Details
This collection of papers celebrates the career of Ofer Bar-Yosef and his contribution to the study of prehistory. As professor at the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University (1970-1988) and as MacCurdy Professor at Harvard University (1989-present), Ofer has had a huge impact on prehistoric archaeology, fostering multi-national research projects worldwide. With such wide-ranging research interests spanning his career, the editors of this book needed to find a theme which could somehow reflect the entirety of his career so far. The theme they chose was transitions in prehistory a topic that Ofer has written on from the early phases of his career to the present day. They have called upon students and long-term collaborators to address questions about important transitions in prehistory, dividing the papers into three groups: transitions in the Pleistocene; transitions in the Holocene; and methodological and theoretical transitions, changes in the way archaeologists view the nature of the evidence and our explanations of the archaeological record.
Table of Contents
1. The Transition from Australopithecus to Homo I (Daniel E. Lieberman, David R. Pilbeam and Richard W. Wrangham)
2. Historical Perspectives on Long-Term Landscape Evolution in the Hula Basin (Craig S. Feibel, Naama Goren-Inbar and Mitia Frumin)
3. The Wisdom of the Aged and Out of Africa I (Martha Tappen)
4. The Paradox of Diet and Technology in the Middle Paleolithic (Steven L. Kuhn)
5. Bridging the Gap: Explaining the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition in the Levant (John J. Shea)
6. The Antiquity of Large-Game Hunting in the Mediterranean Paleolithic: Evidence from Mortality Patterns (Mary C. Stiner)
7. Re-evaluating Connections between the Early Upper Paleolithic of Northeast Africa and the Levant: Technological Differences between the Dabban and the Emiran (Radu P. Iovita)
8. Cultural, Behavioral and Biological Discontinuities at the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition in the Southern Caucasus (Daniel S. Adler)
9. The Importance of Process and Historical Event in the Study of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition (Gilbert B. Tostevin)
10. The Dynamics of Pleistocene and Early Holocene Settlement Patterns and Human Adaptations in the Levant: An Overview (Nigel Goring-Morris, Erella Hovers and Anna Belfer-Cohen)
11. The Archaeological Signature of Behavioral Modernity: A Perspective from the Southern Periphery of the Modern Human Range (Nicola Stern)
12. Variation in Goat Diet through the Later Pre-Pottery Neolithic: Diachronic Shifts in Human Approaches to Caprine Management at Basta (Cheryl Makarewicz and Noreen Tuross)
13. From Eynan (Ain Mallaha) to Netiv Hagdud: Developing a New Self-Awareness (Francois R. Valla)
14. The Transition from Neolithic to Chalcolithic Transition in the Southern Levant: Late Sixth-Fifth Millennium Culture History (Yosef Garfinkel)
15. The Neolithic-Chalcolithic Transition in the Southern Levant: Late Sixth-Fifth Millennium Culture History (Isaac Gilead)
16. The Mesolithic of the Aegean Basin: How to Interpret the Pre-Neolithic Settlement of the Aegean Islands and Its Role in the Neolithization of Southeastern Europe (Janusz K. Kozslowski and Malgorzata Kaczanowska)
17. Paleoindian Stability during the Younger Dryas in the North American Lower Great Lakes (Metin I. Eren)
18. Diagenetic Transformations: Deciphering the Archaeological Record of Prehistoric Caves (Steve Weiner)
19. Geoarchaeology, Site Formation and Transitions (Paul Goldberg, Liliane Meignen and Carolina Mallol)
20. Vere Gordon Childe and the Concept of Revolution (C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky)
21. Pattern and Technology: Why the Chaine Operatoire Matters (Michael Chazan)
22. The 'Nature of Transitions' in the Stone Age: A Comparative Approach (Aaron Jonas Stutz)
2. Historical Perspectives on Long-Term Landscape Evolution in the Hula Basin (Craig S. Feibel, Naama Goren-Inbar and Mitia Frumin)
3. The Wisdom of the Aged and Out of Africa I (Martha Tappen)
4. The Paradox of Diet and Technology in the Middle Paleolithic (Steven L. Kuhn)
5. Bridging the Gap: Explaining the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition in the Levant (John J. Shea)
6. The Antiquity of Large-Game Hunting in the Mediterranean Paleolithic: Evidence from Mortality Patterns (Mary C. Stiner)
7. Re-evaluating Connections between the Early Upper Paleolithic of Northeast Africa and the Levant: Technological Differences between the Dabban and the Emiran (Radu P. Iovita)
8. Cultural, Behavioral and Biological Discontinuities at the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition in the Southern Caucasus (Daniel S. Adler)
9. The Importance of Process and Historical Event in the Study of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition (Gilbert B. Tostevin)
10. The Dynamics of Pleistocene and Early Holocene Settlement Patterns and Human Adaptations in the Levant: An Overview (Nigel Goring-Morris, Erella Hovers and Anna Belfer-Cohen)
11. The Archaeological Signature of Behavioral Modernity: A Perspective from the Southern Periphery of the Modern Human Range (Nicola Stern)
12. Variation in Goat Diet through the Later Pre-Pottery Neolithic: Diachronic Shifts in Human Approaches to Caprine Management at Basta (Cheryl Makarewicz and Noreen Tuross)
13. From Eynan (Ain Mallaha) to Netiv Hagdud: Developing a New Self-Awareness (Francois R. Valla)
14. The Transition from Neolithic to Chalcolithic Transition in the Southern Levant: Late Sixth-Fifth Millennium Culture History (Yosef Garfinkel)
15. The Neolithic-Chalcolithic Transition in the Southern Levant: Late Sixth-Fifth Millennium Culture History (Isaac Gilead)
16. The Mesolithic of the Aegean Basin: How to Interpret the Pre-Neolithic Settlement of the Aegean Islands and Its Role in the Neolithization of Southeastern Europe (Janusz K. Kozslowski and Malgorzata Kaczanowska)
17. Paleoindian Stability during the Younger Dryas in the North American Lower Great Lakes (Metin I. Eren)
18. Diagenetic Transformations: Deciphering the Archaeological Record of Prehistoric Caves (Steve Weiner)
19. Geoarchaeology, Site Formation and Transitions (Paul Goldberg, Liliane Meignen and Carolina Mallol)
20. Vere Gordon Childe and the Concept of Revolution (C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky)
21. Pattern and Technology: Why the Chaine Operatoire Matters (Michael Chazan)
22. The 'Nature of Transitions' in the Stone Age: A Comparative Approach (Aaron Jonas Stutz)
Reviews & Quotes
"This is an excellent reference book for both professionals and students, and is an essential library resource. Many of the essays are thought-provoking and reflect the latest trends in method and theory. Although its primary focus is on the Levant, anyone interested in human adaptations in the Pleistocene and early Holocene will find it very useful.'"
Michael S. Bisson
The Holocene, vol 20, No. 1004 (2010)
"...a decidedly scholarly work that continues Ofer Bar-Yosefs tradition of empirical research and invigorating debate. [...] It provides something of interest and/or value for archaeological theorists, paleoanthropologists, behavioral ecologists, zooarcaheologists, and stone tool specialists, to mention but a few.'"
Marlize Lombard, University of Johannesburg
PaleoAnthropology
(2010)