In this chapter students will learn:

• about the nature of the archaeological record and its key components.
• about problems of archaeological visibility, bias, and loaded language.
• about speculations on human culture prior to two million years ago.
• the principal cultural periods and developments between two million and 20,000 years ago.
• when people expanded to new areas around the globe.

Introduction
The chapter outlines cultural evolution from three million to 20,000 years ago.

The Archaeological Record
The archaeological record includes the physical remains of human activity that have been recorded by archaeologists. These include artifacts, features, ecofacts, and cultural landscapes found at archaeological sites.

Problems of Archaeological Visibility, Bias, and Loaded Language
Archaeologists recognize that not all things preserve equally, not all things are equally visible, and the further back in time one goes, the less visible evidence there is likely to be. Other biases include the bias toward inorganic remains, male bias, and Eurocentric bias.

Speculating on Human Culture Prior to Two Million Years Ago
Physical evidence of human culture prior to two million years ago does exist, but largely consists of stone tools. These include the stone tools themselves and marks left on animal bones, likely caused by stone tools. Humans living between three and two million years ago likely lived in small groups that passed on knowledge with rudimentary language.

Overview of Cultural Change to 20,000 Years Ago
Developments in the Lower Palaeolithic include the first evidence of culture, in the form of tools. Other developments include probable control of fire, dependence on hunting, and meat eating. Developments in the Middle Palaeolithic include advances in stone tool technology, territorial expansion, and perhaps deliberate burials, art, and jewelry. Developments in the Upper Palaeolithic include undisputed evidence of burials, art, and jewelry.

Expanding Territories
Humans originated in Africa. They reached parts of Asia close to two million years ago, and Europe by about one million years ago. They reached Australia by about 65,000 years ago, and possibly reached the Americas by 20,000 years ago.

1. What does the term archaeological record mean?

2. What are some biases in archaeology to be aware of?

3. What were the principal cultural developments in the Lower, Middle, and Upper Palaeolithic, respectively?

4. What is the timing for human expansion into Asia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas?

1. How, using a holistic perspective, may changes in subsistence, diet, social systems, technology, ideology, and art be linked?

2. How, using a holistic perspective, may changes in culture identified in this chapter be linked with the changes in biology (described in Chapter 4)?

Acheulean a cultural tradition, based primarily on specific kinds of stone tools, associated primarily with Homo erectus and Homo ergaster

archaeological record the material remains of the human past and, in some cases, the description of the human past based on the material remains

archaeological site any location where there is physical evidence of past human activity

artifact any portable object showing evidence of being made or used by people

atlatl spear thrower

base camps discrete areas with physical evidence that people were temporarily occupying a place for resource processing or habitation

cave art art painted or incised on cave walls, including petroglyphs and pictographs

coprolite preserved feces, usually referring to human feces

cultural landscape a distinctive geographic area with cultural significance

ecofacts botanical remains, animal remains, and sediments in archaeological sites that have cultural relevance

faunal remains animal remains in palaeoanthropological and archaeological sites, usually restricted to bones and hair but also possibly including fur, nails, claws, horn, antler, skin, and soft tissue

feature a non-portable object or patterning created by people and recognized archaeologically, such as a fire hearth

habitation sites areas with physical evidence indicating that people were living there, at least temporarily

hearth a discrete area where people controlled a fire

lithic scatter an accumulation of lithic (stone) flakes left behind from making stone tools

Lomekwian a proposed new tool tradition or industry based on what appears to be 3.3-million-year-old tools at the Lomekwi locality in Kenya, Africa

Lower Palaeolithic cultural time period from about 2.6 million to about 500,000 years ago

Mesolithic from about 15,000 to 10,000 years ago; also known as the Middle Stone Age

midden a discrete accumulation of refuse

Middle Palaeolithic cultural time period from about 500,000 to 40,000 years ago

Neolithic from about 10,000 to 5,000 years ago; also known as the New Stone Age

Oldowan a cultural tradition, based primarily on specific kinds of stone tools, associated primarily with Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis

palaeoenvironment ancient environment

Palaeolithic from 2.6 million to about 15,000 years ago; also known as the Old Stone Age

petroglyph inscription on stone

pictograph painting on stone

resource processing sites areas where physical remains indicate that people were harvesting and/or processing resources

rock art paintings on rock (pictographs) and incisions on rock (petroglyphs)

Upper Palaeolithic cultural time period from about 40,000 to 15,000 years ago

Nowell, A., & Chang, M. (2014). Science, media, and interpretations of Upper Palaeolithic figurines. American Anthropologist 116(3): 562-577.

