Long gone wilds or novel possibilities?

Description

Contributon to Theoretical Approaches to Techno-Behaviours During the Middle Stone Age (Africa)/Middle Palaeolithic (Europe). Session #207
Abstract: Recent developments in geochronology have been critical in facilitating the integration of different data sources, and in changing our understanding of when different species emerge and the degree to which they overlap in time and space. It could be argued that due to such scientific advances we are better positioned than ever before to understand behavioural change in its broader landscape, palaeoecological and genetic context. The plethora of new discoveries in recent years has led to significant shifts in long-accepted interpretations, which is undoubtedly exciting and makes us re-evaluate the questions we ask for these periods of human evolution. But alongside this, the diversification of disciplines and methods being brought to bear on the subject of human evolution makes it increasingly challenging to produce new “grand narratives”. At the heart of these matters lies the issue of scale; and the fact that the many of lifeways, landscapes and faunas we seek to understand have no analogue in today’s world or the more recent past. This paper will consider the limitations and possibilities of understanding life in the Stone Age. It will focus on recent methodologies and theoretical approaches that facilitate the exploration of human behaviour, technological and landscape change and importantly, consider those which allow researchers to move between scales and across disciplines. Case studies will include site-specific and regional considerations of Early – Middle Stone Age sites in Uganda and Tanzania in the context of our current understanding of the emergence of Homo sapiens; as well as regional and landscape analyses of the European Palaeolithic.

Period	07 Sept 2018
Event title	European Association of Archaeologists -24th Annual Meeting
Event type	Conference
Location	Barcelona, SpainShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International