Abstract: 1.Introduction. 2.The Changing Theoretical Landscape. 3.The Natural Landscape. 4.Sites on the Landscape: The Late Paleolithic. 5.Sites on the Landscape: The Early Mesolithic. 6.Sites on the Landscape: The Late Mesolithic. 7.Sites on the Landscape: Survey. 8.Sites on the Landscape: Nenauhof Nordwest. 9.Change through Time at Henauhof Nordwest. 10.Sites on the Landscape: Henauhof West. 11.Sites on the Landscape: 12.Henauhof Nordwest 2 Henauhof and the Federsee in the Regional Landscape. 13.The Late Paleolithic Landscape. 14.The Early Mesolithic Landscape. 15.The Late Mesolithic Landscape. 16.Southwest Germany in the West European Landscape. Index.

Abstract: We have compiled 462 C-14 determinations for 120 Paleolithic and Mesolithic sites from Siberia and the Russian Far East. The Mousterian sites are dated to ca. 46,000–28,500 BP. The Middle–Upper Paleolithic transition dates to ca. 43,300–28,500 BP. Although there are a few earlier sites, most of the Upper Paleolithic sites are dated to the time interval between ca. 34,000 BP and 10,000 BP. The earlier Upper Paleolithic stage is characterized by macroblade technology and is radiocarbon-dated to ca. 34,000–20,000 BP. The earliest microblade technology occurs in the late stage of the Upper Paleolithic, dated to ca. 23,000–20,000 BP, but the majority of microblade sites is dated to ca. 20,000–11,000 BP. The Final Paleolithic (Mesolithic) sites date to ca. 12,000–6000 BP. At ca. 13,000–11,000 BP, the earliest Neolithic appeared in both the Russian Far East (Amur River basin) and the Transbaikal. The Paleolithic–Neolithic transition occurred ca. 13,000–6000 BP.

Abstract: The microblade tradition in China has been considered by Smith (1974) to be a part of his Northeast Asian-Northwest American Microblade Tradition. Within China, assemblages of this tradition were first discovered in the 1920s in the northern, northwestern, and northeastern regions of the country (Chun Chen 1984; Chen and Wang 1989), and numerous archaeological sites with microblades have been found since the 1950s. To date, over two hundred archaeological assemblages and find spots with microblades have been located in China, mainly in areas of middle to high latitudes (Bettinger et al. 1994; Tong 1979; Wu 1987; Yang 1987) (Fig. 1). [Figure 1 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The accumulation of discoveries during the past forty years has provided new information for a better understanding of this lithic tradition. We now know that it was more expansive geographically than previously thought, with sites located not only in northern and central China but also in the south and southwest. The time span of the tradition is now known to have extended from the late Pleistocene into the mid-Holocene; in part of the northern areas this tradition lasted into the historical period. During the past four decades, studies of this topic have been conducted by Chinese scholars, and the achievements are significant. Jia (1978:138) has claimed that a set of implements, including wedge-shaped, conical, prismatic, cylindrical, and boat-shaped microcores as well as microblades, is typical of the tradition. Some scholars have proposed central China as the original region for the tradition (An 1992; Gal 1985, 1991; Jia et al. 1972; Yang 1987). It has also been claimed that the tradition extended to other regions of East Asia (An 1992; Chen 1983; Gal 1985; Jia 1978). A general hypothesis of three phases in the evolution of microblades--early (Upper Paleolithic), middle (Mesolithic) and later (Neolithic)--has been proposed (Gal 1985; Ge 1985). More detailed studies focused on microcore preparation have led to another hypothesis of two phases of microblade technology within the Upper Paleolithic (Chen and Wang 1989). The early stage, represented by Xiachuan, was characterized by conical cores and small boat-shaped cores; wedge-shaped cores were rare and the technique for platform preparation was simple (Chen and Wang 1989). The later stage, represented by Xueguan and Hutouliang, was characterized by the increasing dominance of wedge-shaped cores and the more sophisticated techniques of platform preparation (Chen and Wang 1989). Regional aspects of the tradition in central China and Xinjiang have also been synthesized (Wu 1987; Yang 1987), and the significance of microblades in the overall history of lithic technology has recently been discussed (Yu 1995). Some questions related to the microblade tradition have not yet been fully explored, however. First and foremost, the concept of this lithic tradition in China, commonly called "microlithic," is still ambiguous. Second, although archaeological discoveries have documented that the microblade tradition in China existed for more than 20,000 years, co-existing with various other lithic technologies (An 1981; Gai 1985), the temporal variations within this tradition and the interrelationships of microblade and nonmicroblade traditions (including ground stone tools) have received little attention. Major investigations seem to have concentrated on the techno-typological aspects of microcores. Finally, the significance of the occurrence of microblades in association with nonmicroblade lithic assemblages in the transitional period from hunting and gathering to cultivation in the early Holocene seems insufficiently stressed. In this paper, existing definitions of the microblade tradition will be discussed and clarified. Major microblade assemblages in different regions, together with temporal variations and associations with other nonmicroblade traditions, will be discussed. …

