Jeffrey Brantingham, Steven L. Kuhn, and Christopher W. Kerry (editors). 2004. The Early Upper Paleolithic Beyond Western Europe. University of California Press, Berkeley. 16 chapters, 248 pages, an exceptionally extensive bibliography and an index.
About 50,000 years ago, Neanderthals and anatomically modern Homo Sapiens shared the planet, and pretty much shared a lifestyle as well. They were probably primarily scavengers, primarily living in isolated groups, and had a relatively simple stone tool kit (Let me say right here, I'm oversimplifying, Debate over the Neanderthal lifestyle is beside the point here). 15,000 years later, only Homo sapiens was left, and a suite of what we today think of as modern human behaviors was in place. These behaviors included the manufacture of a wider variety of stone tools for specific purposes; the use of bone, ivory, and antler among other organic materials for making specialized tools; intergroup social behavior such as trading and communication; hunting strategies that targeted specific species including fish and other aquatic animals; and complex symbolic behavior--art in the form of cave paintings and figurines.
That much is apparent in the archaeological record. But how did it happen? What were the mechanisms that created such a monumental shift to turn hominid behavior into what we recognize as human?
That much is apparent in the archaeological record. But how did it happen? What were the mechanisms that created such a monumental shift to turn hominid behavior into what we recognize as human?
Up until recently, researchers have been limited in their ability to answer these questions, because there simply wasn't a lot of information about the early Upper Paleolithic period outside of Europe and the Middle East. The new edited volume by Brantingham and colleagues presents data about over 100 new sites excavated outside of western Europe--and the data are remarkable. Collectively these articles show that progress towards modern behavior was different in different places, sometimes building on existing technologies, sometimes appearing suddenly, sometimes disappearing just as suddenly.
The prevailing theory, based on biological studies, is that called Out of Africa, that modern Homo sapiens evolved in subsaharan Africa and then colonized the rest of the planet. The competing theory, called Multi-regional Hypothesis argues that Homo sapiens evolved independently in several places around the planet. While Out of Africa fits the evolution of the physical components of Homo sapiens, neither Out of Africa nor Multiregional really fits the evolution of modern human behavior. In particular, the complex social behaviors we recognize as art were clearly part of the earlier, archaic repertoire.
The prevailing theory, based on biological studies, is that called Out of Africa, that modern Homo sapiens evolved in subsaharan Africa and then colonized the rest of the planet. The competing theory, called Multi-regional Hypothesis argues that Homo sapiens evolved independently in several places around the planet. While Out of Africa fits the evolution of the physical components of Homo sapiens, neither Out of Africa nor Multiregional really fits the evolution of modern human behavior. In particular, the complex social behaviors we recognize as art were clearly part of the earlier, archaic repertoire.
The Early Upper Paleolithic Beyond Western Europe is a collection of articles based on a Society for American Archaeology symposium in 1999, and the papers are technical descriptions of the assemblages and interpretations of 110 sites in Russia, Siberia, the Caucasus, Asia, Mongolia, and China. An introduction and summary chapters are included, but, as a whole the book is pretty rough going for the non-specialist, and probably incomprehensible for all but the most dedicated amateur.
But I really cannot think of a more interesting, important study than the evolution of human behavior, and so for that reason alone, I have to give this book my highest recommendation for anybody willing to put in the work or interested in seeing the results (including artifact drawings) of such extensive investigations collected in one place.
But I really cannot think of a more interesting, important study than the evolution of human behavior, and so for that reason alone, I have to give this book my highest recommendation for anybody willing to put in the work or interested in seeing the results (including artifact drawings) of such extensive investigations collected in one place.
