Regional Approaches to Adaptation in Late Pleistocene Western Europe

Regional Approaches to Adaptation in Late Pleistocene Western Europe PDF

Author: Gail Larsen Peterkin

Publisher: BAR International Series

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13:

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Studies of the Late Pleistocene period, approximately between 18,000 and 11,000 years ago, vary considerably in their interpretations of human activity, mobility and cultural complexity. This volume collects 21 papers which approach the subject from diverse geographical and chronological perspectives to examine, amongst other themes, the movement and interactions of population groups, regional comparisons and the relationship between theoretical models and archaeological data. General theoretical studies are combined with case studies, including evidence from the Dordogne and other parts of France, Spain and Portugal. One paper in French.

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers PDF

Author: Vicki Cummings

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2014-04-24

Total Pages: 1264

ISBN-13: 0191025267

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For more than a century, the study of hunting and gathering societies has been central to the development of both archaeology and anthropology as academic disciplines, and has also generated widespread public interest and debate. The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers provides a comprehensive review of hunter-gatherer studies to date, including critical engagements with older debates, new theoretical perspectives, and renewed obligations for greater engagement between researchers and indigenous communities. Chapters provide in-depth archaeological, historical, and anthropological case-studies, and examine far-reaching questions about human social relations, attitudes to technology, ecology, and management of resources and the environment, as well as issues of diet, health, and gender relations—all central topics in hunter-gatherer research, but also themes that have great relevance for modern global society and its future challenges. The Handbook also provides a strategic vision for how the integration of new methods, approaches, and study regions can ensure that future research into the archaeology and anthropology of hunter-gatherers will continue to deliver penetrating insights into the factors that underlie all human diversity.

Investigating Archaeological Cultures

Investigating Archaeological Cultures PDF

Author: Benjamin W. Roberts

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2011-06-04

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 1441969705

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Defining "culture" is an important step in undertaking archaeological research. Any thorough study of a particular culture first has to determine what that culture contains-- what particular time period, geographic region, and group of people make up that culture. The study of archaeology has many accepted definitions of particular cultures, but recently these accepted definitions have come into question. As archaeologists struggle to define cultures, they also seek to define the components of culture. This volume brings together 21 international case studies to explore the meaning of "culture" for regions around the globe and periods from the Paleolithic to the Bronze Age and beyond. Taking lessons and overarching themes from these studies, the contributors draw important conclusions about cultural transmission, technology development, and cultural development. The result is a comprehensive model for approaching the study of culture, broken down into regions (Russia, Continental Europe, North America, Britain, and Africa), materials (Lithics, Ceramics, Metals) and time periods. This work will be valuable to all archaeologists and cultural anthropologists, particularly those studying material culture.

Deer and People

Deer and People PDF

Author: Naomi Sykes

Publisher: Windgather Press

Published: 2014-09-30

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 1909686549

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Deer have been central to human cultures throughout time and space: whether as staples to hunter-gatherers, icons of Empire, or the focus of sport. Their social and economic importance has seen some species transported across continents, transforming landscape as they went with the establishment of menageries and park. The fortunes of other species have been less auspicious, some becoming extirpated, or being in threat of extinction, due to pressures of over-hunting and/or human-instigated environmental change. In spite of their diverse, deep-rooted and long standing relations with human societies, no multi-disciplinary volume of research on cervids has until now been produced. This volume draws together research on deer from wide-ranging disciplines and in so doing substantially advances our broader understanding of human-deer relationships in the past and the present. Themes include species dispersal, exploitation patterns, symbolic significance, material culture and art, effects on the landscape and management. The temporal span of research ranges from the Pleistocene to the modern day and covers Europe, North America and Asia. Papers derived from international conferences held at the University of Lincoln and in Paris.

