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Archeology: Origin and Spread of Modern Humans

Terms in this set (14)

How did Middle Palaeolithic technology differ from its predecessors?
-Mousterian tools
-More reliance on fire
-Burials
-Funeral rites
What are major technological trends in the Upper Palaeolithic?
Blades, burins, bone & antler tools, microliths, art
Benefits of blade technology
a) conserve raw material (get more working edge from a given amount of raw material)
b) produce more versatile tools
c) regularity in tools allows hafts to be re-used
- blades and other tools often retouched by pressure flaking
- pressing tiny flakes off edges of stone tool, rather than striking the stone - allows more precise shaping of tool
What can we say about Upper Palaeolithic social organization (how individuals and groups interacted with one another)?
More regular social gatherings
- indicated by large sites with ceremonial structures, eg. caves with paintings
- largest sites may be seasonal aggregation points where large numbers of people get together
briefly to take advantage of dense seasonal resources
- large sites are often associated with art, possibly to indicate social relationships
large sites also often indicate ritual and trade
Much more personal adornment
- communicate status, social identity
- clothing, beads, decorated tools
What indications do we have for ritual, "art" and symbolism in the Upper Palaeolithic?
Art:
- huge variety - cave paintings, reliefs, sculptures, portable art, even music (eg. bone flute)
Ritual:
- e.g., definite burials with grave goods
Upper Palaeolithic Period
- once Homo sapiens has been around for millennia, and most aspects of modern human
behaviour have developed, we have the Upper Palaeolithic Period
- begins around 40 KYA in Southwest Asia and Europe, is equivalent to the Later Stone Age in
Africa, around the same time
- clearly associated with modern humans
Major trends of Upper Paleolithic Period
1) Increasingly specialized stone tool technology
- emphasis on Blade Technology
2) More complex organic industry
- e.g., bone projectile points.
- e.g., bone needles - to make tailored clothing
- after 20 KYA - spear-throwers
3) More frequent composite tools
- increased use of hafting
4) More complex settlement patterns
- each region saw a specialized pattern based on available resources, including mainly large
mammals, but also fish, plant foods, and other resources
- probably had home bases occupied for long periods, and temporary special purpose camps
throughout territory
- this differs from earlier hominins who moved more often and whose sites did not differ from
one another as much
- these factors would have led to increased sedentism (living for extended periods in a single
location)
5) More complex dwellings
- evidence for dwellings becomes much more common
- tents, sod houses, complex bone structures
6) Ever higher population densities
- more sites, larger sites
- people are settling into new lands, understanding resources
7) More regular social gatherings
- indicated by large sites with ceremonial structures, eg. caves with paintings
- largest sites may be seasonal aggregation points where large numbers of people get together
briefly to take advantage of dense seasonal resources
8) More stylistic variation over time and space
- stone tools, bone tools, etc.
- possibly represents social boundaries - different groups each have identity
- styles change over time - different from Mousterian which is conservative
9) Shift towards hunting herd animals
- requires cooperation, planning
10) Much more personal adornment
- communicate status, social identity
- clothing, beads, decorated tools
11) Long distance trade
- sea shells, amber, high quality lithics
12) "Art"
13) Indications of ritual
- e.g., definite burials with grave goods
14) Expansion of our species to most of planet
- South and East Asia by 60 KYA
- Australia by 50 KYA
- Americas by 15 KYA
Example of complex dwellings
Central Russia and Ukraine: 18-14 KYA - just after peak glaciation - spectacular sites
of mammoth hunters on the Russian Plain
- Mezhirich, Ukraine
- large houses constructed almost completely of mammoth bone - 4 to 7 metres across -
could each hold several families
- much evidence of trade, elaborate symbolic systems
What happened at the end of the Pleistocene?
End of Ice Age, sea levels were much lower
Migration occurred across Beringia - a subcontinent consisting of eastern Siberia, northwestern
North America, and exposed continental shelf that connected the two areas.
- sea levels fluctuated, but Siberia and Alaska were connected for most of last 100,000 years, up
to about 10 KYA
- By about 15 KYA (at the latest), Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers had spread through most
of Beringia, including Alaska. However, there was no easy route south into the Americas
because of vast ice sheets.
2 possible migration routes south
A) The "ice-free corridor" between the Cordilleran and Laurentide Ice Sheets
- this corridor was closed until around 14 KYA
B) The coastal route - down the Pacific coast of Alaska and British Columbia, which was still
partly glaciated
Clovis
For many years, the "Clovis tradition" (around 13 KYA) was thought to represent the earliest
people south of the ice sheets.
- made very distinctive "fluted points" (spear points with a channel down each face, for hafting)
- very widespread, across much of North America
- in many regions, associated with the earliest radiocarbon dates
- often associated with extinct Pleistocene species (esp. mammoth, extinct bison)
The timing of Clovis was ideal for coming through the ice-free corridor
2 sites earlier than Clovis
Monte Verde - coastal Chile - 14.6 KYA
- complex site with structures, bones, plant remains - well-dated
Paisley Cave - Oregon - 14 KYA
- coprolites, animal bones, non-Clovis points
Most likely scenario for migration
Most Likely Scenario:
- around 15 KYA - a "pre-Clovis" coastal migration occurred down the Pacific coast, probably
in skin boats. Sites are rare because most are below current sea levels (due to lowered sea levels
during the Pleistocene)
- around 13 KYA - a separate migration occurred from interior Alaska down the ice-free
corridor, leading to Clovis
- the two groups may have been similar, but may also have been drawn from quite different
populations in interior vs. coastal Beringia.
Choice of site locations was based on
a) water
b) game resources (esp. water crossings for game, spawning streams, game jumps)
c) sunlight - south-facing caves
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