This volume brings together diverse contributions from leading archaeologists and paleoanthropologists, covering various spatial and temporal periods to distinguish convergent evolution from cultural transmission in order to see if we can discover ancient human populations. With a focus on lithic technology, the book analyzes ancient materials and cultures to systematically explore the theoretical and physical aspects of culture, convergence, and populations in human evolution and prehistory. The book will be of interest to academics, students and researchers in archaeology, paleoanthropology, genetics, and paleontology. The book begins by addressing early prehistory, discussing the convergent evolution of behaviors and the diverse ecological conditions driving the success of different evolutionary paths. Chapters discuss these topics and technology in the context of the Lower Paleolithic/Earlier Stone age and Middle Paleolithic/Middle Stone Age. The book then moves towards a focus on the prehistory of our species over the last 40,000 years. Topics covered include the human evolutionary and dispersal consequences of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition in Western Eurasia. Readers will also learn about the cultural convergences, and divergences, that occurred during the Terminal Pleistocene and Holocene, such as the budding of human societies in the Americas. The book concludes by integrating these various perspectives and theories, and explores different methods of analysis to link technological developments and cultural convergence.
Author(s): Huw S. Groucutt
Series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 302
City: Cham
Preface
Contents
Contributors
1 Into the Tangled Web of Culture-History and Convergent Evolution
Background and Context
Archaeology on the Rocks
Context and Chronology
Converging
Population Thinking
Diversification
The Chapters
Conclusion
References
2 The Unity of Acheulean Culture
Abstract
Introduction
An Anecdotal Experiment of Biface Transmission
Acheulean Biface Elongation
The First Appearance of the Acheulean
The Movius Line
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References
3 Problems and Pitfalls in Understanding the Clactonian
Abstract
Introduction
The Clactonian World and Its Sites
What Exactly is the Clactonian?
How should we interpret the Clactonian?
References
4 Culture and Convergence: The Curious Case of the Nubian Complex
Abstract
Introduction
History of the Nubian Complex
The Nubian Complex in Northeast Africa
Nubian Levallois Technology Elsewhere in Africa
The Nubian Complex in Arabia
Nubian Levallois Technology in the Levant
Nubian Levallois Technology in India
Nubian Levallois Technology
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References
5 Lithic Variability and Cultures in the East African Middle Stone Age
Abstract
Introduction
Lithics and Paleolithic Cultures
Mechanisms of Culture Change
Cultural Transmission Theory
Culture as a Biological Adaptation
Lithics and Cultures in East Africa
Origin of Levallois Technology
Origin of Blade and Bladelet Technology
Raw Materials Transfer and Territories
Towards an Understanding of MSA Human Groups
Acknowledgments
References
6 A Matter of Space and Time: How Frequent Is Convergence in Lithic Technology in the African Archaeological Record over the Last 300 kyr?
Abstract
Introduction
The Phenomenon of Convergence: Definition, Delimitation and Archaeological Expectations
What Is at Stake? Tracing and Identifying Past Populations with Stone Tools
Approach and Method
Space and Time: Convergence in the African MSA and LSA
The Small Scale: Site Sequences in South Africa
The Regional Scale: Folding Space into Time in Southernmost Africa
The Large Scale: The African Continent
How Frequent is Convergence? A Matter of Space, Time and Resolution
Implications for Identifying Human Populations and Dispersals
Acknowledgements
References
7 Technology and Function of Middle Stone Age Points. Insights from a Combined Approach at Bushman Rock Shelter, South Africa
Abstract
General Overview of Middle Stone Age Point Production in Sub-Saharan Africa
Middle Stone Age Point Functions
Tool Use
Hafting Adhesives
Bushman Rock Shelter MIS 5 Middle Stone Age Points
Insights from the Technological Approach
Insights from the Use-Wear Approach
Insights from Residue Analysis
Bushman Rock Shelter in Context
Point Production as a Way to Approach Population Patterning
Concluding on Points as Equivocal Tools
Acknowledgements
References
8 Raw Material and Regionalization in Stone Age Eastern Africa
Abstract
Introduction
Lithic Raw Material Variability in Eastern Africa
Handaxe Variability at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
Size and Retouch Intensity Among MSA Sites in Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia
Quantifying Quartz Variability at Nasera
Quartz and the Abundance of Typical Later Stone Age (LSA) Tools
Backed Pieces and the Later Stone Age Eburran in Kenya
Discussion and Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References
9 The Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition: A Long-Term Biocultural Effect of Anatomically Modern Human Dispersal
Abstract
Introduction
Background: Continuity and Change in Populations, Technologies and Social Networks
The Big Picture: Biocultural Evolution in the MP-UP Transition
From Big Picture to Intimate-Scale Biocultural Dynamics
Stone Tools, Intimate Social Settings, Cooperation, and Cultural Reproduction
Expanding the BACT Framework: From Teaching and Learning to Discourse and Innovation
From Intimate and Embodied Contexts to Metapopulation Dynamics and Neanderthal-AMH Admixture
Intimate-Scale Decision-Making and Cooperative Innovation: From the Oldowan to the Upper Paleolithic
Considering Innovation-Adoption in the MP-UP Transition: The Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) as a Case Study
From Theory to Method: Evaluating Innovation and Transmission Patterns in a Mosaic MP-UP Transition
Multivariate Statistical Approaches to Conservatism and Innovation in Late Pleistocene Hunter-Gatherer Social Networks
Methodological and Sampling Challenges to Chronology-Building
Measuring Economic and Socio-political Factors in Innovation Adoption
Back to the Initial Upper Paleolithic: Reconsidering Economic and Sociopolitical Factors in the Adoption or Spread of IUP Technologies
Conclusion: Why So Much Change Between 50 and 40 ka?
