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Although the first numerical dating of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites in Poland was applied at the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, it has only been in the last two decades that a data increase has been recorded, making it possible to discuss both the development of human behaviour and cultural phenomena in time perspective. This paper aims to show the chronological diversity of sites dating from the beginning of the Weichselian glaciation (MIS 5a - MIS 5d, GI-19 - GI-23, Greenland Interstadials) to the middle part of MIS 3 (GI-8 - GI-10). We considered sites dated mainly by thermoluminescence dating (OSL) and radiocarbon dating. We relied on a series of recent datings. We attempted to analyse the stratigraphic integrity, the archaeological finds and the numerical dating results. Through OSL dating, we could establish the chronology of Micoquian sites, previously regarded as middle Pleistocene, to the last glaciation. The dating compilation also shows that the Late Middle Palaeolithic and Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) sites are unlikely to overlap, or if they do, it is only over a small period. Unfortunately, this period is poorly interpreted because it spans the limit of the radiocarbon dating reliability and goes beyond the bounds of the calibration curve. Confronting the datings of the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (LRJ) complex and the oldest finds associated with Aurigniacian sites in Poland lead to the conclusion that these sites may have co-occurred for some time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nubian Levallois technology has become a prominent and hotly debated topic in current Palaeolithic discourse, with important arguments surrounding modern human dispersals, cultural interactions and technological innovations resting on the presence of Nubian cores in lithic assemblages. However, not all published instances of Nubian cores fulfil their strict technological criteria, with resultant implications for how their presence in space and time is interpreted. To address this, this dataset compiles a comprehensive literature review of 154 published sites where Nubian cores have been reported. Each case is presented with key contextual information synthesised from the literature, and the identification of Nubian cores is critically evaluated. The dataset shows that over the last decade, while there has been a marked increase in the number and distribution of sites with reported Nubian cores, these artefacts increasingly diverge from the technological and morphological characteristics that define this core type. As such, 24 identifications are queried as not fulfilling the strict Nubian core criteria. A further three are rejected with no supporting evidence in the literature, and four noted as contested cases. This dataset serves as a key resource for studies of Nubian Levallois technology, providing a centralised literature review with spatial and contextual data to support robust future research on the topic.

Archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence from the Armenian Highlands and wider southern Caucasus region emphasises the significance of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 (c. 57–29 ka) as a crucial period for understanding hominin behaviours amidst environmental fluctuations. Ararat-1 cave, situated in the Ararat Depression, Republic of Armenia, presents potential for resolving emerging key debates regarding hominin land use adaptations during this interval, due to its well-preserved lithic artefacts and faunal assemblages. We present the first results of combined sedimentological, geochronological (luminescence and radiocarbon), archaeological and palaeoecological (macrofauna, microfauna and microcharcoal) study of the Ararat-1 sequence. We demonstrate sediment accumulation occurred between 52 and 35 ka and was caused by a combination of aeolian activity, cave rockfall and water action. Whilst the upper strata of the Ararat-1 sequence experienced post-depositional disturbance due to faunal and anthropogenic processes, the lower strata remain relatively undisturbed. We suggest that during a stable period within MIS 3, Ararat-1 was inhabited by Middle Palaeolithic hominins amidst a mosaic of semi-arid shrub, grassland, and temperate woodland ecosystems. These hominins utilised local and distant toolstone raw materials, indicating their ability to adapt to diverse ecological and elevation gradients. Through comparison of Ararat-1 with other sequences in the region, we highlight the spatial variability of MIS 3 environments and its on hominin land use adaptations. This demonstrates the importance of the Armenian Highlands for understanding regional MP settlement dynamics during a critical period of hominin dispersals and evolution.