Scarre, C. (ed.). (2013). The Human Past: World Prehistory and the Development of Human Societies (3^rd edition). London, UK: Thames and Hudson.

Wrangham, R. (2009). Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human. New York, NY: Basic Books.

American Museum of Natural History, Hall of Human Origins
amnh.org

Becoming Human (Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State Museum)
becominghuman.org

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History – What it Means to be Human
humanorigins.si.edu

World Heritage Sites
whc.unesco.org/en/list

1. What are the differences between base camps, habitation sites, and resource processing sites?

2. Imagine you find dog bones near a site you are excavating. What possible conclusions can you draw? How will your conclusions be affected if you then discover these bones are charred and have cuts in them?

3. What kinds of remains would you prefer to find when researching the dietary habits of a site?

4. What are five ways that bias can be witnessed in interpretations of the archaeological record?

5. What factors converged to enable territorial expansion?

6. What kinds of tools have been found and how were they used?

7. Why might ideology and art be hard topics to study in archaeology?

8. What are some direct and indirect consequences of the ability to control fire?

9. How is the Paleolithic period divided up and what are some significant developments in each?

10. What do the Acheulean hand ax and the Venus figurines have in common?

Answers

1. Your answer should include information on how each site is identified in the archaeological record and how each site was primarily utilized by its inhabitants/creators.

• Base camps: artifacts and ecofacts (specific patterns), butchering activities, lithic tools and bones
• Habitation sites: living there (whether permanently, for months, weeks, etc.)
• Resource processing sites: harvesting resources (e.g., hunting, gathering, scavenging) and/or processing them, including butchering. Obtaining raw materials such as stone for artifact manufacture (often referred to as a “quarry”), and/or where they made artifacts from the stone.

See pages 108-109 of your text.

2. The key for this answer is understanding how dietary materials are preserved and the range of conclusions that can be drawn from faunal remains.

• Lots of bones can be a midden, or remains of scavengers, or evidence of pets, or more. Do not let contemporary understandings of dog–human relationships preclude the possibility they were past food.
• If charred and cut, this is more solid evidence of dietary use, showing cooking and purposeful fire use.

See pages 110, 117-118 of your text.

3. This answer should demonstrate familiarity with the different kinds of remains one can find that help reconstruct diets, as well as their relative strengths and weaknesses. Justify this answer with science.

• Plant remains (hard to preserve, need to distinguish between eating and naturally occurring specimens)
• Animal remains (better preserved—at least some kinds—but still need to distinguish between eating and naturally occurring specimens)
• Human skeletal remains (isotope analysis helps show diets rich in meat, vegetation, etc.)
• Coprolites (the direct result of eating, so a very good indicator of diet, but possibly hard to find)
• Human soft tissue (stomach contents, but doesn’t preserve well)
• Residue on artifacts (blood on tools or residue on cups)

See pages 117-120 of your text.

4. Answers should include:

• The older the site, the less “archaeological visibility” it possesses. Archaeology focuses on tangible items and physical remains, which leads to bias, especially for these sites, regarding their cultural attributes (among other things).
• Migratory people did not leave the same amount of remains as in permanent sites, so they are often missed or not focused on.
• Sites can be destroyed by natural and cultural processes (glaciations, landslides, etc.), and the loss of these sites leaves a gap in knowledge.
• Inorganic materials are more represented than organic materials.
• Most items left behind or abandoned were considered trash.
• The discipline has long been led by male archaeologists with their own gendered biases, especially concerning interpretations of hunting and gathering.
• Places: less research is focused outside Europe and East Africa, which does not necessarily mean less people lived there (Eurocentric bias).
• Just because the oldest cultural achievements, like cave art, have been found in Europe, this does not mean they were the original/first (see Eurocentric bias above).

See pages 111-113 of your text.

