Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Chronology and Taphonomy of the Earliest Aurignacian and Its Implications for the Understanding of Neandertal Extinction

  • Published:
Journal of World Prehistory Aims and scope

Abstract

The view that the Châtelperronian is the acculturation of late Neandertals brought about by contact with nearby moderns assumes an age of ca. 40,000 years ago for the earliest Aurignacian. However, the cultural meaning of the dated samples is dubious, either because they were collected from palimpsests containing other archaeological components or because the definition of the associated artifact suites as Aurignacian is not warranted. Wherever sample context is archaeologically secure, the earliest occurrences of the Aurignacian date to no earlier than ca. 36,500 B.P. This is in accordance with the strati-graphic pattern demonstrating the precedence of the Châtelperronian and equivalent technocomplexes of central and eastern Europe, consistently dated by various methods to before ca. 38,000 B.P. Given the Neandertal authorship of the Châtelperronian, it must be concluded that Neandertals had already accomplished their own Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition when the first Aurignacian moderns arrived in Europe. Therefore, such a transition occurred simultaneously and independently among European Neandertals and sub-Saharan moderns, across biological boundaries and irrespective of geographical proximity. This suggests that its causes lie in the domain of social process, not in that of putative biological mutations that would have bestowed symbolism upon a lineage of “chosen people.”

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Aldhouse-Green, S., and Pettitt, P. (1998). Paviland Cave. Contextualizing the ‘Red Lady.’ Antiquity 72: 756–772.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allsworth-Jones, Ph. (1986). The Szeletian and the Transition from Middle to Upper Paleolithic in Central Europe, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allsworth-Jones, Ph. (1990). Les industries à pointes foliacées d'Europe Centrale. Questions de définitions et relations avec les autres technocomplexes. In Farizy, C. (ed.), Paléolithique moyen récent et Paléolithique supérieur ancien en Europe. Mémoires du Musée de Préhistoire de l'Ile de France 3: 79–95.

  • Ambrose, S. (1998). Chronology of the Later Stone Age and food production in East Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science 25: 377–392.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arambourou, R., and Jude, P. (1964). Le gisement de la Chèvre à Bourdeilles, Magne, Périgueux.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arrizabalaga, A. (1993). El yacimiento arqueológico de Labeko Koba (Arrasate-Mondragón-Guipúzcoa). Aportación al Paleolítico Superior inicial vasco. In Cabrera, V. (ed.), El Origen del Hombre Moderno en el Suroeste de Europa, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, pp. 195–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aubry, Th., Zilhão, J., Almeida, F., and Fontugne, M. (1997). Production d'armatures microlithiques pendant le Paléolithique supérieur et le Mésolithique du Portugal. In Balbín, R., and Bueno, P. (eds.), Il Congreso de Arqueología Peninsular. Paleolítico y Epipaleolítico, Fundación Rei Afonso Henriques, Zamora, pp. 259–272.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahn, P. (1998). Neandertals emancipated. Nature 394: 719–721.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartolomei, G., Broglio, A., Cassoli, P. F., Castelletti, L., Cattani, L., Cremaschi, M., Giacobini, G., Malerba, G., Maspero, A., Peresani, M., Sartorelli, A., and Tagliacozzo, A. (1994). La Grotte de Fumane: Un site aurignacien au pied des Alpes. Preistoria Alpina 28: 131–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Yosef, O. (1994). The contribution of southwest Asia to the study of the origins of modern humans. In Nitecki, M. H., and Nitecki, D. V. (eds.), Origins of Anatomically Modern Humans, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 23–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Yosef, O. (1996). Modern humans, Neandertals and the Middle/Upper Paleolithic transition in Western Asia. In Bar-Yosef, O., Cavalli-Sforza, L. L., March, R. J., and Piperno, M. (eds.), The Lower and Middle Paleolithic: Colloquia, XIII International Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences, Abaco, Forlì, pp. 175–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Yosef, O. (1997). Symbolic expression in later prehistory of the Levant: Why are they so few? In Conkey, M., Soffer, O., Stratmann, D., and Jablonski, N. G. (eds.), Beyond Art, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, pp. 161–187.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Yosef, O. (1998). On the nature of transitions: the Middle to Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic Revolution. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 8(2): 141–163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Yosef, O., and A. Belfer-Cohen (1996). Another look at the Levantine Aurignacian. In Montet-White, A., Palma di Cesnola, A. and Valoch, K. (eds.), The Upper Paleolithic: Colloquia, XIII International Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences, Abaco, Forlì, pp. 139–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bastin, B., Lévêque, F., and Pradel, L. (1976). Mise en évidence de spectres polliniques interstadiaires entre le Moustérien et le Périgordien ancien de la grotte des Cottés (Vienne). Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences 282: 1261–1264.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belfer-Cohen, A., and Bar-Yosef, O. (1981). The Aurignacian at Hayonim Cave. Paléorient 7(2): 19–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernaldo de Quirós, F. (1982). Los inicios del Paleolítico Superior Cantabrico, Centro de Investigación y Museo de Altamira, Madrid.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertran, P., and Texier, J.-P. (1995). Fabric analysis: Application to Paleolithic sites. Journal of Archaeological Science 22: 521–535.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bischoff, J. L., Soler, N., Maroto, J. and Julià, R. (1989). Abrupt Mousterian/ Aurignacian boundary at c. 40 ka B.P.: Accelerator C-14 dates from l'Arbreda Cave (Catalunya, Spain). Journal of Archaeological Science 16: 563–576.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bischoff, J. L., Ludwig, K., Garcia, J. F., Carbonell, E., Vaquero, M., Stafford, T. W., and Jull, A. J. T. (1994). Dating of the Basal Aurignacian Sandwich at Abric Romaní (Catalunya, Spain) by radiocarbon and uranium-series. Journal of Archaeological Science 21: 541–551.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boëda, E., Fontugne, M., Valladas, H., and Ortega, I. (1996). Barbas III. Industries du Paléolithique moyen récent et du Paléolithique supérieur ancien. In Carbonell, E., and Vaquero, M. (eds.), The Last Neandertals, the First Anatomically Modern Humans: A Tale About the Human Diversity, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, pp. 147–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bordes, F., and Labrot, J. (1967). La stratigraphie du gisement de Roc-de-Combe (Lot) et ses implications. Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française 64: 15–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bordes, J. G. (1998). L'Aurignacien O en Périgord: analyse des données. Un example d'application d'une méthode de quantification des remontages d'intérêt stratigraphique, DEA dissertation, University of Bordeaux I.

