Early Human Adaptation in the Northern Hemisphere and the Implications of Taphonomy - BAR. International Series

The earliest evidence of Homo sapiens in the northern hemisphere is in the form of stone tools occasionally found in association with animal remains. The purpose of this research is to examine the nature of the interpretive links between open-air assemblages and models of human adaptation. Its central argument is that the archaeological evidence for the hunting model is scarce, and that the applied evidence is often illogically interpreted, and biased by taphonomic processes which have not been considered. This book suggests an alternative approach whereby human causality is not an assumed component of site accumulation. A primary, or relatively undisturbed context needs to be demonstrated before these lithic and bone scatters can suggest human subsistence patterns. This involves defining test implications to critically evaluate the integrity of the association of lithics and faunal remains, and ultimately addresses the problem of whether early human life ways are accessible to us.