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This article presents the results of research carried out at two previously unreported Eastern Desert Atbara River project (EDAR) Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites—EDAR 134 and EDAR 155. Luminescence dating results indicate human activity in this area during the Marine Isotope Stage 5 period (MIS 5), approximately 90 kya. Discussion concerning the affiliation of both analyzed inventories will be provided, including another MSA site from the EDAR area, where an assemblage dated to MIS 6/5e does not have technological features known from other technocomplexes in the eastern Sahara region (EDAR 135). Microscopic analysis of traces of tool use for the EDAR 155 assemblage shows the high impact of post-depositional (aeolian) processes on the state of preservation of lithic material. Sites EDAR 134 and 155 provide evidence for hominin activity during the late Pleistocene within an area only episodically accessible, due to arid conditions prevailing in the Saharan deserts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grinding stones are a worldwide technology, instrumental in processing food as far back as the African Middle Stone Age. Research interest in grinding stones, and the usewear on their surfaces, has grown in the last few decades. Models of grinding stone manufacture, use, and discard provide a reference for cross-cultural comparisons of practices and guide methodologies in planning usewear analysis based on kinetics. In Ethiopia, traditional knowledge of grinding stones is still accessible, and grinding stones remain in use. The models developed through interviews with, and observations of, local practitioners show processes and behaviors but also decisions made at various stages. Particular behaviors and decisions have impacts on tool wear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of this article are (1) to present the applicability of two methods of sex estimation of the coxal bone—the DiagnoseSexuelleProbabiliste (second version, DSP2) and the Brůžek's morphoscopic method (statistical version, SBMM)—on a large archeological metasample; (2) to provide the percentage of agreement between the two methods; and (3) to illustrate the interest to use both methods together. The metasample under study is composed of adult skeletons from several European collections spanning from the Final Mesolithic to the Early Modern period. It includes 1270 coxal bones belonging to 765 individuals. Final sex estimation provided by each method is compared for each coxal bone and for each individual. A sex estimate (female or male) has been obtained by at least one method for 1066 coxal bones, and for 685 of the individuals (83.9% and 89.5% of our sample, respectively). Incongruity between methods and/or left and right coxal bones is extremely rare. The combined use of SBMM and DSP2 yields high rates of congruent sex estimations. While DSP2 results in a lower rate of sex estimation compared to SBMM, it likely offers better inter‐observer reproducibility, and their joint application significantly increases the total number of classified individuals. It is recommended to record both metric and nonmetric variables from DSP2 and SBMM on both coxal bones to increase the number of sex estimations while maintaining high reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores tool-using activities undertaken in and around the earliest known evidence of post-built structures in Britain. Microwear results associated with at least three structures identified at the Early Mesolithic site of Star Carr, North Yorkshire, are examined as a means of identifying activity zones associated with the diverse stone tools used to process a variety of materials (e.g. wood, bone, antler, plant, hide, meat, fish). With 341 lithic artefacts analysed, this research represents the first microwear study focused on the post-built structures at Star Carr. A combination of spatial and microwear data has provided different scales of interpretation: from individual tool use to patterns of activity across the three structures. Different types of tool use observed have aided interpretations of possible activity areas where objects were produced and materials were processed. Zones of activity within one of the structures suggest that the working of some materials was more spatially restricted than others; even where there are high densities of flint deposition, spatial patterns in tool-using activity were observed. From this, it is interpreted that social norms and behaviours influenced the spatial organisation of different spaces. Our results demonstrate the importance of combining microwear analysis with GIS to explore function and variability in the use of Mesolithic structures—providing new insights into their role as social spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a series of 12 OSL/IRSL dates that revise and complete the chronology of the important Middle (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA) site Umbeli Belli in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. These dates shift the previous radiometric ages thousands of years older than earlier measurements and play a key role in revising the cultural stratigraphy of KwaZulu-Natal. We also discuss how these dates bring the chrono- and cultural stratigraphy of southern Africa into clearer focus. The Robberg sequence of Umbeli Belli is now firmly dated to 21 ± 2 ka, whereas the preceding Early LSA assemblage dates to ~32 ka, representing one of the earliest dates for this cultural expression in the broader region. The final MSA assemblages from Layer 7 to 9 now date to between 35 ka and 40 ka, overlapping more tightly with comparable assemblages from Sibhudu, Umhlatuzana and other sites. Layer 10, which was previously also assigned to the final MSA, now dates to ~47-54 ka, placing the assemblage within the temporal range of the Late MSA. The new dates provide a good explanation for the clear differences in material culture between Layer 10 and the younger layers. We also present two new ages for the deeper horizons 11b and 12 at Umbeli Belli, dating to 76 ± 9 ka and 80 ± 9 ka, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Pleistocene Social Contract: Culture and Cooperation in Human Evolution" by Kim Sterelny explores the origins and survival of human cooperation in an unequal world. Sterelny argues that early human societies were egalitarian and cooperative, but inequality emerged and stabilized over time. The book examines the role of culture in solving the challenges of cooperation, such as the generation and distribution of benefits. Sterelny presents a four-phase model of human cooperation, tracing its evolution from the suppression of dominance hierarchies to the establishment of sedentary societies with hierarchies. The book provides a detailed and empirically grounded account of human social evolution, drawing on a range of disciplinary fields. However, some caveats include the need for further exploration of factors such as cooperative breeding and the limits of ethnographic analogy. Overall, "The Pleistocene Social Contract" offers a comprehensive and insightful analysis of the evolution of human cooperation. [Extracted from the article]

