Subsistence intensification – the extraction of increased amounts of energy from a given area at the expense of foraging efficiency – figures prominently in discussions of the Epipaleolithic period (ca. 21,000–11,500 cal bp). Despite their paramount status, intensification trends are not often subjected to rigorous testing using multiple archaeological data sets. This study aims to fill this ga...

We analyze terminal Pleistocene archaeofaunal diversity trends in the Southern Levant by examining eight Epipaleolithic (ca. 19-12ka) assemblages from the Western Galilee/Mt. Carmel, Israel subregion. We test predictions from a Broad Spectrum Revolution model of the population dynamics of human foragers and their prey. The study emphasizes control over geographic variability and archaeological ...

although the zarzian was first identified in the 1920s, it has not been until recently that detailed investigations of it have been undertaken. in contrast to the intensive research on the epipaleolithic period in the levant, the zarzian in the zagros area is less well known, although it shares some similarities (as well as differences) with the levantine epipaleolithic including trajectories o...

Three engraved limestone plaquettes from the recently excavated Epipaleolithic open-air site Ein Qashish South in the Jezreel Valley, Israel comprise unique evidence for symbolic behavior of Late Pleistocene foragers in the Levant. The engravings, uncovered in Kebaran and Geometric Kebaran deposits (ca. 23ka and ca. 16.5ka BP), include the image of a bird-the first figurative representation kno...

'Neolithization' pathway refers to the development of adaptations that characterized subsequent Neolithic life, sedentary occupations, and agriculture. In the Levant, the origins of these human behaviors are widely argued to have emerged during the Early Epipaleolithic (ca. 23 ka cal BP). Consequently, there has been a pre-occupation with identifying and modeling the dietary shift to cereal and...

Stone vessels generally appear in chronological order dating back to the Epipaleolithic period. Although several and typological evaluations of made different types stones have been so far, there is little information about their production techniques. The focus this study marble as well on some other finds Ada Höyük, a settlement, which was investigated part Uşak Protohistoric Period Survey Pr...

Three very different records are combined here to reconstruct the evolution of environments in the Cantabrian Region during the Upper Pleistocene, covering ~35.000 years. Two of these records come from Antoliñako Koba (Bizkaia, Spain), an exceptional prehistoric deposit comprising 9 chrono-cultural units (Aurignacian to Epipaleolithic). The palaeoecological signal of small-vertebrate communitie...

We describe a multivariate approach that reconstructs the taphonomic histories of zooarchaeological assemblages. The approach applies a sequence of zooarchaeological analyses to bone assemblages to determine the most significant agents of assemblage formation. By examining the differential survivorship of bones from subgroups within an assemblage, problems of equifinality in skeletal part studi...