Re: Questions about the Upper Paleolithic
- From: "VBM" <v.mcalister@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2005 23:43:33 GMT
Thank you for your very interesting information, I am glad to get a broader
perspective on the issue. On a related issue, I was thinking about picking
up "After the Ice" by Methen. Is it worth my time?
<lsj@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1124888685.279429.158010@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> VBM wrote:
> > OK, Paleo newbie here.
> >
> > In a TTC lecture on anthropology I was listening to recently, the
professor
> > was discussing the upper paleolithic in near halcion terms. The folks
were
> > taller, stronger, healthier, lived longer, had fewer diseases, a broader
> > diet, little (if any) indication of warfare, no famine, more leisure
time
> > and no body odor (OK, that last one I made up). The professor went on
to
> > describe the neolithic revolution as a relative descent into "nasty,
brutish
> > and short". Once mankind began farming and herding, this lifestyle
became a
> > ball and chain, they became slaves to their own technological advances.
> >
> > I am exaggerating the professor's position a bit, but not much. Is this
> > rosy picture of the Upper Paleolithic generally accepted? Sounds like a
> > Jean Auel version, and I always assumed she "cleaned it up".
>
> There is some evidence that life did get nastier in the neolithic
> revolution. But life was no vacation before that either -- the
> average lifespan in the paleolithic was nowhere near threescore
> and ten. If the paleolithic had been a paradise, the population
> wouldn't have remained near-static for millennia, and then started
> to _in_crease in the neolithic.
>
> > Also, here is an excerpt from an article, and I was wondering whether
there
> > are any major mistatements in it:
> > "The archaeological picture changed dramatically around 40-50,000 years
ago
> > with the appearance of behaviorally modern humans. This was an abrupt
and
> > dramatic change in subsistence patterns, tools and symbolic expression.
The
> > stunning change in cultural adaptation was not merely a quantitative
one,
> > but one that represented a significant departure from all earlier human
> > behavior, reflecting a major qualitative transformation. It was
literally a
> > "creative explosion" which exhibited the "technological ingenuity,
social
> > formations, and ideological complexity of historic hunter-gatherers."7
This
> > human revolution is precisely what made us who we are today.
>
> Here is what I wrote on this issue in my recent book about
> the origins of language:
>
> "The supposedly sudden appearance of advanced art and advanced
> tools in the caves of Europe about 40,000 years ago is taken as
> evidence of a cognitive leap. However, the appearance of a sudden
> dramatic 'cultural revolution' around 40,000 years ago, has turned
> out to be largely an illusion caused by the predominance of
> European sites in the documented archeological record, and
> possibly some Eurocentrism among archeologists (Henshilwood &
> Marean, 2003). Homo sapiens did indeed invade Europe rather
> suddenly about 40,000 years ago, bringing along an advanced
> toolkit - but that toolkit had been developed gradually in Africa9
> over the course of more than 200,000 years (McBrearty & Brooks,
> 2000; Van Peer et al., 2003). Kuhn et al. (2001) remain skeptical
> of the interpretation of McBrearty & Brooks (2000), but later
> discoveries of less ambiguous works of abstract art (Henderson,
> 2002; Henshilwood et al., 2002; Balter, 2002a; Recer, 2002; Harms
> & Yellen, 2002), pigment use (Barham, 2002), and personal
> ornaments (Henshilwood et al., 2004; Holden, 2004a) add further
> support to the long timescale of McBrearty & Brooks (2000). The
> debate over the supposed revolution is reviewed by Balter (2002c),
> Bar-Yosef (2002), and Henshilwood & Marean (2003)." (p 168)
>
> Johansson, S (2005) 'Origins of Language - Constraints
> on Hypotheses' John Benjamins,
> http://www.benjamins.com/cgi-bin/t_bookview.cgi?bookid=CELCR%205
>
> > The Upper Paleolithic lifestyle, as it was called, was based essentially
on
> > hunting and gathering. So successful was this cultural adaptation that
until
> > roughly 11,000 years ago, hominids worldwide were subsisting essentially
as
> > hunter-gatherers.
