Quaternary of the Levant presents up-to-date research achievements from a region that displays unique interactions between the climate, the environment and human evolution. Focusing on southeast Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel, it brings together over eighty contributions from leading researchers to review 2.5 million years of environmental change and human cultural evolution. Information from prehistoric sites and palaeoanthropological studies contributing to our understanding of 'out of Africa' migrations, Neanderthals, cultures of modern humans, and the origins of agriculture are assessed within the context of glacial-interglacial cycles, marine isotope cycles, plate tectonics, geochronology, geomorphology, palaeoecology and genetics. Complemented by overview summaries that draw together the findings of each chapter, the resulting coverage is wide-ranging and cohesive. The cross-disciplinary nature of the volume makes it an invaluable resource for academics and advanced students of Quaternary science and human prehistory, as well as being an important reference for archaeologists working in the region.

The Natufian culture, first recognized by Dorothy Garrod in 1928, is one of the best recorded archaeological examples of foragers at the end of the Ice Age. The many unique material finds and social aspects of this culture found their place in different hypotheses concerning the emergence of cultivation in Southwest Asia that heralds the Neolithic Revolution. In the heart of the Levant, Natufian sites are early examples for sedentism that apparently led to changes of socio-economic strategies in this region. Given the quality and quantity of its archaeological record, it is better known than most other Terminal Pleistocene cultures across Eurasia. This volume, the result of a large, international meeting on the Natufian culture, brings together a series of new discoveries and studies of sites from areas not previously investigated, thus substantially enlarging the geographic scope of this culture along the north-south axis of the Levant. Field and laboratory research reported in this book was conducted by different teams of archaeologists, archaebotanists, zooarchaelogists, and other experts both local and international. This comprehensive book adds a considerable amount of new information to our knowledge. It demonstrates the ongoing interest among numerous scholars whose efforts widen and deepen the understanding of the Natufian culture and will remain as a source of data and interpretations for years to come, just as its predecessor that was published in 1991.

The Natufian culture, first recognized by Dorothy Garrod in 1928, is one of the best recorded archaeological examples of foragers at the end of the Ice Age. The many unique material finds and social aspects of this culture found their place in different hypotheses concerning the emergence of cultivation in Southwest Asia that heralds the Neolithic Revolution. In the heart of the Levant, Natufian sites are early examples for sedentism that apparently led to changes of socio-economic strategies in this region. Given the quality and quantity of its archaeological record, it is better known than most other Terminal Pleistocene cultures across Eurasia. This volume, the result of a large, international meeting on the Natufian culture, brings together a series of new discoveries and studies of sites from areas not previously investigated, thus substantially enlarging the geographic scope of this culture along the north-south axis of the Levant. Field and laboratory research reported in this book was conducted by different teams of archaeologists, archaebotanists, zooarchaelogists, and other experts both local and international. This comprehensive book adds a considerable amount of new information to our knowledge. It demonstrates the ongoing interest among numerous scholars whose efforts widen and deepen the understanding of the Natufian culture and will remain as a source of data and interpretations for years to come, just as its predecessor that was published in 1991.

The Palaeolithic is the only period in archaeology that can be studied globally. In the last half century one prehistorian, Sir Paul Mellars, has changed the shape and direction of such studies, adding immeasurably to what we know about humanity's earliest origins and the timing of crucial transitions in the journey. The Upper Palaeolithic Revolution in global perspective is a collection of essays in his honour. Contributions cover both his own area of primary interest (Franco-Cantabria) as well as many other regions of the world, all of which he has considered while writing about the Human Revolution in its wider geographical context. Papers in this volume examine the archaeological record of the Upper Pleistocene from Australia, through eastern and western Asia and Africa to northern Spain and the classical Perigord region of France, a cornerstone region which Mellars has been researching and publishing on since 1965. To papers on chronology, typology, subsistence and social complexity are added historical and theoretical contributions, along with a biography. These illustrate not only Paul Mellars's impact on the current shape and direction of Palaeolithic studies but also how the subject has changed and continues to change.

In this volume, an international and interdisciplinary team of scholars--Czech and American archaeologists, paleoanthropologists, geologists, and biologists--report on the results of the investigations from 1980 through the 1990s at Stranska skala, a complex of open-air loess sites on the outskirts of the Brno Basin in the Czech Republic.

