The persistent place at Lubrza: a small paradise for hunter-gatherers? Multi-disciplinary studies of Late Palaeolithic environment and human activity in the Łagów lake district (western Poland)

This paper summarises the results of multidisciplinary research, including pollen, plant macroremains, diatoms, Cladocera, molluscs and geochemistry from a 14C dated core and geomorphological records, which reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental conditions faced by Late Palaeolithic hunter-gathers in western Poland. Particular attention was paid to evidence for both human activity and the degree to which Late Palaeolithic groups may have affected the local environment, as recorded by the biogenic sediments in lakes located close to their campsites. Vegetation first appears locally in the Oldest Dryas, and consisted of subarctic tundra vegetation. During the Bølling period the landscape was generally open, with dwarf shrubs and scattered patches of Juniperus and Hippophaë shrubs. Betula (tree birch) expanded locally in the area only in the later Allerød; during the second part of the Allerød period, Pinus and Populus joined birch as a sparse woodland developed. During the Younger Dryas, the landscape changed significantly in comparison to the preceding warm period, as result of cooling and drying of the climate. The presence of microscopic charcoal and charred herbaceous plant particles made it possible to detect human activity. These analyses allowed us to reconstruct fire events near the site during its occupation by Hamburg and Federmesser cultural groups. An increase in the proportion of biogenic elements such as Na, K and Mg in the sediments indicate soil erosion, reflecting the activity of Hamburg groups. A relative increase in the frequency of Cladocera which favour eutrophic and turbid water was recorded in the period linked to Federmesser group activities. The intense use of this area was also indicated during the Younger Dryas.

The Temporality of Contemporaneity and Contemporary Art: Kant, Kentridge and Cave Art as Elective Contemporaries

This article contributes to understanding of Contemporary Art and of the temporality of contemporaneity, along with the philosophy of time more generally. I propose a diachronic contemporaneity over time gaps – elective contemporaneity – through examination of Kant’s Transcendental Aesthetic, the Third Analogy and the concept of ‘following’ among artistic geniuses; diachronic recognition and disjunctive synchronicity discoverable in William Kentridge’s multimedia artworks; as well as non-chronological temporal implications of superimpositions in late Palaeolithic cave art suggesting ‘graphic respect’. Elective contemporaneity shows up complexity in relations to past and present, putting in question definitions of ‘Contemporary Art’ restricted to either chronology or supposedly definitive paradigms.

Animals for Tools: The Origin and Development of Bone Technologies in China

The origin and development of bone technologies in China are reviewed in the light of recent discoveries and compared to trends emerging from the European and African archaeological records. Three categories of osseous tools are targeted: 1) unmodified bone fragments bearing traces of use in technological activities; 2) bone fragments modified to a variable extent with techniques generally used in stone technologies; 3) osseous fragments entirely shaped with techniques fit for the manufacture of formal bone tools. Early evidence of bone technologies in China are sporadically found in contexts dated between 1.8 and 1.0 Ma. By the late MIS6–early MIS5, bone tools are well-integrated in the technological systems of Pleistocene populations and the rules guiding their use appear increasingly standardized. In addition, the first evidence for the use of osseous material in symbolic activities emerges in the archaeological record during this period. Finally, between 40 and 35 ka, new manufacturing techniques and products are introduced in Late Palaeolithic technological systems. It is first apparent in the manufacture of personal ornaments, and followed by the production and diversification of formal bone tools. By that time, population dynamics seem to become materialized in these items of material culture. Despite regional specificities, the cultural trajectories identified for the evolution of bone technologies in China seem entirely comparable to those observed in other regions of the world.

The transition from hunting–gathering to agriculture in Nubia: dental evidence for and against selection, population continuity and discontinuity

Some researchers posit population continuity between Late Palaeolithic hunter–gatherers of the late Pleistocene and Holocene agriculturalists from Lower (northern) Nubia, in northeast Africa. Substantial craniodental differences in these time-successive groups are suggested to result from in situ evolution. Specifically, these populations are considered a model example for subsistence-related selection worldwide in the transition to agriculture. Others question continuity, with findings indicating that the largely homogeneous Holocene populations differ significantly from late Pleistocene Lower Nubians. If the latter are representative of the local populace, post-Pleistocene discontinuity is implied. So who was ancestral to the Holocene agriculturalists? Dental morphological analyses of 18 samples (1075 individuals), including one dated to the 12th millennium BCE from Al Khiday, near the Upper Nubian border, may provide an answer. It is the first Late Palaeolithic sample ( n = 55) recovered within the region in approximately 50 years. Using the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System to record traits and multivariate statistics to estimate biological affinities, Al Khiday is comparable to several Holocene samples, yet also highly divergent from contemporaneous Lower Nubians. Thus, population continuity is indicated after all, but with late Pleistocene Upper—rather than Lower Nubians as originally suggested—assuming dental traits are adequate proxies for ancient DNA.

Multipronged dental analyses reveal dietary differences in last foragers and first farmers at Grotta Continenza, central Italy (15,500–7000 BP)

This paper provides results from a suite of analyses made on human dental material from the Late Palaeolithic to Neolithic strata of the cave site of Grotta Continenza situated in the Fucino Basin of the Abruzzo region of central Italy. The available human remains from this site provide a unique possibility to study ways in which forager versus farmer lifeways affected human odonto-skeletal remains. The main aim of our study is to understand palaeodietary patterns and their changes over time as reflected in teeth. These analyses involve a review of metrics and oral pathologies, micro-fossils preserved in the mineralized dental plaque, macrowear, and buccal microwear. Our results suggest that these complementary approaches support the assumption about a critical change in dental conditions and status with the introduction of Neolithic foodstuff and habits. However, we warn that different methodologies applied here provide data at different scales of resolution for detecting such changes and a multipronged approach to the study of dental collections is needed for a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of diachronic changes.

Pozdně paleolitické a mezolitické osídlení Šumavy: možnosti výzkumu, datování a interpretace Late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Settlement of Šumava: The Possibilities of Research, Dating and Interpretation

The main objective of the article is to present knowledge of newly discovered sites in the mountainous environment of Šumava (Bohemian Forest). The fieldwork in 2011–2019 identified a total of 30 new sites that can be dated to the Late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods. The research of prehistoric settlement of the mountainous regions of Bohemia remained a neglected topic for many years. The presence of hunters-gatherers in the mountains in the Mesolithic was documented by isolated finds from the Ore Mountains and a far greater number from Šumava in south Bohemia. This study presents the result of research conducted in three identified locations: in the floodplains of the Roklanský Stream, the Upper Vltava (Moldau) and the Křemelná Stream. The article documents that the network of sites in this space is relatively dense. Although remnants of intact situations are documented in rare cases, the dating of the majority of sites is based solely on lithic assemblages of varying size. Due to the fragmented condition of the obtained material, we discuss the extent to which it is possible to set the survey results in the broader context of central European Mesolithic settlement and present additional thoughts on the density, character and structure of the settlement of central European mountain ranges. Late Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, lithics, mountain settlement, subsistence strategy, Šumava (Bohemian Forest)