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Economic Prehistory . By Grahame Clark. Cambridge University Press: 1989. Pp. 638. £50, $90. Economic Anthropology. Edited by Stuart Plattner.Stanford University Press: 1989. Pp. 487. Hbk $49.50, £29.36; pbk $16.95, £10.05

This paper critically examines previous statements concerning the nature of the Middle/Upper Paleolithic transition in Western Europe. Mellars's overview of the transition in southwestern France forms the point of departure for discussion. Several of Mellars's contentions are modified in light of methodological weaknesses and recently available data. It is suggested that many observed Middle/Upper Paleolithic differences are best understood with reference to a restructuring of social relations across the boundary. This is seen to be consistent with the suggestions of Sally and Lewis Binford based on mortuary practices and lithic variability.

Field-work in 1984 and 1985 centred on the Klithi rockshelter has combined excavation and analysis of finds with palaeoenvironmental and palaeogeographical studies of the wider regional setting. Radiocarbon dates show that the deposits so far excavated extend from 10,000 BP to 17,000 BP. Excavations have concentrated on the uppermost levels (10,000 BP to 12,500 BP) immediately accessible below the surface, in order to develop methods for investigating spatial variation in the distribution of materials in the deposit. They have revealed a large hearth area in the back of the shelter as a major focus of activity. New details of the flint industry and faunal remains are presented, along with preliminary indications of spatial patterning. There is evidence for the performance of a wide range of subsistence activities based on locally available resources as well as evidence, in the form of exotic flint and marine shells, for contacts over a wide area. Palaeogeographical methods of analysis based on field mapping of geology, relief and terrain have been developed to define the distribution and density of the main herbivores under Pleniglacial conditions. Both the evidence from excavation and from these wider palaeogeographical studies emphasize the small scale of human activities, the small size of residential groups, and the likelihood of seasonal movements and social contacts over very extensive territories during the Upper Palaeolithic period.

This paper sets out the detailed stratigraphy and chronology of the palaeolithic rockshelters of Asprochaliko and Kastritsa excavated in the 1960s, the methods used by the original investigators in excavation and classification of the finds, and the general characteristics of the stone industries and fauna. Methods of estimating the density of finds are discussed. Estimates of time density — the number of specimens accumulated per unit area per unit time — are applied to the upper palaeolithic deposits at both sites and reveal major differences in the rate of discard of material, indicating more intensive occupation at Kastritsa. Inter-site differences in the proportion of faunal species and artefact types are analysed in the light of the time-density evidence, and the various factors that could have influenced the pattern of inter-site variation are discussed.

Evidence of Palaeolithic occupation in Epirus discovered in 1962 by the late E. S. Higgs is re-analysed, especially that from Asprochaliko and Kastritsa. The paper also presents the results of the first season's excavations at the rock-shelter of Klithi, which throws light on problems connected with the interpretation of the earlier excavation and the different functions of the two sites. The new excavations demonstrate that Klithi contains a rich Palaeolithic deposit, perhaps dating within the period 20,000 to 12,000 years ago.

It is now generally recognised that the activity known as hunting is a complex but predictable adaptation of small social units to the variable structure of the environment. In the last decade we have passed from the model of the hunter as a ‘catch-as-catch-can’ opportunist to an appreciation of his ability to exploit resources in both a systematic and efficient manner (Wilmsen 1973; Williams 1974; Jochim 1976). The investigation of how hunting decisions are made has led to a fuller appreciation of the component parts of this particular lifestyle, with the result that attention has shifted from technology, as the principal interest, to considerations of resource exploitation, demography, settlement location, interaction, and mating networks (Higgs 1976; Wobst 1974, 1976). In particular the differing adaptations of hunter-gatherer groups have been examined in relation to variations in the global ecosystem which shows a spatial succession of habitat types, grading from generalised to specialised, between the equatorial tropics and the arctic poles (Harris 1969; Yellen and Harpending 1972). While this is a most convenient framework for predicting many variable features of hunter-gatherer organisation, e.g. territory size and cultural patterning, its extreme generality obscures the options that exist within ecosystems at the smaller scale of local adaptation. Thus, far from confining hunting outcomes to broad eco-determinism, decisions made by hunting bands will be influenced by immediate features of the environment such as the location of grazing areas and the configurations of relief. The outcomes as seen in settlement patterns and demographic arrangements may well resemble, at a local level, the expected pattern as influenced by generalised environmental conditions, while viewed at a wider scale the prevailing environment might be highly specialised (Gamble 1978b, 181). The purpose of this paper is to examine, by means of a case study, a comparative structure for palaeolithic hunting strategies that involved the exploitation of large mammals.

In a recent synthesis of the British Palaeolithic, Derek Roe concluded that now is the moment to draw it all together and write the prehistory of the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic—and now is also the moment when the cornucopia of fact and opinion seems suddenly inclined to run dry.... So be it: after all it was made clear at the very beginning of the first chapter that the task of producing an acceptable factual account of how men lived during this period in Britain was actually impossible. (1981:268)

Clive Gamble reviews In Pursuit of the Past: Decoding the Archaeological Record. By Lewis R. Binford

International audience

International audience; The first settlement of Northern Europe occurred at the end of the Lower Pleistocene, then in a more palpable way during the long interglacial phases of the second half of the Middle Pleistocene. The North of France, and the whole of Northern Europe underwent marked climatic variations during the Quaternary, linked to the succession of Glacial-Interglacial cycles. During the second half of the Middle Pleistocene, Homo heidelbergensis evolves slowly towards the Neanderthal form, undoubtedly alongside societal changes. A first isolated sign of Levallois debitage is recorded at Cagny-La Garenne, during isotopic stage 11, around 450ka. During the Middle and Upper Pleistocene in Northern Europe, there is a link between the migratory flows of animal species in relation to climatic cycles and human presence. During the Pleistocene, therefore, land management and the transmission of territorial knowledge appear to concern relatively restricted territories.