Neanderthals in the Levant: Behavioural Organization and the Beginnings of Human Modernity (New Approaches to Anthropological Archaeology)

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. 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