5. This answer should demonstrate an understanding not only of a list of factors that together had a significant impact on history and evolution, but also of how and why they contributed to territorial expansion.

• Control/use of fire: heating for cold areas, extracting more efficient energy from food sources, furthering tool technology, etc.
• Bipedalism: ability for endurance/long distances, larger brains/cognitive planning.
• Social systems: ability to cooperate (hunting, living, protection), communicate.
• Clothing: could move to colder environments.

See pages 128-129 of your text.

6. Answers should include:

• Lithic technology/stones for cutting edges.
• Oldowan – unifacial, flakes from one side, versatile for butchering, sharpening sticks, digging roots, cutting plants.
• Acheulean – bifacial, flakes from both sides, function is unknown but theories include multi-fuctionalities of throwing weapons, gifts, cutting/scraping, etc.
• Sharpened sticks/spears – hunting purposes, but hard to preserve.
• Atlatl – spear thrower, an extension of the arm, one meter long.
• Bows and arrows – hunting.

See pages 122-125 of your text

7. This answer should reference archaeological visibility issues, as well as biases in interpretations.

• Ideology is intangible, so there is no direct evidence. Depends on physical remains that are thought to represent ideology, like cave art and figures.
• Rituals and religion may leave artifacts, but again, the interpretation is key.
• For art/painting, it is thought that the process – not the final product – was the most critical aspect, thus further complicating matters.
• Even considering something with many examples, like the Venus figurines, we see a range of very different interpretations, some debating even whether it is art or something else.
• Burials can be another form, but evidence is again controversial (especially as to who practiced it and when it started).
• Music, singing, and communication all fall under this topic as well.
• Archaeological biases exist: researchers (male-dominated), place (Eurocentric), and more, also complicating the interpretations of these complex processes.

See pages 125-129 of your text.

8. Answers should include:

• Expansion into further (colder) regions.
• Consumption of food and more energy, leading to skeletal and biological changes.
• Ritual and religion.
• Social interactions, communication.
• Technological advances (strengthening materials, better tools).
• Subsistence activities (burning fields for nutrients), length of time spent at habitation sites.

See pages 110-111 of your text.

9. This answer depends on learning the three major divisions and when they occurred, where they occurred, and what happened in each.

• Upper: 40,000–15,000 years ago, Europe
• Technological advances, undisputed burials and art, invention of atlatl.
• Middle: 300,000–40,000 years ago, Africa, West Asia, Europe
• Lithic technology advances, finely crafted spears, debatable burials, art, and jewelry, advancement into northern latitudes.
• Lower: 2.5 million–300,000 years ago, Africa, Asia, Europe
• First evidence of culture (stone tools), Oldowan. Then also complex tools, Acheulean hand ax, control of fire.

See pages 115-116 of your text.

10. This answer depends on connecting overall points from the text with two examples given in separate sections. The main point is to note that they represent key pieces of evidence for culture and technology in early humans, but also both remain enigmatic. Many different theories are given, depending on the angle of the researcher or idea. For example, both are given sexual theories (Acheulean hand axes being presents to gain sexual favors, and Venus figurines being erotica or sexual aids of a sort). However, we need to be aware of the biases that helped create these theories as well, and also focus on technological possibilities and other purposes. They may also demonstrate the blending of technology and ideology.

See pages 124 and 126 of your text.

1. In Paleolithic times, most people likely

• a) lived exclusively in caves (as evidenced by the art left behind and the protection from animals they received).
• b) did not live in caves (they were cold, dangerous, and away from resources like water).
• c) temporarily lived in caves for one to two seasons (as evidenced by the art left behind and the lack of tools discovered in cave middens).
• d) avoided caves entirely (cave art comes from a different time period).

2. Unlike other animals, humans could expand into new territories because

• a) bipedalism is the only locomotive method that allows long distance migrations.
• b) they were able to take advantage of a very specific and narrow window of time/weather that occurred.
• c) they were able to use the night stars as a map/guide.
• d) they were not dependent on biology for survival.

3. The presence of bones at a site

• a) definitely means that those animals were eaten by the humans at that site.
• b) could be evidence of meat gathering strategies by humans, or could be naturally occurring remains of scavengers and other fauna of the time.
• c) means that those animals were naturally occurring around that site and did not interact with the people there.
• d) automatically classifies a site as a base camp.