  • Breuil, H. (1907). La question aurignacienne. Etude critique de stratigraphie comparée. Revue Préhistorique 2: 173–219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breuil, H. (1909). L'Aurignacien pré-solutréen. Epilogue d'une controverse. Revue Préhistorique 4: 229–248, 265–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breuil, H., and Cheynier, H. (1954–1955). Les fouilles de Breuil et Cartailhac dans la grotte de Gargas, en 1911 et 1913. Bulletin de la Société Méridionale de Spéléologie et Préhistoire 5: 341–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broglio, A. (1996). Le Paléolithique supérieur en Italie du Nord. In Otte, M. (ed.), Le Paléolithique supérieur européen. Bilan quinquennal, 1991–1996. Etudes et Recherches Archéologiques de l'Université de Liège 76: 289–304.

  • Broglio, A. (1997). L'estinzione dell'Uomo di Neandertal e la comparsa dell'Uomo moderno in Europa. Le evidenze della Grotta di Fumane nei Monti Lessini. Atti Istituto Veneto Scienze Lettere Arti 155: 1–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broglio, A., and Improta, S. (1995). Nuovi dati di cronologia assoluta del Paleolitico superiore e del Mesolitico del Veneto, del Trentino e del Friuli. Atti Istituto Veneto Scienze Lettere Arti 153: 1–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buisson, D., and Delporte, H. (1990). Existence du Castelperronien à Brassempouy (Landes). In Farizy, C. (ed.), Paléolithique moyen récent et Paléolithique supérieur ancien en Europe. Mémoires du Musée de Préhistoire de l'Ile de France 3: 189–193.

