Middle Paleolithic
The Middle Paleolithic period stretched from 300,000 to 50,000 years ago across Europe, Africa and Asia. Regional dating differences created considerable confusion for early researchers. Pettit and White dated the Early Middle Paleolithic in Great Britain to about 325,000 to 180,000 years ago. They placed the Late Middle Paleolithic as roughly 60,000 to 35,000 years ago. This era fell within the geological Chibanian age of the Middle Pleistocene. It also extended into the Late Pleistocene ages that followed. The Upper Paleolithic subdivision began between 50,000 and 40,000 years ago to succeed this earlier period.
Anatomically modern humans began migrating out of Africa during the Middle Stone Age around 125,000 years ago. These groups started replacing other Homo species such as Neanderthals and Homo erectus. Recent African origin theory suggests these migrations occurred throughout the Middle Paleolithic timeframe. Some scholars argue that behavioral modernity first appeared during this same window. Undisputed evidence of complex behavior only became common later during the Upper Paleolithic period. The transition marked a significant shift in human evolutionary history across multiple continents.
Around 200,000 BP Stone tool manufacturing spawned the Levallois technique or prepared-core method. Wallace and Shea split core artifacts into formal cores and expedient cores. Formal cores extracted maximum material while expedient cores focused on functional need. This method increased efficiency by creating more controlled and consistent flakes. Middle Paleolithic humans created stone-tipped spears as earliest composite tools. They hafted sharp pointy stone flakes onto wooden shafts. Neanderthal groups hunted large game using projectile weapons very rarely if at all. Most hunting occurred through ambushing animals with mêlée weapons like thrusting spears rather than distance attacks. Harold L. Dibble suggested ongoing controversy about whether tools had functionally specific forms or simple morphological continuums.
Middle Stone Age inhabitants of Democratic Republic of Congo hunted long catfish with specialized barbed fishing points around 90,000 years ago. Neandertals in Italy began catching shellfish for food about 110,000 years ago. Pinnacle Point sites in Africa revealed similar shellfish cooking practices. People supplemented gathering and hunting diets with seafood consumption during this period. Smoking and drying meat allowed preservation and storage of food supplies. Anthropologist Tim D. White noted cannibalism may have been common before Upper Paleolithic times based on butchered human bones found at various sites. Food shortages likely drove some instances though religious reasons remain possible explanations. Damage to recovered bones might also result from excarnation or predation by carnivores like saber-toothed cats.
Western European cave sites included Axlor in Spain and Grotte de Spy in Belgium. La Cotte de St Brelade appeared in Jersey while Le Moustier featured in France. The Mousterian culture developed alongside these locations. Neandertal valley in Germany provided key evidence for the era. Petralona caves in Greece held additional Middle Paleolithic remains. North African Aterian sites expanded across the region. Bisitun Cave in Iran yielded human remains according to Trinkaus and Biglari's 2006 research. Daş Salahlı in Azerbaijan and Wezmeh in Iran offered further archaeological data. Open-air sites like Biache-Saint-Vaast in France and Maastricht-Belvédère in Netherlands showed diverse settlement patterns. Veldwezelt-Hezerwater in Belgium completed this geographic survey of significant locations.
Common questions
When did the Middle Paleolithic period occur?
The Middle Paleolithic period stretched from 300,000 to 50,000 years ago across Europe, Africa and Asia. This era fell within the geological Chibanian age of the Middle Pleistocene and extended into the Late Pleistocene ages that followed.
Who developed the Levallois technique during the Middle Paleolithic?
Stone tool manufacturing spawned the Levallois technique or prepared-core method around 200,000 BP. Wallace and Shea split core artifacts into formal cores and expedient cores to increase efficiency by creating more controlled and consistent flakes.
Where are significant Middle Paleolithic burial sites located?
Middle Paleolithic burials at Krapina in Croatia dated to 130,000 BP show early burial practices. Qafzeh and Es Skhul caves in Israel held similar sites from about 100,000 BP while Neandertal valley in Germany provided key evidence for the era.
What food sources did Middle Stone Age inhabitants consume?
Middle Stone Age inhabitants of Democratic Republic of Congo hunted long catfish with specialized barbed fishing points around 90,000 years ago. Neandertals in Italy began catching shellfish for food about 110,000 years ago and people supplemented gathering and hunting diets with seafood consumption during this period.
Why do scholars debate behavioral modernity in the Middle Paleolithic?
Some scholars argue that behavioral modernity first appeared during the Middle Paleolithic timeframe but undisputed evidence of complex behavior only became common later during the Upper Paleolithic period. Philip Lieberman believed these cultures possessed developing religious ideologies including concepts of an afterlife while other scholars suggested bodies were buried for secular reasons instead.