Umhlatuzana rockshelter is known for its continuous record of Middle and Later Stone Age lithic assemblages. This study presents multiproxy geoarchaeological data (micromorphology, X‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy with energy‐dispersive spectroscopy) to reconstruct the depositional and post‐depositional history of the site. Although the Stone Age deposits macroscopically appear homogeneous, micromorphological analysis reveals the existence of primary, unaltered depositional microlayering throughout the sequence. Sediments related to combustion activities on‐site are observed in both the Holocene and Pleistocene deposits. Post‐depositional geochemical alterations result in the formation of several phosphatic minerals that significantly affect the site's preservation conditions. One of those is vashegyite, a rare magnesium phosphate mineral related to acidic and moist sedimentary environments. Bioturbation features are prominent at the microscale, but sediment mixing does not seem to affect the vertical distribution of the artifacts. The observation of horizontal microlayering in both the Pleistocene and Holocene illuminates the dominant mechanism of sedimentation throughout the site's 70,000‐year occupational history. It moreover shows that the lithics can be analysed as coherent assemblages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeoseismology is a field of science that investigates the remains of ancient human structures of destructive earthquakes that occurred in their ancient history and in this respect makes inferences on the possible effects of earthquakes whose origins will be may occurred in the future. Although many authors wrote the effects of ancient earthquakes in various periods, the first modern archaeoseismology studies in the world gain momentum starting from the end of the 19th century at the same time with Türkiye. In this understanding, the geography of Anatolia (Asia Minor), which has hosted a wide variety of cultural layers since its Mesolithic end, is an open-air research laboratory for modern archaeoseismological studies. This study is a reference work that summarizes the historical past of the discipline of archaeoseismology chronologically in the perspective of studies on Earth and Anatolia, presents suggestions about the future of archaeoseismology and is a literature summary for the new generation of archaeoseismologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ancient genomic analyses are often restricted to utilizing pseudohaploid data due to low genome coverage. Leveraging low-coverage data by imputation to calculate phased diploid genotypes that enables haplotype-based interrogation and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) calling at unsequenced positions is highly desirable. This has not been investigated for ancient cattle genomes despite these being compelling subjects for archeological, evolutionary, and economic reasons. Here, we test this approach by sequencing a Mesolithic European aurochs (18.49×; 9,852 to 9,376 calBCE) and an Early Medieval European cow (18.69×; 427 to 580 calCE) and combine these with published individuals: two ancient and three modern. We downsample these genomes (0.25×, 0.5×, 1.0×, and 2.0×) and impute diploid genotypes, utilizing a reference panel of 171 published modern cattle genomes that we curated for 21.7 million (Mn) phased SNPs. We recover high densities of correct calls with an accuracy of >99.1% at variant sites for the lowest downsample depth of 0.25×, increasing to >99.5% for 2.0× (transversions only, minor allele frequency [MAF] ≥ 2.5%). The recovery of SNPs correlates with coverage; on average, 58% of sites are recovered for 0.25× increasing to 87% for 2.0×, utilizing an average of 3.5 million (Mn) transversions (MAF ≥2.5%), even in the aurochs, despite the highest temporal distance from the modern reference panel. Our imputed genomes behave similarly to directly called data in allele frequency-based analyses, for example consistently identifying runs of homozygosity >2 Mb, including a long homozygous region in the Mesolithic European aurochs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Rhône Valley's Middle Neolithic gathering site of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux (France), the positioning of two females within a structure aligned with the solstices is atypical. Their placement (back and prone) under the overhang of a silo in front of a third in a central position suggests a ritualized form of homicidal ligature strangulation. The first occurrence dates back to the Mesolithic, and it is from the Early Neolithic of Central Europe that the practice expands, becoming a sacrificial rite associated with an agricultural context in the Middle Neolithic. Examining 20 cases from 14 sites spanning nearly two millennia from Eastern Europe to Catalonia reveals the evolution of this ritual murder practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Holocene Storegga tsunami, 8120–8175 cal a bp, resulted in run‐up heights of up to 3–6 m around mainland UK and coincided with a suggested large population decline in the coastally focused Mesolithic population in Northern Britain. At Howick, Northumberland, the site of a Mesolithic settlement, a nearby sediment deposit may be of tsunamigenic origin, but this is uncertain. Here, a numerical model was used to simulate the Storegga tsunami in Northumberland. Two scenarios of relative sea‐level change, and a third incorporating high tide, were simulated with mortality estimated within the intertidal zone for the Mesolithic sites in the region. The results showed that only with the addition of high tide could the sediment deposit site have been inundated by the tsunami. At Howick, mortality estimates varied but were up to 100% within the resource‐rich intertidal zone. The tsunami inundated a large area and would have led to the loss of key resources such as hazelnuts prior to the winter months. These combined effects would have probably been replicated throughout coastal settlements in Northern Britain, possibly leading to the contemporary population decline estimated to have occurred at this time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The understanding of cultural dynamics at work at the end of the Final Pleistocene in West Africa suffers from a significant lack of excavated and dated sites, particularly in the Sahelian and Sudanian ecozones. While the Later Stone Age shows varied behavioral developments in different parts of the continent, the chrono-cultural framework of this period remains largely unknown in West Africa. We report on archaeological, geomorphological, and chronological research on two Final Pleistocene Later Stone Age sites in the Falémé Valley, eastern Senegal. Optically stimulated luminescence ages place the site of Toumboura I-2017 between 17 ± 1 and 16 ± 1 ka and the Ravin de Sansandé site between 13 ± 1 ka and 12 ± 1.1 ka. The