Recent research demonstrates that perishable industries—notably including the manufacture of textiles, basketry, cordage, netting, and sandals—were a well-established, integral component of the Upper Paleolithic technological milieu in many parts of the Old World. Moreover, extant data suggest that these technologies played a vital and, hitherto, utterly unappreciated role in the ecological success of late Pleistocene populations, including the first Americans. This article explores the varied roles of early fiber technology in the New World and specifically examines the adaptive qualities, impact on social organization, and alteration to food procurement strategies implicit in this innovative and intensive series of interrelated industries. It is suggested that the manufacture of perishable fiber-derived artifacts was far more important in the successful colonization of this hemisphere than any of the more durable artifact classes, particularly stone.

Upper Palaeolithic living sites and their associated buildings have seen an increase in studies over the last few years. The focuses of these studies have been on topics such as use-wear analyses, spatial analyses of the distribution of lithic fragments and associated bone remains, as well as hearth paving. There are also geoarchaeological studies of living floors and hearths, and particular attention has been paid to the ethnoarchaeological studies of hunter-gatherer habitation sites, with many different and elaborate models of Palaeolithic cultural behaviour and ritual being put forward. The main problem with the majority of these studies in the past has been that these analyses have been restricted only upon particular sites and the immediate areas around them. Therefore the bigger picture of Palaeolithic landscape archaeology in terms of their settlement patterns is an area of study which is at best cloudy. Previous European conferences on this subject were as far back as 1982 and 1983, therefore this symposium is of particular interest as it is able to shed new light on a neglected area of research. The importance of habitation sites in Palaeolithic archaeology is used to address a number of behavioural ideas and theories, including social and cultural life in this period, and subsistence strategies. The 16 papers in this BAR investigate the way spatial distributions of remains allow the functions of particular sites to be theorised, for instance whether these were seasonal hunting camps or permanent settlements. The first part of this study covers basic contributing factors to the study of Upper Palaeolithic Dwellings, with the second part focusing on the analyses of groups of sites at a local regional level.

Previous articleNext article No AccessReportsRecovering Perishable Technologies through Use Wear on Tools: Preliminary Evidence for Upper Paleolithic Weaving and Net Making1OlgaSofferOlgaSofferDepartment of Anthropology, University of Illinois, 109 Davenport Hall, Urbana, IL 61801, U.S.A. ([email protected]). 15 i 04Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, 109 Davenport Hall, Urbana, IL 61801, U.S.A. ([email protected]). 15 i 04PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 45, Number 3June 2004 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/420907 Views: 559Total views on this site Citations: 57Citations are reported from Crossref 2004 by The WennerGren Foundation for Anthropological Research. 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Detailed attribute analysis of a large sample of negative impressions on fired clay from the Gravettian sites of Pavlov I and Dolni Vestonice I and II, Czech Republic, indicates that a complex, plant-fiber-based, perishable technology existed at those loci and presumably elsewhere in the Gravettian domain circa 29,000-25,000 B.P. This hitherto unrecognized technology subsumes several clearly related industries, which include the production of cordage, cordage by-products, textiles, and basketry. Specifically represented are seven of the eight basic types of twining, a minimum of five types of cordage, and at least one variety of knotted netting. Also present is one type of plaiting in the form of rigid or semirigid basketry. This diverse perishable assemblage is characterized in terms of process and product, and we describe its role in the subsistence economy of Gravettian populations in this portion of Europe.

Research on Gravettian textiles and basketry informs our understanding of Upper Paleolithic ideology and yields new insights on one component of Stone Age material culture—the "Venus" figurines. Detailed studies of a series of figurines indicate the presence of at least three types of dressed female depictions. These include several types of headgear, various body bandeaux, and at least one type of skirt. Using data from Europe, we argue that the garments portrayed were made of plant fibers and that their exquisite detailing reflects the important role played by textiles in Upper Paleolithic cultures. The iconography also associates these technologies with women as well as with power, prestige, and value.