  • Cabrera, V., and Bernaldo de Quirós, F. (1996). The origins of the Upper Paleolithic: A Cantabrian perspective. In Carbonell, E., and Vaquero, M. (eds.), The Last Neandertals, the First Anatomically Modern Humans: A Tale About the Human Diversity, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, pp. 251–265.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabrera, V., and Bischoff, J. L. (1989). Accelerator C-14 dates for Early Upper Paleolithic (Basal Aurignacian) at El Castillo Cave (Spain). Journal of Archaeological Science 16: 577–584.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabrera, V., Hoyos Gomez, M., and Bernaldo de Quirós, F. (1993). La transición del Paleolítico Medio al Superior en la cueva de El Castillo: Característica paleoclimáticas y situación cronologica. In Cabrera, V. (ed.), El Origen del Hombre Moderno en el Suroeste de Europa, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, pp. 81–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabrera, V., Bernaldo de Quiròs, F., and Hoyos Gomez, M. (1996a). Hugo Obermaier y la cueva del Castillo. In Moure Romanillo, A. (ed.), “El Hombre Fòsil” 80 años despuès, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, pp. 177–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabrera, V., Valladas, H., Bernaldo de Quirós, F., and Hoyos Gomez, M. (1996b). La transition Paléolithique moyen—Paléolithique supérieur à El Castillo (Cantabrie): Nouvelles datations per le carbone-14. Comptes-Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris 322(2a): 1093–1098.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabrera, V., Hoyos Gomez, M., and Bernaldo de Quirós, F. (1997a). The transition from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic in the cave of El Castillo (Cantabria, Spain). In Clark, G. A., and Willermet, C. M. (eds.), Conceptual Issues in Modern Human Origins Research, Aldine de Gruyter, New York, pp. 177–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabrera, V., Lloret, M., Bernaldo de Quirós, F., and Hoyos, M. (1997b). El Aurignaciense arcaico de la Cueva del Castillo. In Balbín, R., and Bueno, P. (eds.), II Congreso de Arqueología Peninsular, Vol. 1. Paleolítico y Epipaleolítico, Fundación Rei Afonso Henriques, Zamora, pp. 133–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cachel, S. (1997). Dietary shift and the European Upper Paleolithic transition. Current Anthropology 38: 579–603.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canal, J., and Carbonell, E. (1989). Catalunya Paleolítica, Patronat Francesc Eiximenis, Girona.

    Google Scholar 

  • Champagne, F., and Espitalié, R. (1981). Le Piage, site préhistorique du Lot, Mémoires de la Société Préhistorique Française, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clottes, J. (1976). Les civilisations du Paléolithique supérieur dans les Pyrénées. In de Lumley, H. (ed.), La Préhistoire Française, CNRS, Paris, pp. 1214–1231.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conard, N., and Kandel, A. W. (eds.) (1999). 2nd Conference of the UISPP Commission 27. Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age Settlement Systems, Tübingen, Institüt für Ur und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelalters Universität Täbingen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Damblon, F., Haesaerts, P., and van der Plicht, J. (1996). New datings and considerations on the chronology of Upper Paleolithic sites in the Great Eurasiatic Plain. Préhistoire Européenne 9: 177–231.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demars, P.-Y. (1996). La place du Piage et de Roc de Combe (Lot) dans la transition du Paléolithique moyen au Paléolithique supérieur. Bulletin Préhistorique du Sud-Ouest. Nouvelles Etudes 3: 11–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demars, P.-Y., and Laurent, P. (1989). Types d'outils lithiques du Paléolithique supérieur en Europe, Paris, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

    Google Scholar 

  • d'Errico, F., and Laroulandie, V. (1999). Szeletian worked bones from Buran-Kaya III site. Paper presented at the conference Central and Eastern Europe between 50,000 and 30,000 B.P., Neandertal Museum.

  • d'Errico, F., and Villa, P. (1997). Holes and grooves: The contribution of microscopy and taphonomy to the problem of art origins. Journal of Human Evolution 33: 1–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • d'Errico, F., Zilhão, J., Baffier, D., Julien, M., and Pelegrin, J. (1998). Neandertal acculturation in Western Europe? A critical review of the evidence and its interpretation. Current Anthropology 39: S1–S44.

    Google Scholar 

  • d'Errico, F., Jimenez la Rosa, M., Cabrera, V., and Bernaldo de Quirós, F. (1999). L'art mobilier de la couche 18 de la cueva de El Castillo. L'Anthropologie (in press).

