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The Archaeology of the Pleistocene—Holocene Transition in Southwest Europe

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Humans at the End of the Ice Age

Part of the book series: Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology ((IDCA))

Abstract

The general image of the end of the Pleistocene (i.e., end of the Last Glacial) in Europe is one of brutal changes in climate, landscape, vegetation, fauna, and, consequently, in human strategies for survival in a new world that came into being around 10,000 years ago. The break between Magdalenian horse, reindeer, and bison hunters on the periglacial steppetundra and Mesolithic forest foragers and fishers is often generalized as being sharp and abrupt, and sometimes characterized as “degenerative” especially in the realm of artistic production.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87131, USA

    Lawrence Guy Straus

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  1. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

    Lawrencs Guy Straus

  2. University of Aarhus, Højbjerg, Denmark, USA

    Berit Valentin Eriksen

  3. University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA

    Jon M. Erlandson

  4. University of Alaska, Anchorage, Alaska, USA

    David R. Yesner

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© 1996 Plenum Press, New York

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Straus, L.G. (1996). The Archaeology of the Pleistocene—Holocene Transition in Southwest Europe. In: Straus, L.G., Eriksen, B.V., Erlandson, J.M., Yesner, D.R. (eds) Humans at the End of the Ice Age. Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1145-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1145-4_5

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