Aurignacian

The chrono-cultural sequence of Cueva Bajondillo consists of 3 different phases: musterien, Upper Palaeolithic (aurignacian, gravettian and solutrean levels) and Neolithic. This paper deals with two aspects. First, the problem of the tufa of Torremolinos, which had given way to di-ffi culties in the interpretation of the stratigraphic series, is considered. The availability of new data allows us to solve these problems and to suggest a chronology (end of OIS 6 and OIS 5) for the lithoquimic genesis of the area where the Cueva is located. Second, the chronological and paleoenvironmental frame of the last stages of the mouterian technocomplexes and the fi rst Upper Palaeolithic industries in this site are analyzed and placed within the context of the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition in the Iberian Peninsula.

Since the discovery of the Grotte Chauvet (Ard
eche, France) in the mid-1990s, there has been a debate regarding the accuracy of assigning this site to the Aurignacian period. The main argument stems from a perceived lack of agreement between the radiocarbon age of the imagery (>32,000 years BP [before
present]) and its stylistic complexity and technical sophistication, which some believe are more typical of the later Upper Paleolithic. In this paper we first review the evidence for symbolic behavior among modern humans during the Aurignacian in order to explore the question of whether Chauvet's images are anachronistic. Then, using a database of non-figurative signs found in Paleolithic parietal art, we
undertake a detailed comparison between Chauvet's corpus of signs and those found in other French Upper Paleolithic caves. While we conclude that there is substantial evidence to support an Aurignacian date for Grotte Chauvet, we also suggest that it may be time to revisit some of the cultural boundaries that are currently in use in Paleolithic archaeology.

This paper outlines a “symbolic ecology” for the Aurignacian of Central and Southwestern Germany. Drawing upon data derived from cultural anthropology, psychology and zoobiology, we compare the sociocultural modalities of “managing” the recurrent theme of the mammoth and the cave lion with the encounter and interaction conditions underlying these two specific animal-human relations in the glacial landscapes of the European Early Upper Palaeolithic. We propose that being-in-the-world as highly mobile hunter-gatherers living in open and densely populated “animal-landscapes” strongly promotes non-Cartesian understandings of the animal-human interface, ultimately favouring notions of co-habitation, proximity and social intimacy. By reviewing key aspects of mammoth and cave lion ethology and socioecology, we point out the natural significance and relevance of these animals for human forager groups operating in the same environments. Moreover, we argue that this “natural significance” is directly reflected in the archaeological signature of the Central and Southwestern German Aurignacian that assigns these creatures a pre-eminent place in its material culture repertoire – for instance in craftsmanship, subsistence and settlement organisation and thus in areas deeply anchored in every-day practice. Although there is a clear convergence between the natural prominence of these animals and their sociocultural salience, different eco-behavioural profiles of mammoth and cave lion seem to have motivated varying modalities to engage with them materially. This, in turn, suggests different trajectories of constructing the animal-human interface and therefore a different “status” of both animals in the wider “Glaubenswelt” (belief world) of Aurignacian regional communities. The deep entrenchment of both animals in the sociocultural world as well as the rather unique interaction conditions they offer to human co-dwellers point to the social importance of mammoths and cave lions and thus to animistic and essentially relational ontologies. This, finally, demonstrates the blurring of the Cartesian boundary between animal and human domains and introduces the possibility of pondering aspects of “animal-personhood” in this part of the Aurignacian world. We conclude our survey by discussing some critical implications that arise when reading the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition from the perspective of animal-human interactions and the entanglement of ontologies and material signatures.

Las condiciones climáticas, unidas a las peculiaridades del relieve cantábrico propiciaron probablemente la ocupación de refugios ecológicos en Asturias por parte de los grupos humanos durante el inicio del Paleolítico superior inicial. En líneas generales, y al igual que sucede en la Región Cantábrica, el número de yacimientos en los que se han hallado evidencias del Paleolítico superior inicial en Asturias es escaso, si lo comparamos con el resto del Paleolítico superior, especialmente con el Magdaleniense. Sin embargo, los hallazgos documentados en los yacimientos del Paleolítico superior inicial son un claro reflejo de la aparición de un comportamiento moderno de los grupos humanos. En este trabajo se realiza un estado de la cuestión sobre la investigación de este periodo, prestando también especial atención al desarrollo de la transición del Paleolítico medio al superior en Asturias.

Topográfiai helyzete és Zagyva-völgyhöz való közelsége folytán Bér közvetlen térsé-ge a paleolitikum idõszakában igen nagy jelentõséggel bírhatott, az Egri-Bükkalja – Mát-raalja – Cserhát-hegység között feltételezhetõ migrációs útvonal egy fontos állomása le-hetett. A Bér-patak völgye és a Berceli-völgy találkozásánál, a D-rõl a Nagy-hegy komp-lexum K-i szárnya (341,9 m), É-ról a Cigány-hegy (304,0 m) határolta szûk, keskeny " Bé-ri-szoros " , mint topográfiai neuralgikus pont vadászati stratégiai szempontból minden bizonnyal nagy vonzerõvel bírhatott a paleolitikus vadászcsoportok számára. A környék adottsági sorában mindenképpen kiemelendõ továbbá a közeli nyersanyagforrások meg-léte is. Az elmúlt két évtized során a tágabb értelemben vett térségben több tucat paleoli-tikus lelõhelyet sikerült lokalizálni, Bér közvetlen térsége azonban erdõkkel való fedett-sége folytán nem nyújt kedvezõ lehetõségeket a terepkutatás számára. A kisszámú me-zõgazdaságilag mûvelt területen azonban három olyan jelentõs lelõhely található, ame-lyek leletanyagának ismertetése megítélésünk szerint mindenképpen indokolt.

