Le chopper de Walheim (Haut-Rhin) s'apparente a une serie de galets amenages decouverts dans ... more Le chopper de Walheim (Haut-Rhin) s'apparente a une serie de galets amenages decouverts dans le Sundgau et les regions avoisinantes et attribuables au Paleolithique ancien.
An almost complete left parietal bone of Homo erectus some 450,000 years old is described in this... more An almost complete left parietal bone of Homo erectus some 450,000 years old is described in this report. It came from an acheulian level, characterized by oval-shaped handaxes, at the site of Nadaouiyeh Aïn Askar and was discovered in 1996. This site has an exceptional Acheulian sequence as well as Yabrudian and Hummalian levels. The stratigraphy at N.A.A. is very complex due to a) the variability in sedimentation and b) deformation of the layers in the dolina which was intermittently flooded by a spring. The hominid remains were found in an archaeological layer with both cultural and faunal remains which allow us to draw some interesting palaeо-ethnological conclusions.
Central Oman palaeolithic survey, report of the 2007 season. Jagher, Reto and Pümpin, Christine a... more Central Oman palaeolithic survey, report of the 2007 season. Jagher, Reto and Pümpin, Christine and Wegmüller, Fabio and Winet, Ines. (2010) Central Oman palaeolithic survey, report of the 2007 season. The Journal of Oman Studies, Vol. 17. S. 15-50. ...
ABSTRACT The Central Oman Palaeolithic Survey (COPS), initiated by the Institute for Prehistory a... more ABSTRACT The Central Oman Palaeolithic Survey (COPS), initiated by the Institute for Prehistory and Archaeological Science (IPAS), University of Basel (Switzerland), and carried out in the al-Ḥuqf-al-Ḥawshī area (Central Oman) in 2007 and 2008, focused on the earliest human occupation in the southern Arabian Peninsula. A total of 1445 locations were surveyed and 816 archaeological sites recorded. Among them, 609 held flint artefacts; these showed ample evidence of a significant and diversified prehistoric legacy. The rich cultural history known from the Levant during the Pleistocene shows no evident exchange with its southern neighbours. This is in sharp contrast with palaeo-zoological observations that demonstrate a steady replacement across the Arabian subcontinent from the south to the north and vice versa, during the same period. Palaeo-climatic data from Oman clearly show the presence of several periods with increased rainfall during the last 400,000 years, facilitating the passage for animals and humans across the Arabian Peninsula. Contrary to expectations, people obviously did not follow these migrations. The COPS survey demonstrated a strong cultural boundary, separating southern and northern Arabia, over a long period. This separation cannot be explained by natural constraints. At least during the later Pleistocene, southern Arabia witnessed an independent cultural history, with no evident influence from outside. Several techno-cultural lithic entities with characteristic tool sets endemic to the southern part of the subcontinent were observed by the COPS survey. Comparable traditions in stone-tool technology are at that time completely unknown in the Levant. Furthermore, the COPS fieldwork revealed an important settlement activity in the southern part of al-Huqf during the late prehistory (i.e. the Bronze and Iron Ages), a surprising discovery as it dates from a period of deteriorating climate with increased aridity, when humans withdrew to areas that are currently inhabited.
Un chopper en quartzite a ete trouve dans le Jura alsacien, sur le ban de la commune de Sondersdo... more Un chopper en quartzite a ete trouve dans le Jura alsacien, sur le ban de la commune de Sondersdorf. Morphologiquement comparable a celui decouvert en 1981 dans la commune voisine de Raedersdorf, il se rapproche des choppers du Paleolithique ancien. La patine profonde couvrant les retouches parle egalement en faveur d'un âge tres ancien.
The goal of this paper is to discuss the validity of radiocarbon dates as a source of knowledge f... more The goal of this paper is to discuss the validity of radiocarbon dates as a source of knowledge for explaining social dynamics over a large region and a long period of time. We have carefully selected c. 1000 14C dates for the time interval 8000–4000 cal BC within the northwestern Mediterranean area (NE Iberian Peninsula, SE France, N Italy) and Switzerland. Using statistical analysis, we have modelled the summed probability distribution of those dates for each of the analysed ecoregion and discussed the rhythms of neolithisation in these regions and the probability of social contact between previous Mesolithic and new Neolithic populations.
The Berglibalm rock shelter is located in the municipality of Muotathal in the Bisistal valley at... more The Berglibalm rock shelter is located in the municipality of Muotathal in the Bisistal valley at an altitude of 1140 m a. s. l. The areas excavated in 2015 and 2019 measured 5 m2 and yielded the remains of an Early Mesolithic layer dating from around 8766 to 7596 BC. The charcoal concentrations recorded showed that hazel and maple were the main species used for firewood. The excavation also unearthed many well-preserved faunal remains, a small quantity of plant macrofossils and a lithic assemblage comprising 535 artefacts including 15 microliths. The raw material analysis revealed that the hunter-gatherers preferred local and regional raw materials including fine-grained quartzite (»Ölquarzit«). Some long-distance imports attested to contacts to the Chur and Vorarlberg regions in the east, the Ticino in the south and the Upper Rhine Valley or southern Black Forest region in the north. The rock shelter served as a campsite for Mesolithic hunters targeting ibex, chamois, deer and wil...