Previous research has documented textile and basketry production at Moravian Upper Palaeolithic sites, c.27,000 BP. Recent research extends these technologies to Russia and Germany, and amplifies information on perishable fibre artefacts from France. Collectively, these data illustrate the ubiquity of perishable technologies across the late Pleistocene world.

Research on Gravettian textiles and basketry informs our understanding of Upper Paleolithic ideology and yields new insights on one component of Stone Age material culture-the "Venus" figurines. Detailed studies of a series of figurines indicate the presence of at least three types of dressed female depictions. These include several types of headgear, various body bandeaux, and at least one type of skirt. Using data from Europe, we argue that the garments portrayed were made of plant fibers and that their exquisite detailing reflects the important role played by textiles in Upper Paleolithic cultures. The iconography also associates these technologies with women as well as with power, prestige, and value.

The later Palaeolithic sites on the East European plain are celebrated for their solid buildings constructed of mammoth bones, Were these permanent settlements, occupied all the year round? Or were they seasonally occupied, in a land where winters are harsh? Stratigraphic explorations at Mezhirich, and excavation of the empty space between the buildings, leads to a decisive interpretation.

The later Palaeolithic sites of Moravia, the region of the Czech Republic west of Prague and north of Vienna, continue to provide remarkable new materials. To the art mobilier for which Dolní Věstonice and Pavlov have been celebrated, there has recently been added the technologies of groundstone and ceramics — and now woven materials, interlaced basketry or textiles, again of a kind one expects only from a quite later era.

The origin of modern humans is a hot topic today and, as can be seen from the number of major symposia and volumes devoted to the topic (e.g., Smith and Spencer 1984; Mellars and Stringer 1989; Mellars 1990; Trinkaus 1989), has been such for the last few years when it successfully displaced questions of human origins as the premier paleoanthropological issue. This shift in concern brought with it not only more recent chronological contexts, but also a geographic relocation from Africa to Europe and Asia. What is at issue today is the meaning of the Late Pleistocene record which documents a change both in hominid types and their cultures. In Eurasia this time span — a period between some 100,000 and 30,000 years ago saw anatomically modern humans replace the Neanderthals, and a transition from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic. The significance and synchrony of these changes have been a subject of many recent debates which have focused on two issues: first, what exactly happened at this transition, and second, which hominid types were responsible for the changes noted in the archaeological record. As a perusal of any of the volumes cited above indicates, no consensus has been reached on these questions — a dilemma stemming not only from the ambiguity of the relevant records but also from excessive focus on the question of what happened. Much less attention has been paid to the potentially more enlightening questions about why the changes occurred.

American Journal of Physical AnthropologyVolume 85, Issue 2 p. 240-241 Book Review The animal wife. By Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 1990. 289 pp. ISBN 0-395-52453-9. $19.95 (cloth) Olga Soffer, Olga Soffer Department of Anthropology University of Illinois 109 Davenport Hall Urbana, IllinoisSearch for more papers by this author Olga Soffer, Olga Soffer Department of Anthropology University of Illinois 109 Davenport Hall Urbana, IllinoisSearch for more papers by this author First published: June 1991 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.1330850215AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume85, Issue2June 1991Pages 240-241 RelatedInformation

A typology was established for more than 5000 ceramic artifacts at Dolni Vestonice, Czechoslovakia. Conjectured methods of manufacture were confirmed by radiography. The compositions and mineralogy of the artifacts were identical to those of the local soil, loess. A firing temperature range of 500 degrees to 800 degrees C was measured and compared with those of hearths and kilns. The mechanism of sintering was impurity-initiated, liquid-phase sintering. Many fracture sections show evidence of thermal shock, although thermal expansion of the loess is low. The making, firing, and sometimes exploding of the figurines may have been the prime function of the ceramics at this site rather than being manufactured as permanent, portable objects.