Abstract: These papers, from the 1992 4th Internationa l Symposium on the Mesolithic in Europe, provide a summary o f recent scholarship on the transition to agriculture at the end of the Mesolithic era and the genesis of Neolithic comm unities in the Baltic Region. '

Abstract: Interpreting and explaining numerical variance in artifact assemblages has not played an important role in lithic analysis. As shown, this measure has much to offer in understanding prehistoric behavior. Variance in microlith assemblages is examined to test Myers' (1986, 1989b) model of changing hunting strategies across the Early-to-Later Mesolithic transition. It is shown that Early Mesolithic microliths are highly standardized relative to analogous items from the Later Mesolithic. This finding is related to weapons design systems and the embeddedness of microliths within seasonal activities. It is argued that Early Mesolithic microliths were produced in large numbers ahead of time within a reliable weapons system focused on intercept hunting, while Later Mesolithic microliths were produced in smaller batches, as needed, within a maintainable system optimized for encounter-based hunting.

Abstract: More than 120 radiocarbon determinations which are relevant to the issue of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition are now available from southern Italy. Previous treatments of this topic have tended to concentrate on identifying the earliest Neolithic traits and sites. It is suggested that ideas of the transition are better placed in the context of discussion of the Mesolithic Holocene hunter-gatherers, as well as the introduction of new domesticated crops and animals and material culture which conventionally signify the Neolithic. Radiocarbon determinations from the provinces of Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Puglia, Sardinia and Sicilia are critically evaluated, and it is noted that for a variety of reasons there is a substantial gap lasting about 1000 calendar years in our knowledge of the latest dated Mesolithic and earliest dated Neolithic in southern Italy. This gap, as well as the academic divide caused by periodization of the archaeological record into Mesolithic and Neolithic, is argued to privilege models which see the Neolithic as necessarily radically different and largely due to social dynamics deriving from outside southern Italy.

Abstract: This report deals with the results of intensive Mesolithic field research carried out 1990-1995 in northwestern Belgium. It discusses the results (still largely preliminary) of the large-scale excavations of open-air settlements on sandy soils, at Oostwinkel, Verrebroek and Kruishoutem; the analysis is largely based on morphotypological analysis of lithic artefacts, absolute chronology, site-taphonomy and preliminary spatial analysis.

Abstract: The cave of Cyclope is situated on the SW side of the island of Youra, 16 miles from Alonnessos. Systematic research in the cave lasted from 1992 to 1996. The upper layers, which date to the Roman period, contained mainly lamps. In the centre of the cave a Middle Neolithic stratum yielded a mass of pottery of exceptional red-on-white decoration. In cutting C, near the entrance, the upper layers belonged to Late Neolithic I (5th millennium BC) and were underlain by a thin Early and Middle Neolithic layer. Most of the deposits were Mesolithic. These layers consisted of faunal remains and thick-packed living floors in which there were ash hearths and scattered charcoal. Radiocarbon dates from these strata ranged from c. 6800 to 8500 BC. The quantity of fish bones and shells was immense in the Mesolithic levels, suggesting, in association with the variety of bone hooks, high dependance on sea resources. The presence of Mesolithic habitation on a small island in the northern Aegean demonstrates that the cave of Cyclope is the earliest site in the Aegean Sea.

