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The Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition: A Long-Term Biocultural Effect of Anatomically Modern Human Dispersal

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Culture History and Convergent Evolution

Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology ((VERT))

Abstract

Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans made the Middle-Upper Paleolithic technological transition together. Perhaps more accurately stated, the technological innovations reflected in Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological assemblages were developed, adopted, and spread by a western Eurasian metapopulation that encompassed variable admixture histories. This is the unavoidable implication of robust analyses of ancient human, omnivorous prey, and microbial genomes, which document long-term—if sporadic—interaction and successful family formation between geographically expanding anatomically modern humans and indigenous Neanderthals. This social and population interaction occurred within a broad time-frame, likely ca. 120–40 ka, involving complex, multi-scalar niche construction and biocultural evolutionary dynamics. This chapter reconsiders theoretical, methodological, and empirical issues surrounding the study of lithic assemblages that define the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition, considering how we can better answer a key question. If the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition was an indirect consequence of anatomically modern human dispersal and interaction with Neanderthals, then what, if anything, did technological change have to do with Neanderthal extinction, ca. 40 ka?

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Acknowledgments

I express my sincere gratitude to Huw Groucutt for his editorial encouragement and critical but constructive comments. Three anonymous reviewers provided critical feedback, and I have sought to improve the original manuscript by considering their comments as thoroughly as possible. I owe a substantial intellectual debt to Gil Tostevin, whose theoretical work and methodological care have inspired me to try standing on his shoulders. With all of the risk that entails. The Mughr el-Hamamah project team—supported by the funding we have received from the National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, the LSB Leakey Foundation, Emory University, the Gregory-Rackley Faculty Development Award, and our crowdfunding backers (http://experiment.com/paleoplants)—has helped me integrate the ideas and data considered in this chapter. With deepest respect and warmth, I dedicate this chapter to to the memory of Ofer Bar-Yosef, a most extraordinary mentor.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, Emory University, 1557 Dickey Dr. Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

    Aaron Jonas Stutz

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  1. Extreme Events Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany

    Huw S. Groucutt

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Stutz, A.J. (2020). The Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition: A Long-Term Biocultural Effect of Anatomically Modern Human Dispersal. In: Groucutt, H. (eds) Culture History and Convergent Evolution. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46126-3_9

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