The chronology and hominin association of the South Asian Middle Palaeolithic have attracted much attention in the last few decades. The emergence of Middle Palaeolithic culture in the region has been debated between the local origins (behavioural change) model based on an early date around 380 ka and the diffusion (biological change) model based on Homo sapiens dispersals from Africa around 120-80 ka. The latter has more consensus, whereas the former requires a more robust chronological framework to attribute the emergence of the Middle Palaeolithic to behavioural changes. In the absence of hominin remains, the presence of Middle Palaeolithic technological trajectories are frequently used as behavioural markers of Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens fossil remains from the regions between Africa and South Asia dated to ~ 200 ka presents more convincing support for the latter model. Here we present contextual, chronological and technological analysis of Middle Palaeolithic assemblages dated to 52 ka from Motravulapadu, Andhra Pradesh, India. Morphometrical analysis of the lithic assemblage indicates diverse Levallois core reductions were practised at the site at the onset of MIS 3. Further this evidence highlights the significance of MIS 3 cultural diversity in South Asia, likely related to changing population dynamics, cultural drift, and the highly variable climatic context of MIS 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chronology and hominin association of the South Asian Middle Palaeolithic have attracted much attention in the last few decades. The emergence of Middle Palaeolithic culture in the region has been debated between the local origins (behavioural change) model based on an early date around 380 ka and the diffusion (biological change) model based on Homo sapiens dispersals from Africa around 120–80 ka. The latter has more consensus, whereas the former requires a more robust chronological framework to attribute the emergence of the Middle Palaeolithic to behavioural changes. In the absence of hominin remains, the presence of Middle Palaeolithic technological trajectories are frequently used as behavioural markers of Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens fossil remains from the regions between Africa and South Asia dated to ∼ 200 ka presents more convincing support for the latter model. Here we present contextual, chronological and technological analysis of Middle Palaeolithic assemblages dated to 52 ka from Motravulapadu, Andhra Pradesh, India. Morphometrical analysis of the lithic assemblage indicates diverse Levallois core reductions were practised at the site at the onset of MIS 3. Further this evidence highlights the significance of MIS 3 cultural diversity in South Asia, likely related to changing population dynamics, cultural drift, and the highly variable climatic context of MIS 3.

Data about Palaeolithic peopling, settlement dynamics and techno-economy of the south-western margin of the Alpine region are sketchy. In this area, the lack of systematic research and the scarcity of lithic raw materials, spread the idea that Piedmont was not inhabited during Palaeolithic. In 2009, the re-starting of the excavations at the Ciota Ciara cave, gave rise to new questions and to the development of research projects at a regional scale. The Ciota Ciara cave is the only Middle Palaeolithic site object of multidisciplinary and systematic investigations. Its lithic assemblage, analysed through a techno-economic approach, allows to understand in detail the technological choices and the land mobility of the Neanderthal groups on a local and sub-regional scale. Other Middle Palaeolithic assemblages are known in the region and are all issued from surface collections. They come from the northern part of the region, from Vaude Canavesane, Trino, Baragge biellesi and Colline Novaresi. The technological study of these assemblages led to the identification of strong similarities in the technological choices of the Middle Palaeolithic human groups: they based their technology on the exploitation of vein quartz, a rock diffused all over the regional territory, from time to time accompanied by other local (spongolite, rhyolite, metamorphic rocks, jasper) and allochthonous (radiolarite and flint) lithic resources, with technological adaptation to their quality and mechanical properties both when it comes to predetermined methods (Levallois and discoid) and when expedient reduction sequences are used. Concerning Upper Palaeolithic, the only lithic assemblage issued from an archaeological excavation (and therefore with a clear stratigraphic context) is that from the Epigravettian site of Castelletto Ticino. Other lithic artefacts referable on a techno-typological basis to Upper Palaeolithic are from Trino and Colline Novaresi. As for Middle Palaeolithic, the techno-economic approach used in the analysis of these lithic assemblages, allow to have, for the first time, reliable data at a regional scale. In this work we present the data obtained after about ten years of research in Piedmont: they outline a scenario where, even in the limits of analysis mostly based on materials issued from surface collections, we can see both clear differences between the Middle and the Upper Palaeolithic technological behaviours and hypothesise the land mobility of the hunter-gatherers’ groups that inhabited the region.

