The archeological background

The archeological background
In looking for signs of modern human behavior, we are concerned with a shift from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) to the Later Stone Age (LSA) in Africa, dated at some 250,000 to 40,000 years and 40,000 to 10,000 years, respectively. The equivalent stages in Europe, Asia, and North Africa are known as the Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic. The end of the Lower Paleolithic, 250,000 years ago, saw the end of innovation-poor, long-lasting stone-tool industries. With the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic, the number of identifiable tool types quadrupled, reaching perhaps 40. The Middle Paleolithic (mode III) and Middle Stone Age technologies were characterized by the predominance of the prepared core technique, such as the Levallois technique .Flakes produced by this method may then be further fashioned to give what some archeologists identify as approximately 40 different implements, each with its own putative cutting, scraping, or piercing function. Some variation

exists in Middle Paleolithic assemblages throughout the Old World, which has encouraged the development of a plethora of local names. The most generally applied name, however, is Mousterian, after the Neanderthal site of Le Moustier, in the Perigord region of France. With the Upper Paleolithic, beginning 40,000 years ago, the number of tools more than doubled again, to as many as 100. Moreover, European tool industries cascade through at least four identifiable traditions in less than 30,000 yearsaa pace of innovation and change unprecedented in the archeological record. In addition to new forms of tools, raw materials that were only infrequently used earlier, such as bone, ivory, and antler, became very important in the Upper Paleolithic industries.

Just as flakes from prepared cores characterize Mousterian (and Mousterian-like) industries in the Middle Paleolithic, blades produced from prepared cores constitute something of a signature for the many industries in the European Upper Paleolithic (mode IV). (See figures 30.3–30.5.) Blades are defined as flakes that are at least twice as long as they are wide. The preparation of the cores used for their manufacture requires great skill and time. Many blades may then be detached sequentially using a pointed object, such as the end of an antler, hammered by a hammerstone. The blades, often small and delicate, may be functional without further preparation, or they may merely serve as the starting point for specifically shaped implements. In addition to the signature blade, Upper Paleolithic tool makers also made extensive use of bone, ivory, and antler as raw material for some of the most delicate implements. Thus, a strong sense of directed design and elaborate use characterize Upper Paleolithic tool assemblages.

An important issue in the context of the origin of modern humans is the dynamics of the shift between the Middle Paleolithic (and MSA) and the Upper Paleolithic (and LSA). For Stanford University archeologist Richard Klein, the evid- ence reveals “the most dramatic behavioral shift that archeologists will ever detect.” For this reason, the transition has been regarded as revolutionary, not gradual. If true, then it would imply that the evolution of modern morphology (which appeared more than 130,000 years ago) occurred separately from the evolution of modern behavior (40,000 years ago). Recent discoveries in Africa may raise questions about this interpretation, however.