Le chopper de Walheim (Haut-Rhin) s'apparente a une serie de galets amenages decouverts dans ... more Le chopper de Walheim (Haut-Rhin) s'apparente a une serie de galets amenages decouverts dans le Sundgau et les regions avoisinantes et attribuables au Paleolithique ancien.
An almost complete left parietal bone of Homo erectus some 450,000 years old is described in this... more An almost complete left parietal bone of Homo erectus some 450,000 years old is described in this report. It came from an acheulian level, characterized by oval-shaped handaxes, at the site of Nadaouiyeh Aïn Askar and was discovered in 1996. This site has an exceptional Acheulian sequence as well as Yabrudian and Hummalian levels. The stratigraphy at N.A.A. is very complex due to a) the variability in sedimentation and b) deformation of the layers in the dolina which was intermittently flooded by a spring. The hominid remains were found in an archaeological layer with both cultural and faunal remains which allow us to draw some interesting palaeо-ethnological conclusions.
Central Oman palaeolithic survey, report of the 2007 season. Jagher, Reto and Pümpin, Christine a... more Central Oman palaeolithic survey, report of the 2007 season. Jagher, Reto and Pümpin, Christine and Wegmüller, Fabio and Winet, Ines. (2010) Central Oman palaeolithic survey, report of the 2007 season. The Journal of Oman Studies, Vol. 17. S. 15-50. ...
ABSTRACT The Central Oman Palaeolithic Survey (COPS), initiated by the Institute for Prehistory a... more ABSTRACT The Central Oman Palaeolithic Survey (COPS), initiated by the Institute for Prehistory and Archaeological Science (IPAS), University of Basel (Switzerland), and carried out in the al-Ḥuqf-al-Ḥawshī area (Central Oman) in 2007 and 2008, focused on the earliest human occupation in the southern Arabian Peninsula. A total of 1445 locations were surveyed and 816 archaeological sites recorded. Among them, 609 held flint artefacts; these showed ample evidence of a significant and diversified prehistoric legacy. The rich cultural history known from the Levant during the Pleistocene shows no evident exchange with its southern neighbours. This is in sharp contrast with palaeo-zoological observations that demonstrate a steady replacement across the Arabian subcontinent from the south to the north and vice versa, during the same period. Palaeo-climatic data from Oman clearly show the presence of several periods with increased rainfall during the last 400,000 years, facilitating the passage for animals and humans across the Arabian Peninsula. Contrary to expectations, people obviously did not follow these migrations. The COPS survey demonstrated a strong cultural boundary, separating southern and northern Arabia, over a long period. This separation cannot be explained by natural constraints. At least during the later Pleistocene, southern Arabia witnessed an independent cultural history, with no evident influence from outside. Several techno-cultural lithic entities with characteristic tool sets endemic to the southern part of the subcontinent were observed by the COPS survey. Comparable traditions in stone-tool technology are at that time completely unknown in the Levant. Furthermore, the COPS fieldwork revealed an important settlement activity in the southern part of al-Huqf during the late prehistory (i.e. the Bronze and Iron Ages), a surprising discovery as it dates from a period of deteriorating climate with increased aridity, when humans withdrew to areas that are currently inhabited.
Un chopper en quartzite a ete trouve dans le Jura alsacien, sur le ban de la commune de Sondersdo... more Un chopper en quartzite a ete trouve dans le Jura alsacien, sur le ban de la commune de Sondersdorf. Morphologiquement comparable a celui decouvert en 1981 dans la commune voisine de Raedersdorf, il se rapproche des choppers du Paleolithique ancien. La patine profonde couvrant les retouches parle egalement en faveur d'un âge tres ancien.
The goal of this paper is to discuss the validity of radiocarbon dates as a source of knowledge f... more The goal of this paper is to discuss the validity of radiocarbon dates as a source of knowledge for explaining social dynamics over a large region and a long period of time. We have carefully selected c. 1000 14C dates for the time interval 8000–4000 cal BC within the northwestern Mediterranean area (NE Iberian Peninsula, SE France, N Italy) and Switzerland. Using statistical analysis, we have modelled the summed probability distribution of those dates for each of the analysed ecoregion and discussed the rhythms of neolithisation in these regions and the probability of social contact between previous Mesolithic and new Neolithic populations.
The Berglibalm rock shelter is located in the municipality of Muotathal in the Bisistal valley at... more The Berglibalm rock shelter is located in the municipality of Muotathal in the Bisistal valley at an altitude of 1140 m a. s. l. The areas excavated in 2015 and 2019 measured 5 m2 and yielded the remains of an Early Mesolithic layer dating from around 8766 to 7596 BC. The charcoal concentrations recorded showed that hazel and maple were the main species used for firewood. The excavation also unearthed many well-preserved faunal remains, a small quantity of plant macrofossils and a lithic assemblage comprising 535 artefacts including 15 microliths. The raw material analysis revealed that the hunter-gatherers preferred local and regional raw materials including fine-grained quartzite (»Ölquarzit«). Some long-distance imports attested to contacts to the Chur and Vorarlberg regions in the east, the Ticino in the south and the Upper Rhine Valley or southern Black Forest region in the north. The rock shelter served as a campsite for Mesolithic hunters targeting ibex, chamois, deer and wil...
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