Because of the topographical situation of Bér, it’s environment had got a great significance during the Palaeolithic age. It could be an important station alongside the migration route between the Bükk Mountains and Cserhát Mountains. During the last two decades more than two dozen open-air Palaeolithic sites were located in the vicinity of Bér. Hereinafter we will short review three of these sites with significant lithic assemblages.

Der Ausstellungskatalog zeigt hochkarätige Exponate aus dem reichen Themenspektrum der Altsteinzeit Mitteleuropas. Dabei steht der Zeitraum im Fokus, ab dem Menschen der Art Homo neanderthalensis sich ganz bewusst für das Leben in der Kälte der gemäßigten Breiten entschieden haben.

Der kulturelle Umbruch mit dem Homo sapiens seit etwa 40.000 Jahren ist weltweit nirgends so gut dokumentiert wie in der süddeutschen Kleinkunst des Aurignacien. Einige der berühmten Elfenbeinobjekte werden hier erklärt und ihre Herstellungsweise rekonstruiert. Auch zu den nachfolgenden Epochen – dem Gravettien und Magdalénien – sind Exponate von Weltrang vereint, wie aus Dolní Věstonice und Předmostí, dem Schamanengrab von Brno oder der Pekárna-Höhle (alle Tschechien), Laugerie-Haute (Frankreich) und Gönnersdorf (Deutschland). Einige der herausragend schönen Kunstwerke werden in diesem Katalog erstmals in qualitätvollen Farbabbildungen gezeigt.

Several questions remain regarding the timing and nature of the Neanderthal-anatomically modern human (AMH) transition in Europe. The situation in Eastern Europe is generally less clear due to the relatively few sites and a dearth of reliable radiocarbon dates. Claims have been made for both notably early AMH and notably late Neanderthal presence, as well as for early AMH (Aurignacian) dispersal into the region from Central/Western Europe. The Kostenki-Borshchevo complex (European Russia) of Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP) sites offers high-quality data to address these questions. Here we revise the chronology and cultural status of the key sites of Kostenki 17 and Kostenki 14. The Kostenki 17/II lithic assemblage shares important features with Proto-Aurignacian material, strengthening an association with AMHs. New radiocarbon dates for Kostenki 17/II of ~41–40 ka cal BP agree with new dates for the recently excavated Kostenki 14/IVw, which shows some similarities to Kostenki 17/II. Dates of ≥41 ka cal BP from other Kostenki sites cannot be linked to diagnostic archaeological material, and therefore cannot be argued to date AMH occupation. Kostenki 14’s Layer in Volcanic Ash assemblage, on the other hand, compares to Early Aurignacian material. New radiocarbon dates targeting diagnostic lithics date to 39–37 ka cal BP. Overall, Kostenki’s early EUP is in good agreement with the archaeological record further west. Our results are therefore consistent with models predicting interregional penecontemporaneity of diagnostic EUP assemblages. Most importantly, our work highlights ongoing challenges for reliably radiocarbon dating the period. Dates for Kostenki 14 agreed with the samples’ chronostratigraphic positions, but standard pre-treatment methods consistently produced incorrect ages for Kostenki 17/II. Extraction of hydroxyproline from bone collagen using prep-HPLC, however, yielded results consistent with the samples’ chronostratigraphic position and with the layer’s archaeological contents. This suggests that for some sites compound-specific techniques are required to build reliable radiocarbon chronologies.

This volume provides an insight into the current state of archaeological research
in Southeast Europe and its adjacent regions, spanning chronologically from the
Aurignacian to the beginning of the Neolithic period. In ten contributions by leading
experts in this field, specific topics in regions ranging from the Aegean Sea, the
Carpathians, and Western Anatolia to the Apennine Peninsula and Central Europe are
presented. This book represents the proceedings of an international workshop, held in
May 2014 in Tübingen as a part of the work of the Collaborative Research Centre 1070
ResourceCultures.

Portable objects with figurative decoration found at sites in the Iberian Peninsula (Hornos de la Peña, Salitre, El Castillo, Covalejos, Morín, Lumentxa, Antoliñako Koba, Les Mallaetes
and El Parpalló) are presented and discussed. The stratigraphic position of each object is assessed, characterizing and, in some cases, discussing the nature of the decoration. The oldest figurative mobile art in the Iberian Peninsula can be attributed, based on the study of the portable ensembles, to about ~31.5 ky cal BP. Its morpho‐stylistic characterization reveals a graphic construction focusing on simple depictions in which the outlines of the animals are given priority.

Entre 1999 et 2005, un projet collectif de recherche sur le Paléolithique supérieur ancien du centre et du sud du Bassin parisien a été conduit, en partie pour tenter d’identifier des indices de la présence aurignacienne au sein de cette vaste région. Ce projet s’est déroulé alors même que se développait
en France, mais aussi en Allemagne, une discussion nourrie concernant les convergences entre les formes carénées de l’Aurignacien et celles de cultures plus récentes, comme le Badegoulien ou le Magdalénien inférieur et moyen. On peut estimer que cette enquête a partiellement porté ses fruits.
Si très peu d’informations d’ordre chronostratigraphique sont venues s’ajouter à celles d’ores et déjà connues, ce PCR a cependant permis un enrichissement incontestable de la documentation sur plusieurs faciès techniques et une meilleure connaissance de certaines de leurs chaînes opératoires.
Désormais, on identifie ainsi plusieurs tendances à pièces carénées dans le Bassin parisien, qui demanderont, dans l’avenir, à être mieux placées dans la chronologie du Paléolithique supérieur de cette région.