The Three Waves: Rethinking the Structure of the first Upper Paleolithic in Western Eurasia

Abstract

The Neronian is a lithic tradition recognized in the Middle Rhône Valley of Mediterranean France now directly linked to Homo sapiens and securely dated to 54,000 years ago (ka), pushing back the arrival of modern humans in Europe by 10 ka. This incursion of modern humans into Neandertal territory and the relationships evoked between the Neronian and the Levantine Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) question the validity of concepts that define the first H. sapiens migrations and the very nature of the first Upper Paleolithic in western Eurasia. Direct comparative analyses between lithic technology from Grotte Mandrin and East Mediterranean archeological sequences, especially Ksar Akil, suggest that the three key phases of the earliest Levantine Upper Paleolithic have very precise technical and chronological counterparts in Western Europe, recognized from the Rhône Valley to Franco-Cantabria. These trans-Mediterranean technical connections suggest three distinct waves of H. sapiens expansion into Europe between 55-42 ka. These elements support an original thesis on the origin, structure, and evolution of the first moments of the Upper Paleolithic in Europe tracing parallel archaeological changes in the East Mediterranean region and Europe.

Prospects and pitfalls of an intrusive model for the Châtelperronian stone tool industry during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in France and northern Spain

“…A prediction of the 'Three Waves' model for the onset of the Upper Palaeolithic in France and northern Spain is that the related industries should occur earlier in the Mediterranean region than in other regions of Europe (Slimak, 2023). For the IUP and Protoaurignacian, this is in fact consistent with currently available data.…”

“…Nonetheless, the point remains that there presently exists no behavioral analogue to the Châtelperronian in the broader Neandertal techno-cultural repertoire. Conversely, the Châtelperronian does share typo-technological similarities to certain lithic complexes of the MSA in Africa (for example, the Howiesoon's Poort complex) as well as the Northern Early Ahmarian of the Levant (Soriano et al, 2007;Kadowaki et al, 2015;Slimak, 2023).…”

“…One of the most obvious requirements for the proposition of a Northern Early Ahmarian origin model for the Châtelperronian is a detailed demonstration that these lithic industries and their associated technological behaviors are effectively analogous. This has not as of yet been demonstrated, although morpho-typological similarities between the retouched backed points of the Northern Early Ahmarian and the Châtelperronian are evident based on published illustrations and were in fact already stressed in the previous century (see discussions in Kadowaki et al, 2015;Slimak, 2023). This is made further interesting when considering that the mean size (length and width) of backed points from Ksar Akil (Layer XVII, n=75) (Bergman, 1981) and Kebara (Layer E, n=78) (Ziffer, 1978) form a tight cluster with that of the Châtelperronian points recovered from Quinçay (Layer En, n=77) (Roussel et al, 2016) (Figure 8) when compared to those of the Southern Early Ahmarian complex (Kadowaki et al, 2015).…”

“…The 'Three Waves' model has recently been put forward as an alternative scenario which would in some way resolve these ambiguities. In simple terms, this model proposes that the onset of the UP in this region -reflected by the Neronian, Châtelperronian, Protoaurignacian cultural succession -is the direct result of three distinct waves of AMH migration across the Mediterranean from the Levant to France (Slimak, 2023). The Châtelperronian would represent the second migration, and would be reflected in the Levant as what is called the Northern Early Ahmarian (NEA) (ibid.).…”

Climate amelioration, abrupt vegetation recovery, and the dispersal of Homo sapiens in Baikal Siberia

“…The current prevailing model postulates that this event occurred during a succession of millennial-scale warm phases of the last glacial period, 45 to 40 thousand calendar years (ka) ago, immediately following an intense cold phase that caused a decline in resident Neanderthal populations (1)(2)(3). At odds with this view, however, are local proxy records from some of the earliest European Upper Paleolithic sites, suggesting a cold-phase dispersal (4)(5), as well as new claims of migrations occurring as early as 54 ka ago (6)(7) and even earlier (8).…”