excavated lithics show typical Later Stone Age industries, characterized by chaînes opératoires of core reduction mainly producing flakes and bladelets as well as blades and laminar flakes. Segments dominate the toolkits but a few backed bladelets and end-scrapers on flake blanks were recognized. Local raw materials were used, with a preference for chert and quartz, as well as greywacke. These Later Stone Age lithic assemblages are the oldest known in Senegal so far and add to the small number of sites known in West Africa for this period, which are mainly located farther south, in sub-tropical ecozones. The Later Stone Age sites of the Falémé Valley are contemporaneous with typical Middle Stone Age technologies in Senegal dated to at least the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. Our results thus provide new archaeological evidence highlighting the complex cultural processes at work during the Final Pleistocene in West Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological systematics, together with spatial and chronological information, are commonly used to infer cultural evolutionary dynamics in the past. For the study of the Palaeolithic, and particularly the European Final Palaeolithic and earliest Mesolithic, proposed changes in material culture are often interpreted as reflecting historical processes, migration, or cultural adaptation to climate change and resource availability. Yet, cultural taxonomic practice is known to be variable across research history and academic traditions, and few large-scale replicable analyses across such traditions have been undertaken. Drawing on recent developments in computational archaeology, we here present a data-driven assessment of the existing Final Palaeolithic/earliest Mesolithic cultural taxonomy in Europe. Our dataset consists of a large expert-sourced compendium of key sites, lithic toolkit composition, blade and bladelet production technology, as well as lithic armatures. The dataset comprises 16 regions and 86 individually named archaeological taxa ('cultures'), covering the period between ca. 15,000 and 11,000 years ago (cal BP). Using these data, we use geometric morphometric and multivariate statistical techniques to explore to what extent the dynamics observed in different lithic data domains (toolkits, technologies, armature shapes) correspond to each other and to the culture-historical relations of taxonomic units implied by traditional naming practice. Our analyses support the widespread conception that some dimensions of material culture became more diverse towards the end of the Pleistocene and the very beginning of the Holocene. At the same time, cultural taxonomic unit coherence and efficacy appear variable, leading us to explore potential biases introduced by regional research traditions, inter-analyst variation, and the role of disjunct macroevolutionary processes. In discussing the implications of these findings for narratives of cultural change and diversification across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, we emphasize the increasing need for cooperative research and systematic archaeological analyses that reach across research traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Stone Age, the collection of specific rocks was the first step in tool making. Very little is known about the choices made during tool-stone acquisition. Were choices governed by the knowledge of, and need for, specific properties of stones? Or were the collected raw materials a mere by-product of the way people moved through the landscape? We investigate these questions in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) of southern Africa, analyzing the mechanical properties of tool-stones used at the site Diepkloof Rock Shelter. To understand knapping quality, we measure flaking predictability and introduce a physical model that allows calculating the relative force necessary to produce flakes from different rocks. To evaluate their quality as finished tools, we investigate their resistance during repeated use activities (scraping or cutting) and their strength during projectile impacts. Our findings explain tool-stone selection in two emblematic periods of the MSA, the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort, as being the result of a deep understanding of these mechanical properties. In both cases, people chose those rocks, among many others, that allowed the most advantageous trade-off between anticipated properties of finished tools and the ease of acquiring rocks and producing tools. The implications are an understanding of African MSA toolmakers as engineers who carefully weighed their choices taking into account workability and the quality of the tools they made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early Holocene, western and central Europe was inhabited by a genetically distinct group ofWestern Hunter-Gatherers (WHGs). This group was eventually replaced and assimilated by the incoming Neolithic farmers. The western Atlantic façade was home to some of the last Mesolithic sites of mainland Europe, represented by the iconic open-air sites at Hoedic and Téviec in southern Brittany, France. These sites are known for the unusually well-preserved and rich burials. Genomic studies of Mesolithic European hunter-gatherers have been limited to single or a few individuals per site and our understanding of the social dynamics of the last Mesolithic hunter-gatherers of Europe and their interactions with incoming farmers is limited. We sequenced and analyzed the complete genomes of 10 individuals from the Late Mesolithic sites of Hoedic, Téviec, and Champigny, in France, four of which sequenced to between 23- and 8-times genome coverage. The analysis of genomic, chronological and dietary data revealed that the Late Mesolithic populations in Brittany maintained distinct social units within a network of exchanging mates. This resulted in low intra-group biological relatedness that prevented consanguineous mating, despite the small population size of the Late Mesolithic groups. We found no genetic ancestry from Neolithic farmers in the analyzed hunter-gatherers, even though some of them may have coexisted with the first farming groups in neighboring regions. Hence, contrary to previous conclusions based on stable isotope data from the same sites, the Late Mesolithic forager community was limited in mate-exchange to neighboring hunter-gatherer groups, to the exclusion of Neolithic farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significance: Recent research reveals that the arid western interior of South Africa has experienced substantially more humid conditions on several occasions during the last 70 000 years. These findings, likely regional in scope, speak to changes to the resource base available to prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Together with recent archaeological findings from this region, there has emerged a growing recognition that previously archaeologically overlooked areas of South Africa's arid interior need to be included in models of human history. This presents new challenges