More than Meets the Eye

These twenty-three papers focus on recent research into the Upper Palaeolithic of the Levant, a murky period of human history (ca 45,000 to 20,000 years ago) during which modern patterns of human behaviour and communication became the norm. The vast majority of archaeological data from this period relates to chipped stone tools and most contributors focus on defining and distinguishing the two main traditions in lithic technology - the Levantine 'Aurignacian' and the 'Ahmarian'. Some papers report on recent fieldwork, others seek to define and explain reasons for variation and change in material culture. Do lithic traditions represent different corporate groups of hunter-gatherers, or can variation be explained by other factors, such as adaptations to local landscapes and environments or changing patterns of mobility? An appendix provides a comprehensive list of available Upper Palaeolithic 14C dates in the Near East. Most of the papers derive from a conference session on the Levantine Upper Palaeolithic, held as part of the Society for American Archaeology annual meeting in 2000. Contents: Current Issues in Levantine Upper Palaeolithic Research (A Belfer-Cohen and A N Goring-Morris) ; Climatic Conditions in the Eastern Mediterranean During the Last Glacial (60-10 ky bp) and their Relations to the Upper Palaeolithic in the Levant: Oxygen and Carbon Isotope Systematics of Cave Deposits (M Bar-Matthews and A Ayalon) ; Some Observations on Middle and Upper Palaeolithic Ashy Cave and Rockshelter Deposits in the Near East (P Goldberg) ; The Levantine Upper Palaeolithic Faunal Record (R Rabinovich) ; Generating the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic Transition: A Chaine Operatoire Approach (M Chazan) ; A Quest for Antecedents: A Comparison of the Terminal Middle Palaeolithic and Early Upper Palaeolithic of the Levant (G B Tostevin) ; The Middle/Upper Palaeolithic Transition in Northern and Southern Israel: A Technological Comparison (J Sarel and A Ronen) ; The Tor Sadaf Lithic Assemblages: A Technological Study of the Early Upper Palaeolithic in the Wadi al-Hasa (J R Fox) Variability and Change in the Early Upper Palaeolithic of the Levant (J L Phillips and I N Saca) ; The Early Upper Palaeolithic at Ucazl Cave (Hatay, Turkey): Some Preliminary Results (S L Kuhn, M C Stiner, K W Kerry, and E Guelec) ; Technology, Economy, and Mobility at the Beginning of the Levantine Upper Palaeolithic (K Monigal) ; Spatial Patterning in the Upper Palaeolithic: A Perspective from the Abu Noshra Sites (M S Becker) ; The Upper Palaeolithic of Jordan: New Data from the Wadi al-Hasa (N R Coinman) ; Tor Fawaz (J403): An Upper Palaeolithic Occupation in the Jebel Qalkha Area, Southwest Jordan (K W Kerry and D O Henry) ; Twisted Debitage and the Levantine Aurignacian Problem (C A Bergman) ; An Examination of Upper Palaeolithic Flake Technologies in the Marginal Zone of the Levant (J K Williams) ; Cultural Variability in the Late Upper Palaeolithic of the Levant (D Kaufman) ; The Ohalo II Flint Assemblage and the Beginning of the Epipalaeolithic in the Jordan Valley (D Nadel) ; The Conundrum of the Levantine Late Upper Palaeolithic and Early Epipalaeolithic: Perspectives from the Wadi al-Hasa, Jordan (D I Olszewski) ; The Levantine Upper Palaeolithic; A Commentary on Contributions to the Philadelphia Symposium (L Copeland) ; Reflections on Levantine Upper Palaeolithic Studies: Past and Present (A E Marks) ; Reflections on the Issue of the Levantine Upper Palaeolithic (O Bar-Yosef) ; Final Remarks and Epilogue (A Belfer-Cohen and A N Goring-Morris) .