Abstract: Past research on Paleolithic technologies has focused on the manufacturing and use of stone and, to a lesser extent, bone, antler, and ivory artifacts and the implications of these inventories for hunting strategies, subsistence practices, and settlement systems. Coeval technologies in less-durable media, sporadically reported from Paleolithic sites, have received much less attention and their implications for past lifeways have been left unexplored. This paper reports on numerous fiber, cordage, and textile impressions on fired clay fragments recovered from the Gravettian site of Pavlov I in the Czech Republic. This, together with coeval data from the nearby sites of Dolni Věstonice I and II, attests to the use of plant-derived fiber for the production of a broad range of perishable implements including cordage, possibly netting, and non-heddle-loom-woven twining some 15,000 years before such items are documented in the European Mesolithic or Neolithic. The extensive use of this perishable technology carries a number ofimportant implications and ramifications concerning past human lifeways for this portion of Europe. Specifically, as suggested by ethnographic data indicating that the fibers most likely employed in perishable production were harvested and processed in the fall, the existence of this industry suggests the Moravian sites were also occupied during that season. Moreover, since ethnographic data also indicate that the procurement, processing, and use of plant fibers is strongly associated with females, we argue that women were present and processing these items in Upper Paleolithic Moravian sites, thus supporting their identification as base camps. The existence of a fiber-based weaving technology at these sites, in what has heretofore been considered a big game hunting cultural milieu, indicates that our basic reconstructions and characterizations of this lifeway are in error, Instead of being dependent on hide and animal products processed largely as

Abstract: By use of ethnoarchaeological method this thesis attempts to investigate the social roles of non-local raw materials. Personal ornaments are studied in a world-wide range of ethnographic contexts, attention being focused on the origin of raw materials used to make these objects and the social use they assume in the 64 different societies analysed. The cross-cultural study shows that non-local or inaccessible materials are often used as symbols of prestige. In another cross-cultural study Mary Helms has discussed the concept of geographical distance and found that, far from being a neutral concept, it acquires in many societies the same value as vertical distance, i.e: contact with the spiritual world. This may be one of the explanations for the widespread allure of the exotic. This model of the alluring exotic is used in two case studies. The first examines single burials in southern Scandinavia from the Mesolithic, the Early Neolithic, the Pitted Ware Culture and the Battle Axe Culture, mapping the occurrence and frequency of non-local raw materials, in order to establish whether structures of inequality or social diffentiation can be discovered. Inaccessible raw materials are present in all Stone Age contexts, suggesting that some kind of social diffentiation was present from the Atlantic Chronozone onwards. Status-markers are most widespread were most frequent and most widely dispersed in the Battle Axe Culture, possibly suggesting the presence of social hierarchies. The second case study looks at the social use of exotic and local slate in southern and central Sweden during the Stone Age. Red slate has often been regarded as exotic in this area but an attempt to provenance slate using X-raydiffraction analysis shows-that red slate could be local and, what is more, that slate of other colours could be exotic. It seems unlikely that a concentration of red slate in eastern middle Sweden is an expression of a socially differentiated system in the Mesolithic, Early or Middle Neolithic. Nothing else in the archaeological record implies a system of prestige goods in the area until the Late Neolithic. This is further underlined by the fact that this is the only region of the study area where red slate is used to make narrow projectile points, a type seems to have operated largely in the functional sphere. This is implied by the fact that narrow points are predominantly found at settlements. The concentration of red slate cannot be interpreted on the basis of the ethnographic model.

Abstract: This report deals with the results of intensive Mesolithic field research carried out 1990-1995 in northwestern Belgium. It discusses the results (still largely preliminary) of the large-scale excavations of open-air settlements on sandy soils, at Oostwinkel, Verrebroek and Kruishoutem; the analysis is largely based on morphotypological analysis of lithic artefacts, absolute chronology, site-taphonomy and preliminary spatial analysis.

Abstract: Large Mesolithic and Neolithic cemeteries that span the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition are scarce in Europe. As such, understanding the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition is rarely easy when using the direct evidence from carbon-dating of human remains. A new dating programme for the Ukrainian cemeteries of the Dnieper Rapids region throws up considerable discrepancies between typological seriation as a means to assign burials to the Mesolithic or to the Neolithic and the carbon evidence.

Abstract: L'auteur de cet article s'attache a l'etude de l'evolution des populations sur la peninsule Iberique entre la periode mesolithique et le neolithique. Selon l'auteur, la discontinuite est evidente dans la culture materielle, suggerant que l'avenement du neolithique dut etre associe a un apport de population etrangere arrivant par la mer.

