Archeological evidence suggests that footwear was in use by at least the middle Upper Paleolithic (Gravettian) in portions of Europe, but the frequency of use and the mechanical protection provided are unclear from these data. A comparative biomechanical analysis of the proximal pedal phalanges of western Eurasian Middle Paleolithic and middle Upper Paleolithic humans, in the context of those o...

Several faunal assemblages excavated in deposits of different antiquity (from Lower Paleolithic to Bronze Age), located in Northern, Central and Southern Italy, were studied from the archeozoological and taphonomic point of view. Data obtained by different Authors allow reconstruction of subsistence strategies adopted by prehistoric humans in these areas and through time, in particular as far a...

The term "mental template" has been used frequently by lithic analysts in recent years, especially in discussions of Lower Paleolithic bifaces and large cutting tools, of Middle Paleolithic stone tool typology, and of differences between Middle and Upper Paleolithic industries in Europe (e.g., Ambrose 1998; Ashton and White 2003; Barton 1990; Bisson 2001; Gowlett 1984, 1996, 2006; Marks, et al....

there has been more than four decades since frank hole and kent flannery conducted a field expedition in central zagros mountains located in western iran, in 1963. from then onward, numerous discoveries and field projects have been done in this region. some of these findings may contradict the report of the original survey. although the goal of this article by no means, is to criticize the 1967...

Paleolithic lithic assemblages are traditionally described on the bases of presence of a variety of tool types(typology) and of different knapping technologies. In this study we tried to investigate whether the presence ofdifferent groups of scrapers in the Mar-Tarik site assigned to the Middle Paleolithic represent specific function orjust different stages of the reduction process and constant...

The territory of present day Armenia is a geographic contact zone between the Near East and the northern Caucasus. Armenian Middle and Upper Paleolithic records are both few and patchy as a result of the historical paucity of systematic archaeological research in the country. Consequently, it is currently difficult to correlate the Armenian Middle and Upper Paleolithic records with those from o...

Understanding the behavioral adaptations and subsistence strategies of Middle Paleolithic humans is critical in the debate over the evolution and manifestations of modern human behavior. The study of faunal remains plays a central role in this context. Until now, the majority of Levantine archaeofaunal evidence was derived from late Middle Paleolithic sites. The discovery of faunal remains from...

The emergence of modern humans in the Late Pleistocene, whatever its phylogenetic history, was characterized by a series of behaviorally important shifts reflected in aspects of human hard tissue biology and the archeological record. To elucidate these shifts further, diaphyseal cross-sectional morphology was analyzed by using cross-sectional areas and second moments of area of the mid-distal h...

The late Lower Paleolithic archaeofaunas of Qesem Cave in the southern Levant span 400-200 ka and associate with Acheulo-Yabrudian (mainly Amudian) industries. The large mammals are exclusively Eurasian in origin and formed under relatively cool, moist conditions. The zooarchaeological findings testify to large game hunting, hearth-centered carcass processing and meat sharing during the late Lo...

While predetermined débitage technologies are recognized beginning with the middle Acheulian, the Middle Paleolithic is usually associated with a sharp increase in their use. A study of scraper-blank technology from three Yabrudian assemblages retrieved from the early part of the Acheulo-Yabrudian complex of Tabun Cave (ca. 415-320 kyr) demonstrates a calculated and preplanned production, even ...