Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

DISCUSSION 4: The Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic Transition: What News?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Sourcebook of Paleolithic Transitions

Abstract

This chapter reviews the state of the research on the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition following profound paradigm changes in the last three decades. The demise of the Eurocentric paradigm, which saw a linear shift from Neanderthals to moderns and from Middle to Upper Paleolithic lifeways, opened the field to a large number of competing hypotheses about the origins of modern humans and of modern behavior. It is suggested that the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition is a complex phenomenon that constitutes regional processes. Some of the new models attempting to explain the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition are a geographic and temporal projection of the Eurocentric thinking about the links between anatomical and behavioral modernity. While some researchers still employ empirical data as the building stones of their models, others strive to come up with theory-driven explanations for the shift from “archaic” to “modern” behavior.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aiello, L. C., 1993, The Fossil Evidence for Modern Human Origins in Africa: A Revised View. American Anthropologist 95: 73–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ambrose, S. and Lorenz, K. G., 1990, Social and Ecological Models for the Middle Stone Age in Southern Africa. In The Emergence of Modern Humans: An Archaeological Perspective, edited by P. Mellars and C. Stringer, pp. 3–33. Cornel University Press, Ithica, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arcadi, A. C., 2006, Species Resilience in Pleistocene Hominids that Traveled Far and Ate Widely: An Analogy to the Wolf-Like Canids. Journal of Human Evolution 51: 383–394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Yosef, O., 2006a, Defining the Aurignacian. In Towards a Definition of the Aurignacian (Trebalhos de Arqueologia 45), edited by O. Bar-Yosef and J. Zilhão, pp. 11–25. Instituto Português de Arqueologia, Lisbon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Yosef, O., 2006b, Neandertals and Modern Humans: A Different Interpretation. In When Neandertals and Moderns Met, edited by N. Conard, pp. 467–482. Kern Verlag, Tübingen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Yosef, O., 2002, The Upper Paleolithic Revolution. Annual Review of Anthropology 31: 363–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Yosef, O., 1998, The Chronology of the Middle Paleolithic in the Levant. In Neandertals and Modern Humans in Western Asia, edited by T. Akazawa, K. Aoki and O. Bar-Yosef, pp. 39–56. Plenum Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Yosef, O. and Callander J., 1999, The Woman from Tabun: Garrod's Doubts in Historical Perspective. Journal of Human Evolution 37: 879–885.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Yosef, O. and Pilbeam D. (eds.), 2000, The Geography of Neandertals and Modern Humans in Europe and the Greater Mediterranean. (Peabody Museum Bulletin 8). Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Ma.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Yosef Mayer, D.E., Vandermeersch, B. and Bar-Yosef O. 2009. Shells and Ochre in Middle Paleolithic Qafzeh Cave, Israel: Indications for Modern Behavior. Journal of Human Evolution 56: 307–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bazin, E., Glemin, S. and Galtier N., 2006, Population Size Does Not Influence Mitochondrial Genetic Diversity in Animals. Science 312: 570–572.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belfer-Cohen, A. and Hovers E., n.d., “Modernity,” “Working memory” and the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic Transition in the Levant. Current Anthropology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belfer-Cohen, A. and Hovers E., 1992, In the Eye of the Beholder: Mousterian and Natufian Burials in the Levant. Current Anthropology 33: 463–471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bordes, J.