ANT101 Lecture 22: Modern Humans, Part II

Characteristics of the Upper Paleolithic

  • Refined Stone Tools:

    • Development of more refined stone tools, especially blades.

  • Diverse Raw Materials:

    • Increased use of raw materials other than stone for tool-making, indicating innovation in technology and adaptation to resources.

  • Varied Diet:

    • Emergence of a more varied diet, suggesting advanced hunting and gathering techniques.

  • Permanent Habitation Sites:

    • Larger and more permanent habitation sites and dwellings, implying a shift toward settled lifestyles.

  • Long-Distance Trade:

    • Evidence of long-distance trade, which shows social networking and exchange of goods.

  • Personal Adornment:

    • Development of items for personal adornment, such as jewelry, reflecting social status or identity.

  • Elaborate Burials:

    • Increasingly elaborate burials, such as the Sungir burials (~25 kya in Russia) which included over 3000 mammoth ivory beads, indicating beliefs in afterlife or status.

  • Creation of Art:

    • Production of art, including cave paintings in Europe dating back to 40,800 years, and engravings from places like Blombos Cave (73,000 years old) that used ochre as pigment.

  • Geographic Range Expansion:

    • Expansion into new geographic areas such as Australia and North America.
    • Mungo Man: A significant finding from Southern Australia, dated to ~40,000 years.
Cave Paintings

  • Function:

    • Speculated purposes of cave paintings may include: trophies, sympathetic magic, or storytelling.

  • Discovery Sites:

    • Notable caves include Lascaux in France and Altamira in Spain, with paintings dated between 35,000 and 10,000 years ago.

  • Portable Art:

    • Examples include the Venus of Willendorf (~25,000 years ago) and ivory plaques from Mal’ta, which may serve as art or calendars.
Cultural Explosion
  • Symbolism Emergence:
    • Around ~40 kya, there was an explosion of widespread symbolism, potentially driven by environmental pressures, enhanced social interactions, and the development of language.
Migration to North America

  • Clovis First Hypothesis:

    • Once a leading theory suggesting that the first inhabitants arrived approximately 13,200 years ago through the Bering land bridge (Beringia).

  • Debates and Evidence Against It:

    • Archaeological findings indicate sites pre-dating Clovis sites, such as:
    • Monte Verde (Chile, 18,500 - 14,500 years ago) with tools found in a wet site.
    • Meadowcroft Rock Shelter (Pennsylvania, 19,000 - 14,000 years ago) showing early human habitation.
    • Chiquihuite Cave (Mexico, 33,000 - 31,000 years ago) revealing tools and challenging timeline assumptions.

  • Alternative Migration Routes:

    • Suggestion of a Pacific coastal route as a more hospitable pathway into North America before the last glacial maximum.
Conclusion
  • Major Findings:
    • Data from various archaeological sites provides a more complex picture of human migration and cultural development during the Upper Paleolithic, challenging previously held beliefs about the timeline and patterns of human expansion into the Americas.