  • Delporte, H. (1962). Le gisement paléolithique de La Rochette. Gallia Préhistoire 5: 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Delporte, H. (1984). Le Grand Abri de la Ferrassie: fouilles 1968–1973. Etudes Quaternaires 7, Université de Provence, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Djindjian, F. (1993). Les origines du peuplement Aurignacien en Europe. In Banesz L., and Kozlowski, J. K. (eds.), Aurignacien en Europe occidentale et au Proche Orient. Actes du XII Congr&eagrave;s International des Sciences Préhistoriques et Protohistoriques 2, Institut Archéologique de l'Académie Slovaque des Sciences, Bratislava, pp. 136–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamble, C. (1999). Gibraltar and the Neandertals 1848–1998. Journal of Human Evolution 36: 239–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ginter, G., Kozlowski, J. K., Laville, H., Sirakov, N., and Hedges, R. E. M. (1996). Transition in the Balkans: News from the Temnata Cave, Bulgaria. In Carbonell, E., and Vaquero, M. (eds.), The Last Neandertals, the First Anatomically Modern Humans, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Capellades, pp. 169–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glen, E., and Kaczanowski, K. (1982). Human remains. In Kozlowski, J. (ed.), Excavation in the Bacho Kiro Cave (Bulgaria): Final Report, Polish Scientific Publishers, Warsaw, pp. 75–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilman, A. (1984). Explaining the Upper Paleolithic Revolution. In Spriggs, M. (ed.), Marxist Perspectives in Archaeology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 115–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gioia, P. (1990). An aspect of the transition between middle and Upper Paleolithic in Italy: the Uluzzian. In Farizy, C. (ed.), Paléolithique moyen récent et Paléolithique supérieur ancien en Europe. Mémoires du Musée de Préhistoire de l'Ile de France 3: 241–250.

  • González Echegaray, J. G. (1980). El yacimiento de la cueva de El Pendo (excavaciones 1953–57). Biblioteca Prehistórica Hispana 17.

  • González Echegaray, J. G., and Freeman, L. G. (1971). Cueva Morin. Excavaciones 1966–1968, Patronato de las Cuevas Prehistoricas de la Provincia de Santander, Santander.

    Google Scholar 

  • González Echegaray, J. G., and Freeman, L. G. (1973). Cueva Morin. Excavaciones 1969, Patronato de las Cuevas Prehistoricas de la Provincia de Santander, Santander.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grün, R., and Stringer, C. B. (1991). ESR dating and the evolution of humans. Archaeometry 33: 153–199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hahn, J. (1988). Das Geissenklösterle I, Konrad Theiss, Stuttgart.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hahn, J. (1993). L'origine du Paléolithique supérieur en Europe Centrale: les datations C14. In Cabrera, V. (ed.), El Origen del Hombre Moderno en el Suroeste de Europa, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, pp. 61–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hahn, J. (1995). Neue Beschleuniger-C-14-Daten zum Jungpaläolithikum in Südwestdeutschland. Eiszeitalter und Gegenwart 45: 86–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hahn, J. (1996). Le Paléolithique Supérieur en Allemagne Méridionale (1991–1995). In Otte, M. (ed.), Le Paléolithique supérieur européen. Bilan quinquennal, 1991–1996, Etudes et Recherches Archéologiques de l'Université de Liège 76: 181–186.

  • Harrold, F. (1989). Mousterian, Chatelperronian and early Aurignacian in western Europe: Contituity or discontinuity?. In Mellars, P., and Stringer, C. (eds.), The Human Revolution: Behavioural and Biological Perspectives on the Origins of Modern Humans, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, pp. 677–713.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrold, F. (1992). Paleolithic archaeology, ancient behaviour, and the transition to modern Homo. In Bräuer, G., and Smith, F. H. (eds.), Continuity or Replacement. Controversy in Homo sapiens Evolution, Balkema, Rotterdam, pp. 219–230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedges, R. E. M., Housley, R., Ramsey, C. B., and Van Klinken, G. J. (1994). Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry datelist 18. Archaeometry 36: 337–374.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedges, R. E. M., Pettitt, P. B., Ramsey, C. B., and Van Klinken, G. J. (1998). Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry datelist 26. Archaeometry 40: 437–455.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoyos, M., and Laville, H. (1982). Nuevas aportaciones sobre la estratigrafía y sedimentología de los depósitos del Paleolítico Superior de la Cueva de El Pendo (Santander): Sus implicaciones. Zephyrus 34–35: 285–293.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hublin, J.-J. (1990). Les peuplements paléolithiques de l'Europe: un point de vue paléobiogéographique. In Farizy, C. (ed.), Paléolithique moyen récent et Paléolithique supérieur ancien en Europe. Mémoires du Musée de Préhistoire de l'Ile de France 3: 29–37

  • Hublin, J.-J. (1999). Derniers néandertaliens et premiers européens modernes. Pour la Science h.s. 22: 110–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hublin, J.-J., Barroso Ruiz, C., Medina Lara, P., Fontugne, M., and Reyss, J.-L. (1995). The Mousterian site of Zafarraya (Andalucia, Spain): Dating and implications on the paleolithic peopling processes of Western Europe. Comptes-Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris 321(2a): 931–937.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iturbe, G., Fumanal, M. P., Carrion, J. S., Cortell, E., Martinez, R., Guillem, P. M., Garralda, M. D., and Vandermeersch, B. (1993). Cova Beneito (Muro, Alicante): Uma perspectiva interdisciplinar. Recercques del Museu d'Alcoi 2: 23–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karavanic, I. (1995). Upper Paleolithic occupation levels and Late-occuring Neandertal at Vindija Cave (Croatia) in the context of Central Europe and the Balkans. Journal of Anthropological Research 51(1): 9–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karavanic, I. (1998). The early Upper Paleolithic of Croatia. In Facchini, F., Palma di Cesnola, A., Piperno, M., and Peretto, C. (eds.), XIII International Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences. Proceedings, Vol. 2, Abaco, Forlì, pp. 659–665.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karavanic, I., and Smith, F. H. (1998). The Middle/Upper Paleolithic interface and the relationship of Neanderthals and early modern humans in the Hrvatsko Zagorje, Croatia. Journal of Human Evolution 34: 223–248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karavanic, I., Paunovic, M., Yokoama, Y., and Falguères, C. (1998). Néandertaliens et Paléolithique supérieur dans la Grotte de Vindija, Croatie: controverses autour de la couche G1. L'Anthropologie 102(2): 131–141.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitagawa, H., and Van der Plicht, J. (1998). Atmospheric radiocarbon calibration to 45,000 yr B.P.: Late glacial fluctuations and cosmogenic isotope production. Science 279: 1187–1190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koumouzelis, M., Ginter, B., Kozlowski, J. K., Kazior, B., Sobczyk, K., Kaczanowska, M., Pawlikowski, M., Bar-Yosef, O., Albert, R. M., Litynskazajac, M., Stworzewicz, E., Wojtal, P., Lipecki, G., Tomek, T., Bochenski, Z. M., and Pazdur, A. (1999). Cave 1 In Klisura Gorge: First Aurignacian sequence in Greece. Journal of Field Archaeology (1999).

  • Kozlowski, J. (1979). Le Bachokirien—la plus ancienne industrie du Paléolithique supérieur en Europe. Prace Archeologiczne 28: 77–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozlowski, J. (ed.) (1982). Excavation in the Bacho Kiro Cave (Bulgaria): Final Report, Polish Scientific Publishers, Warsaw.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozlowski, J. (1990). A multi-aspectual approach to the origins of the Upper Palaeolithic in Europe. In Mellars, P. (ed.), The Emergence of Modern Humans, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, pp. 419–437.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozlowski, J. (1993). L'Aurignacien en Europe et au Proche Orient. In Banesz, L., and Kozlowski, J. K. (eds.), L'Aurignacien en Europe occidentale et au Proche Orient. Actes du XII Congrès International des Sciences Préhistoriques et Protohistoriques 2, Institut Archéologique de l'Académie Slovaque des Sciences, Bratislava, pp. 283–291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozlowski, J. (1996). Cultural context of the last Neanderthals and early modern humans in Central-Eastern Europe. Bar-Yosef, O., Cavalli-Sforza, L. L., March, R. J., and Piperno, M. (eds.), The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic: Colloquia, XIII International Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences, Abaco, Forlì, pp. 205–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laj, C., Mazaud, A., and Duplessy, J.-C. (1996). Geomagnetic intensity and C-14 abundance in the atmosphere and ocean during the past 50 kyr. Geophysical Research Letters 23: 2045–2048.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leroi-Gourhan, A. (1959). Étude des restes humains fossiles provenant des Grottes d'Arcysur-Cure. Annales de Paléontologie 44: 87–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lévêque, F. (1993). Les données du gisement de Saint-Césaire et la transition Paléolithique moyen/supérieur en Poitou-Charentes. In Cabrera, V. (ed.), El Origen del Hombre Moderno en el Suroeste de Europa, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, pp. 263–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lévêque, F., and Vandermeersh, B. (1980). Découverte de restes humains dans un niveau castelperronien à Saint-Césaire (Charente-Maritime). Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris 291: 187–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, G. (1997). Les lamelles Dufour du Flageolet 1 (Bézenac, Dordogne) dans le contexte aurignacien. Paleo 7: 191–219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marks, A. E. (1999). A new Middle to Upper Paleolithic “transitional” assemblage from Buran-Kaya III, level C: A preliminary report. In Préhistoire d'Anatolie, Genèse de deux mondes. Etudes et Recherches Archéologiques de l'Université de Liège (in press).