-G., 2002, Chatelperronian/Aurignacian Interstratification at Roc de Comb and Le Piage: Lithic Taphonomy and Archaeological Implications. Journal of Human Evolution 42: A7–A8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Botha, R., 2008, Prehistoric Shell Beads as a Window on Language Evolution. Language & Communication 28: 197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bouzouggar, A., Barton, N., Vanhaeren, M., d'Errico, F., Collcutt, S., Higham, T., Hodge, E., Parfitt, S., Rhodes, E., Schwenninger, J.-L., Stringer, C., Turner, E., Ward, S., Moutmir, A. and Stambouli A., 2007, 82,000-year-old Shell Beads from North Africa and Implications for the Origins of Modern Human Behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 104: 9964–9969.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brumm, A. and Moore M. W., 2005, Symbolic Revolutions and the Australian Archaeological Record. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 15: 157–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cann, R. L., 2001, Genetic Clues to Dispersal in Human Populations: Retracing the Past from the Present. Science 291: 1742–1748.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caramelli, D., Lalueza-Fox, C., Condemi, S., Longo, L., Milani, L., Manfredini, A., de Saint Pierre, M., Adoni, F., Lari, M. and Giunti P., 2006, A Highly Divergent mtDNA Sequence in a Neandertal Individual from Italy. Current Biology 16: R630–R632.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caramelli, D., Lalueza-Fox, C., Vernesi, C., Lari, M., Casoli, A., Mallegni, F., Chiarelli, B., Dunpanloup, I., Bertranpetit, J., Barbujani, G. and Bertorelle G., 2003, Evidence for a Genetic Discontinuity Between Neandertals and 24,000 year-old Anatomically Modern Europeans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 100: 6593–6597.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • d’Errico, F., Henshilwood, C., Vanhaeren, M. and van Niekerk. K., 2005, Nassarius kraussianus Shell Beads from Blombos Cave: Evidence for Symbolic Behaviour in the Middle Stone Age. Journal of Human Evolution 48: 3–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • d'Errico, F., Zilhão, J., Julien, M., Baffier, D. and Pelegrin J., 1998, Neanderthal Acculturation in Western Europe? A Critical Review of the Evidence and its Interpretation. Current Anthropology 39 supplement: S1–S44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eswaran, V., 2002, A Diffusion Wave Out of Africa: The Mechanism of the Modern Human Revolution? Current Anthropology 43: 749–774.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eswaran, V., Harpending, H. and Rogers A. R., 2005, Genomics Refutes an Exclusively African Origin of Humans. Journal of Human Evolution 49: 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finlayson, C., 2004, Neanderthals and Modern Humans. An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Godfrey-Smith, D. I. and Ilani S., 2004, Past Thermal History of Goethite and Hematite Fragments from Qafzeh Cave Deduced from Thermal Activation Characteristics of the 110 Centigrade TL Peak of Enclosed Quartz Grains. Revue d'Archéométrie 28: 185–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gravina, B., Mellars, P. and Ramsey C. B., 2005, Radiocarbon Dating of Interstratified Neandertal and Early Modern Human Occupations at the Chatelperronian Type-site. Nature 438: 51–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, R. E., Krause, J., Ptak, S. E., Briggs, A. W., Ronan, M. T., Simons, J. F., Du, L., Egholm, M., Rothberg, J. M., Paunovic, M. and Pääbo S., 2006, Analysis of One Million Base-pairs of Neanderthal DNA. Nature 444: 330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grün, R. and Stringer, C. 2000. Tabun Revisited: Revised ESR Chronology and New ESR and U-series Analyses of Dental Material from Tabun C1. Journal of Human Evolution 39: 601–612.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grün R., Stringer, C., McDermott, F., Nathan, R., Porat, N., Robertson, S., Taylor, L., Mortimer, G., Eggins, S. and McCulloch M. 2005, U-series and ESR Analyses of Bones and Teeth Relating to the Human Burials from Skhul. Journal of Human Evolution 49: 316–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Habgood, P. J. and Franklin, N. R., 2008, The Revolution that Didn't Arrive: A Review of Pleistocene Sahul. Journal of Human Evolution 55: 187–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henshilwood, C., and Marean, C. W., 2003, The Origin of Modern Human Behavior: Critiques of the Models and Their Test Implications. Current Anthropology 44: 627–651.