Anthropology Neanderthals and Modern Humans in Western Asia

529 Pages·2002·30.12 MB·English

by  Akazawa

Neandertals and Modern
Humans in Western Asia
Neandertals and Modern
Humans in Western Asia
Edited by
Takeru Akazawa
International Research Center for Japanese Studies
Kyoto, Japan
Kenichi Aoki
University of Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan
and
Ofer Bar-Yosef
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK, BOSTON, DORDRECHT, LONDON, MOSCOW
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PREFACE
Research in recent years placed Western Asia in a central position concerning the de-
bate on the origin of modern humans. It is not surprising that this region occupies a special
place in human evolution. The particular geographic position at the crossroads of Africa and
Eurasia and the mixed landscape of hilly areas and intermontane valleys next to the Medi-
terranean Sea created an ecosystem suitable for human habitation since the Early Pleisto-
cene. Numerous prehistoric sites are already known and more are discovered every year.
Intensive and extensive field and laboratory research, especially in the Levant, was and is
targeted to clarify issues of interest to many researchers. The increasing number of investi-
gations contribute to the ongoing search into the origins of modern humans and the demise
of the Neandertals. On the basis of mitochondrial and nuclear genetics, modern humans are
considered to have originated in sub-Saharan Africa. Human remains from Qafzeh and
Skhul are often cited as supportive evidence of this idea. At the same time, queries concern-
ing the date of Levantine Neandertals are not yet fully resolved. Although no scholars pro-
pose that Neandertals are native to western Asia, a few suspect that they never even reached
the region. Hence, it appears that the human fossils and their archaeological contexts, as re-
vealed by Levantine sites, play a major role in our understanding of the intricate relation-
ships between Neandertals and their contemporaries.
Since the last century, it has been the more recent historical past that has attracted
European scholars from different countries to the Levant. Archaeological projects first be-
gan in the region during the early part of the nineteenth century, but systematic study of
the prehistoric remains was initiated only after the First World War. During the “Golden
Age” of Near Eastern archaeology, between the two world wars, numerous large-scale ex-
cavations of prehistoric sites were carried out. This work has increased significantly since
the Second World War. During the last four decades, foreign archaeologists have been
joined by local ones, creating a mosaic of academic approaches still unmatched in other
regions of world archaeology. In addition, despite the changing geopolitical situations in
this region, field research continues without interruption.
Sites attributed to the Lower, Middle, and Upper Paleolithic have been excavated
and reported, and many more are known from surveys. Already in the 1930s, Middle Pa-
leolithic sites produced a large number of human remains. Mousterian assemblages were
studied, and the excavations during the 1960s and 1970s producedadditional fossils, espe-
cially in Qafzeh and Kebara. The renewed excavations at Tabun raised numerous impor-
tant questions concerning the chronology of Middle Paleolithic industries. At the same
time excavations at Sefunim and Geula caves, both in Mt. Carmel, as well as Rosh Ein
V
vi Preface
Mor and Ain Aqev in the Negev, provided additional information. In Syria and Lebanon
excavations in Ras el Kelb and the Adlun sites were followed by Jerf Ajla, Douara, Keoue,
Nahr Ibrahim, and Masloukh. Renewed excavations in Yabrud rockshelter produced anew
a long sequence of Acheulo-Yabrudian and Mousterian layers. Technological and ty-
pological studies developed the sequence of the Mousterian industries in Tabun Cave as a
basis for relative cultural chronology. Other investigations stressed the potential of recog-
nizing settlement patterns that include hunting camps, quarry sites, and the relationship
between the time-trajectory of metrical attributes of artifacts and human evolution.
However, it was the debate concerning the origin of modern humans and the argu-
ments about the dating of the local Neandertals and the various Mousterian industries that
have turned a number of sites into targets for intensive research.
The new era of dynamic field and laboratory investigations, initiated in the early
1980s, led to a series of discoveries of new human fossils. Other important advances in-
clude the accumulation of new observations concerning site formation processes and past
subsistence strategies, and the dramatic increase in number and quality of radiometric
dates. Among the new field projects are the excavations in Dederiyeh Cave in northern
Syria, where the skeleton of a Neandertal child was uncovered; the excavations in the El-
Kowm basin and especially in Umm et Tlel, where a series of Mousterian living floors
was unearthed; the new series of excavations at Kebara Cave in Mt. Carmel and the re-
newal of the excavations at Hayonim Cave; the completion of the excavations at Amud
Cave and the discovery of additional human remains there; and the excavations of the
Mousterian rockshelters and caves in southern Jordan such as Tor Faraj, Tor Sabiha and
Ain Difla. During the same period ESR, TL, and Amino Acid Racemization readings were
obtained in sites such as Qafzeh, Kebara, Tabun, Amud, Tor Faraj, Tor Sabiha, and Ain Di-
fla. Through these projects it became obvious that the Mousterian chronology was longer
than had ever been suspected.