for archaeologists and palaeoclimatologists, particularly given the prevalence of surficial, rather than stratified, archaeological evidence throughout much of this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues against recognising a 'generic Middle Stone Age (MSA)' as a formal taxon for use in African prehistoric archaeology. Surveying 46 Eastern African MSA stone tool assemblages reveals wild mismatches between what an undifferentiated or 'generic' MSA is supposed to do and what it almost certainly will do. A generic MSA will reduce African prehistoric archaeology's potential contribution to human origins research. If one were searching for a way in which to make Africa's stone tool evidence irrelevant to human origins research, then one could hardly do better than to offer archaeologists a generic MSA to which to assign lithic assemblages. At the editors' invitation, the paper also comments briefly on several of the other contributions to this special issue of Azania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent decades have seen a surge of interest in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) as it constitutes the archaeological background to the early evolution of Homo sapiens. Research primacy has been given to rare regional and temporal signatures of MSA technological diversity and material culture, typically in open grassland or sparse savanna regions. These include, for example, the Still Bay, Howiesons Poort, Lupemban and Aterian, all of which can be seen as specific variants of the MSA. Archaeological assemblages apparently lacking distinctive features have received little attention in their own right. Such occurrences can be subsumed under the informal term of a more 'generic' MSA. The marginalisation of this material culture is problematic as it dominates the MSA record. The apparent continuity and commonality of generic MSA elements over large spatial and temporal scales also raise manifold questions about the early evolution of our species. As such, a 'generic' MSA might be perceived as the common technological and material substrate of early Homo sapiens behaviour and culture. At the same time, we lack quantitative studies that justify subsuming close to 300,000 years of material culture into a single category. This special issue of Azania is based on a symposium at the Sixteenth Congress of the PanAfrican Archaeological Association of Prehistory and Related Studies in Zanzibar (Tanzania) that brought together researchers working in different African regions to scrutinise apparently 'non-specific' MSA lithic assemblages across time and space, evaluating their commonality and relevance on different chronological and geographical scales. The six articles in this issue span comparative quantitative studies within and across regions, methodological and theoretical advances to reach these goals and the integration of palaeoecological data. A common interest lies in understanding but also testing the validity of using a 'generic' MSA and the general relevance of more specific or generic technological assemblages in the wider framework of modern human cultural and biological evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eastern Africa maintains a key position in debates surrounding the emergence of Homo sapiens across Africa. Extensive research in the region has revealed a rich fossil record in association with a 'generic' but variable Middle Stone Age (MSA) material culture, providing an important laboratory for testing hypotheses about the behavioural evolution of our species. For example, multiple archaeological studies of the eastern African MSA note a link between the distribution and density of sites, archaeological diversity and environmental conditions, with ecology and demography often cited as key drivers of cultural evolution. This article formulates new hypotheses using theoretical models of complex fitness landscapes of evolution and reviews the archaeological and climatic records of Middle-late Pleistocene eastern Africa in the light of these ideas. It proposes that evidence from eastern Africa implicates much of the region as a refugial zone within Pleistocene Africa, providing consistently suitable conditions for survival that were characterised by high and changing biodiversity, facilitating population growth and interconnectivity as well as material culture diversification. Interactions between different evolutionary processes likely resulted in the complex cultural mosaic observed across Africa, including the appearance of 'specific' innovations against a backdrop of more 'generic' MSA elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Middle Stone Age in northwest Africa is mainly described in terms of two technocomplexes, the Aterian and Mousterian, the definitions of which have evolved as research has progressed. While the Aterian is often characterised by tanged tool assemblages, the Mousterian seems to have been defined by default and other denominations such as Levalloisian, Middle Palaeolithic and Sbaikian have also been used for MSA lithic assemblages without pedunculates. Beyond the legitimate question of the relevance of these classifications, one may wonder whether the available quantitative data allow us to identify the variability of lithic assemblages outside the Aterian technocomplex. In the Algerian context, this question is addressed by analysing data recovered by researchers from archaeological sites qualified as non-Aterian. Information and gaps are discussed and compared with what is known about the same period in northwestern Africa, particularly Morocco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a 100-year scientific research legacy, the Middle Stone Age (MSA) record of Central Africa remains poorly known and is stubbornly peripheral to debates on the timing, pace and nature of technological change in relation to the evolutionary origins of Homo sapiens. The MSA Lupemban industry is often characterised as the singular representative of the MSA across the region, but the details of its chrono-stratigraphic relationship with preceding and particularly succeeding industries are still unclear. To archaeologists working with longer records on the margins of Central Africa, the Lupemban has been principally conceptualised in relation to the preceding Acheulean/MSA transition, and as a specifically early MSA, late Middle Pleistocene (MIS 7?) entity. Evidence presented here suggests that it was subsequently replaced or graded into a 'generic' or 'undifferentiated' MSA, or into a sub-regional 'Lupembo-Tshitolian' industry. By contrast, the shorter records of Lowland Atlantic Central Africa mean that there archaeologists have instead reported the Lupemban as a probably late-persisting Upper Pleistocene (MIS 3/2?) industry that temporally abuts the Later Stone Age (LSA) without any 'generic MSA'. This paper reviews key sequences from the periphery and core of Central Africa and explores these differing perspectives to address the reality and complexities of a Central African 'generic MSA'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a