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This paper reviews results from economically-oriented studies of Middle Paleolithic technologies. Findings on raw material exploitation have shown conclusively that Middle Paleolithic hominins, mainly Neanderthals, were extremely flexible, able to respond to a range of different constraints on the availability of stone and the organization of tasks on landscapes. Overall, studies of raw material economics show a remarkable level of consistency in modal and maximum distances of raw material transport and in the nature of and treatment of transported artifacts. This indicates that results are methodologically and empirically robust, and reveals important commonalities in hominin behavior. Research on raw material economy may also be limited a widespread focus on aggregate, assemblage-level observations. The next phase of methodological development should concentrate on the use of intra-assemblage variation as a means of investigating internally diversified prehistoric populations. A paradoxical feature of variation in artifact design and investment illustrate the importance of considering intra-group variation in behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The site of Umm el Tlel (El Kowm Basin, Syria) has revealed an extremely rich stratigraphic sequence, in particular for the Middle Paleolithic, which allows synchronic and diachronic approaches to the analysis of occupation dynamics. Complex VI3 corresponds to a lacustrine phase during which the site was regularly covered by water and sedimentary deposits. Nine archeological layers are present, dating to around 70 ka. The assemblage from layer VI3a has revealed the co-existence of at least two chaȋnes opératoires of reduction: (a) recurrent Levallois focused on the production of points associated with quadrangular and overshot flakes; (b) recurrent Levallois focused on the production of points, laminar and quadrangular flakes. Other data, such as that related to the remains of hunted fauna recovered in this layer, complement these results and also contribute to a better understanding of the status of the site of Umm el Tlel and, more generally, its role within a broader territory that we can now better define. In a diachronic perspective, occupation dynamics can also be addressed by the study of all of the archeological layers in complex VI3. Based on results of analyses completed, these layers are remarkably uniform throughout this specific geological context, from all perspectives (reduction techniques, hunting strategies and faunal treatment, sites functions, etc.). Thus, the human behaviors revealed by the material recovered from complex VI3, although relatively complex, seem to have been quite stable. This stability, at present difficult to quantify in terms of duration, suggests a degree of rigidity in Mousterian territories where, despite intermittent occupations, human groups regularly returned to the same places to carry out the same range of activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The archeological site of Las Fuentes de San Cristóbal is located in the Huesca province (north-eastern Spain). It is situated between the mountains of the exterior zone of the central ridge and the central depression of the Pyrenees. This area presents a complex system with wide hydrographic valleys, formed by the Ésera, Isábena and Noguera-Ribagorzana rivers. This system has produced diversified lithological resources exploited by hominids. The level ˵G″ is situated above a basal level with pebbles, dated 55 ka BP, therefore it belongs to MIS 3, but no absolute dates are available at the moment. During this interstadial period the river valleys provided new potential areas for procurement of lithic resources. The lithic assemblage of level G has yielded 4,440 pieces, 2,199 of them analyzed and presented in this study. This assemblage is mainly formed by knapping products, and some cores and retouched tools. The main knapping method is discoidal, and the products are denticulate and side-scrapers. The most employed raw material is flint, in its different varieties and limestone, porphyry, quartzite, sandstone and, in a lower percentage, lydian and quartz were also used. The primary position of all of these lithic materials is located in a ˵semi-local″ area between 9 and 24 km from the archeological site (siliceous formations), and the other raw materials can be found in secondary position in the surroundings of the site (alluvial deposits). The study of the lithic resource availability and territory management brings new insights into the exploitation of high mountain ecosystems in the Pre-Pyrenees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Abric Romaní site is located in the northeast Iberian Peninsula, 50 km from Barcelona 317 m above sea level, in a travertine cliff on the right bank of the Anoia river, which is a tributary of the Llobregat river. This river passes by the Capellades locality, forming a narrow gorge known as ˵Cinglera del Capelló″. This corridor crosses the mountain range ˵Cordillera Prelitoral″, and is considered as a natural passage between the inland and coastal Catalonia regions. This situation provides the possibility to exploit a great variety of biotopes. The site yielded an important and complete stratigraphic sequence of European Middle Paleolithic. Fifteen archeological levels have been excavated until today, which appear as thin layers between sterile travertine platforms. This sequence has been dated by U-series between 70 and 40 ka BP, except for the uppermost level, which is attributed to the Early Upper Paleolithic. Pollen analyses have revealed five climatic phases, ranging from the milder conditions at the bottom to an interstadial climate at the top, correlated with the Hengelo interstadial. It is, consequently, a key site for human behavioral studies among Neanderthal groups. This paper presents the results of studies on resource procurements, lithics and animals and on the territory used by Neanderthal groups, through the example of level M dated around 55 ka BP. The results of the lithic analysis and faunal assemblages suggest that the resource procurement and management is focused on a local and semi-local exploitation in a geographic area of about 20 km around the rock-shelter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]