Amy E Clark

Tracking the emergence of an organized use of space: A direct comparison of the spatial patterning within Middle and Upper Paleolithic open-air sites

Journal of Human Evolution, 2023

Although the 'organization of space' is said to be one of the defining characteristics of modern ... more Although the 'organization of space' is said to be one of the defining characteristics of modern human behavior, the identification and documentation of such organization has proven to be elusive, especially as rendered in artifact patterning. Without directly comparing artifact patterns within multiple sites, there is no benchmark with which to conclude one site to be more or less 'organized' than another. We can objectively identify patterns within the distribution of archaeological materials, but the decision of whether that patterning constitutes as 'organized' is entirely subjective without a comparative model. In this paper, I present the results of a study in which the spatial distribution of artifacts within nine Middle and Upper Paleolithic sites in France are directly compared to one another, and discernible changes in patterning can be identified. The differences in spatial patterning between the Middle and Upper Paleolithic sites suggest that the organization of space likely became increasingly formalized into and throughout the Upper Paleolithic alongside other cultural norms of behavior. Though more sites are needed to thoroughly document this phenomenon, this study suggests that direct comparisons of spatial patterning have the potential to yield more objective results on the question of spatial organization.

format_quoteLimitations acknowledged include low UP sample size, but it remains the largest direct MP-UP comparison, enhancing its relevance.format_quote

Download

Domestic spaces as crucibles of Paleolithic culture: An archaeological perspective

Journal of Human Evolution

The places in which people live, sleep, prepare food, and undertake other activitiesdknown variab... more The places in which people live, sleep, prepare food, and undertake other activitiesdknown variably as homes, residential sites, living sites, and domestic spacesdplay a key role in the emergence and evolution of modern human culture. The dynamic influence of domestic spaces began early in human evolutionary history, during the Paleolithic/Stone Age. Drawing on examples from Africa and western Eurasia, this article explores aspects of the changing social and cultural significance of domestic spaces throughout this time using several lines of evidence: repeated site visitation, behavioral structuring of living spaces, and information gained by dissecting palimpsest records. With the development of pyrotechnology, living sites become hearth-centered domestic spaces that provided a common hub for activities. Through time the activities around hearths increased in their complexity and diversity. The parsing of palimpsest records by archaeologists also reveals changes in the nature, variety, and intensity of on-site activities through time, indicating shifts in site function and the spatial expression of cultural norms. Archaeological evidence shows that the entwined development of domestic spaces and human cultural activities was gradual, albeit nonlinear from the Lower Paleolithic through the Upper Paleolithic/ later Middle Stone Age. In this process, domestic spaces emerged as common arenas of opportunity for social interaction and knowledge transmission, qualities that may have contributed to and enhanced the development of cumulative culture in Paleolithic society.

A new Aurignacian engraving from Abri Blanchard, France: Implications for understanding Aurignacian graphic expression in Western and Central Europe

Quaternary International, 2017

In the excitement of the widely publicized new finds of Aurignacian art from Chauvet, from the Sw... more In the excitement of the widely publicized new finds of Aurignacian art from Chauvet, from the Swabian Jura and from as far afield as Pestera Coliboaia in Romania, it has almost been forgotten that a rich corpus of Aurignacian wall painting, engraving and bas-relief sculpture had been recognized and studied before World War I in the V ez ere Valley of SW France. Scientific knowledge of the chronological and cultural context of that early-discovered graphic record has been limited by the crude archaeological methods of that pioneering era, and the loss and dispersal of many of the works discovered. In 2011, we launched new excavations and a re-analysis of one of the key sites for such early discoveries, the collapsed rock shelter of Abri Blanchard. In 2012, we discovered in situ a limestone slab engraved with a complex composition combining an aurochs and dozens of aligned punctuations. This new find, recovered by modern methods and dated by molecular filtration and Hydroxyproline 14C, provides new information on the context and dating of Aurignacian graphic imagery in SW France and its relationship to that of other regions. The support is not a fragment of collapsed shelter ceiling and is situated in the midst of quotidian occupational debris. The image shows significant technical and thematic similarities to Chauvet that are reinforced by our reanalysis of engraved slabs from the older excavations at Blanchard. The aligned punctuations find their counterparts at Chauvet, in the south German sites and on several other objects from Blanchard and surrounding Aurignacian sites. In sum, we argue that dispersing Aurignacian groups show a broad commonality in graphic expression against which a certain number of more regionalized characteristics stand out, a pattern that fits well with social geography models that focus on the material construction of identity at regional, group and individual levels.

Download

Une nouvelle découverte d’art pariétal in situ à l’abri Castanet (Dordogne, France) : contexte et datation

Here, we report on the discovery in 2007, in perfect archaeological context, of part of the engra... more Here, we report on the discovery in 2007, in perfect archaeological context, of part of the engraved and ocre-stained undersurface of the rockshelter ceiling from Abri Castanet, Commune de Sergeac, Dordogne. The engraved/painted undersurface of the massive roof-collapse block, weighing more than a ton, was in direct contact with the surface of the early Aurignacian archaeological layer onto which it had fallen. A series of six molecular filtration dates on faunal bone from that surface are internally coherent and yield a mean age estimate of 32400 radiocarbon years BP. The clearest engraving observable on the newly discovered ceiling fragment fits morphologically into the category of vulvar images, many examples of which were recovered during excavations at the beginning of the 20th century at Abri Castanet and the adjacent site of Abri Blanchard. This new discovery from Castanet surely provides an age estimate for those earlierfinds, all of which were located within a few meters of...