Lithic artefacts are usually associated with the different knapping methods used in their production. Flakes exhibit metric and technological features representative of the flaking method used to detach them. However, lithic production is a dynamic process in which discrete methods can be blurred, and in which features can vary throughout the process. An intermediate knapping method between the discoid and Levallois is commonly referred to under an umbrella of terms (the present research uses the term hierarchical discoid), and is associated with a broad geographical and chronological distribution throughout the Early and Middle Palaeolithic. This intermediate knapping strategy exhibits features of both the discoid and Levallois knapping methods, raising the question of the extent to which flakes from the three knapping methods can be differentiated and, when one is mistaken for another, the direction of confusion. An experimental assemblage of flakes detached by means of the three methods was used along with an attribute analysis and machine learning models in an effort to identify the knapping methods employed. In general, our results were able to very effectively differentiate between the three knapping methods when a support vector machine with polynomial kernel was used. Our results also underscored the singularity of flakes detached by means of Levallois reduction sequences, which yielded outstanding identification values, and were rarely erroneously attributed to either of the other two knapping methods studied. Mistaking the products of the discoid and hierarchical discoid methods was the most common direction of confusion, although a good identification value was achieved for discoid flakes and an acceptable value for hierarchical discoid flakes. This shows the potential applicability of machine learning models in combination with attribute analysis for the identification of these knapping methods among flakes.

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Our paper presents new information regarding the site of Cheia – La Izvor. New radiocarbon ages were obtained, and they confirm that the occupation was at around 36 ka BP (ca. 40 ka cal BP). The faunal analysis has revealed that the cave seems to have functioned as a shelter for carnivores, with the remains of cave bear predominating. Other carnivores, such as cave hyenas, wolves and foxes, most likely also contributed to the accumulation of bones, with large, middle and small prey species represented. No anthropogenic traces were identified on the bones. The very small lithic collection comprises mostly formal tools, thus accounting for a short-term, logistic occupation of the site.

Zooarchaeological analysis is a useful means of exploring faunal palaeoecology, paleoclimate and past human behaviours. The Middle Pleistocene archaeological site Lazaret Cave, located in modern-day Nice, France, features a vast assemblage of faunal remains pertinent to the understanding of early Neanderthal subsistence behaviours as well as red deer (Cervus elaphus) ecology during MIS 6. This pilot study examines materials from archaeological layer UA25, a short-term occupation layer at Lazaret dating to ~150,000 years ka, which has revealed 28 early Neanderthal remains as well as thousands of faunal bones, of which red deer and ibex (Capra ibex) are most abundant. Molars from three red deer mandibles and a single ibex were analysed for strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotopic analysis using laser ablation mass spectrometry to determine animal movements during tooth formation, combined with intra-tooth oxygen (δ18O) isotope analysis to determine seasonality. The isotope data was modelled within a local 87Sr/86Sr isoscape and computational spatial assignment was undertaken to reconstruct potential summer and winter ranges of red deer. Results from this pilot study show seasonal mobility within 20 km of Lazaret, identifying two possible summer and winter ranges for the red deer excavated from UA25. Both possible summer ranges are located at higher elevations further from Lazaret while winter ranges have been assigned to lower elevations closer to the coastline and closer to Lazaret. The ibex shows no 87Sr/86Sr variation throughout the first, second and third molar and the spatial assignment indicates it lived proximal to the site during the period of tooth formation. In addition to providing the first evidence of red deer spatial ecology in southern France during MIS 6, we also infer from the faunal isotope data that hominins at Lazaret Cave were likely hunting red deer in autumn and winter when they were closer to the cave site, while hunting in summer would have required up to 20 km of travel.