Other key achievements in recent years deserve to be mentioned as well. These in-
clude in-depth lithic studies carried out in several sites, the search for biological indications
for seasonal occupation of the sites, and the study of site formation processes that, in addi-
tion to micromorphology, included the investigation of ashes and hearths as well as bone
preservation. Faunal analyses produced improved data sets concerning pasthuman diets and
hunting techniques, in addition to the traditional reconstruction of past environments.
Both the new fossil relics and the onesdiscovered in the past raised numerous issues
on two fronts: the approximate taxonomic status of these humans; and the possible rela-
tionships between those traditionally classified as Neandertals and the modern humans
that were also named as “proto-Cro-Magnons.” Disagreements concerning taxonomic and
paleobehavioral aspects made it obvious that investigators from different countries and
various schools needed to meet to discuss the most updated results of their scientific in-
quiries. The result was the organization of the first meeting at the University of Tokyo in
1990 (Akazawa et al. 1992).
The success of this conference and the rapidly accumulating data sets after 1990
made it clear that another meeting was desired. We therefore invited a large number of
colleagues to take part in a meeting that convened at the University Museum of the Uni-
versity of Tokyo in November 1995. In the meantime, it had become evident that the im-
plications of the current debate on the evolution of modern humans and the disappearance
of the Neandertals reach far beyond the geographic boundaries of western Asia and indeed
the disciplinary boundaries of traditional anthropology and archaeology. Therefore, since
we also wished to enlarge the scope of the conference, we invited a few scholars to con-
tribute surveys of adjacent regions in order to enable readers to place the information from
Preface vii
western Asia in a global, Eurasian context. Also invited were scholars with a theoretical
interest in the relationship between taxonomically and culturally determined aspects of
paleobehavior.
Unfortunately, a few colleagues could not attend the conference and several were un-
able to submit their papers. We thank all those who attended the conference for their lively
participation as well as the contributors to the volume for their dedication and patience.
While editing the volume we faced the need to homogenize certain terminologies and
spellings that recur throughout the various contributions. We hope that both the authors and
the readers will understand the constraints and difficulties involved in this task. One of the
more common issues is the spelling of Neandertals, which was originally written with “th”
but has been shortened in recent years to only “t.” We also favored the term “Near East”
rather than “Middle East,” and have chosen to spell “Paleo” as such rather than “Palaeo.”
We have standardized the references to dates of thousands and millions of years by using ka
for thousands and Ma for millions.
The organizers would like to thank the University of Tokyo, the International Re-
search Center for Japanese Studies, and the American School of Prehistoric Research (Pe-
abody Museum, Harvard University) for providing the funds for the editing of this
volume. We would also like to thank David Pilbeam for his comments on many of the
papers and Naomi Ornstein for her work completing the task.