Domestic spaces as crucibles of Paleolithic culture: An archaeological perspective

Journal of Human Evolution, 2022

The places in which people live, sleep, prepare food, and undertake other activitiesdknown variab... more The places in which people live, sleep, prepare food, and undertake other activitiesdknown variably as homes, residential sites, living sites, and domestic spacesdplay a key role in the emergence and evolution of modern human culture. The dynamic influence of domestic spaces began early in human evolutionary history, during the Paleolithic/Stone Age. Drawing on examples from Africa and western Eurasia, this article explores aspects of the changing social and cultural significance of domestic spaces throughout this time using several lines of evidence: repeated site visitation, behavioral structuring of living spaces, and information gained by dissecting palimpsest records. With the development of pyrotechnology, living sites become hearth-centered domestic spaces that provided a common hub for activities. Through time the activities around hearths increased in their complexity and diversity. The parsing of palimpsest records by archaeologists also reveals changes in the nature, variety, and intensity of on-site activities through time, indicating shifts in site function and the spatial expression of cultural norms. Archaeological evidence shows that the entwined development of domestic spaces and human cultural activities was gradual, albeit nonlinear from the Lower Paleolithic through the Upper Paleolithic/ later Middle Stone Age. In this process, domestic spaces emerged as common arenas of opportunity for social interaction and knowledge transmission, qualities that may have contributed to and enhanced the development of cumulative culture in Paleolithic society.

Download

The origins of a built environment: Place-making and the spatial signatures of Neanderthals and Modern Humans

More Than Shelter from the Storm: Hunter-Gatherer Houses and the Built Environment, 2022

Download

The road to differentiated land use and domestic space in the Middle Pleistocene of southwestern Asia

Crossing the Human Threshold, 2017

Sergeac. Abri Castanet. Bilan des fouilles programmées (Aurignacien ancien)

Sergeac. Abri Castanet. Abri Blanchard. Bilan des opérations de diagnostic (Aurignacien ancien)

Early Middle Stone Age personal ornaments from Bizmoune Cave, Essaouira, Morocco

Science Advances, 2021

Shell beads from Bizmoune Cave (Morocco) show the early appearance and continuity of symbolic beh... more

Download

Une nouvelle découverte d’art pariétal aurignacien in situ à l’abri Castanet (Dordogne, France) : contexte et datation

Paléo, 2012

Cet article présente l'exceptionnelle découverte d'un fragment de voûte ornée, en juillet 2007 su... more Cet article présente l'exceptionnelle découverte d'un fragment de voûte ornée, en juillet 2007 sur le site aurignacien ancien de l'abri Castanet (commune de Sergeac, Dordogne). Depuis la découverte, l'équipe a entrepris une vaste réflexion pluridisciplinaire destinée à l'étude et à la contextualisation du bloc au sein des remplissages de l'abri Castanet, mais aussi à une échelle beaucoup plus large, celle du vallon de Castel-Merle. Il s'agit de replacer l'expression graphique des premiers Hommes modernes d'Europe occidentale avec l'ensemble des activités humaines, quotidiennes ou non, exercées sur le site. Après une présentation générale des problématiques archéologiques inhérentes à la période et au site étudié, les objectifs initiaux ayant présidé à une relecture de la coupe laissée par D. Peyrony en 1925 seront précisés, ainsi que les circonstances exactes de la découverte du bloc et le choix de la méthode utilisée pour son extraction. Une description du bloc lui-même, des techniques utilisées pour son étude des entités graphiques qu'il possède sera ensuite proposée. Enfin, une réflexion pluridisciplinaire relative à la mise en relation de cette découverte avec le reste des données (archéologiques et environnementales) sera détaillée. Une nouvelle découverte d'art pariétal aurignacien in situ à l'abri Castanet ... PALEO, 23 | 2012 1 2-Contexte historique et de découverte L'abri Castanet est l'un des nombreux gisements sous abri du vallon de Castel-Merle, sur la commune de Sergeac, débouchant sur la rive gauche de la Vézère, entre Les Eyzies et Montignac (fig. 1). Le site fut découvert en 1911 par M. Castanet sur le versant est du vallon, alors qu'il travaillait pour L. Didon comme ouvrier de fouille à l'abri Blanchard, situé plus au nord (White et al. 2012). Les fouilles ont été entreprises alors par M. Castanet sous la supervision de D.

Download

Context and dating of newly discovered Aurignacian rock art from Abri Castanet (Dordogne, France)

Paléo, 2012

This paper presents the exceptional discovery of a fragment of a ceiling block bearing graphic im... more This paper presents the exceptional discovery of a fragment of a ceiling block bearing graphic imagery at the early Aurignacian site of Abri Castanet (Sergeac commune, Dordogne) in July 2007. Since the discovery, a multi-disciplinary team has studied the block and its context, not just within the Castanet infilling, but also within the context of the Castel-Merle valley. The aim of this study is to set this early modern human graphic representation in the context of all the daily and other human activities carried out at the site. After a general presentation of the archaeological issues relevant to the period and the site, we present the initial objectives of this study, as well as the exact circumstances of the discovery of the block and the chosen extraction method. We then undertake a description of the block itself, the study techniques used and the graphic entities represented. Lastly, we present a multidisciplinary reflection linking this discovery to other archaeological and environmental data.

Download

Uploads

Papers by Amy E Clark