Accomplishing long-term plans to harvest and modify natural resources has been a crucial skill for the survival of our species since early Prehistory. Research on this first step of production mostly focuses on the provenience study of lithic artifacts uncovered at archaeological sites, using petrographic and geochemical analyses to correlate the artifacts with potential geological outcrops. Although fundamental for understanding key aspects of landscape use and mobility, regional raw material economy, and extraction technology, Palaeolithic raw material sources have been less intensively investigated, as they are often difficult to locate and challenging to tackle with traditional archaeological approaches. Lojanik in the Central Balkans is one of the largest Prehistoric quarrying areas known in Europe, showing numerous lithic raw material outcrops exploited from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Chalcolithic periods, over an area of 18 hectares. In this paper, we present the results from our renewed research program in this region. Combining airborne LIDAR mapping, geomorphological and archaeological survey, and techno-typological analysis of lithic artifacts, we were able to reconstruct the geomorphological evolution of the landscape and its use by prehistoric societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first Palaeolithic discoveries in Romania were made in the 19th century in Mitoc (Botoșani department). Five main stations were excavated, yielding Middle and Upper Palaeolithic industries (including Aurignacian, Gravettian and Epipalaeolithic). Some have yielded mixed industries ; others were better preserved and understood, like Malu Galben

This study presents the Middle Palaeolithic leaf points discovered on the territory of Bulgaria. The context of their discovery is various : from archaeological excavations, field surveys, various collections, or isolated finds. There are 11 sites on the territory of Bulgaria with leaf points : Muselievo, Samuilitsa II Cave, Vasil Levski Cave, Orlova Chuka Cave, Madara, Kozarnika Cave, Temnata Cave, Redaka II Cave, Shiroka Polyana Dam, Vrashka Chuka, Ruse. Except for the leaf points from the surroundings of Shiroka Polyana Dam, all the pieces were discovered in Northern Bulgaria. Most of the points come from assemblages associated with the Levallois-Mousterian industry, while others have no stratigraphic context (Malkata Peshtera in Madara, Vrashka Chuka, Ruse, Redaka II). During the Middle Palaeolithic, the distribution of leaf points covered almost all Bulgaria, becoming more abundant towards the end of this period. The artefacts from Muselievo and Samuilitsa II dating from the period of 60.000– 45.000 BP endorse such a conclusion. The points from Vasil Levski, Orlova Chuka, Redaka, Vrashka Chuka, Madara, Ruse, and Shiroka Polyana can also be attributed to the same time period. Special attention must be given to the deposit near Muselievo. Defined as a workshop for the production of leaf points (one of the few sites of the kind in Europe), it allows for a more accurate and detailed study of this kind of tools

En el transcurso de una intervención arqueológica en el solar nº 6 de la calle Artekale 6 de la villa de Plentzia (Bizkaia) se localizó un conjunto lítico sobre el sustrato rocoso y bajo un depósito de arcillas de 40 cm de espesor. En este trabajo se describe este conjunto de núcleos y lascas, y se propone una atribución del conjunto al Paleolítico Medio, probablemente reciente. Además, se discute el papel de estos breves asentamientos en las estrategias de asentamiento de los Neandertales en esta región. ABSTRACT: In the course of an archaeological intervention in the site of Artekale Street 6 in the town of Plentzia (Bizkaia), a lithic assemblage was found on the bedrock below 40 cm of clayey sediment. This paper describes the assemblage of cores and flakes, and proposes an attribution to the Middle Palaeolithic, probably recent. In addition, the role of these short-term occupations in regional Neanderthal settlement strategies is discussed.

The Middle Palaeolithic of the Volga River lower basin (Volgograd district, Russia) is represented by three sites. They include the famous Sukhaya Mechetka (Volgograd) site with in situ archaeological layer excavated by S. Zamyatnin in 1952–1954. The sites of Chelyuskinets II and Zaikino Pepelishe with destroyed layers have been discovered and investigated by L. Kuznetsova in the 1980–1990s. The lithic assemblages of these sites are similar in their techno-typological characteristics and raw materials used. The lithic industry represented in Sukhaya Mechetka and other sites is dominated by side-scrapers, and includes bifacial points and scraper-knives, with a specific Volgograd-type knife, and a variety of other bifacial and unifacial tools. This industry belongs to the Eastern Micoquian and represents the most eastern occurrence of Eastern Micoquian in Europe. This paper is the first publication in English of the Middle Palaeolithic of the lower Volga River studied in detail by the author.

