Updating Neanderthals Understanding Behavioural Complexity in the Late Middle Palaeolithic 1st Edition by Francesca Romagnoli, Florent Rivals, Stefano Benazzi 0128214295 978012821429

Chapter 1: Updating Neanderthals: Taking stock of more than 160 years of studies

Abstract

Acknowledgements

1: Discovery, first studies, and the illustration of the dumb ape

2: The main scientific debates between 1930 and 1980: Anthropological and cultural data

3: The end of the 20th century

4: The 21st century: Updating Neanderthals

5: From brutality to rehabilitation and narration

References

Chapter 2: The climatic and environmental context of the Late Pleistocene

Abstract

Acknowledgements

1: Introduction

2: Orbital and abrupt climate changes through the Late Pleistocene

3: Vegetation response to Late Pleistocene climate changes

4: How did Neanderthals cope with climate changes?

5: Final remarks

References

Chapter 3: Diet and ecological interactions in the Middle and Late Pleistocene

Abstract

Acknowledgements

1: Introduction

2: Dietary ecology of animals and Neanderthals

3: Complex interactions between Neanderthals and animals

4: Final remarks

References

Chapter 4: Different species on the horizon: The Denisova hominins

Abstract

1: Denisova cave and the Altai (overview)

2: Denisovan fossils from Denisova cave

3: Xiahe

4: Denisovan genetics

5: Other Denisovans?

6: Final remarks

References

Chapter 5: Neanderthals: Anatomy, genes, and evolution

Abstract

Acknowledgements

1: Introduction

2: What are Neanderthal traits?

3: Two explanatory evolutionary models

4: Evolutionary anatomy of the Neanderthal phenotype

5: Evolutionary morphology of Neanderthal characters

6: Phase 1. Origin of H. heidelbergensis (s.s.)

7: Phase 2. Origin of H. neanderthalensis

8: Final remarks

References

Chapter 6: The Neanderthal brain: Biological and cognitive evolution

Abstract

1: How to investigate a palaeo-brain: Tools and methods

2: The molecular basis of brain evolution in Neanderthal and H. sapiens: DNA and RNA (genes, polymorphisms, and noncoding, regulatory elements)

3: Not only technology: The graphical record of the Neanderthals as a window on their cognitive traits

4: Cognitive studies and archaeological evidence for the creation of meaning

5: Final remarks

References

Chapter 7: Selection versus opportunism: A view from Neanderthal subsistence strategies

Abstract

Acknowledgements

1: Introduction

2: Selection at a regional scale

3: Selection at a local scale

4: The hunter’s choice

5: Selection within animal carcasses

6: Diversification of the diet and the exploitation of nonungulate animals

7: Final remarks

References

Chapter 8: Small animal use by Neanderthals

Abstract

Acknowledgements

1: Introduction

2: Rabbits and hares

3: Birds

4: Tortoises

5: Aquatic resources

6: Final remarks

Author contributions

References

Chapter 9: The use of plants by Neanderthals as food, medicine, and raw materials

Abstract

1: Introduction

2: Methods used in recovery of evidence for plant use

3: Archaeological evidence for plants

4: Behavioural implications of the plant evidence

5: Final remarks

References

Chapter 10: Neanderthal technological variability: A wide-ranging geographical perspective on the final Middle Palaeolithic

Abstract

Acknowledgements

1: The ‘Mousterian debate’ today

2: Concepts and abbreviations

3: The Levant

4: The eastern regions: From the Altai to Eastern Europe

5: Central Europe

6: North-western Europe and southern France

7: Mediterranean Europe

8: Neanderthal variability

9: Final remarks

References

Chapter 11: The organisation of living spaces in Neanderthal campsites

Abstract

Acknowledgement

1: Introduction

2: Constructing the paradigm: What does a hunter–gatherer camp look like?

3: Ethnographic concepts, archaeological facts

4: Spatial units in Middle Palaeolithic sites

5: Beyond activity areas: Time uncertainties in campsite layout

6: Final remarks

References

Chapter 12: Fire among Neanderthals

Abstract

Acknowledgements

1: Introduction

2: Background to research on European Middle Palaeolithic fire: History, archaeological evidence, and debates

3: Methods and techniques

4: Fire among Neanderthals

5: Final remarks

Author contributions

References

Chapter 13: ‘Art’: Neanderthal symbolic graphic behaviour

Abstract

1: Portable graphic symbolism

2: Parietal graphic symbolism

3: Cognitive implications

4: Final remarks

References

Chapter 14: Spiritual and symbolic activities of Neanderthals

Abstract

Acknowledgements

1: Introduction

2: Neanderthal funerary activities

3: Marine shells and pigment use

4: Wings and feathers

5: Raptor claws

6: Non-utilitarian objects, curiosa

7: Appropriation of the darkness of the underground world

8: Final remarks

References

Chapter 15: Beyond European boundaries: Neanderthals in the Armenian Highlands and the Caucasus

Abstract

Acknowledgements

1: Eco-geography and Pleistocene palaeoenvironment of the Armenian Highlands and the Caucasus

2: Middle Palaeolithic sites in the Armenian Highlands and the Caucasus. Site types, chronology, and distribution

3: Middle Palaeolithic technological concepts, traditions or cultural features, and the regional sequence

4: Middle Palaeolithic technological organisation, land use, and regional artefact discard patterns

5: Middle Palaeolithic hunter–gatherer subsistence and hunting strategies and use of fire

6: Art and symbolic behaviour? Modified cave bear bones and teeth from Middle Palaeolithic deposits in the Armenian Highlands and the Caucasus

7: The problem of replacement of Neanderthals by Homo sapiens in the study area

8: Final remarks

References

Chapter 16: Methodological advances in Neanderthal identification, phylogeny, chronology, mobility, climate, and diet

Abstract

1: Introduction

2: Neanderthals and their contemporaries

3: The radiocarbon dating and the last Neanderthal. Present status quo

4: Reconstructing Neanderthal’s way of life (diet, habitat, weaning, mobility)

5: Final remarks

References

Chapter 17: The arrival of Homo sapiens in the Near East and Europe

Abstract

Acknowledgements

1: Introduction

2: The Initial Upper Palaeolithic (IUP)

3: The Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP)

4: The transitional industries

5: Final remarks

References

Afterword—From a homogeneous population to a great diversity: Discussing perspectives on Middle Palaeolithic studies for the coming years

Index