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henshilwood C. S., d'Errico, F., Yates, R., Jacobs, Z., Tribolo, C., Duller, G. A. T., Mercier, N., Sealy, J. C., Valladas H., Watts, I. and Wintle A. G., 2002, Emergence of Modern Human Behavior: Middle Stone Age Engravings from South Africa. Science 295: 1278–1280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higham T., Ramsey, C. B., Karavanic, I., Smith ,F. H. and Trinkaus E., 2006, Revised Direct Radiocarbon Dating of the Vindija G1 Upper Paleolithic Neandertals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 103: 553–557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hovers, E., 2009, Mousterian Lithic Technology in Qafzeh Cave. Oxford University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hovers, E., 2006, Neandertals and Modern Humans in the Middle Paleolithic of the Levant: What Type of Interaction? In When Neandertals and Moderns Met, edited by N. Conard, pp. 65–86. Kerns Verlag, Tübingen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hovers, E., 1997, Variability of Lithic Assemblages and Settlement Patterns in the Levantine Middle Paleolithic: Implications for the Development of Human Behavior. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hovers, E. and Belfer-Cohen A., 2006, “Now you see it, now you don’t” – Modern Human Behavior in the Middle Paleolithic. In Transitions Before the Transition: Evolution and Stability in the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age, edited by E. Hovers and S. L. Kuhn, pp. 295–304. Springer, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hovers E., Ilani S., Bar-Yosef, O. and Vandermeersch B., 2003, An Early Case of Color Symbolism: Ochre Use by Early Modern Humans in Qafzeh Cave. Current Anthropology 44: 491–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hovers, E., Kimbel, W. H. and Rak Y., 2000, Amud 7 – Still a Burial: Response to Gargett. Journal of Human Evolution 39: 253–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hovers, E., Rak, Y., Lavi, R. and Kimbel W. H., 1995, Hominid Remains from Amud Cave in the Context of the Levantine Middle Paleolithic. Paléorient 21: 47–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howell, F. C., 1959, Upper Pleistocene Stratigraphy and Early Man in the Levant. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 193: 1–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howell, F. C., 1958, Upper Pleistocene Men of the Southwest Asian Mousterian. In Hundert jahre Neanderthaler, edited by G. H. R. von Koenigswald, pp. 185–198. Kemik en zoom, Utrecht.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jelinek, A., 1982, The Middle Paleolithic in the Southern Levant, With Comments on the Appearance of Modern Homo Sapiens. In The Transition from Lower to Middle Palaeolithic and the Origin of Modern Man, edited by Ronen, pp. 57–104. BAR International Series 151, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, R. G., 1995, Anatomy, Behavior, and Modern Human Origins. Journal of World Prehistory 9: 167–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krings, M., Capelli, C., Tschentscher, F., Geisert, H., Meyer, S., von Haeseler, A., Grossschmidt, K., Possner, G., Paunovic, M. and Pääbo, S., 2000, A View of Neandertal Genetic Diversity. Nature Genetics 26: 144–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krings, M., Stone, A., Schmitz, R. W., Kraainitzki, H., Stoneking, M. and Pääbo S., 1997, Neandertal DNA Sequences and the Origin of Modern Humans. Cell 90: 19–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, S. L., 2006, Trajectories of Change in the Middle Paleolithic of Italy. In Transitions Before the Transition: Evolution and Stability in the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age, edited by E. Hovers and S. L. Kuhn, pp. 109–120. Springer, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, S. L., 2003, In What Sense is the Levantine Early Upper Paleolithic a “Transitional” Industry? In the Chronology of the Aurignacian and of the Transitional Technocomplexes: Dating, Stratigraphies, Cultural Implications (Trebalhos de Arqueologia 42), edited by J. Zilhão and F. d’Errico, pp. 61–70. Instituto Português de Arqueologia, Lisbon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, D. E. and Bar-Yosef O., 2005, Apples and Oranges: Morphological Versus Behavioral Transitions in the Pleistocene. In Interpreting the Past: Essays on Human, Primate, and Mammal Evolution in Honor of David Pilbeam, edited by