response to the conference session 'Generic MSA: fact or fiction?' held as part of the PanAfrican Association Conference in 2022 in Unguja, Tanzania. It questions the validity of the concept of a 'generic Middle Stone Age' and goes beyond the simple debate of terminology that has persisted for nearly 75 years. Instead, it uses this as a starting point to discuss the past, present and future of lithic analyses, including the history of terminology in the African Stone Age, the current topics of lithic enquiry and the role of lithic analysis following the Third Science Revolution. It highlights the effect of tensions between science versus humanities approaches and provides suggestions for future lithic analysts. Lithic studies remain of great importance but are only one source of evidence in modern interdisciplinary human origins research. The paper contends that there is not a single approach suitable for all sites or regions since analyses are contingent upon the questions being asked. Instead, it emphasises opportunities for multivocality and suggests that despite the focus here on the Middle Stone Age the conclusions reached are more widely applicable to other times and places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stone points are one of the key features used to define the African Middle Stone Age (MSA). Regional patterns in their shape and size through time have been thought to reflect inter-group interactions and networks of populations and are used to define cultural phases within the MSA. However, eastern Africa does not have distinctive and widely applied chrono-stratigraphic point variants that divide its MSA record, which is often described as being highly variable. This paper presents a metric and geometric morphometric analysis of eastern African MSA points and evaluates potential drivers of variation in them in relation to null models of isolation by distance, time and environment. Approximately half of the shape variance in our sample can be explained by spatial, temporal and environmental differences, as well as by size, indicating a degree of demographic continuity through sustained cultural transmission. A portion of the remaining variance likely represents stylistic differences between assemblages, which are often the subject of interest in archaeological studies. The highly variable nature of the eastern African MSA may reflect the region's refugial positioning within the continent, with point technology a flexible adaptive system that was dynamically employed across Africa during the MSA depending on varying social and ecological contexts, resulting in the appearance of both 'generic' and 'specific' tool forms at particular times and places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological works which uncovered a multi-period site were undertaken in 2018 and 2019 south of Kingsteps, Nairn, Highland. The archaeological features excavated comprised a possible Mesolithic feature, Neolithic fire pits, Early and Late Bronze Age pits, Iron Age and Pictish pits, and linear post-medieval features. In addition, further pits were identified which were similar in form and size to the Bronze Age pits and have therefore been interpreted as possibly prehistoric in date. Within the wider landscape surrounding Kingsteps a picture of similar multi-phased activity has been revealed at sites like Lochloy and Balmakeith Industrial Estate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dating and meaning of petroglyphs constitute a challenge in African rock-art research. In this article, we present and discuss a recently found rock-art assemblage from the Shaqadud site complex (Sudan), a site aggregation that nicely documents Holocene prehistoric cultural adaptations in non-aquatic, deep-savanna environments in what is today the Eastern Sahel. The rock-art corpus contains 120 identifiable motifs with a clear predominance of giraffes (n = 113, 94.2%) that are of small dimensions (< 50 cm) and are shown in a limited number of compositions. The thematic and technological compactness of the assemblage suggests a chronological integrity of the local figurative rock art and a coherent thematic and technological mindset of its creators. The archaeological context and the general characteristics of the assemblage place the local figurative rock art between the beginning of the Holocene and the Late Neolithic, in absolute dates between ca. 8748–1639 cal BC. However, spatial and visual connections could suggest a narrower dating of the assemblage, to the late Khartoum Mesolithic, around 6421–6088 cal BC. The predominance of the giraffe in the Shaqadud rock art suggests that this species may have carried a special significance for the local prehistoric communities. At the same time, the lack of hunting scenes in the figurative assemblage indicates that the importance of the giraffe motif goes beyond subsistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers some problems of the Late Palaeolithic and the Mesolithic periods in Northern Italy. More precisely, it deals with chronology, settlement pattern, techno-typological characteristics of knapped stone assemblages, and climatic changes that have taken place in the region from the discovery of the first sites in the 1960s and the excavations that soon followed to the present state of research. The Italian Alps, the Piedmont, and the valleys that descend from the high massifs have yielded important traces of Late Palaeolithic (Final Epigravettian) and Mesolithic (Sauveterrian and Castelnovian) sites and findspots, some of which are rock shelters that were settled throughout several millennia. This paper describes and discusses the evidence available mainly from two regions of the western and eastern Alpine arc, which are characterised by very different landscapes and yielded a great variety of archaeological features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A quantitative analysis of 150 Mesolithic dwellings in Norway, dated to between 9500 and 4000 cal bc, forms the core of a chronological and regional study based on fifteen variables, including floor size and shape, floor modifications and wall features, internal hearths, numbers and distribution of artefacts, traces of maintenance or reuse, and the number of dwellings per site. The study identifies a distinct change in dwelling traditions between the Early and Middle Mesolithic, around 8000 cal bc. Tents are typical of the Early Mesolithic, whereas remains of pit houses dominate in all later phases of the Mesolithic. The study also sheds light on variability in dwelling traditions after 8000 cal bc, which appears to relate to changes in social structure, growing territoriality, and regional differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the application of X‐ray computed tomography to the recording and analysis of ornamentation on the Mesolithic harpoon found at Police in north‐west Poland. The geometric ornament was divided into eight areas. Based on the tomographic data, a method of quantitative analysis of ornamentation was proposed. For lines selected in individual areas, three profiles were determined for which the width, depth and opening angle of the ornament lines were measured. The analysis of these data, including statistical analyses, revealed a degree of variation, dependent on the engraving technique and the instrument used to make the ornament. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of trapeze industries (the creation of trapeze-shaped flint tips) during Late Mesolithic is one of the most disruptive phenomena of technological change documented in the European Prehistory. Understanding the chronological patterns of this process requires (i) a critical evaluation of stratigraphic relationship between trapeze assemblages and radiocarbon samples, and (ii) considering different levels of chronological uncertainty according to the inbuilt age of the samples and the calibration process. In this paper, we critically evaluate and analyze the radiocarbon record of the first trapeze industries in the Iberian Peninsula. A dataset of 181 radiocarbon dates from 67 sites dated to 8800–8200 cal BP was collected and evaluated following a strict data quality control protocol, from which 135 dates of 53 sites were retained and classified according to a reliability index. Then, three different phase Bayesian chronological models were created to estimate the duration of the first spread of trapezes across Iberia, considering different levels of chrono-stratigraphic resolution. We find that trapeze industries appeared in the eastern half of Iberia, over an area of 330,000 km2 between 8505–8390 and 8425–8338 cal BP, spanning 0–85 yr (95.4% CI). When the oldest evidence of trapezes from Portugal are considered, the probability distribution expands (8943–8457 and 8686–7688 cal BP), due to the chronological uncertainty of human samples with marine diet and regional ΔR values applied. For the eastern half of Iberia, the current evidence indicates a very rapid spread of trapeze industries initiated in the Central-Western Pyrenees, suggesting cultural diffusion within Mesolithic social networks as the main driving mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Footprints represent a relevant vestige providing direct information on the biology, locomotion, and behaviour of the individuals who left them. However, the spatiotemporal distribution of hominin footprints is heterogeneous, particularly in North Africa, where no footprint sites were known before the Holocene. This region is important in the evolution of hominins. It notably includes the earliest currently known Homo sapiens (Jebel Irhoud) and the oldest and richest African Middle Stone Age hominin sites. In this fragmented ichnological record, we report the discovery of 85 human footprints on a Late Pleistocene now indurated beach surface of about 2800 m2 at Larache (Northwest coast of Morocco). The wide range of sizes of the footprints suggests that several individuals from different age groups made the tracks while moving landward and seaward across a semi-dissipative bar-trough sandy beach foreshore. A geological investigation and an optically stimulated luminescence dating of a rock sample extracted from the tracksite places this hominin footprint surface at 90.3 ± 7.6 ka (MIS 5, Late Pleistocene). The Larache footprints are, therefore, the oldest attributed to Homo sapiens in Northern Africa and the Southern Mediterranean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a holistic analysis of the occupation sequence at the rock shelter of Zacatín (Gualchos-Castell de Ferro, Granada, Spain), a site in the cliffs along Andalusia's Mediterranean coastline. Despite being disturbed by cave-ins and erosion, it offers valuable information on the transition between the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and the first Neolithic farming communities in southern Iberia. The study adopted an approach combining stratigraphical and radiocarbon analyses with typological, archaeozoological and archaeobotanical classifications. The stratigraphical sequence comprises four main phases. The uppermost level (Phase 4) yielded a combination of modern and displaced prehistoric elements. Intermediate Phases 3 and 2 correspond to Early Neolithic layers ranging between the mid-6th to the beginning of the 5th millennium cal BC. The Neolithic finds consist of incised and impressed potsherds, stone tools, ornaments (perforated shells and discoidal beads) as well as domestic animals (caprines) and plant (cereals) species. Although the older Mesolithic horizon (Phase 1) yielded few characteristic artifacts, radiocarbon datings place it in the 7th millennium cal BC. In any case, an original aspect of the site is the key role played by marine resources throughout both its Mesolithic and Neolithic phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Iberian Peninsula is the ideal setting for the study of the use of marine resources in the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. Previous studies have focused on specific geographical areas and on a single chronological period. Instead, we offer here a synthesis of the peninsula covering a broad period of time, thus allowing a study of the role of marine resources in the Neolithisation process. Published data on the exploitation of marine molluscs from 59 archaeological levels, close to the coast and dated between 10,400 and 4650 cal BP, in the Iberian Peninsula are reviewed in order to examine the change that occurred in the consumption of marine resources following the introduction of domestic plants and animals. The analysis of the composition and diversity of assemblages collected at each site has allowed us to identify specialisation in the management strategy of marine molluscs during the Neolithic. Regional variability in the diversity of species collected, particularly in the Cantabrian region, where there is continuity in the management of molluscs between the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, could be linked to the pace at which agriculture and animal husbandry were adopted. In short, together with environmental factors, the establishment of farming practices may have had a slight impact on the specialisation in the management of coastal environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prehistoric chewed pitch has proven to be a useful source of ancient DNA, both from humans and their microbiomes. Here we present the metagenomic analysis of three pieces of chewed pitch from Huseby Klev, Sweden, that were dated to 9,890–9,540 before present. The metagenomic profile exposes a Mesolithic oral microbiome that includes opportunistic oral pathogens. We compared the data with healthy and dysbiotic microbiome datasets and we identified increased abundance of periodontitis-associated microbes. In addition, trained machine learning models predicted dysbiosis with 70–80% probability. Moreover, we identified DNA sequences from eukaryotic species such as red fox, hazelnut, red deer and apple. Our results indicate a case of poor oral health during the Scandinavian Mesolithic, and show that pitch pieces have the potential to provide information