Comparing Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transitions in the Middle East and Egypt

Abstract

Transitions in the lithic archaeological record are subject to diverse questions. These include whether this record is characterized by gradualism or by punctuated changes; how different terminologies (for example, the Middle Stone Age and the Middle Paleolithic) affect interpretations; at what point a lithic assemblage is classified as Upper rather than Middle Paleolithic; and if the lithic transitions from the Middle to Upper Paleolithic for both modern humans and Neandertals are similar or different. In the Middle East, there are several instances of lithic transitions from the Middle to Upper Paleo- lithic—the best known are Ksar ‘Akil (Lebanon) and Boker Tachtit (NegevDesert).Less well knownis the transition in the Zagros, where the Zagros Aurigna- cian facies emerges from the Zagros Middle Paleo- lithic, with subsequent changes in this Early Upper Paleolithic industry to one that shares similarities to the Evolved Aurignacian of Western Europe. In contrast to the Middle East is the lithic record of the Egyptian Paleolithic. Formal tools here are quite scarce in bothMiddle and Early Upper Paleo- lithic assemblages. Various researchers have used eitherMiddle Stone Age or Middle Paleolithic termi- nology, dependent in part on their view of the rela- tionship of Egyptian industries to those of sub- Saharan Africa. Finally, the rarity of Early Upper Paleolithic sites, and thus the scarcity of available data, limits understanding of the transition in Egypt.