ARCH 112 Lecture Notes - Lecture 32: Oceania, Willandra Lakes Region, Pleistocene
27 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Venus of Hohle Fels ****
This 35,000 year old Venus figurine is the oldest
depiction of a human female
○
Possibly worn as jewellery
○
-
Hohlenstein site
Germany
○
32,000 year old lion headed figurine made from mammoth
ivory
○
Combination of animal and human characteristics--head
of a lion, body of a man
○
12 inches (28 cm) tall
○
-
Modern Humans made musical instruments
35,000 year old bird bone flute from Hohle Fels Cave,
Germany is an example of one of the oldest instruments
○
Oldest date back to 40,000 ya
○
-
Elaborate Upper Paleolithic Burials
During the Upper Paleolithic we see examples of
elaborate burials with numerous grave goods (which we
do not see with Neandertals)
○
Over 100 burials in the Upper Paleolithic
○
Examples include:
Sungir site – Russia
Dates 28,000 years ago
□
Elaborate burial with many grave goods
□
Grave with two adolescence were buried head to
head (both males)--buried with polished femur
bone--buried with at least 10,000 ivory beads
(10,000 hours to make those beads)
□
Burial of an older man
□
There are a few more burials at this site--
found with ivory beads
□
Graves found with ivory bead, spears, etc.
□
§
○
-
Dolni Vestonice – Czech Republic
Dates 28,000 years ago
□
Triple burial with associated ritual and grave
goods. The site also has the remains of
structures (Range of 17 -20 yo)--buried with a
lot of ochre (red ochre by the pelvic region)--
initially thought the middle skeleton was a
female (but they were all males)--two seemed to
have been related
□
Also site with remains of structures
□
Venus of Dolni Vestonice - Earliest example of
fired clay sculpture (dates 26,000 B.P.)
□
§
Discussion comparing the material culture of Neandertals
and anatomically modern humans
Expanding Geographic Horizons ***
-
Read Chapter 7 for Discussion of Expanding Geographic
Horizons. You will be responsible for understanding the
initial occupation of Australia and the Americas. --
expanding intellectual horizon?
The Initial Occupation of Australia
Sahul - The land mass of “Greater Australia” including
Australia proper, New Guinea, and Tasmania. During
Periods of glacial maxima in the Pleistocene these
three islands were combined in the single land mass of
Sahul.
○
Sunda – The combined land mass of the modern islands of
Java, Sumatra, Bali and Borneo. These islands became a
single, continuous land mass during periods of
glaciation and attendant lowered sea level during the
Pleistocene.
○
Wallace trench - an undersea chasm located between New
Guinea/Australia and Java/Borneo
○
-
Interesting Australian sites include:
Lake Mungo. This site in the Willandra Lakes region has
some of Australia’s earliest human occupations.
○
-
The Upper Paleolithic cont'd
Monday, October 16, 2017
11:20 AM
Document Summary
This 35,000 year old venus figurine is the oldest depiction of a human female. 32,000 year old lion headed figurine made from mammoth ivory. Combination of animal and human characteristics--head of a lion, body of a man. 35,000 year old bird bone flute from hohle fels cave, Germany is an example of one of the oldest instruments. During the upper paleolithic we see examples of elaborate burials with numerous grave goods (which we do not see with neandertals) Grave with two adolescence were buried head to head (both males)--buried with polished femur bone--buried with at least 10,000 ivory beads (10,000 hours to make those beads) There are a few more burials at this site-- found with ivory beads. Triple burial with associated ritual and grave goods. Venus of dolni vestonice - earliest example of fired clay sculpture (dates 26,000 b. p. ) Discussion comparing the material culture of neandertals and anatomically modern humans. Read chapter 7 for discussion of expanding geographic.
