It has been suggested that the origins of cognitive modernity in the Middle/Upper Paleolithic following the appearance of anatomically modern humans was due to the onset of dual processing or contextual focus (CF), the ability to shift between different modes of thought: an explicit mode conducive to logical problem solving, and an implicit mode conducive to free-association and breaking out of...

Two coastal sites in Gibraltar, Vanguard and Gorham's Caves, located at Governor's Beach on the eastern side of the Rock, are especially relevant to the study of Neanderthals. Vanguard Cave provides evidence of marine food supply (mollusks, seal, dolphin, and fish). Further evidence of marine mammal remains was also found in the occupation levels at Gorham's Cave associated with Upper Paleolith...

Solutrean culture has been interpreted as a response to the Last Glacial Maximum in western Europe. However, to establish a link depends of our knowledge of the impact of global climatic changes at a local level and of the differential preservation and significance of the record. The identification of lithic sources, technology, function, and place of discard, is an effective way to mitigate so...

One of the primary goals of archaeology is to understand past human behaviour. Although stone tools comprise the vast majority of cultural artefacts for most of the archaeological record, their uses in prehistory are poorly understood. The application of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify DNA molecules can help establish a physical link to ancient tool use in processing biological m...

Detailed studies of the long-term development of plant use strategies indicate that plant subsistence patterns have noticeably changed since the Upper Paleolithic, when humans underwent a transitional process from foraging to agriculture. This transition was best recorded in west Asia; however, information about how plant subsistence changed during this transition remains limited in China. This...

The Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT) eruption, which occurred in Indonesia 74,000 years ago, is one of Earth's largest known volcanic events. The effect of the YTT eruption on existing populations of humans, and accordingly on the course of human evolution, is debated. Here we associate the YTT with archaeological assemblages at Jwalapuram, in the Jurreru River valley of southern India. Broad continuit...