D. E. Lieberman, R. J. Smith and J. Kelley, pp. 275–296. Bril Academic Publishers, Boston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lombard, M., 2005, Evidence of Hunting and Hafting during the Middle Stone Age at Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: A Multianalytical a Approach. Journal of Human Evolution 48: 279–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marean, C. W. and Assefa, Z., 2004, The Middle and Upper Pleistocene African Record for the Biological and Behavioral Origins of Modern Humans. In African Archaeology: A Critical Introduction, edited by A. Stahl, pp. 93–129. Blackwell Studies in Global Archaeology. Blackwell, Malden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marean. C. W., Bar-Matthews. M., Bernatchez. J., Fisher. E., Goldberg. P., Herries. A. I. R., Jacobs. Z., Jerardino. A., Karkanas. P., Minichillo. T., Nilssen. P. J., Thompson. E., Watts. I. and Williams H. M., 2007, Early Human Use of Marine Resources and Pigment in South Africa During the Middle Pleistocene. Nature 449: 905–908.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McBrearty, S. and Brooks A. S., 2000. The Revolution That Wasn't: A New Interpretation of the Origin of Modern Human Behavior. Journal of Human Evolution 39: 453–563.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McBrearty, S. and Tryon C. A., 2006, From Acheulean to Middle Stone Age in the Kapthurin Formation, Kenya. In Transitions Before the Transition: Evolution and Stability in the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age, edited by E. Hovers and S. L. Kuhn, pp. 257–277. Springer, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCown, T. D., 1934, The Oldest Complete Skeletons of Man. Bulletin of the American School of Prehistoric Research 10: 13–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCown, T. D. and Keith A., 1939, The Stone Age of Mount Carmel II. Clarendon Press: Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDougall, I., Brown, F. H. and Fleagle J. G., 2005, Stratigraphic Placement and Age of Modern Humans from Kibish, Ethiopia. Nature 433: 733–736.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meignen, L., Bar-Yosef, O. Mercier, N., Valladas, H., Goldberg, P. and Vandermeerch B., 2001, Apport des datations au problème de l'origin des hommes modernes au Proche-Orient. I, Datation, edited by J.-N. Barrandon, P. Guibert and V. Michel, pp. 295–313. XXI reconctres internationales d'archéologie et d'histoire d'Antibes. Editions APDCA, Antibes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellars, P., 2006, Why Did Modern Human Populations Disperse from Africa ca. 60,000 Years Ago? A New Model. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science U.S.A. 103: 9381–9386.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellars, P., 2005, The Impossible Coincidence. A Single-Species Model for the Origin of Modern Human behavior in Europe. Evolutionary Anthropology 14: 12–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mellars, P., 1996, The Mousterian Legacy: An Archaeological Perspective from Western Europe. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, Princeton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellars, P. and Gravina B., 2008, Châtelperron: Theoretical Agendas, Archaeological Facts, and Diversionary Smoke-Screens. PaleoAntrhopology 2008: 43–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mercier, N. and Valladas H., 2003, Reassessment of TL Age Eestimates of Burnt Flints from the Paleolithic Site of Tabun Cave, Israel. Journal of Human Evolution 45: 401–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mercier, N., Valladas, H., Joron, H. L., Reyss, J. L., Leveque, F. and Vandermeersch B. 1991. Thermoluminescence Dating of the Late Nenaderthal Remains from Saint-Cesaire. Nature 351: 737–739.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noble, W. and Davidson I., 1993, Tracing the Emergence of Modern Human Behavior: Methodological Pitfalls and a Theoretical Path. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 12: 121–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noonan, J. P., Coop, G., Kudaravalli, S., Smith, D., Krause, J., Alessi, J., Chen, F., Platt, D., Pääbo, S., Pritchard, J. K. and Rubin E. M., 2006, Sequencing and Analysis of Neanderthal Genomic DNA. Science 314: 1113–1118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O'Connell, J.F. and Allen, J., 2007, Pre-LGM Sahul (Pleistocene Australia-New Guinea) and the Archaeology of Early Modern Humans. In Rethinking the Human Revolution, edited by P. Mellars, K. Boyle, O. Bar-Yosef and C. Stringer, pp. 395–410. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Connell, J. F. and Allen J., 2004, Dating theColonization of Sahul (Pleistocene Australia-New Guinea): A Review of Recent Research. Journal of Archaeological Science 31: 835–853.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, R. 1991. Optimization on Rugged Fitness Landscapes. In Molecular Evolution in Rugged Fitness Landscapes, edited by E. Perelson and S. Kaufman, pp. 3–25. Addison, Redwood City.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rabinovich, R. and Hovers E., 2004, Faunal Assemblages from Amud Cave: Preliminary Results and Interpretations. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 14: 287–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rabinovich, R. and Tchernov E., 1995, Chronological, Paleoecological and Taphonomical Aspects of the Middle Paleolithic Site of Qafzeh, Israel. In Archaeozoology of the Near East: Proceedings of the Second Symposium of the Archaeozoology of Southwestern Asia and Adjacent Areas, edited by H. Buitenhuis and H.-P. Uerpmann, pp. 5–44. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rak, Y., 1993, Morphological Variation in Homo Neanderthalensis and Homo Sapiens in the Levant: a Biogeographical Model. In Species, Species Concept and Primate Evolution, edited by W. H. Kimbel and L .B. Martin, pp. 523–536. Plenum Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rak, Y., 1990, On the Differences Between Two Pelvises of Mousterian Context from Qafzeh and Kebara Caves, Israel. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 81: 323–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rak, Y., 1986, The Neanderthal: A New Look at an Old Face. Journal of Human Evolution 15: 151–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Relethford J. H., 2001, Genetics and the Search for Modern Human Origins. Wiley-Liss, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rink, W. J., Schwarcz, H. P., Lee, H. K., Rees-Jones, J., Rabinovich, R. and Hovers E., 2001, Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) and Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometric (TIMS) 230Th/234U Dating of Teeth in Middle Palaeolithic Layers at Amud Cave, Israel. Geoarchaeology 16: 701–717.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitz, R. W., Serre, D., Bonani, G., Feine, S., Hilligruber, F., Krainitzki, H., Paäbo S. and Smith F. H., 2002, The Neandertal Type-site Revisited: Interdisciplinary Investigations of Skeletal Remains from the Neander Valley, Germany. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science U.S.A. 99: 13342–13347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soriano, S., Villa, P. and Wadley L., 2007, Blade Technology and Tool Forms in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa: The Howeisons Poort and Post-Howeisons Poort at Rose Cottage Cave. Journal of Archaeological Science 34: 681–703.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Speth, J. D. and Tchernov, E., 2001, Neandertal Hunting and Meat Processing in the Near East: Evidence from Kebara Cave (Israel). In Meat-Eating and Human Evolution, edited by C. B. Stanford and H. T. Bunn, pp. 52–72. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Speth, J. D. and Tchernov, E., 1998, The Role of Hunting and Scavenging in Neanderthal Procurement Strategies: New Evidence from Kebara Cave (Israel). In Neanderthals and Modern Humans in West Asia, edited by T. Akazawa., K. Aoki and O. Bar-Yosef, pp. 223–239. Plenum Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiner, M. C., 2006, Middle Paleolithic Subsistence Ecology in the Mediterranean Region. In Transitions Before the Transition: Evolution and Stability in the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age, edited by E. Hovers and S. L. Kuhn, pp. 213–231. Springer, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki, H. and F. Takai, 1970, The Amud Man and his Cave Site. University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taborin, Y., 2003, La mer et les prémiers hommes modernes. In Échanges et Diffusion dans la préhistoire Méditerranéenne, edited by B. Vandermeersch, pp. 113–122. Éditions du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Templeton, A. R., 2002, Out of Africa Again and Again. Nature 416: 45–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tillier, A.