  • Marks, A. E., and Ferring, C. R. (1988). The early Upper Palaeolithic of the Levant. In Hoffecker, J. E. and Wolf, C. A. (eds.), The Early Upper Palaeolithic. Evidence from Europe and the Near East. British Archaeological Reports International Series 437: 43–72.

  • Marks, A. E., and Monigal, K. (1995). The production of elongated blanks from the Early Levantine Mousterian at Rosh Ein Mor: A technological perspective. In Dibble, H., and Bar-Yosef, O. (eds.), The Definition and Interpretation of Levallois Technology, Prehistory Press, Madison, WI, pp. 267–278.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maroto, J. (1994). El pas del paleolític mitjá al paleolític superior a Catalunya i la seva interpretació dins del context geogŕfic franco-ibéric, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Girona, Girona.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maroto, J., Soler, N., and Fullola, J. M. (1996). Cultural change between Middle and Upper Paleolithic in Catalonia. In Carbonell, E., and Vaquero, M. (eds.), The Last Neandertals, the First Anatomically Modern Humans: A Tale About the Human Diversity, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, pp. 219–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellars, P. (1989). Major issues in the emergence of modern humans. Current Anthropology 30: 349–385.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellars, P. (1991). Cognitive changes and the emergence of modern humans in Europe. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 1: 63–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellars, P. (1996a). The Neandertal Legacy, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellars, P. (1996b). Models for the dispersal of anatomically modern populations across Europe: theoretical and archaeological perspectives. In Bar-Yosef, O., Cavalli-Sforza, L., March, R., and Piperno, M. (eds.), The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic: Colloquia, XIII International Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences, Abaco, Forlì, pp. 225–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellars, P. (1998a). The fate of the Neandertals. Nature 395: 539–540.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellars, P. (1998b). Neandertals, Modern Humans and the archaeological evidence for language. In Jablonski, N. G., and Aiello, L. C. (eds.), The origin and diversification of language. Memoirs of the Californa Academy of Sciences 24: 89–115.

  • Mellars, P. (1999). The Neanderthal problem continued. Current Anthropology 40: 341–350.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellars, P., and Tixier, J. (1989). Radiocarbon-accelerator dating of Ksar Aqil (Lebanon) and the chronology of the Upper Palaeolithic sequence in the Middle East. Antiquity 63: 761–768.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mercier, N., Valladas, H., Joron, J.-L., Reyss, J.-L., Lévêque, F., and Vandermeersch, B. (1991). Thermoluminescence dating of the late Neandertal remains from Saint-Césaire. Nature 351: 737–739.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monigal, K. (1998). Blade production systems in the Levant: A comparison of approaches. Paper presented at the 63rd annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Seattle.

  • Montes, L., Utrilla, P., and Hedges, R. (1998). Le passage Paléolithique Moyen-Paléolithique Supérieur dans la Vallée de l'Ebre (Espagne). Datations radiométriques des grottes de Peña Miel et Gabasa. Paper presented at the Conference “Les premiers hommes modernes de la Péninsule Ibérique,” Vila Nova de Foz Côa.

  • Mussi, M. (1990). Le peuplement de l'Italie à la fin du Paléolithique moyen et au début du Paléolithique supérieur. In Farizy, C. (ed.), Paléolithique moyen récent et Paléolithique supérieur ancien en Europe. Mémoires du Musée de Préhistoire de l'Ile de France 3: 281–290.

  • Olson, E. A., and Broecker, W. S. (1959). Lamont natural radiocarbon measurements V. Radiocarbon 1: 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Otte, M. (1990). From the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic: The nature of the transition. In Mellars, P. A. (ed.), The Emergence of Modern Humans, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, pp. 438–456.

    Google Scholar 

  • Otte, M. (1996). Le bouleversement de l'humanité en Eurasie vers 40.000 ans. In Carbonell, E., and Vaquero, M. (eds.), The Last Neandertals, the First Anatomically Modern Humans: A Tale About the Human Diversity, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, pp. 95–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Otte, M. (1999). The Neanderthal problem continued. Current Anthropology 40: 350–352.

    Google Scholar 

  • Otte, M., and Straus, L. (eds.) (1995). Le Trou Magrite: fouilles 1991–1992, Etudes et Recherches Archéologiques de l'Université de Liège 69, Liège.

  • Palma di Cesnola, A. (1993). Il Paleolitico superiore in Italia, Garlatti e Razzai, Firenze.