The Pleistocene Old World

The Pleistocene Old World PDF

Author: Olga Soffer

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-11-11

Total Pages: 383

ISBN-13: 1461318173

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Regional approaches to past human adaptations have generated much new knowledge and understanding. Researchers working on problems of adaptations in the Holocene, from those of simple hunter-gatherers to those of complex sociopolitical entities like the state, have found this approach suitable for comprehension of both ecological and social aspects of human behavior. This research focus has, however, until recently left virtually un touched a major spatial and temporaI segment of prehistory-the Old World during the Pleistocene. Extant literature on this period, by and large, presents either detailed site speeific accounts or offers continental or even global syntheses that tend to compile site speeific information but do not integrate it into whole c~nstructs of funetioning so ciocuhural entities. This volume presents our current state of knowledge about a variety of regional adaptations that charaeterized prehistoric groups in the Old World before 10,000 B. P. The authors of the chapters consider the behavior of humans rather than that of objects or features and present data and models for variaus aspects of past cultures and for culture change. These presentations integrate findings and understandings derived from a number of related disciplines actively involved in researching the past. Data and interpretations are offered on a range of Old \yorld regions during the PaIeolithic, induding Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe, and chronological coverage spans from the Early to Late PIeisto cene.

Human Adaptations to the Last Glacial Maximum

Human Adaptations to the Last Glacial Maximum PDF

Author: João

Cascalheira

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2019-11-04

Total Pages: 531

ISBN-13: 1527542807

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The book assembles new insights into humanity’s social, cultural and economic developments during the Last Glacial Maximum in Western Europe and adjacent regions. It gathers original, up-to-date research results on the Solutrean techno-complex, reflecting four major fields of research: data from current excavations; analysis of lithic assemblages; new results from studies on climatic conditions and human-environmental interactions; and insights into artistic expressions. New methodological and analytical approaches are applied, providing significant contributions to Paleolithic research beyond the Last Glacial Maximum.

Past Vulnerability

Past Vulnerability PDF

Author: Felix Riede

Publisher: Aarhus Universitetsforlag

Published: 2015-12-31

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 8771840249

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Volcanic eruptions can affect everything--nature, wildlife, people. From the earliest times, human resilience has been tested by this most severe environmental hazard resulting in a variety of collective responses--from despair and helplessness to endurance, increased worship of the gods, and even mass migrations. Past Vulnerability breaks new ground by examining the histories of extreme environmental events, from the resent eruptions of Mount Merapi in Central Java to the prehistoric Toba supervolcanic eruption 74,000 years ago on the island of Sumatra. Experts from a broad and unconventional range of disciplines--from anthropology to literature studies and from archaeology to theology--discuss the impacts of volcanic eruptions in human history and prehistory. The book sets the scene for a 'palaeosocial volcanology' that complements and extends current approaches to volcanic hazards in the natural and social sciences by presenting historically informed and evidence-based analyses on how traditional societies dealt with these dangers--or failed to do so.

Dolní Vestonice–Pavlov

Dolní Vestonice–Pavlov PDF

Author: Jirí A. Svoboda

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2020-09-25

Total Pages: 678

ISBN-13: 1623498120

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Perhaps the oldest modern human settlement in Europe, the archaeological site at Dolní Věstonice–Pavlov, located in the rolling, forested plains just north of the Danube River, has yielded a treasure trove of Ice Age artifacts since its first excavation in 1924. The earliest people who lived here some 30,000 years ago produced tools crafted from stone and bone and carved elaborate animal and human figurines fashioned of mammoth ivory and sculptures of fired clay, including the famous “Venus of Dolní Věstonice,” one of the oldest known ceramic artifacts in the world. Interestingly, novelist Jean M. Auel took much of the inspiration for her popular novel, Clan of the Cave Bear, from the discoveries at Dolní Věstonice–Pavlov. Richly illustrated throughout, including beautiful color renderings of scenes from Paleolithic life suggested by Svoboda’s research, this first English translation of Dolní Věstonice–Pavlov: Explaining Paleolithic Settlements in Central Europe is sure to provide not only vital information for scholars, researchers, and students but also insightful and thought-provoking background for interested general readers.

The Exploitation of Raw Materials in Prehistory

The Exploitation of Raw Materials in Prehistory PDF

Author: Xavier Terradas Batlle

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2017-11-06

Total Pages: 656

ISBN-13: 1527505235

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This collection presents state-of-the-art approaches to the use of inorganic raw materials in the period known as prehistory. It focuses on stone-tools, adornments, colorants and pottery from Europe, America and Africa. The chapters intimately merge archaeology, anthropology, geology, geography, physics and chemistry to reconstruct past human behaviour, economy, technology, ecology, cognition, territory and social complexity. The book represents a framework of raw material investigation for those working in science, regardless of the time period, region of the world or materials they are studying.