>
> Well... Worked fine as long as it was the only game in town.
> But as soon as somebody came up with an alternative (agriculture),
> the farmers out-competed the hunter-gatherers pretty fast.
>
> > In the Upper Paleolithic of Eurasia, or the Late Stone Age as it is
called
> > in Africa, the archaeological signature stands in strong contrast to
that of
> > the Middle Paleolithic/Middle Stone Age. It was characterized by
significant
> > innovation:
> >
> > * a remarkable diversity in stone tool types
> >
> > * tool types showed significant change over time and space
> >
> > * artifacts were regularly fashioned out of bone, antler and ivory, in
> > addition to stone
> >
> > * stone artifacts were made primarily on blades and were easily
classified
> > into discrete categories, presumably reflecting specialized use
> >
> > * burials were accompanied by ritual or ceremony and contained a rich
> > diversity of grave goods
> >
> > * living structures and well-designed fireplaces were constructed
> >
> > * hunting of dangerous animal species and fishing occurred regularly
> >
> > higher population densities
> >
> > * abundant and elaborate art as well as items of personal adornment were
> > widespread
> >
> > * raw materials such as flint and shells were traded over some distances
>
> All those changes did occur, but there is no evidence that the
> transition was sudden. On the contrary, the first appearances
> of these things are spread in time over a few hundred thousand
> years.
>
> > Homo sapiens of the Upper Paleolithic/Late Stone Age was
quintessentially
> > modern in appearance and behavior. Precisely how this transformation
> > occurred is not well understood, but it apparently was restricted to
Homo
> > sapiens and did not occur in Neanderthals. Some archaeologists invoke a
> > behavioral explanation for the change.
>
> Fair enough -- but don't make too much of it.
>
> > For example, Soffer11 suggests that
> > changes in social relations, such as development of the nuclear family,
> > played a key role in bringing about the transformation.
>
> Pure speculation.
>
> > Klein7, on the other hand, proffers the notion that it was probably a
> > biological change brought about by mutations that played the key role in
the
> > emergence of behaviorally modern humans. His biologically based
explanation
> > implies that a major neural reorganization of the brain resulted in a
> > significant enhancement in the manner in which the brain processed
> > information.
>
> Just as pure speculation.
>
> > This is a difficult hypothesis to test since brains do not
> > fossilize. But it is significant that no changes are seen in the shape
of
> > the skulls between earlier and later Homo sapiens. It can only be
surmised
> > from the archaeological record, which contains abundant evidence for
ritual
> > and art, that these Upper Paleolithic/Late Stone Age peoples possessed
> > language abilities equivalent to our own.
>
> Extremely unlikely that they didn't have modern language capacity,
> as they postdate the most recent common ancestor of living people.
> As a matter of fact, the lower limit for the age of language can
> be pushed back a bit more than that. But we have no real upper
> limit for the age of language, no evidence that Neanderthals or
> even erectus did _not_ have language in some form.
>
> > For many anthropologists this
> > represents the final evolutionary leap to full modernity."
>
> > http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/johanson.html
>
> Best regards, HLK, Physics
> Sverker Johansson U of Jonkoping
> ----------------------------------------------
> WAR IS PEACE
> FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
> ATHEISM IS RELIGION
> IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH - adapted from
> CREATIONISM IS SCIENCE George Orwell
>
.
- References:
- Questions about the Upper Paleolithic
- From: VBM
- Re: Questions about the Upper Paleolithic
- From: lsj
- Questions about the Upper Paleolithic
- Prev by Date: Re: Georgians Claim to Unearth Ancient Skull
- Next by Date: Re: testosterone and puberty in male monkeys
- Previous by thread: Re: Questions about the Upper Paleolithic
- Next by thread: Re: Questions about the Upper Paleolithic
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
