The early Upper Paleolithic beyond Western Europe /

The Upper Paleolithic is an archaeological phase characterized by widespread use of elongate stone blades and bone tools, evidence of personal adornment and other "modern" behavioral features, and association with anatomically modern humans. Best known in western Europe, it has been recognized in the broad sense across most of Eurasia, beginning around 50,000 years ago. The Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP) is broadly preceded by the Neanderthal-associated Middle Paleolithic, but there is much argument about whether the latter gave rise to the former--ever, never, or everywhere separately. This volume addresses aspects of that problem east of the core area of the EUP. Some chapters concentrate on local developments in detail (e.g., the Crimea, the Israeli Wadi al-Hasa, or Shuidonggou, China), and others span huge areas (from France to Greece or Turkey to Siberia); one or more authors discuss nearly all of Eurasia. The editors offer a theoretical introduction and a summary of the major findings. This work derives from an early 1999 symposium. All references are combined, but only the editors--in their own local chapters--cite work by other contributors. More such citations surely would have been possible, given the publishing time frame of more than five years. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers. E. Delson CUNY Herbert H. Lehman College