Utsav A. Schurmans

The Measurement and Interpretation of Cortex in Lithic Assemblages

Cortex is often used as an indicator of core reduction and transport, but current measures to evaluate the observed amount of cortex in a lithic assemblage with what might be expected under particular conditions are still ambiguous. The purpose of the present study is to develop and evaluate an alternative method based on solid geometry. This method is evaluated with an experimentally produced assemblage, and implications of its application to archaeological assemblages are presented and discussed.

New excavations at the site of Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco

PaleoAnthropology 2012: 145−201.

Nubian Complex strategies in the Egyptian high desert.

Systematic survey by the Abydos Survey for Paleolithic Sites project has recorded Nubian Complex artifact density, distribution, typology, and technology across the high desert landscape west of the Nile Valley in Middle Egypt. Our work contrasts with previous investigations of Nubian Complex settlement systems in Egypt, which focused on a small number of sites in the terraces of the Nile Valley, the desert oases, and the Red Sea Mountains. Earlier research interpreted the Nubian Complex, in particular, as a radiating settlement system that incorporated a specialized point production. Our high desert data, however, indicate that the Nubian Complex associated with early modern humans in this region of the high desert reflects a circulating, rather than a radiating, settlement system, and that point production has been over-emphasized. Data available from our work, as well as sites investigated by others, do not conclusively identify Nubian Complex behavioral strategies as modern. These data, however, do contribute to the understanding of landscape use by early modern human populations living along the Nile Valley Corridor route out of Africa.

High Desert Paleolithic Survey at Abydos, Egypt

Abstract In the winters of 2000 and 2002–2003 we surveyed a portion of the high desert immediately adjacent to the Nile Valley at Abydos, Egypt. The initial field season assessed the areas potential to contribute to the existing database of Paleolithic landscapes. Limited work done prior to our initial survey indicated that such Paleolithic sites in this region, while present, were relatively infrequent. Contrary to this expectation, we found the desert landscape densely littered with Paleolithic artifacts. Our subsequent work documented the extent of the distribution and the nature of Paleolithic artifacts. The goal of this work is to develop models of desert landscape use, particularly during the Middle Paleolithic, which can be integrated into those existing for the Nile Valley. In doing this, we provide a more complete picture of hominid adaptations in a place and time period critical to our understanding of the origins of modern human behaviors.

Middle Palaeolithic Lithic Technology from the Western High Desert of Egypt

Abstract Recent work in the high desert west of Abydos in Egypt has focused on the Middle Palaeolithic technologies known as Nubian 1 and 2 types and classic Levallois, which are abundant and are found in virtually all stages of production. Although these were originally defined and treated as three discrete technologies, refitting and quantitative analyses show that they are variants of one technology. While this has direct implications for interpreting lithic technological variability in this region, the demonstration that a single technology can result in seemingly discrete end products also has implications for all lithic technological studies.