The volume presents in-depth studies of the geology, paleopedology, frost processes, vegetation, fauna, and archaeological features of Stranska skala that break new ground in our understanding of early modern humans in central Europe.

The Levantine corridor sits at the continental crossroads of Africa and Eurasia, making it a focal point for scientific inquiry into the emergence of modern humans and their relations with Neanderthals. The recent excavations at Kebara Cave in Israel, undertaken by an international, interdisciplinary team of researchers, has provided data crucial for understanding the cognitive and behavioral differences between archaic and modern humans.

In this first of two volumes, the authors discuss site formation processes, subsistence strategies, land-use patterns, and intrasite organization. Hearths and faunal remains reveal a dynamic and changing settlement system during the late Mousterian period, when Kebara Cave served as a major encampment. The research at Kebara Cave allows archaeologists to document the variability observed in settlement, subsistence, and technological strategies of the Late Middle and early Upper Paleolithic periods in the Levant.

The Gilgal Neolithic sites are among the first sites where cultivation emerged in the Levant. This book provides the full report of the late Tamar Noy's excavations including stratigraphy, architecture, artifacts, art objects, faunal, and botanical collections.

The papers in this volume explore the issues and techniques of archaeological site seasonality and settlement analysis. Through a series of case studies and theoretical discussions, the papers examine a range of data from Europe (Spain, Bosnia-Herzegovina), Southwest Asia (Israel), East Asia (Japan), North America (Southwest and Southeast United States), and South America (Colombia and Peru). These examples introduce a broad range of specific analytical techniques of seasonality assessment and show variability and similarity in settlement patterns worldwide. In the process, they demonstrate the range of regional traditions of archaeological settlement analysis, and the complementarity of the approaches developed in the different regions.

In this fascinating volume, the Middle Paleolithic archaeology of the Middle East is brought to the current debate on the origins of modern humans. These collected papers gather the most up-to-date archaeological discoveries of Western Asia - a region that is often overshadowed by African or European findings - but the only region in the world where both Neandertal and early modern human fossils have been found. The collection includes reports on such well known cave sites as Kebara, Hayonim, and Qafzeh, among others. The information and interpretations available here are a must for any serious researcher or student of anthropology or human evolution.

The transition from hunting and gathering to farming - the Neolithic Revolution - was one of the most signi cant cultural processes in human history that forever changed the face of humanity. Natu an communities (15,100-12,000Cal BP) (all dates in this chapter are calibrated before present) planted the seeds of change, and the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) (ca. 12,000-ca. 8,350Cal BP) people, were the rst to establish farming communities. The revolution was not fully realized until quite late in the PPN and later in the Pottery Neolithic (PN) period. We would like to ask some questions and comment on a few aspects emphas- ing the linkage between biological and cultural developments during the Neolithic Revolution. The biological issues addressed in this chapter are as follows: x Is there a demographic change from the Natu an to the Neolithic? x Is there a change in the overall health of the Neolithic populations compared to the Natu an? x Is there a change in the diet and how is it expressed? x Is there a change in the physical burden/stress people had to bear with? x Is there a change in intra- and inter-community rates of violent encounters? From the cultural perspective the leading questions will be: x What was the change in the economy and when was it fully realized? x Is there a change in settlement patterns and site nature and organization from Natu an to Neolithic? x Is there a change in human activities and division of labor?"

In this fascinating volume, the Middle Paleolithic archaeology of the Middle East is brought to the current debate on the origins of modern humans. These collected papers gather the most up-to-date archaeological discoveries of Western Asia - a region that is often overshadowed by African or European findings - but the only region in the world where both Neandertal and early modern human fossils have been found. The collection includes reports on such well known cave sites as Kebara, Hayonim, and Qafzeh, among others. The information and interpretations available here are a must for any serious researcher or student of anthropology or human evolution.