4. Ideology is difficult to study in the archaeological record because

• a) archaeologists prefer to work with skeletal remains.
• b) it is nearly impossible to receive grant funding to study ideological aspects of early culture.
• c) it is an intangible thing reliant upon archaeologists’ interpretations.
• d) out of all the early human groups, only modern Homo sapiens were advanced enough to engage with ideologies.

5. If you found a site that had clear evidence of butchering and remains from people living there an extended amount of time, it would likely be categorized as a

• a) base camp.
• b) resource processing site.
• c) habitation site.
• d) fire hearth.

6. The majority of archaeological sites concerning early humans have been found

• a) in Europe, due to overrepresentation and Eurocentric attitudes within the discipline.
• b) in Africa, since this is the birthplace of modern human life and culture.
• c) in Asia, when people began expanding and leaving traces of their migration.
• d) in North America, because most archaeologists are from this continent.

7. The time period, region, and one example of people from the Upper Paleolithic period is:

• a) 300,000 to 40,000 years ago; Africa, West Asia, Europe; Neandertals
• b) 2.5 million to 300,000 years ago; Africa, Asia, Europe; Homo erectus
• c) 40,000 to 15,000 years ago; mostly Europe; Homo sapiens
• d) prior to 2.5 million years ago; Africa; Australopithecus afarensis

8. Which of the following would have been a likely hunting scenario for early humans?

• a) An individual using an atlatl to fell a mammoth.
• b) Women designing traps for caribou.
• c) Hunting deer with a bow and arrow.
• d) A group of people chasing a bison for days until it was too exhausted to run anymore.

9. What evidence of intentional fire use have archaeologists found in Upper Paleolithic sites?

• a) Rocks that show repeated striking (enabling sparks).
• b) Sticks used in friction to heat and burn other flammable materials.
• c) Stones arranged in a traditional fire hearth placement.
• d) Rock art depicting flames and fires.

10. Assume there are no fish bones found at a site you are excavating. You can conclude

• a) fish were never eaten or used by the people at this site.
• b) the excavation was improperly completed, since the site is near a river and you expected to find fish.
• c) any possible fish remains must have been eaten by scavengers.
• d) that there are a number of possibilities; for example, fish may have still been eaten since the bones could be very old, relatively fragile, or simply not found yet.

Answers

1. b

Feedback: Caves were not generally used for dwellings, and artifacts/art found there are better preserved (leading to high archaeological visibility and bias).

See pages 128-129.

2. d

Feedback: Cultural advancements enabled expansion, including fire use, clothing, social communication, and more.

See page 128-130.

3. b

Feedback: It all depends on the context of the bones, which means definitive conclusions are not possible. One of the big problems archaeologists grapple with is how to tell the difference between bones from food animals and bones from animals that simply lived around the area.

See page 111.

4. c

Feedback: Art, religion, and anything intangible stemming from ideology requires some kind of physical remains (such as burial sites, cave art, etc.); these things are therefore even more susceptible to interpretation biases.

See page 127.

5. c

Feedback: A site where people lived for any amount of time is a habitation site.

See page 109.

6. a

Feedback: The archaeological discipline was developed in Europe, and Eurocentric attitudes and interests means that other areas around the world have not received as much attention as they should.

See page 112.

7. c

Feedback: The Upper Paleolithic is rarely used outside Europe, and primarily refers to the culture and peoples who replaced Neandertals in Europe beginning about 40,000 years ago.

See page 115.

8. d

Feedback: Mammoths are too large a prey to be felled by a single person, and atlatls, bows and arrows had not been invented yet, and men likely did most of the hunting (and there is no evidence of such traps). Chasing animals until they were exhausted is a known strategy.

See page 118.

9. a

Feedback: Evidence of fire comes from a variety of sources, including remnants of the fire itself, such as charred wood or ash, as well as things that have been heated, including bone, stone, and clay.

See pages 121-122.

10. d

Feedback: The absence of something from the archaeological record does not mean it never existed. It is hard to draw concrete conclusions from low-visibility artifacts.

See page 110.