    Google Scholar 

  • Park, R. W. (1998). On the Dorset/Thule analogy for the Middle/Upper Paleolithic transition. Current Anthropology 39: 355–356.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pelegrin, J. (1995). Technologie lithique: le Châtelperronien de Roc-de Combe (Lot) et de la Côte (Dordogne), CNRS, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pettitt, P. (1998). C-14 and OSL dating of Late Pleistocene site with particular reference to Gibraltar: The state of play and wider implications. Paper presented at the Conference “Gibraltar and The Neandertals,” Gibraltar.

  • Révillion, S. (1995). Technologie du débitage laminaire au Paléolithique moyen en Europe: état de la question. Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française 92: 425–441.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richter, D., Waiblinger, J., Rink, W. J., and Wagner, G. A. (1999a). TL, ESR and C-14-dating of the Late Middle and Early Upper Palaeolithic site Geissenklösterle cave, Southern Germany (in press).

  • Richter, D., Rink, W. J., Schwarcz, H. P., Wagner, G. A., and Waiblinger, J. (1999b). New Thermoluminescence dating of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic cave sites of Southern Germany. Paper presented at the Conference “Central and Eastern Europe from 50.000–30.000.”

  • Rigaud, J.-Ph. (1996). L'émergence du Paléolithique supérieur en Europe occidentale: Le rôle du Castelperronien. In Bar-Yosef, O., Cavalli-Sforza, L. L., March, R. J., and Piperno, M. (eds.), The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic: Colloquia, XIII International Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences, Abaco, Forlì, pp. 219–223.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rigaud, J-Ph. (1998). A propos de la contemporanéité du Castelperronien et de l'Aurignacien ancien dans le nord-est de l'Aquitaine: une révision des données et ses implications. Paper presented at the Conference “Les premiers hommes modernes de la Péninsule Ibérique,” Vila Nova de Foz Côa.

  • Rink, J., Schwarcz, H. P., Lee, H. K., Cabrera, V., Bernaldo de Quirós, F., and Hoyos, M. (1996). ESR dating of tooth enamel: Comparison with AMS C-14 at El Castillo Cave, Spain. Journal of Archaeological Science 23: 945–951.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saenz de Buruaga, A. S. (1991). El Paleolitico Superior de la Cueva de Gatzarria, Zuberoa, Pais Vasco. Veleia. Series Maior 6, Servicio Editorial de la Universidad del País Vasco, Vitoria.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwarcz, H. P., and Rink, W. J. (1997). Progress in ESR and U-series chronology of the Levantine Paleolithic. In Bar-Yosef, O., and Akazawa, T. (eds.), Neandertals and Modern Humans in West Asia, Plenum Press, New York (in press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwarcz, H. P., Buhay, W. M., Grün, R., Valladas, H., Tchernov, E., Bar-Yosef, O., and Vandermeersch, B. (1989). ESR dating of the Neandertal site, Kebara cave, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science 16: 653–661.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwarcz, H. P., Simpson, J. J., and Stringer, C. B. (1998). Neandertal skeleton from Tabun: U-series date by gamma-ray spectrometry. Journal of Human Evolution 35: 635–645.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonneville-Bordes, D. (1969). Les industries aurignaciennes de l'abri Caminade-Est, commune de La Caneda. Quaternaria 13: 77–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Straus, L. G. (1983). El Solutrense vasco-cantabrico: una nueva perspectiva, Centro de Investigación y Museo de Altamira, Madrid.

    Google Scholar 

  • Straus, L. G. (1992). Iberia Before the Iberians, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.

    Google Scholar 

  • Straus, L. G. (1999). The Neanderthal problem continued. Current Anthropology 40: 352–355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Straus, L., Bischoff, J., and Carbonell, E. (1993). A review of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Iberia. Préhistoire Européenne 3: 11–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stringer, C., and Gamble, C. (1993). In Search of the Neandertals, Thames and Hudson, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuiver, M., and Reimer, P. J. (1993). Extended C-14 Data Base and Revised CALIB 3.0 C-14 Age Calibration Program. Radiocarbon 35(1): 215–230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Svoboda, J., Lozek, V., and Vlcek, E. (1996). Hunters Between East and West. The Paleolithic of Moravia, Plenum Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuffreau, A. (1981). Le Grand-Abri de la Ferrassie: fouilles 1969–1975. Etudes Quaternaires 7: 111–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turq, A. (n.d.). Isturitz. Rapport de fouilles 1998. Ms on file, Service Régional de l'Archéologie, Bordeaux.