on material use, diet and oral health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of entheseal changes requires knowing the biological profile of the sample analyzed, given that, mainly, the sex and age of the individuals influence the prevalence and degrees of the entheseal features. However, the bioarcheological record of several past populations presents isolated and commingled human bone remains, which constrains the estimation of such data. In this work, we propose to analyze the entheseal changes with the Coimbra method in a sample composed mainly of commingled human bone remains and, to a lesser extent, of semi‐complete individuals. For this purpose, we analyzed 312 bone elements from the upper and lower limbs of Late Mesolithic (Muge complex) and Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic archeological sites from Portugal. The results support previous information that individuals older than 40 present higher entheseal changes. In addition, body size has a low effect on entheseal changes and bone's biomechanical properties are positively correlated with some entheseal features. Some entheseal traits show higher prevalence during the Mesolithic, but there is mainly an increase in entheseal changes during the Neolithic. Although these differences could be due to different biological profiles between both samples, differences in lifestyle may also have contributed to the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) was an important member of Early and Mid-Holocene landscapes and animal communities in Northern Europe. Previous zooarchaeological research has established the alimentary roles of beavers for Mesolithic societies and their importance for fur procurement. In this paper, we develop an integrated biocultural approach to human-beaver interactions, examining the position of humans and beavers in Mesolithic and Early Neolithic multispecies systems. We contextualize beaver landscape agency in hydroactive environments with human behaviour, synthesizing currently available data on mammalian assemblages, ichtyofauna and beaver-related material culture across Northern Europe. This cross-cultural, diachronic analysis reveals previously overlooked facilitations of human behaviour by beaver practices and ecological legacies. We show that long-term trajectories of human-beaver cohabitation differed between northern European regions. While in Southern Scandinavia, human-beaver intersections witnessed major re-organizations during the Mid-Holocene, beavers retained a key role for human societies across Northeastern Europe throughout much of the Holocene and played an important part at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in the Dutch wetlands. Divergent pathways are also evidenced by Mesolithic beaver-related material culture, highlighting the cultural keystone status of Castor fiber in higher latitude European landscapes. We argue that this keystone status is grounded in the supply of human hunting, fishing, and gathering affordances by the animals, pointing to the generative commensality between Mesolithic foragers and their beaver neighbours. Taken together, our findings demonstrate the importance of the beaver in the making of Early and Mid-Holocene forager societies in Northern Europe and illustrate the fruitfulness of deploying an integrated multispecies approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Dudka and Szczepanki sites yielded numerous loose human bones. They were found at the main cemetery at Dudka and in all the main settlement zones and are connected with multi-step burial rites, which were practiced by local hunter-gatherer society, especially in the Para-Neolithic period. Loose human bones from the settlement areas result from two ritual practices: temporary burials and the storage of bones at the encampment. Temporary burials were deposited mostly in the eastern bay at Dudka (trench III) from the Early Mesolithic to classic Zedmar period, when a large increase in their number is observed. Temporary burials were deposited on the slope between the encampment and the lake. Most human remains from Szczepanki may also be interpreted as temporary burials, which were located on the shore or directly at the encampment. The evidence of frequent storage of bones, especially skulls, is documented for the encampment area in trench I at Dudka as well as for the settled plateau in trench III, but mainly in the post-Zedmar period. Loose human bones at the main cemetery at Dudka may be connected with different ritual activities as well. Some of the bones come from possible emptied graves, i.e. most bones of the deceased were intentionally removed from the graves. Single bones, especially skulls and mandibles, may have been deposited as secondary burials in small pits or directly on the ground of the cemetery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Elm Decline (ED), is a marked reduction in Ulmus recognised in pollen diagrams from across north/northwest Europe c. 5-6000 cal BP, the causes of which have been much discussed for over half a century, partly because of its broad chronological correspondence with the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. We present a formal statistical analysis of the ED chronology in Ireland, analysing its association with early Neolithic anthropogenic activity as indicated indirectly by palynological evidence and directly through radiocarbon dated cereal macrofossils. The results derived from pollen records regarded as sufficiently robust for Bayesian modelling indicate the date for the ED ranges from the later Mesolithic to middle Neolithic. Different palynological 'expressions' of the ED are identified, and comparison of the ED date range and increases in Plantago lanceolata indicate that although correlation between anthropogenic activity and the onset of the 'Elm Decline' can be identified at several sites, this is not consistent. Comparison with the cereal macrofossil record demonstrates that generally the ED occurred prior to the onset of Neolithic cereal cultivation as defined by these data. We discuss implications for understanding the patterns and processes that may underlie the ED and question whether the 'Elm Decline' continues to merit the definite article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This work presents the analysis of the geometric microliths of Cueva de la Cocina (València, Spain). It does so considering the hypothesis that, given the size of the cave's assemblage and its distinctive cultural markers, it could have acted as an aggregation site for the Late Mesolithic in the Mediterranean Iberia. The work presented here uses the cultural similarity of the geometric microliths of different sites to test this hypothesis, relying on several methodological techniques such as tactical simulation and geometric morphometrics, while offering proposals for the correction of data imbalance in archaeological data. As a conclusion, our data points to the fact that, for the last phase of the Late Mesolithic (phase B in the regional sequence) the site could have indeed acted as an aggregation