A new look at the Berekhat Ram figurine: Implications for the origins of symbolism

被引:86
作者
D'Errico, F [1 ]
Nowell, A
Bar-Yosef, O
Zilhao, J
Mithen, S
Wynn, T
Marshack, A
Close, AE
机构
[1] CNRS, UMR 5808, Inst prehist & Geol Quaternaire, F-33405 Talence, France
[2] Univ Penn, Dept Anthropol, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
[3] Harvard Univ, Peabody Museum, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
[4] Inst Portugues Arqueol, P-1300 Lisbon, Portugal
[5] Univ Reading, Dept Archaeol, Reading RG6 2AH, Berks, England
[6] Univ Colorado, Dept Anthropol, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
[7] Harvard Univ, Peabody Museum Archaeol & Ethnol, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
[8] Univ Washington, Dept Anthropol, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
关键词
D O I
10.1017/S0959774300000056
中图分类号
K85 [文物考古];
学科分类号
0601 ;
摘要
This article addresses the nature of the evidence for symbolling behaviour among hominids living in the Near east during the Middle and Upper Pleistocene. Traditionally, Palaeolithic art and symbolling have been synonymous with the Upper Palaeolithic of Europe. The Berekhat Ram figurine, a piece of volcanic material from a lower Palaeolithic site in Israel, Described as purposely modified to produce human features, challenges the view of a late emergence of symbolic behaviour. The anthropogenic nature of these modifications, however, is controversial. We address this problem through an examination of volcanic material from the Berekhat Ram site and from other sources, and by experimentally reproducing the modifications observed on the figurine. We also analyze this material nad the figurine itself through optical and SEM microscopy. Our conclusion is that this object was purposely modified by hominids.
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页码:123 / 167
页数:45
相关论文
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