  • Uthmeier, T. (1996). Ein bemerkenswert frühes Inventar des Aurignacien von der Freilandfundstelle “Keilberg-Kirche” bei Regensburg. Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 26: 233–248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Utrilla, P. (1996). La sistematización del Magdaleniense cantábrico: una revisión histórica de los datos. In Moure Romanillo, A. (ed.), “El Hombre Fósil” 80 años después, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, pp. 211–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valladas, H., Geneste, J. M., Joron, J. L., and Chadelle, J. P. (1986). Thermoluminescence dating of Le Moustier (Dordogne, France). Nature 322: 452–454.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valladas, H., Joron, J.-L., Valladas, G., Arensburg, B., Bar-Yosef, O., Belfer-Cohen, A., Goldberg, P., Laville, H., Meignen, L., Rak, Y., Tchernov, E., Tillier, A. M., and Vandermeersch, B. (1987). Thermoluminescence dates for the Neandertal burial site at Kebara cave in Israel. Nature 330: 159–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valoch, K. (1990). La Moravie il y a 40 000 ans. In Farizy, C. (ed.), Paléolithique moyen récent et Paléolithique supérieur ancien en Europe. Mémoires du Musée de Préhistoire de l'Ile de France 3: 115–124

  • Van Andel, T. (1998). Middle and Upper Palaeolithic environments and the calibration of C-14 dates beyond 10,000 B.P. Antiquity 72: 26–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Plicht, J. (1999). Radiocarbon calibration for the Middle/Upper Palaeolithic: A comment. Antiquity 73: 119–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Villaverde, V., Emili Aura, J., and Barton, C. M. (1998). The Upper Paleolithic in Mediterranean Spain: A review of current evidence. Journal of World Prehistory 12(2): 121–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Voelker, A. H. L., Sarnthein, M., Grootes, P. M., Erlenkeuser, H., Laj, C., Mazaud, A., Nadeau, M.-J., and Schleicher, M. (1998). Correlation of marine C-14 ages from the nordic seas with the GISP2 isotope record: Implications for C-14 calibration beyond 25 ka B.P. Radiocarbon 40(1): 517–534.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wadley, L. (1993). The Pleistocene later Stone Age South of the Limpopo River. Journal of World Prehistory 7: 243–298.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, R. (1982). A social and technological view of Aurignacian and Castelperronian personal in France. In Cabrera, V. (ed.), El Origen del Hombre Moderno en el Suroeste de Europa, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, pp. 327–357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yanevich A. A., Marks A. E., Uerpmann H.-P., and Yamada, M. (1999). A bone handle from Buran-Kaya III: The earliest known in the Crimea. Préhistoire Européene (in press).

  • Zilhão, J. (1993). Le passage du Paléolithique moyen au Paléolithique supérieur dans le Portugal. In Cabrera, V. (ed.), El Origen del Hombre Moderno en el Suroeste de Europa, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, pp. 127–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zilhão, J. (1995). O Paleolítico Superior da Estremadura portuguesa, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Lisbon, Lisbon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zilhão, J. (1997). O Paleolítico Superior da Estremadura portuguesa, 2 vols., Colibri, Lisbon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zilhão, J. (1998a). The extinction of Iberian Neandertals and its implications for the origins of modern humans in Europe. In Facchini, F., Palma di Cesnola, A., Piperno, M., and Peretto, C. (eds.), XIII International Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences. Proceedings, Vol. 2, Abaco, Forlì, pp. 299–312.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zilhão, J. (1998b). The Ebro frontier: A model for the late extinction of Iberian Neandertals. Paper presented at the Conference “Gibraltar and the Neandertals,” Gibraltar.

  • Zilhão, J., and d'Errico, F. (1999). Reply to Straus, Mellars and Otte. Current Anthropology 40: 355–364.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministério da Cultura, Instituto Português de Arqueologia, 1300, Lisboa, Portugal

    João Zilhão

  2. UMR 5808 du CNRS, Institut de Préhistoire et Géologic du Quaternaire, Université de Bordeaux, 33405, Talence, France

    Francesco d'Errico

Authors
  1. João Zilhão
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Francesco d'Errico
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to João Zilhão.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zilhão, J., d'Errico, F. The Chronology and Taphonomy of the Earliest Aurignacian and Its Implications for the Understanding of Neandertal Extinction. Journal of World Prehistory 13, 1–68 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022348410845

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022348410845

Search

Navigation