Behavioral change and the middle/upper paleolithic transition : chronological change and perigord lithic assemblage diversity

The Middle/Upper Paleolithic boundary in the Perigord of France is reevaluated in terms of stone tool technology. Two measures of technological organization, assemblage richness and evenness (diversity) were used to evaluate the commonly held belief that the Middle/Upper Paleolithic boundary represents a rubicon in the behavioral evolution of modern humans.

A regression method was used to determine the nature of the relationship between time and lithic assemblage diversity for a total of 71 assemblages from the Middle and Upper Paleolithic. A weak, though significant relationship was found. However this relationship does not fulfill expectations based on a model of radical change at the boundary.

Least-Squares Means and unbalanced Analysis of Variance methods were used on a total of 235 assemblages to further examine change in technological organization. The results imply that models of technological and subsistence specialization during the Upper Paleolithic are too simplistic. Most importantly, claims for radical change in hominid organizational capabilities with the appearance of anatomically modern humans are not supported.