A Lithic Perspective on Ecological Dynamics in the Upper Pleistocene of Western Eurasia

Human response to habitat suitability during the Last Glacial Maximum in Western Europe

“…The link between retouch frequencies and lithic density has been independently confirmed in contexts ranging from the Acheuleo‐Yabrudian of Israel to the Paleoindian (Kuhn, ; Bretzke et al ., ; Sandgathe, ; Riel‐Salvatore, , ; Clark, , ; Surovell, ; Hauck, ; Mackay et al ., ; Kuhn and Clark, ; Tryon and Faith, ; Will and Mackay, ; Clark and Barton, ). Finally, in south‐eastern Italy the terminal Upper Palaeolithic appears to be characterized almost exclusively by dense, expedient lithic assemblages indicative of the use of sites mainly as logistical base camps and similar observations have been made in Jordan (Riel‐Salvatore and Barton, ; Riel‐Salvatore, ; Barton and Riel‐Salvatore, , ).…”

“…In contrast to most Late Upper Palaeolithic assemblages analysed elsewhere (cf. Barton et al ., ; Barton and Riel‐Salvatore, , ), however, the assemblages analysed here display a relatively wide range of retouch frequencies which could be a sign of environmental stress. This is compatible with the observation that there is considerable variability in lithic provisioning patterns during the Upper Palaeolithic (Féblot‐Augustins, ).…”

“…While the results of the analyses cited above demonstrate that the ‘whole assemblage behavioural index’ holds considerable promise as a tool for clarifying our understanding of human ecology during the LGM, detailed lithic information is not always available for Palaeolithic sites. Previous studies have shown that the frequency of retouched pieces in lithic assemblages is highly correlated with artefact density (Barton et al ., ; Barton and Riel‐Salvatore, , , ), however. As a result, retouch frequencies may be used instead of the ‘whole assemblage index’ to boost sample sizes and facilitate inter‐site and regional comparisons.…”

“…Elsewhere, two of us have used a shift in technological organization as a proxy for identifying changes in the mobility regime of human populations living in temperate western Eurasia during the last Glacial, with a shift from predominantly residential to almost exclusively logistical land‐use strategies (Riel‐Salvatore and Barton, ; Barton et al ., ; Barton and Riel‐Salvatore, ). While ecological variability and climatic change appear to be reasonable causal factors in the observed shift in technological organization, the precise manner in which environmental conditions acted upon human systems remains an open question (Barton et al ., ).…”

Human adaptations to climatic change in Liguria across the Middle–Upper Paleolithic transition

“…In fact, a recent analysis of bladelet production in both Proto‐Aurignacian levels at Bombrini shows that while both assemblages document the same chaînes opératoires used to produce bladelets, the lithic assemblages nonetheless indicate that different land‐use strategies were employed in each, leading to the expression of slight but significant distinctions between the two assemblages (Riel‐Salvatore and Negrino, 2018). First, building on the results of other empirical and modeling studies (Riel‐Salvatore and Barton, ; Barton et al ., ; Barton and Riel‐Salvatore, , ), the retouch frequency of A1 (∼15%) is higher than that for A2 (∼5%), consistent with the adoption of more residential and more logistical land‐use strategies, respectively. These interpretations are bolstered by the observation that Level A1 displays a lithic organizational strategy emphasizing curation, with a greater exploitation of local resources and the production of stouter but shorter bladelets in this level.…”