Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 261-283).

Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Montana, 2009. / Title from author supplied metadata. Description based on contents viewed on August 13, 2009. Author supplied keywords: Archaeology, spatial analysis,prehistoric. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

This thesis concerns late Palaeolithic settlement in the region of Puglia, south-east Italy, at the close of the Pleistocene. Puglia comprises three sub-regions which contain sites of this period: the Salento peninsula, the Murge, and the Gargano promontory. The late Palaeolithic occupation must be considered in relation to the former existence of an extensive coastal plain, and to the sea-level rise which submerged it. The late Palaeolithic assemblages of the region have been studied previously by Italian archaeologists from a rigid typological stance, with various schemes put forward suggesting evolution of the assemblages through different stages of an Epigravettian tradition. In this thesis, attribute analysis is used to re-examine the principal assemblages, using published data where adequate and supplemented by samples studied by the author in Italy. The results are analyzed to seek the social and economic factors which shaped the various industries, as well as diachronic change wherever it can be demonstrated. Factors such as difficulty in obtaining raw material were clearly crucial to assemblage composition. The existing typological schemes are shown to lack real bases and to mask rather than reveal sociocultural information. Chapter 1 states the aims of the thesis and critically discusses previous theoretical approaches to the late Palaeolithic of the region. Chapters 2 and 3 describe relevant aspects of the regional palaeoenvironment. The author's own methodological approach is explained in Chapter 4, and then used for a detailed study of the assemblages from Grotta delle Cipolliane in Chapter 5. This is followed in Chapter 6 by a broader study of the late Palaeolithic assemblages in Puglia, with discussions of their possible diachronic and synchronic relationships. Chapter 7 develops this latter theme into an attempt to understand the social and economic features of the late Palaeolithic settlement of Puglia, and suggestions are made concerning future work that might improve the quality of the archaeological evidence. Chapter 8 summarizes the main conclusions of the thesis.

This thesis presents a co-ordinated study of the chronology, environment, and material culture of the Upper Palaeolithic in Britain, based upon a re-evaluation of extant old evidence and on the results of the author's specially undertaken excavations. A chronological scheme is proposed for the British Upper Palaeolithic, based on a new correlation of the stratigraphic and radiocarbon evidence. Two main divisions of the period are recognized, an Earlier phase and a Later one, which can be shown to be separated by the maximum ice advances of the Full Last Glacial (c. 20,00 to 15,000 years B.P.). Dates are available for the Earlier Upper Palaeolithic ranging from c. 29,000 to 18,000 B.P., which period covers the latter half of the Middle Last Glacial. Granulometric, pollen and faunal evidence suggest a Sub-Arctic to Arctic environment. The Later Upper Palaeolithic appears to date from c. 14,500 to 10,000 B.P., occupying most of the Late Last Glacial, and is associated with a varying Boreal to Sub-Arctic environment. The question of the relationship of Britain to the continent of Europe in terms of land-bridges is considered in some detail. The faunal analysis for both phases includes an assessment of the principal and preferred sources of meat for the human population. The distribution of Upper Palaeolithic sites is carefully considered, and the question of home bases and the strategy for exploiting the food resources of the various areas of Britain is discussed whenever the evidence permits. The study of these aspects is supported by a specially prepared series of maps. The typological range of the Earlier and Later Upper Palaeolithic tool-kits is studied and described on the basis of the author's own scheme, which has a simple ranked structure. Clear and important typological differences exist between the two phases. A number of simple metrical and statistical tests are employed, principally for comparison of individual stone tool assemblages within each stage, on the basis of which the question of sub-division is discussed. A large series of new artifact illustrations is presented to cover most of the British assemblages. A series of gazetteers list all the definite, possible and claimed British Upper Palaeolithic sites and the artifacts from them. Other aspects of the industries, such as the use of different raw materials, are also considered. The archaeological relationships between the British and continental Upper Palaeolithic assemblages are briefly discussed, but no firm conclusions can be offered until an exhaustive study of certain relevant continental material has been undertaken. A few suggestions are offered for future research in this and other fields, and the question of what terminology is most appropriate for the British Upper Palaeolithic is considered in the light of the author's research.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2007. / "Graduate Program in Anthropology." Includes bibliographical references (p. 422-458).

Also issued as author's dissertation--Universität Tübingen. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [115]-122).

The economic life of Europe's Middle Paleolithic inhabitants is poorly known; at only a few sites have the relationships between subsistence behavior and other variables been studied in any detail. The deeply stratified site of Combe Grenal, Dordogne, France, provided an opportunity to study one part of this problem in one of the archaeologically best-known areas of Western Europe. Three aspects of animal exploitation (species preference, carcass use, and butchering techniques) were examined in relationship to each other and to three other variables (climate, associated lithic assemblages, and time). The results of this study, supported by data from Middle Paleolithic sites in the rest of Europe, provide an overall picture of the nature of Mousterian subsistence systems. Middle Paleolithic economies were based on a purposeful, eclectic, and internally diversified set of activities. These show a remarkable persistence through time and a remarkable independence from changes in both climate and lithic industry, while showing little evidence of evolutionary development. The striking conservatism in behavior has implications both for our evaluations of the efficiency of Mousterian technologies and for our concepts of the nature of Middle Paleolithic culture.

The use of three dimensional modelling techniques with reference to the study of archaeological material is one that is gaining popularity in hominid studies and is already being extensively used globally. This research delves deep into the Acheulean period and takes a refreshed look at the symmetry of handaxes from two sites, namely Rietputs 15 (1.4 ma) which is an early Acheulean site, and the Cave of Hearths, which is estimated to ca 450/500 000 years old and forms the later Acheulean aspect of this sample. This research focuses on creating effective methods for studying symmetry in relation to various variables specific to each site, and it aims to gather data using 3D methods that more traditional 2D techniques struggle to capture. Ultimately this data provided me with a quantified measure of symmetry for handaxes from the two sites. For the Cave of Hearths, statistical evaluation of the measures of left versus right volumes showed strong, statistically significant correlations (r = 0.870, p < 0.05), as did measures of left versus right surface areas (r = 0.960, p < 0.05). Rietputs provided comparable results of: r = 0.859, p <0.05 for volume, and r = 0.954, p <0.05 for area, thus suggesting that good symmetry exists. By using sectoral analysis, this study shows that the tip is the most variable sector of the tools for both sites. This result supports the assumption that handaxes were designed for varied functions (e.g., cutting, skinning, digging roots, or working wood) but ones which required a strong distal end. The medial and proximal sectors are both relatively less variable, and their properties may have been more constrained by the convergent shape of the tool. Values for the later Acheulean sample show only slightly less variability than for the early Acheulean, but this is nevertheless an interesting trend which relates to hominid and cultural evolution over ca 1 million years of time.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1999. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 162-179). Also available on the Internet.