The transition from hunting and gathering to farming - the Neolithic Revolution - was one of the most signi cant cultural processes in human history that forever changed the face of humanity. Natu an communities (15,100-12,000Cal BP) (all dates in this chapter are calibrated before present) planted the seeds of change, and the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) (ca. 12,000-ca. 8,350Cal BP) people, were the rst to establish farming communities. The revolution was not fully realized until quite late in the PPN and later in the Pottery Neolithic (PN) period. We would like to ask some questions and comment on a few aspects emphas- ing the linkage between biological and cultural developments during the Neolithic Revolution. The biological issues addressed in this chapter are as follows: x Is there a demographic change from the Natu an to the Neolithic? x Is there a change in the overall health of the Neolithic populations compared to the Natu an? x Is there a change in the diet and how is it expressed? x Is there a change in the physical burden/stress people had to bear with? x Is there a change in intra- and inter-community rates of violent encounters? From the cultural perspective the leading questions will be: x What was the change in the economy and when was it fully realized? x Is there a change in settlement patterns and site nature and organization from Natu an to Neolithic? x Is there a change in human activities and division of labor?"

Plant and animal domestication was important in revolutionising the Greater Mesopotamian region. Archaeological evidence has been used to assess and trace the transformation from mobile foragers to the emergence of urban centres. However, the significance of changing stone tool technologies has received little attention in this regard. Koslowski uses lithic evidence to identify and describe various cultures within this region and to trace their development. He studies the raw materials, methods of knapping, types of blanks, retouched pieces and the function of various artefacts. 'His pioneering volume will be appreciated by many who devot their research to achieving a better understanding of the evolutionary threshold that inevitably heralded the emergence of urban civilizations'.

This volume is a major revision and expansion of Taylor's seminal book Radiocarbon Dating: An Archaeological Perspective. It covers the major advances and accomplishments of the 14C method in archaeology and analyzes factors that affect the accuracy and precision of 14C-based age estimates. In addition to reviewing the basic principles of the method, it examines 14C dating anomalies and means to resolve them, and considers the critical application of 14C data as a dating isotope with special emphasis on issues in Old and New World archaeology and late Quaternary paleoanthropology. This volume, again a benchmark for 14C dating, critically reflects on the method and data that underpins, in so many cases, the validity of the chronologies used to understand the prehistoric archaeological record.

The "Neolithic Revolution" in Southwestern Asia involved major transformations of economy and society that began during the Natufian period in the southern Levant and continued through Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) and into Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB). The authors describe that process at Netiv Hagdud, with additional material from the Natufian site of Salibiya IX. Includes reports on the archaeology, lithics, bone tools, lithic use-wear, marine shells, burials, and plant remains.

This journal, which is a joint venture endorsed by the American School of Prehistoric Research at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and the Institute of Archaeology at Jagiellonian University in Poland, aims to provide the rapid publications of site reports, articles and syntheses on aspects of the palaeolithic and neolithic of Eurasia.

Contents: End of the Palaeolithic in the Argolid (Greece): Excavations in Caves 4 and 7 in the Klisoura Gorge ( J. Kozowski, M. Kaczanowska ); Pebble Semicircle Structure from a Lower Palaeolithic Site in Southern China ( Y. Fang, Y. Huang and C. Shen ); Settlement Reorganization at the End of the Neolithic in Central Europe: Recent Research in the Koros River Valley, Southeastern Hungary ( W.Parkinson, A. Gyucha, R. Yerkes, A. Sarris, M. Hardy, M. Morris

Contents include: Neolithic Ashkelon: Meat processing and early pastoralism on the Mediterranean coast Yosef Garfinkel, Doron Dag, Brian Hesse, Paula Wapnish, Dolores Rookis, Gideon Hartman, Daniella E. Bar-Yosef Mayer, and Omri Lernau; Differential use of space in the Neandertal site of Amud Cave, Israel Nira Alperson-Afil and Erella Hovers; The archaic to true up interface: The case of Mira in the Middle Dnieper area Vadim N. Stepanchuk

Contents include: Beeches Pit: Archaeology, assemblage dynamics and early fire history of a Middle Pleistocene site in East Anglia, UK J. A. J. Gowlett, J. Hallos, S. Hounsell, and V. Brant; Middle Pleistocene blade production in the Levant: An Amudian assemblage from Qesem Cave, Israel Ran Barkai, Avi Gopher, and Ron Shimelmitz;

This journal will fill a large gap in the current repertoire of English-language archaeological journals concerning the Paleolithic and Neolithic of Asia and Europe, as the place to publish site reports and data-based studies. These are at present rarely accepted for publication in the majority of journals, as they prefer to publish general articles or syntheses of original archaeological sequences. It is a combined edition - 4:1 and 4:2.