TakeruAkazawa
Kenichi Aoki
Ofer Bar-Yosef
CONTENTS
PART I: ISSUES OF EVOLUTION AND CHRONOLOGY ................... 1
1. Evolutionary Implications of Altered Perspectives on Hominine Demes and
Populations in the Later Pleistocene of Western Eurasia ............... 5
F. Clark Howell
2. Chronological and Biogeographic Perspectives on Later Human Evolution .... 29
Chris Stringer
3. The Chronology of the Middle Paleolithic of the Levant ................... 39
Ofer Bar-Yosef
4. Progress in ESR and U-Series Chronology of the Levantine Paleolithic ....... 57
Henry P. Schwarcz and W. J. Rink
5. GIF Laboratory Dates for Middle Paleolithic Levant ...................... 69
Helene Valladas, Norbert Mercier, Jean-Louis Joron, and Jean-Louis Reyss
6. The Faunal Sequence of the Southwest Asian Middle Paleolithic in Relation to
Hominid Dispersal Events ...................................... 77
Eitan Tchernov
PART II: ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSEMBLAGES: CULTURAL
INTERPRETATIONS AND SUBSISTENCE STRATEGIES .......... 91
7. The Earliest Paleolithic Occupation in Syria ............................. 95
Sultan Muhesen
8. Site Formation Processes in Kebara and Hayonim Caves and Their Significance
in Levantine Prehistoric Caves ................................... 107
Paul Goldberg and Ofer Bar-Yosef
9. Intrasite Spatial Patterns and Behavioral Modernity: Indications from the Late
Levantine Mousterian Rockshelter of Tor Faraj, Southern Jordan ........ 127
Donald O. Henry
ix
x Contents
10. The Lithic Assemblages of Amud Cave: Implications for Understanding the End
of the Mousterian in the Levant .................................. 143
ErellaHovers
11. Hayonim CaveLithic Assemblages in the Context of the Near Eastern Middle
Paleolithic: A Preliminary Report ................................. 165
LilianeMeignen
12. Bitumen as Hafting Material on Middle Paleolithic Artifacts from the El Kowm
Basin, Syria .................................................. 181
EricBoëda, Jacques Connan, and Sultan Muhesen
13. The Technological Abilities of the Levantine Mousterians: Cultural and Mental
Capacities ................................................... 205
Naama Goren-Inbar and Anna Belfer-Cohen
14. The Role of Hunting and Scavenging in Neandertal Procurement Strategies:
New Evidence from Kebara Cave (Israel) .......................... 223
John D. Speth and EitanTchernov
15. Pleistocene Species Trends at Hayonim Cave: Changes in Climate versus
Human Behavior .............................................. 241
Mary C. Stiner and Eitan Tchernov
16. Neandertal and Early Modern Human Mobility Patterns: Comparing
Archaeological and Anatomical Evidence .......................... 263
Daniel E. Lieberman
17. Prospects for Stable IsotopicAnalysis of Later Pleistocene Hominid Diets in
West Asia and Europe .......................................... 277
Stanley H. Ambrose
PART III: THE HUMAN FOSSILS ....................................... 291
18. Climatic Changes, Paleogeography, and the Evolution of the Neandertals ...... 295
Jean-Jacques Hublin
19. Sapiens and Neandertals: Rethinking the Levantine Middle Paleolithic Hominids 311
Baruch Arensburg and Anna Belfer-Cohen
20. Anatomy of the Neandertal Infant Skeleton from Dederiyeh Cave, Syria ...... 323
Yukio Dodo, Osamu Kondo, Sultan Muhesen, and Takeru Akazawa
21. The Search for the Earliest Modern Europeans: A Comparison of the Es-Skhul 1
and Krapina 1 Juveniles ........................................ 339
Nancy Minugh-Purvis1–3
22. Does Any Mousterian Cave Present Evidence of Two Hominid Species? ...... 353
Yoel Rak
Contents xi
23. Morphological Variation in West AsianPostcrania: Implications for Obstetric
and Locomotor Behavior ....................................... 367
Karen R. Rosenberg
24. Ontogenetic Variation in Late Pleistocene Homo Sapiens from the Near East:
Implications for Methodological Bias in Reconstructing Evolutionary
Biology ..................................................... 381
Anne-marie Tillier
25. UpperLimb versus Lower Limb Loading Patterns among Near Eastern Middle
Paleolithic Hominids ........................................... 391
Erik Trinkaus, Christopher B. Ruff, and Steven E. Churchill
26. A Reassessment of the Tabun C2 Mandible .............................. 405
Rolf M. Quam and Fred H. Smith
PART IV: CULTURAL AND HUMAN EVOLUTION: VIEWS FROM
NEIGHBORING REGIONS .................................... 423
27. The Evolution of Culture: A Comparative Perspective ..................... 427
Kevin N. Laland
28. Domestic Fire as Evidence for Language ................................ 439
Avraham Ronen
29. A Comparative Perspective on Paleolithic Cultural Patterns ................. 449
Kathy D. Schick
30. The Middle and the Early UpperPaleolithic around the Black Sea ........... 461
Janusz K. Kozlowski
31. Turkey as a Key ................................................... 483
Marcel Otte
32. The Impact of Climatic Changes on the Demography of Late Neandertal and
Early Anatomically Modern Populations in Europe ................... 493
Paul Mellars
33. Why Anatomically Modern People Did Not Disperse from Africa
100,000 Years Ago ............................................ 509
Richard G. Klein
34. Afterword ........................................................ 523
David Pilbeam
Contributors ........................................................... 529
Index ................................................................. 533