno-cognitive modes during lithic production. More extensive dating analysis would enable the construction of a more detailed chronological sequence of the Hanshui River Valley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]