In the paper, the author discusses the Middle Palaeolithic workshop sites on raw material sources and bifacial production in the north-western Caucasus. Five Middle Palaeolithic camp-workshop-type sites located directly on raw material sources are known in the region, including Monasheskaya and Barakaevskaya caves, and open-air sites of Hadjoh-2, Besleneevskaya-1, and, probably, Il'skaya II. These all are multi-layered sites located directly on raw material sources. Two different types of camp-workshops were defined: active habitation camp-workshops and short-term camp-workshops, which are characterized by specific features. Besides the presence of tool forms that have analogies in the local Micoquian assemblages, these sites show similar technological peculiarities characteristic to local Micoquian, such as the non-Levallois, non-laminar, and non-faceted flaking technology.

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Based on subsistence behaviour studies, considered in their ecological and cultural contexts, of four key sites in low and mid-altitude mountains in central Eurasia (Kabazi II and V, Siuren I and Buran-Kaya III in Crimea, Obi-Rakhmat in Uzbekistan), we discuss here the issue of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in these under-investigated regions.

The transition from the Lower to the Middle Palaeolithic is a key period in Prehistory, characterized by numerous changes in the subsistence and production patterns of human groups. It can be seen as a period of rupture or a phase of gradual transformation, depending on the framework and scale considered. In the first part, we will describe how this transition was perceived by prehistorian according to their perception of time and chronology. Then, our objective is to show how our view of this transition has been considerably renewed thanks to the increase in archaeological data and the building of an increasingly precise chronological framework. Finally, we will attempt to present a state of research on the transition between the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in southern Europe with a focus on the behavioral and technological changes in the South of France between 350,000 and 130,000 years ago.

In recent decades, the body of evidence from Croatian sites contributing to the understanding of Middle Palaeolithic behaviours has been significant. However, the data has been biased towards cave sites. Until recently open-air sites have exclusively been identified on the basis of surface finds, which often raise questions regarding assemblage integrity. Rescue excavations in the Istrian peninsula have recently brought to light the open-air site of Campanož and a substantial amount of new data. The site is a large and densely packed lithic scatter found stratified between two horizons of typical Mediterranean terra rossa soil. Among the lithic finds there is a large presence of nodular chert fragments and a smaller proportion of classifiable chert artefacts, which have been recognized as Middle Palaeolithic based on both typological and technological characteristics. A preliminary analysis shows that the blank production methods are coherent at the site. There are few flaking methods in the sample, with most being related to different modes of discoid reduction. Middle Palaeolithic toolmakers repeatedly procured raw materials and produced blanks on-site. Evidence points to the production of small tools, and also indicates recycling of previously discarded artefacts. Although these data are preliminary, the evidence seems to suggest an expedient and flexible technology may have been present in the Middle Palaeolithic of the Northeastern Adriatic. Despite the limited data on age and site formation processes, the site represents a valuable source of information in our understanding of Middle Palaeolithic technological behaviour and land use in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archaeological Materials & Research / Materiale şi Cercetǎri Arheologice is the property of Institute of Archaeology "Vasile Parvan" and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper discusses the importance of the discovery of one déjeté Levallois tool from the surface of a dark grey and black patinated gravel terrace located ca. 500 m south-west of the Neolithic site of Sheri Khan Tarakai in the Bannu Basin (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan), and provides a detailed geomorphological description of the area where it was found. The Neolithic site rests on a large gravelly fan, at present terraced and dismembered by small seasonal streams. Scatters of black varnished pebbles, at the top of a thick ochre silt of possible alluvial origin, cover its surface. Amongst the numerous siliceous gravels forming the deposit, some are of a good quality chert, whose source can be found in the Tertiary Sulaiman Formation. The typological characteristics of the tool, the chert employed for its manufacture, its location and the presence of black patina on its cortex are all important elements that contribute to the definition of the Pleistocene period during which pebble terraces formed. The tool comes from a region where Middle Palaeolithic artefacts had never been found before, though the re-analysis of old collections would suggest their presence as far as the course of the Indus in Lower Sindh. Moreover, its discovery contributes to the study of the south-eastern spread of the Middle Palaeolithic Levallois technique, an important topic that still needs to be fully understood.