Abstract: In the summer of 1996 work to build a new golf course on the coast at Crail in Fife, Scotland, uncovered a small patch of dark soil associated with microliths. Excavation revealed an arc of seven pits or post-holes, a hearth site and several other pit-like features. There was a small lithic assemblage, and also a quantity of carbonised hazelnut shell, samples of which were sent off for radiocarbon assay. The site was remarkable for several reasons: • Size Its size (75m2) was unusual in that most mesolithic sites in Scotland (and elsewhere) are often much larger. Small sites have played an important role in theoretical interpretations of the mesolithic way of life, but few have been excavated. • Lithic assemblage The lithic assemblage was small, even for such a small site, and comprised solely of flint, which is very rare in Scotland. There was relatively little knapping debris, but several retouched tools, over half of which were narrow blade microliths. The microliths were very interesting because they were dominated by crescentic microliths, while more common types such as scalene triangles were absent. • Dates A series of fourteen radiocarbon dates were obtained for the site and all centred round the same period: between 7400 and 7600 BC, calibrated. This was earlier than had been expected, and is an interesting addition to knowledge of the early settlement of eastern Scotland since most other early dates have been from west coast sites. The similarity of the dates adds weight to the argument that the site represents a single occupation which, in view of its size, is likely to have been of short duration. This, and the nature of the lithic assemblage, have lead us to the interpretation that the site was a specialised camp site, probably making use of coastal resources. Internet Archaeology 5. Wickham-Jones & Dalland Page 2 Table of contents Homepage List of Illustrations Summary 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Location 2.0 Structural Evidence 2.1 Description 2.2 Interpretation 2.3 Preservation 3.0 Dating 3.1 Method and results 3.2 Calibration 4.0 The lithic assemblage 4.

Abstract: Le developpement de l'economie de subsistance et l'emergence de l'elevage dans la region du nord de la mer Noire sont discutes sur la base de restes de faune de 35 sites du Mesolithique et du Neolithique ancien. Au Mesolithique, on observe des formes tres differentes d'utilisation des ressources selon les conditions naturelles environnantes (zone de foret-steppe, zone de steppe, region montagneuse de la Crimee). Pour le sud de la Crimee, les decouvertes temoignent d'une utilisation saisonniere des abris pour la chasse, en particulier au sanglier. Des informations relatives a l'economie du Neolithique commencent a apparaitre dans la region couverte par cette recherche, a partir de 6000 av. J.-C. environ, et cela non seulement dans la zone occidentale (culture de Bug-Dnestr) mais aussi dans les steppes autour de la mer d'Azov (stations de Matveev-Kurgan), Les resultats morphologiques ne confirment pas la domestication autochtone du porc en Crimee ni celle du bœuf dans les regions nord-pontiques de steppes.

Abstract: Archaeological research in the Toledo shellmidden (Vimeiro, Lourinha) has been pivotal for understanding the behaviour of early Holocene hunter-gatherer communities. The coastal strip of the Portuguese Estremadura is dotted with several sites from this chronological period, where Upper Paleolithic and Late Mesolithic characteristics are combined. Archaeological knowledge of these sites suggests that those communities must have been organized in small groups, for which mobility should have been extremely important. For the first time, the exploitation of aquatic resources became crucial and was permanently incorporated into the dietary strategies adopted.

Abstract: This report presents preliminary results from the fourth field season of the Pupicina Cave Project.We continued excavating over a large area in Pupicina Cave. Results from the 1998 season clarified the stratigraphy of the later prehistoric (Neolithic-Iron Age) deposits and produced significant Mesolithic and Late Upper Palaeolithic assemblages from the site. Test excavations at Klanjceva Cave, Nugljanska Cave, and the open-air site of Kotle demonstrated human use of all three sites during the Mesolithic and/or Upper Palaeolithic. Kotle is the first open air Mesolithic site to have been excavated in Croatia. Renewed site testing at Vela Cave revealed a deep and rich sequence of prehistoric through Medieval-age deposits. Studies of the artifacts, faunal assemblages, and environmental remains from these and other sites excavated by the Pupicina Cave Project are providing important new results about changing landscapes and people from the end of the Palaeolithic to the present day in Istria.

Abstract: Les auteurs de cet article repondent a la critique qui leur est adressee concernant la rupture morphologique qu'ils ont constatee dans la population de la peninsule Iberique entre le mesolithique et le neolithique.