Acknowledgments
References
10 Threading the Weft, Testing the Warp: Population Concepts and the European Upper Paleolithic Chronocultural Framework
Abstract
Introduction
Populations in the European Upper Paleolithic
Upper Paleolithic Cultural Taxonomy
The European Upper Paleolithic Chronocultural Framework: Warp and Weft
Threading the Weft: Comparative Material Culture Study
Testing the Warp: The Importance of Chronology
Stratigraphy
Radiocarbon Chronology
Coherence and Convergence
Alternative Perspectives
A Brief Case Study: Mid Upper Paleolithic Russia
Can We Infer the Existence of Past Populations from the Archaeological Record?
Comparing Archaeological and Paleogenetic Evidence
Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References
11 Communities of Interaction: Tradition and Learning in Stone Tool Production Through the Lens of the Epipaleolithic of Kharaneh IV, Jordan
Abstract
Introduction
The Epipaleolithic Period in Southwest Asia
Archaeological Approaches to Technology
The Study of Technology in the EP of Southwest Asia
Lithic Technology as Social Practice
Approaches to Lithic Technology: Chaîne Opératoire, Refitting and Experimental Archaeology
The Chaîne Opératoire and Communities of Practice
The EP of Southwest Asia
Kharaneh IV, Eastern Jordan
Analyzing the Kharaneh IV Assemblage
Stone Tool Production at EP Kharaneh IV: The Nature of Occupation Over Space and Time
Area B and the Early EP
Area a and the Middle EP
Reconstructing Phases of Occupation
Stone Tool Production at EP Kharaneh IV: What to Do with Variability?
Raw Material Choice
Knowledge, Skill and Learning
Style and Function
Discussion: What’s the Point?
Conclusions: Implications for Understanding Prehistoric Technology Today
References
12 Toward a Theory of the Point
Abstract
Typology
Describing Points
Points as Tools
Weapon System
Systemic Number S and Uselife L
Assemblages
Types as Historical Units
Time-Space Distributions of Types
Properties of Type Floruits
Stasis and Sensitivity in Types
Diversification: Origins and Fate of Types
Broader Disciplinary Context
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References
13 Learning Strategies and Population Dynamics During the Pleistocene Colonization of North America
Abstract
Introduction
Cultural Units, Transmission, and the Problem of Analogy
Style and Function: Not a Simple Dichotomy
Phylogeny and Cladistics
Learning: The Basis of Cultural Transmission
Copying
A Map of Decision Making
Fitness Landscapes
Clovis Populations and Patterns of Learning
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References
14 Culture, Environmental Adaptation or Specific Problem Solving? On Convergence and Innovation Dynamics Related to Techniques Used for Stone Heat Treatment
Abstract
Introduction
The Southern African Middle and Later Stone Age
The European Upper Paleolithic Solutrean
The Mesolithic Beuronian
The Neolithic Chassey Culture
The Paleo-Indian Evidence for Underground Heating
Similarities, Dissimilarities, Convergence?
Outlook
Acknowledgements
References
15 Style, Function and Cultural Transmission
Abstract
Introduction
Cultural Evolution and Lithics
Artefact Production
Building and Testing Models
Conclusion
References
Index
