Neanderthals in the Levant: Behavioral Organization and the Beginnings of Human Modernity (New Approaches to Anthropological Archaeology, Vol 1)

The volume traces the controversy that revolves around the bio-cultural relationships of Archaic (Neanderthal) and Modern humans at global and regional, Levantine scales. The focus of the book is on understanding the degree to which the behavioral organization of Archaic groups differed from Moderns. To this end, a case study is presented for a 44-70,000 year old, Middle Paleolithic occupation of a Jordanian rockshelter. The research, centering on the spatial analysis of artifacts, hearths and related data, reveals how the Archaic occupants of the shelter structured their activities and placed certain conceptual labels on different parts of the site. The structure of Tor Faraj is compared to site structures defined for modern foragers, in both ethnographic and archaeological contexts, to measure any differences in behavioral organization. The comparisons show very similar structures for Tor Faraj and its modern cohorts. The implications of this finding challenge prevailing views in the emergence of modern human controversy in which Archaic groups are thought to have had inferior cognition and less complex behavioral-social organization than modern foragers. And, it is generally thought that such behaviors only emerged after the appearance of the Upper Paleolithic, dated some 10-20,000 years later than the occupation of Tor Faraj. This Volume Traces The Controversy That Revolves Around The Bio-cultural Relationships Of Archaic (neanderthal) And Modern Humans At Both Global And Regional, Levantine, Scales. The Focus Of The Book Is On Understanding The Degree To Which The Behavioral Organization Of Archaic Groups Differed From That Of Moderns.--jacket. Introduction: -- The Emergence Of Modern Humans: Issues And Debates ; The Levant And The Modern Human Debate / Donald O. Henry -- Case Study: -- A Case Study From Southern Jordan: Tor Faraj ; Human Behavior And The Stone Tools From Tor Foraj / Donald O. Henry -- Small Lithic Debris Analysis / Teresa L. Armagan -- Into The Mind Of The Maker: Refitting Study And Technological Reconstructions / Yu E. Demidenko, V.i. Usik -- Middle Paleolithic Plant Exploitation: The Microbotanical Evidence / Arlene Miller Rosen -- Formation Processes And Paleosurface Identification / Harold J. Hietala -- Site Structure And Material Patterning In Space On The Tor Faraj Living Floors / Harold J. Hietala -- Summary: -- Behavioral Organization At Tor Faraj / Donald O. Henry -- Appendix A: Alphabetical Listing Of Attribute Definitions Used For The Tor Faraj Small Lithic Debris Study / Teresa L. Armagan -- Appendix B: Small Lithic Debris Analysis Results Tables / Teresa L. Armagan -- Appendix C: Cross-cultural Data For Hearths In Rockshelters / Donald O. Henry -- Appendix D: Analysis Of Sediments For Zinc And Phosphate Ions / Thomas M. Harris. Edited By Donald O. Henry. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [296]-312) And Index. Contents......Page 6 List of Figures......Page 8 List of Tables......Page 12 List of Contributors......Page 14 Acknowledgements......Page 16 Introduction......Page 18 1 The Emergence of Modern Humans: Issues and Debates......Page 20 2 The Levant and the Modern Human Debate......Page 29 Case Study......Page 48 3 A Case Study from Southern Jordan: Tor Faraj......Page 50 4 Human Behavior and the Stone Tools from Tor Faraj......Page 77 5 Small Lithic Debris Analysis......Page 103 6 Into the Mind of the Maker: Refitting Study and Technological Reconstructions......Page 124 7 Middle Paleolithic Plant Exploitation: The Microbotanical Evidence......Page 173 8 Formation Processes and Paleosurface Identification......Page 189 9 Site Structure and Material Patterning in Space on the Tor Faraj Living Floors......Page 215 Summary......Page 252 10 Behavioral Organization at Tor Faraj......Page 254 Appendix A: Alphabetical Listing of Attribute Definitions Used for the Tor Faraj Small Lithic Debris Study......Page 288 Appendix B: Small Lithic Debris Analysis Results Tables......Page 293 Appendix C: Cross-Cultural Data for Hearths in Rockshelters......Page 302 Appendix D: Analysis of Sediments for Zinc and Phosphate Ions......Page 305 References......Page 313 B......Page 330 C......Page 331 E......Page 332 I......Page 333 M......Page 334 P......Page 335 S......Page 336 Z......Page 337 Archaeologists based in the US, Ukraine, and Britain report on expeditions in Jordan in 1993 and 1994. They say that the biologic data suggest that Neanderthals were an offshoot of the human lineage, but the question of the degree to which archaic and modern populations differed in cognition and beh