-M., 1999, Les Enfants moustériens de Qafzeh: interprétation phylogénétique et paléoauxologique. Éditions du CNRS, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tostevin, G. B., 2003, A Quest for Antecedents: a Comparison of the Terminal Middle Palaeolithic and Early Upper Palaeolithic of the Levant. In More Than Meets the Eye: Studies on Upper Palaoelithic Diversity in the Near East, edited by A. N. Goring-Morris and A. Belfer-Cohen, pp. 54–66. Oxbow, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valladas, H., Mercier, N., Hovers, E., Frojet L., Joron, J. L., Kimbel, W. H. and Rak, Y., 1999, TL Dates for the Neandertal Site of Amud Cave, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science 26: 259–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vandermeersch, B., 1984, The Discovery of the Neanderthal Skeleton of Saint-Césaire. Bulletins et Mémoires de la Societé d'Anthropologie de Paris 11: 191–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vandermeersch, B., 1982, The First Homo Sapiens in the Near East. In The Transition from Lower to Middle Paleolithic and the Origin of Modern Man, edited by A. Ronen, pp. 297–299. BAR International Series 151, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vandermeersch, B., 1981, Les Hommes Fossiles de Qafzeh (Israël). Cahiers de Paléontologie. Éditions du CNRS, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanhaeren, M., d'Errico, F., Stringer, C., James, S. L., Todd, J. A. and Mienis H. K., 2006, Middle Paleolithic Shell Beads in Israel and Algeria. Science 312: 1785–1788.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watanabe, H., 1970, A palaeolithic industry from the Amud Cave. In The Amud Man and His Cave Site, edited by H. Suzuki and F. Takai, pp. 77–114. Tokyo University Press, Tokyo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watts, I., 2002, Ochre in the Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa: Ritualized Display or Hide Preservative? South African Archaeological Bulletin 57: 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, T. D., Asfaw, B., DeGusta, D., Gilbert, H., Richards, G. D., Suwa, G. and Howell F. C., 2003, Pleistocene Homo Sapiens from Middle Awash, Ethiopia. Nature 423: 742–747.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolpoff, M. H., 1996, Human Evolution (1996–1997 edition). College Custom Series. McGraw-Hill, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Würz, S., 1999, The Howiesons Poort Backed Artefacts from Klasies River: An Argument for Symbolic Behaivour. South African Archaeological Bulletin 54: 38–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeshurun, R., Bar-Oz, G., and Weinstein-Evron, M. 2007, Modern Hunting Behavior in the Early Middle Paleolithic: Faunal Remains from Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. Journal of Human Evolution 53: 656–677.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zilhão, J. and d'Errico F., 1999, The Chronology and Taphonomy of the Earliest Aurignacian and Its Implications for the Understanding of Neandertal Extinction. Journal of World Prehistory 13: 1–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zilhão, J., d'Errico, F., Bordes, J.-G., Lenoble, A., Texier, J.-P. and Rigaud J.-P., 2008a, Grotte des Fées (Châtelperron): History of Research, Stratigraphy, Dating, and Archaeology of the Châtelperronean Type-Site. PaleoAntrhopology 2008: 1–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zilhão, J., d'Errico, F., Bordes, J.-G., Lenoble, A., Texier, J.-P. and Rigaud J.-P., 2008b, Like Hobbes' Chimney Birds. PaleoAntrhopology 2008: 65–67.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel

    Erella Hovers

Authors
  1. Erella Hovers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Anthropology, George Washington University, G Street NW., 2110, Washington, 20052, U.S.A.

    Marta Camps

  2. CRAFT Stone Age Institute, Indiana University, W. Dittemore Road 1392, Gosport, 47433-9531, U.S.A.

    Parth Chauhan

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Hovers, E. (2009). DISCUSSION 4: The Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic Transition: What News?. In: Camps, M., Chauhan, P. (eds) Sourcebook of Paleolithic Transitions. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-76487-0_30

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation