Collection

Across steppes and mountains: the Initial Upper Paleolithic in Eurasia

Submission status
Open
Open for submission from
01 September 2021
Submission deadline
Ongoing
The Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP, hereafter) is one of the earliest manifestations of “evolved” Upper Paleolithic behavior in Eurasia. It is also the most widespread. Beginning around 45 ka, distinctive IUP material culture began to appear from the eastern Mediterranean to northern Mongolia and western China. Although human fossils are few and fragmentary, the IUP is contemporary with the earliest Homo sapiens remains in Eurasia. Because of its early dates and broad geographic distribution, the IUP has important implications for understanding the early dispersals of Homo sapiens across northern Eurasia. The IUP also embodies many of the fundamental difficulties we encounter in studying cultural phenomena in deep prehistory. Currently, the IUP appears as a highly variable and, in some places, a long-lasting phenomenon. This raises questions regarding the definition of the IUP concept and the cultural unity of this phenomenon. More broadly, it forces us to consider whether the shared elements of material culture reflect common cultural descent (i.e. dispersal) or convergence. The immediate goal for this Special Issue is to obtain a better characterization, and ultimately better explanations, of the continuities and disjunctions in the IUP across Eurasia by the leading scientists, thereby helping to resolve key uncertainties in accounts of modern human dispersals and the origins of Upper Paleolithic behavioral patterns in Eurasia.

Editors

  • Masami Izuho Masami Izuho , 

    Masami Izuho

    Associate Professor of Department of History and Archaeology, Tokyo Metropolitan University

  • Nicolas Zwyns Nicolas Zwyns  &

    Nicolas Zwyns

    Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis

  • Steven Kuhn Steven Kuhn

    Steven Kuhn

    Riecker Distinguished Professor of School of Anthropology, University of Arizona

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