TY - JOUR
T1 - Culture and cognition in the Acheulian industry
T2 - A case study from Gesher Benot Yaáqov
AU - Goren-Inbar, Naama
PY - 2011/4/12
Y1 - 2011/4/12
N2 - The Acheulian presence in the Dead Sea Rift and its environs is characterized by the discontinuity of its cultural manifestations. Nevertheless, the long stratigraphic sequences of the Acheulian Technocomplex provide a unique opportunity for synergetic examination along a temporal trajectory. Hominin cognitive and cultural behaviour are studied at Gesher Benot Yaáqov through analyses of lithic, palaeontological and palaeobotanical assemblages, as well as the Early-Middle Pleistocene environment, ecology and climate. The study attempts to reconstruct reduction sequences of some major artefact groups at the site, which include raw material acquisition, production, technology, typology, usage and discard. Experimental archaeology illustrates artefact mobility on the palaeolandscape. Strategies of biomass-exploitation are studied in detail, with other aspects yielding additional information on hominin subsistence and adaptive responses to their environment. The cultural marker of fire and the spatial association of selected categories of finds are integrated in the general synthesis, allowing reconstruction of the cultural and cognitive realm of Acheulian hominins. The synthesis attempts to reassess the abilities, social structure, subsistence and adaptability to the changing environment of hominins in the Levantine Corridor.
AB - The Acheulian presence in the Dead Sea Rift and its environs is characterized by the discontinuity of its cultural manifestations. Nevertheless, the long stratigraphic sequences of the Acheulian Technocomplex provide a unique opportunity for synergetic examination along a temporal trajectory. Hominin cognitive and cultural behaviour are studied at Gesher Benot Yaáqov through analyses of lithic, palaeontological and palaeobotanical assemblages, as well as the Early-Middle Pleistocene environment, ecology and climate. The study attempts to reconstruct reduction sequences of some major artefact groups at the site, which include raw material acquisition, production, technology, typology, usage and discard. Experimental archaeology illustrates artefact mobility on the palaeolandscape. Strategies of biomass-exploitation are studied in detail, with other aspects yielding additional information on hominin subsistence and adaptive responses to their environment. The cultural marker of fire and the spatial association of selected categories of finds are integrated in the general synthesis, allowing reconstruction of the cultural and cognitive realm of Acheulian hominins. The synthesis attempts to reassess the abilities, social structure, subsistence and adaptability to the changing environment of hominins in the Levantine Corridor.
KW - Acheulian
KW - Bifaces (handaxes and cleavers)
KW - Cognitive abilities
KW - Gesher Benot Yaáqov
KW - Irian Jaya
KW - Upper Jordan Valley
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79958737189&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1098/rstb.2010.0365
DO - 10.1098/rstb.2010.0365
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C2 - 21357226
AN - SCOPUS:79958737189
SN - 0962-8436
VL - 366
SP - 1038
EP - 1049
JO - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
IS - 1567
ER -