site, but we require caution on the results of our analysis fundamentally on two grounds: (1) whether the cultural variation of the geometric microliths offers enough resolution for microscale analysis and (2) the necessity to combine this proxy with other types of archaeological artefacts which could give (or rest) strength to our hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper constitutes a narrative view of the diachronic research conducted at Cueva de la Cocina (Dos Aguas, València) and its consequences on the Spanish Mesolithic literature from the middle of the 20th century to current times. Since its discover in 1941, the site has become one of the key sites regarding the sequence of the Late Mesolithic in Mediterranean Iberia. The campaigns conducted by L. Pericot (1941-45) provided the first archaeological sequence between the end of the Palaeolithic and the Early Neolithic in the aforementioned area. The review developed by J. Fortea in his fundamental book, focused on the Mediterranean "Epipalaeolithic", reinforced the initial postulates on the occupations of the last hunter-gatherers and gave place to the current sequence. The goal of this work consists of providing some light in the epistemological trajectory that conforms the Mesolithic's research history. Particularly, we want to highlight the importance to understand pioneering works to open new research questions considering current archaeological challenges and chances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a refined Mesolithic chronocultural sequence as a result of matching data provided by the set of archaeological research conducted at Cueva de la Cocina (Valencia, Spain) in the 20th and 21st centuries and the new radiocarbon dates record. Because available data are of different quality, we apply a methodological framework based on Bayesian modelling approaches. To do this, we systematically order each one of the archaeological registers and then combine the information in a unitary general chronology. Our novel approach introduces Bayesian modelling from a double analytical procedure: using Bayesian chronological models applied to the stratigraphic sequence of Pericot's excavation in Cocina cave we build a general phase model using data from multiple years of archaeological fieldwork. One the most reliable layers have been defined, we use this information to define the rest of the sequence through a Predictive Bayesian approach. This approach sheds light on evolutionary questions from a macroscale regarding the socioecological dynamics of the last hunter-gatherers and their role for explaining the subsequent agricultural spread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of previously unpublished human remains were found at Cueva de la Cocina (Dos Aguas, Valencia, Spain) in excavations from the 1940s and 1970s. Our analyses indicate a minimum of 5 individuals were present in the archaeological deposit, including both adults and children. AMS radiocarbon dating and osteological analysis document ritual defleshing or skinning during the Late Mesolithic, while δ13C and δ15N stable isotope analysis and comparisons to contemporary Mesolithic human remains from the region suggest that these individuals were part of a broader subsistence and cultural network of Holocene hunter-gatherers. Ancient DNA data indicate these late Mesolithic individuals were descendants of a major spread of a new population after a population turnover at the end of the Late Glacial. This research highlights the importance of long-term curation of archaeological finds and revisiting legacy collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the Mesolithic in the northwest Atlantic and inland area of the Iberian Peninsula and it is considered in the overall context of the rest of the Peninsula. The Cantabrian Mountains are the northern boundary of the study area, which excludes the adjoining coastal area. In addition to the geographical, geological and environmental settings, the chronology and human remains are also reviewed, paying special attention to the specific characteristics of each of the main sites. The primary faunal, plant remain, bone and stone industry - including raw material supply, technology and typology - features of the main settlements are also presented. All of the above allow us to discuss the similarities and peculiarities of the Mesolithic of this area in relation to other regions of the Peninsula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its strategic importance at the furthermost edge of the Neolithic expansion in Europe, archaeogenetic data from Mesolithic and Neolithic human remains from Portugal are still very limited. Here we present ancient mtDNA evidence (mostly unpublished) to fill the gap and discuss the pattern of "genetic resurgence" of hunter-gatherer (Mesolithic) ancestry, widely reported elsewhere in Europe, among the first megalith builders (Middle Neolithic) of western Iberia. A total of 11 Mesolithic and Neolithic necropolises located in the central and southern regions of Portugal dated to ca. 6200–3000 BC were studied. These sites comprise all Mesolithic–Neolithic cultural stages and include several funerary architectures and spaces. Reproducible mtDNA HVRI haplotypes were obtained from 23 individuals from six different archaeological sites spread across a >3000-year transect, from the Late Mesolithic to the Late Neolithic. Our results support a three-stage explanatory demographic and populational model: i) local hunter-gatherer populations constituted a highly homogeneous genetic pool; ii) the first farming practices were introduced by human groups carrying new, extraneous haplogroups and exhibiting the signature of admixture events occurring at the time of first contact with local hunter-gatherers; iii) the genetic pattern detected among the megalith-building populations, showing hunter-gatherer along with farming ancestry, may be explained by the segmentary principles, and attendant endogamic practices, that structured Neolithic societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The origin of Ireland's fauna is an unresolved issue in the history of the island. Although researchers once considered Ireland's mammals to have spread to Ireland during the early postglacial from 11,700 cal BP, research has increasingly suggested humans translocated many of these species to Ireland. However, due to sparse evidence, the origin of Ireland's purported native mustelid species remains unanswered. In this study, we shed light on the history of otter and badger in Ireland by directly dating suspected early examples of these species from Derragh, Co. Longford, a late Mesolithic campsite. The results demonstrate that both of these species have been present in Ireland for at least 7000–8000 years. It is not clear if they represent self-colonisers or Mesolithic anthropogenic translocations. Although these finds do not rule out local extinction and later reintroduction, they show that we can no longer assume they are solely late Holocene introductions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)