The Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in Northern Europe: the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician and the issue of acculturation of the last Neanderthals

Neandertal-Modern Human Contact in Western Eurasia: Issues of Dating, Taxonomy, and Cultural Associations

“…It is also possible that a similar but shorter persistence pattern, albeit in an Upper Paleolithic context (the Lincombian/ Ranisian/Jerzmanowician), not a Middle Paleolithic one, underpins the direct dating to the ~41.0-41.5 ka cal BP interval of the two adult individuals from Spy (Semal et al 2009 ;Flas 2011 ). In both cases, such late Neandertal occurrences concern areas located outside the geographic range of the Protoaurignacian, while the directly dated Oase fossils, although lacking an immediate archeological context, come from a region where a coeval Protoaurignacian is well documented (Hahn 1977 ;Zilhão 2006a ;Teyssandier 2008 ).…”

The problems of the Szeletian as seen from Hungary

“…There are several problems enumerated in this paper, the study of which, I am convinced, needs to shift from a regional to a supra-regional or Central European scale. As good examples, I can mention the investigations at Dzeravá skala Cave and in the Trenčín region in Western Slovakia which were realized in collaboration by Slovakian, Czech, and Polish colleagues (Kaminská et al 2005;2011). For advancing the study of the Szeletian, this fruitful collaboration needs to be reinforced and widened.…”

“…Thanks to several analyses implementing different approaches and different methodologies (Nerudová 2009;2011;Kot 2014;Mester 2014b;Neruda, Nerudová 2017), we have quite good knowledge about the bifacial technology applied in the production of leafpoints in Szeletian sites. On the other hand, little is known about the technology of general tool production, including debitage methods and strategies.…”

“…This unit is thought to be characterized by bifacial leafpoints, although such tools can be found in different cultural and chronological contexts from Great Britain to Russia (Allsworth-Jones 1990;Kozłowski 1990a;1990b;1995). For this reason, M. Bolus proposed describing these industries of the late Middle Palaeolithic and/or of the transitional period from Middle to Upper Palaeolithic as the Blattspitzengruppen or Blattspitzen on the illustrations mentioned above do not have a Szeletian context; they belong to the late Middle Palaeolithic Altmühl group or to the transitional Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (LRJ) complex (Bolus 2004b;Richter 2008Richter -2009Flas 2011;2014). The leafpoint from Szeleta Cave, illustrated by Bordes, is the most regular piece of the assemblage ever unearthed at the site.…”

The Uluzzian technology of Grotta di Fumane and its implication for reconstructing cultural dynamics in the Middle–Upper Palaeolithic transition of Western Eurasia

“…Whether the relation between these differences and their makers is consistent is a matter of debate, however, given the noted weak evidence, other than the correlation between Neanderthal remains and the Castelperronian (Hublin et al, 1996) and the leaf pointed tools in the LincombianRanisian-Jerzmanovician (Flas, 2011(Flas, , 2014, of direct association between human remains, especially AMH, and cultural remains.…”