This new journal will concentrate on primary archaeological data relating to the Palaeolithic and Neolithic of Asia and Europe. It will include site reports and detailed studies of archaeological assemblages and there will be no limit to the length of papers, and extensive details and numerous figures will be welcome. Initially there will be two issues (of 100-200 pages each) per year. The journal is edited by Ofer Bar-Yosef and Janusz Kozlowski and appears under the imprint of their respective institutes, the American School of Prehistoric Research at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and the Institute of Archaeology at Jagiellonian University in Poland. This first volume contains four articles: Bisnik Cave (Krzysztof Cyrek); Introducing Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel (Mina Weinstein-Evron, Guy Bar-Oz, Yossi Zaidner, Alexander Tsatskin, Dotan Druck, Naomi Porat and Israel Hershkovitz); Late Middle Palaeolithic blade technologies and the transition to the Upper Palaeolithic in Southern Poland: TL Dating contribution (Helene Valladas, Norbert Mercier, Catherine Escutenaire, Tomasz Kalicki, J K Kozlowski, Valery Sitlivy, Krysztof Sobczyk, Aleksandar Zieba, Birgitte Van Vliet-Lanoe); Trapezoids and double truncations in the Epigravettian assemblages of Northereastern Italy

The aim of this journal is to publish lengthy site reports with many illustrations and other data-based articles. Contents: Donald Henry and April Nowell: Time-Space Patterns in Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Point Attributes from Ayn Abu Nukhayla; Marie-Helene Moncel and Maria Gema Chacon Navarro: Contribution to the Understanding of Neanderthal Technical Behaviour during end of OIS 6 and Late Interglacial (OIS 5) in southern Europe - the Lithic Assemblage of upper Level in the Site of Payre (Rhone Valley, Southeastern France); Mentor Mustafa and Geoffrey Clark: The 'Ain Difla Rockshelter (Jordan) and the Evolution of Mousterian Technology: Implications for Modern Human Origins; Marco Peresani and Fabio Gurioli; The Rio Secco Cave, A New Final Middle Palaeolithic site in Northeastern Italy Jiri Svoboda, Maria Hajnalova, Martin Novak, Andrea Sajnerova, and Alla Yaroshevich: Mesolithic Settlement and Activities in Rockshelters of the Kamenice River Canyon, Czech Republic.

The aim of this journal is to publish lengthy site reports with many illustrations and other data-based articles. Contents: O. Joris, D. S. Adler, and S. W. G. Davies: Setting the Record Straight: Toward a Systematic Chronological Understanding of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic Boundary in Eurasia; E. Alvarev: Suspended Objects of Adornment in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in Europe? Federico Bernaldo de Quiros, Jose Manuel Maillo, and Ana Neira: The place of Unit 18 of "El Castillo" cave in the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic Transition; Michael Bolus and N. J. Conard: What Can We Say About the Spatial-Temporal Distribution of Early Aurignacian Innovations? Francois Bon, Jean-Guillaume Bordes, and Nicolas Teyssandier: From West to East: Rethinking the Earliest Aurignacian; P. Elefanti, E. Panagopoulou, and P. Karkanas: The transition from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic in the southern Balkans: The evidence from the Lakonis I cave, Greece; Yaroslav V. Kuzmin: The Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition in Siberia: Chronological and Environmental Aspects; L. V. Lbova: Chronology and Paleoecology of the Early Upper Paleolithic in the Trans-Baikal Region (Siberia); Gyorgy Lengyel and Zsolt Mester: A New Look at the Radiocarbon Chronology of the Szeletian in Hungary; Ladislav Nejman: Refining the Chronology of Central European Late Middle and Early Upper Palaeolithic Sites Using Optically Stimulated Luminescence and Thermoluminescence Dating; Joaquim Soler Sublis, Narcis Soler Masferrer, and Julia Maroto: The Arbreda's Archaic Aurignacian Dates clarified

This journal is a joint venture endorsed by the American School of Prehistoric Research at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and the Institute of Archaeology at Jagiellonian University in Poland. The aim of this journal is to publish lengthy site reports with many illustrations and other data-based articles on aspects of the palaeolithic and neolithic of Eurasia.