HOME | DD
Pelycosaur24 — Stone Age 101 - Part 3
by-nc-nd
#anthropology #cave #caveman #evolution #humanevolution #iraq #paleoart #prehistory #shanidar #stoneage #archaeology #neanderthal #paleontology #prehistoric
Published: 2017-01-03 20:32:00 +0000 UTC; Views: 22675; Favourites: 333; Downloads: 87
Redirect to original
Description
Previous - Lower Paleolithic (China) Stone Age 101 - Part 2
Next - Upper Paleolithic (France) Stone Age 101 - Part 4
The third installment of the Stone Age 101 series represents the Middle Paleolithic from around 200.000 until 40.000 years ago. In Europa and western Asia it was dominated by the "Mousterien" a culture associated with the Neanderthal. Meanwhile in Africa early Homo Sapiens appeared. Nearing the end of the Middle Paleolithic he migrated to the Middle East and Europe.
The Beginning of the middle Paleolithic was defined using the appearance of a special flint napping technique invented by Neanderthals - the Levallois technique. It is characterized by the innovation of preparing a core of flint first in order to produce more defined flakes. This technique was more efficient and economical than the ones used during the Acheulean. Defining tools of the Middle Paleolithic are so called "scrapers" as well as tear drop shaped projectiles.
Our representative couple comes from modern day Iraq where I used the caves of Shanidar as my exemplary location. This site is important because it gives clues about Neanderthal social life as several skeletons of old individuals show deformations that would have made survival without help impossible. One famous burial contained pollen of medicinal plants and was long cited as evidence for Neanderthal burial ceremonies - however recent research suggests there may be natural explanations for the pollen samples.
Related content
Comments: 34
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I don't like being THAT GUY (1d4chan), but Stone Age is more of a technology level (isolated Amazon tribes anyone?), not an actual time. Cudos for showing the reality instead of the stereotype though. Hope you do the same with Iron Age Spartans, which in real life were heavily armored and beardless soldiers instead of bare-chested, bearded barbarians (and the helmets of all soldiers had plumes, not just the king's).
👍: 1 ⏩: 1
Yes that is exactely the concept of this series - an archaeological approach, rather than a anthropological one.
Thank you! Yes there are so many historical stereotypes out there... maybe I will tackle some more in the future, thank you for the suggestion
👍: 1 ⏩: 1
Ah, nice! Good light eyes! A very important detail!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yes, I figured here it was fitting
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I like the claw on his necklace, studies have shown that Neanderthals harvested large raptors for their talons and long black feathers.
They liked black in general. Where as H. sapiens are often noted to have used red ochre as a pigment, neanderthals are noted to have used black pigments.
👍: 1 ⏩: 1
Thank you! It was inspired by a find from the Repolust cave.
Yes it is very interesting to see how people used colors in prehistory
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Very interesting and important location you picked, for all the reasons you have meantined above, plus for the reason that, most likly Neanderthals and Homo Sapiense have probebly met for the first time at this location as well. It is quite an idea to imagine two sentient (all be it human) seices meeting... like first contact with another mammalien alien speices...
Btw could you perhapse reccomend a german documentary seriers I could start watching to work on my German simultaniouly as well.
👍: 2 ⏩: 1
Thank you - yes I try to pick locations from as many different places as possible
Oh that is such an interesting topic - too bad the "Clan of the cave bear" book did not go too far with that.
Hm... what topic would you prefer?
👍: 1 ⏩: 1
Well you have the whole world to choose from, Humanity got to everywhere on this planet quite early in its development as a civilization.
Yes it really is a faschinating topic, there really should be more material presented on it.
Something interesting XD
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
brilliant 
👍: 1 ⏩: 1
Thank you 
I am curious what you will think of the next installment
👍: 1 ⏩: 1
I so love you for saying this
Curious about it, too!!!! It's amazing how you art always aims straight at my history-geek heart
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Brilliantly done, this drawings of yours of middle paleolithic has been very informative. Reminds me of the exhibitions they show at the museum of science in Tokyo
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you very much Gin!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Where do we know that the technique what you mentioned came from the Neanderthals?
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
In Europe we find it in layers that date to times when no one else was around - so Neandertals must have been the ones making these since Homo sapiens only showed up 100.000 later
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Okay, thanks for the answer!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I am going to assume: because they were found in gravecontext as gifts. Dating usually goes like this with archaeology when labtests are not an option for objects.
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
Yes and no - it is true that it is based on the age of the objects however especially for the Paleolithic graves are not really the most important finds - more often layers in caves (simply because there the objects are preserved the best) or in the context of settlements.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This is one of the best depictions of the Neanderthals that I've ever seen. Thanks.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
