Twenty‐five years ago, the Middle‐to‐Upper Paleolithic transition in Europe could be
represented as a straightforward process subsuming both the emergence of symbolic …

This paper reviews recent developments in geochronology, archaeology, and behavioral
interpretations of the Middle Paleolithic Period (ca. 47–250 Kyr) in the East Mediterranean …

Pleistocene hominin dispersals out of, and back into, Africa necessarily involved traversing
the diverse and often challenging environments of Southwest Asia 1, 2, 3, 4. Archaeological …

The nature and causes of the disappearance of Neanderthals and their apparent
replacement by modern humans are subjects of considerable debate. Many researchers …

Projectile weaponry is a human cultural universal, but its origins and antiquity remain poorly
understood. Stone-and bone-tipped projectile weapons have long been treated as emergent …

The earliest known personal ornaments come from the Middle Stone Age of southern Africa,
c. 75,000 years ago, and are associated with anatomically modern humans. In Europe, such …

This paper proposes that complex projectile weaponry was a key strategic innovation driving
Late Pleistocene human dispersal into western Eurasia after 50 Ka. It argues that complex …

Since the pioneering days of Paleolithic archaeology in western Europe, the making of stone
tools has received special attention. Numerous studies were aimed at creating systematic …

In Stone Tools in Human Evolution, John J. Shea argues that over the last three million
years hominins' technological strategies shifted from occasional tool use, much like that …

Abstract The Later Middle Paleolithic lithic archaeological record for the East Mediterranean
Levant has been invoked to support competing and contradictory models for the …