Accomplishing long-term plans to harvest and modify natural resources has been a crucial skill for the survival of our species since early Prehistory. Research on this first step of production mostly focuses on the provenience study of lithic artifacts uncovered at archaeological sites, using petrographic and geochemical analyses to correlate the artifacts with potential geological outcrops. Although fundamental for understanding key aspects of landscape use and mobility, regional raw material economy, and extraction technology, Palaeolithic raw material sources have been less intensively investigated, as they are often difficult to locate and challenging to tackle with traditional archaeological approaches. Lojanik in the Central Balkans is one of the largest Prehistoric quarrying areas known in Europe, showing numerous lithic raw material outcrops exploited from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Chalcolithic periods, over an area of 18 hectares. In this paper, we present the results from our renewed research program in this region. Combining airborne LIDAR mapping, geomorphological and archaeological survey, and techno-typological analysis of lithic artifacts, we were able to reconstruct the geomorphological evolution of the landscape and its use by prehistoric societies.

Eksino, on the island of Gökçeada (Imbros) in the Northeast Aegean, is a new open-air site with evidence of Palaeolithic cultural remains. Stone tools collected by an initial survey have clarified an assessment of the site from the Lower Palaeolithic, and brought to light new evidence from the Middle Palaeolithic as well as transition to the Upper Palaeolithic. Eksino is probably one of the most significant Lower Palaeolithic tool collections in the North Aegean, and finds such as chopper or chopping tools and Acheulean bifacial handaxes from the site show that the North Aegean may be another possible dispersal route from hominids to Europe via the East and Northeast Mediterranean during the Lower Palaeolithic. Middle Palaeolithic finds are frequent in the site and finds resemble the typical Mousterian type which is characterized by discoidal cores, Levallois cores and flakes, scrapers, denticulates, notches and points. Upper Palaeolithic finds are rare in the site, and a bifacial leaf point and large crescent-shaped backed pieces made on blades may reveal the presence of the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition on the island. This new data from Palaeolithic Gökçeada is likely to fill key geographic gaps associated with the initial dispersal of hominins through the northeast Aegean islands.

In the 1970s, the authors of this paper explored the Site 21b, situated in the north-western fringe of the Deir el-Bahari Valley, in the Theban Massif (Upper Egypt). Based on the significant variability in the state of preservation of artefacts’ surfaces, six series of artefacts were identified, corresponding to the Middle Palaeolithic and Pre-Dynastic assemblages. The most detailed analysis was performed for the inventory of the series 2, which was ascribed to a previously unknown industry with the Levallois technique and Mousterian discoidal cores. This industry is also characterised by an occurrence of a specific manner of obtaining flakes from globular and thick, flattened, lens-like nodules, abundantly occurring in the local Lower Eocene limestone. This manner of flake production was called the Bahari technique. Due to the occurrence of sidescrapers, Mousterian points, denticulated and notched pieces, the chronology of this series was determined as Middle Palaeolithic.

Las técnicas de subsistencia en grupos humanos del pasado se investigan en profundidad a través del estudio de las acumulaciones fósiles, de su formación, origen y composición. Los conjuntos faunísticos localizados en los yacimientos arqueológicos pueden reflejar el tipo de estrategias desarrolladas por los homínidos a través de disciplinas como la Zooarqueología y la Tafonomía. El presente trabajo analiza el conjunto faunístico del Nivel 4 de la Cueva de Prado Vargas (Cornejo, Burgos, España) con una antigüedad de 46.400 años BP (MIS 3). Este yacimiento se ha interpretado como lugar de ocupación recurrente donde procesaron los recursos cárnicos los grupos neandertales que habitan la zona sur de la Cordillera Cantábrica, quienes intercalan su presencia con otros predadores que aprovechan su ausencia en la cavidad para dejar su huella en el registro. ___________________________________________ ABSTRACT: As predators, humans used to transport part of their prey to safe places like caves. Not only these accumulations, but also their formation, origin and composition constitute a fundamental basis to explore the behaviour of the human groups and their interaction with environment. Zooarchaeology and Taphonomy are complementary disciplines that allow us to approach these objectives. In this study, the faunistic assemblage of level 4 of Prado Vargas cave (Cornejo, Burgos, España) is analysed. This site is localised between the Cantabrian cornice and the north Meseta with a dating of 46.000 years BP. This work focuses on the livelihood strategies and Neanderthal behaviour, especially the way in which their prey was exploited. The analysis of the existing marks on the bones tells us about access to external tissues (meat, tendons or skin), processing and consumption, as well as bone for other non-nutritive purposes. They also allow us to explore and the way of access to animals, allowing us to distinguish the ways of life groups of prehistoric hunters-gatherers. Furthermore, we focus on differentiating the agent responsible for the fracture, as well as the state of the bone at the time that this occurred studying the patterns of fracturing and the marks associated with the percussion, as well as different tafonomic processes. We have collected a series of data that are offered in this work. The level 4 of Prado Vargas has been interpreted as a place of recurring habitat for Neanderthals, who intersperse their presence with other predators who take advantage of their absence in the cavity to leave their mark on the record.

