Lithic Variability and Techno-Economy of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic in the Levant

Abstract

The Levant forms a geographic bridge between Africa and Eurasia, making it a focal point for research on past human dispersals. The Initial Upper Palaeolithic (IUP) of the Levant is commonly associated with Homo sapiens' dispersal from Africa to Eurasia, which is characterised by substantial changes in material culture when compared to the preceding Middle Palaeolithic. While many researchers have noticed considerable variability among these IUP lithic assemblages, a systematic evaluation is currently missing. The study presented here addresses this cavity by employing techno-typological data from relevant Levantine IUP assemblages. Statistical methods, namely principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) allow structuring these assemblages into distinct groups. These groups are then reviewed against palaeogeographic data and techno-economic behaviour patterns. Results show that IUP assemblages in the Mediterranean zone are similar to each other in regards to techno-typology, palaeogeography and techno-economic behaviour, being indicative of residential base camps. Contrastingly, assemblages in the semi-arid zone are more variable in regards to techno-typology and techno-economy, indicating more specialised activities such as hunting/butchering, which is often combined with local raw material exploitation.

Al-Ansab and the Dead Sea: Mid-MIS 3 archaeology and environment of the early Ahmarian population of the Levantine corridor

“…It has been previously argued that the bearers of the Early Ahmarian techno-cultural unit used to live in small family bands maintaining a circulating, residential mobility system [ 67 ] throughout the year, with short stays at camp sites and frequent changes of camps. As the camps were often related („tethered“) to nearby resources [ 62 , 63 , 68 – 70 ] such as game, water or raw materials this would indicate „tethered foraging”(see [ 66 ] 91–93), mostly seen in connection with „logistic”mobility ([ 66 ] 95). By contrast, our data do not support the notion of „logistic mobility”within the Early Ahmarian techno-cultural unit, with base camps, occupied for longer periods, supplied by expedition groups [ 66 , 67 ].…”

Palaeolithic occupation and cultural transition in the Wainganga River Basin, India

“…This allows for a degree of precision in establishing a relative chronology for the surface scatters in our study region (Table 3). A continued dearth of Levallois and flake elements into the Late/Upper Palaeolithic or Late Stone Age is observed at many other sites in India and Africa (Misra 1985;Diez-Martin et al 2009;Joshi 2018;Leder 2018). In India, the nature of transitions between prehistoric cultural phases is widely debated, particularly for the transition from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Late Palaeolithic.…”

Lithic Technology and Chronology of Initial Upper Paleolithic Assemblages at Tor Fawaz, Southern Jordan

“…Specifically, the lithic assemblage from the uppermost level (Level 4) of the site was designated as the IUP. Currently, the term IUP is also applied to other assemblages (Bar-Yosef & Belfer-Cohen, 2010a, 2010bKuhn, 2003;Meignen, 2012), including those that have been called UP Phase 1 (Neuville, 1951), Emiran (Garrod, 1951;Rose & Marks, 2014;Shea, 2013), the MP-UP transition (Marks, 1983(Marks, , 1993, the Bokerian (Leder, 2014(Leder, , 2018, and the Paléolithique intermédiaire (Boëda, et al, 2015). Despite the varying nomenclature, the grouping of these lithic assemblages is broadly shared among the researchers.…”

“…More recently, several technological phases (Bokerian A, B, C, Jelf Ajlan, and Boker Tachtit 4) have been proposed by Leder (2014Leder ( , 2016. He also examined the lithic variability of the IUP in relation to geographic locations, surrounding environment, on-site activities, and occupational intensity (Leder, 2018).…”

“…10k-l) has lateral sides exploited for the detachment of narrow blanks, assuming a burin-like morphology (Zwyns et al, 2012). This type of core technology is part of "bladelet-core-on-flakes" defined by Leder (2014Leder ( , 2018 and occurs at several Levantine IUP sites including Boker Tachtit (especially Level 2), where multifaceted burins and nucleiform burins are reported (Demidenko et al, 2020;. Another type of cores-on-flakes is the truncatedand-faceted type (also called Nahr Ibrahim cores).…”