This article analyzes the stone artifacts of Layer II of the multilayered site Korolevo. In this paper we provide techno-typological and statistical characteristics of artifacts. Technology can be described as non-Levallois, non-blades, non-facetted, and is based on the method of radial core reduction. The main blank is a short and wide flake, with a trapezoidal shape and massive lateral edge or platform. These flakes used as blanks for most tools. Secondary working typically consisted of semi-abrupt or abrupt dorsal stepwise scalar retouch. Presence of accommodative elements is characteristic of 75% of the tools. Most often, pieces have a natural or prepared back. The main group of tools are unifacial scrapers. Most of them are simple single-edged tools: transversal, lateral and diagonal items. Less numerous groups presented are double, ventral and déjeté types of scrapers. Denticulate and notched types are the second most common tool types. Unifacially retouched artifacts limases, points, leaf-shaped forms and bifacial tools are present singly or at small frequencies. The industry has been defined as Charentian/Quina type. This is indicated by a number of features: the prevalence of unifacial scrapers (60%), a part of which has been worked with abrupt or semi-abrupt step retouch (so called semi-Quina or Quina type), insignificant percent of leaf-shaped forms, bifacial tools and limases, and a high Charentian Index – 23.

The Côte Chalonnaise (Saône-et-Loire, France) is a region rich in Palaeolithic sites. The Magdalenian, however, is underrepresented in the region when compared to other periods. Recent research at the site of Grotte des Teux-Blancs provides new insights into the Palaeolithic occupation of the site and proves its use during the Magdalenian. Since the first excavation in 1913, the site has received little attention from researchers. To reconstruct the site’s occupation history, excavations were carried out in the back-dirt in addition to a new analysis of the known inventories. These excavations were able to provide insights into the 1913 excavation methods as the excavated sediments were deposited on the back-dirt separated by layers, forming an inverse stratigraphy. The analysis of the finds shows a small Middle Palaeolithic and a larger Upper Palaeolithic assemblage. In particular, the lithic and organic artefacts attest to the use of the site, in a hunting context, during the Magdalenian. The embedding of the site in the Magdalenian of Eastern France suggests that Grotte des Teux-Blancs, together with other sites west of the Bresse, was part of the same settlement system as the sites of the French Jura. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a largely glacier-free zone throughout the entire Middle Palaeolithic, Southern Germany has often been discussed as a key area for Neanderthal migration. In this study, the settlement patterns of the Southern German Middle Palaeolithic were investigated via Weighted Layer Analysis, resulting in key insights about the prognostic qualities of topographic variables like elevation, slope, aspect, distance to river and outgoing visibility, as well as two predictive maps for cave and open-air sites. Comparing the high probability zones for both site types, their possible interplay in Southern Germany and the special role of the infrastructure of the Franconian Swabian Jura for Neanderthal migration in Europe are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large game has generally biased our interpretations about Palaeolithic subsistence practices. Studies based on small game and birds point to their exploitation by archaic and modern humans in Central Europe, but studies of aquatic resources and, more specifically, of fish remains are still scarce. Hohlenstein-Stadel in the Swabian Jura represents a well documented Palaeolithic cave for studying diverse food resources that were available and potentially exploited by humans. The site is also notable for its early Upper Palaeolithic mobiliary art, a prominent example being the Lion Man ivory figurine. Our study focuses on the fish remains that were collected by water-screening during 2009-2013 excavations and sheds light on aspects such as taxonomy, taphonomy and paleoecology. These remains were found in the Middle Palaeolithic layers, with an age between 45 ka calBP and 42 ka calBP, and the Aurignacian layers, with an age between 35 and 40 ka calBP. The taxonomic study of the fish remains help us characterize the freshwater palaeoenvironment in this region as well as the relationship, including fishing strategies, between humans and fish. The identified species belong to European grayling (Thymallus thymallus), burbot (Lota lota), and European bullhead (Cottus gobio), which are all common species that inhabit cold waters. Only one cyprinid is recovered in the assemblage, corresponding to the chub (Squalius cf. cephalus). The remains also demonstrate diversified subsistence strategies with a significant contribution of small game during the Middle Palaeolithic and Aurignacian in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hungarian Transdanubian site of Érd, where a Mousterian industry and abundant osteological material were discovered in the early 1960s is well known to prehistorians. The remains of megaherbivores (Mammuthus primigenius, Coelodonta antiquitatis) are re-examined here under the taphonomic and archaeozoological components in order to complete the Hungarian and European s.l. data and reassess the potential exploitation of these two pachyderms in the Neanderthal diet and economy. The cut marks, the intense activity of carnivores/hyenas and the skeletal profiles indicate a mixed origin of the carcasses. Mortality patterns of rhinoceros are characterized by the presence of young, subadult and adults, and suggest multiple acquisition by active scavenging and/or hunting with quick access. Skeletal profiles suggest a selective transport of rich/nutritive elements by humans to the site. The cut marks and fracturing of some elements (in situ butchery treatment) confirm that Neanderthals consumed these species on site and that they had at least partial primary access. The mode of acquisition seems active with rapid access for a young mammoth. Érd confirms the Neanderthal exploitation of rhinos and mammoths in their steppic environment during the Middle Palaeolithic. Érd is currently the only Hungarian Middle Palaeolithic site with a proven exploitation and consumption of these megaherbivores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El Sidrón Cave is an archaeological and anthropological reference site of the Neanderthal world. It shows singular activity related to cannibalisation, and all existing processes are relevant to explain the specific behaviour of the concerned individuals. This paper presents geoarchaeological data, primarily based on mineralogical and petrographic techniques, from an investigation of the nature of the encrustations or hard coatings that affect a large part of the Neanderthal bone remains and their relationship with the depositional and post-depositional processes at the archaeological site. Crusts and patina were found to be numerous and diverse, mainly composed of calcite and siliciclastic grains, with different proportions and textures. The analysis indicated different origins and scenarios from their initial post-mortem accumulation to the final deposit recovered during the archaeological work. The presence of micromorphological features, such as clotted-peloidal micrite, needle-fibre calcite (NFC) aggregates, clay coatings, iron–manganese impregnation, and/or adhered aeolian dust may indicate that a significant proportion of the remains were affected by subaerial conditions in a relatively short period of time in a shelter, cave entrance, or shallower level of the karstic system, prior to their accumulation in the Ossuary Gallery.

This paper presents some new results concerning the Middle Palaeolithic in Romania. Recent research on loess‐ paleosoil sequences and tephra deposits has provided an accurate picture on the geochronology of the Pleistocene. Reliable absolute ages indicate that some Middle Palaeolithic occupations are much older than previously assumed, namely they date back to the Middle Pleistocene. Lithic industries, both coming from old and recent excavations were (re) interpreted from new perspectives, other than cultural-historical ones. The study of fauna still leaves to be desired, as it needs to go beyond mere taxa identification. Many loci that have yielded surface collections of lithics that could belong to the Middle Palaeolithic indicate a great potential for discovering new sites in Romania