Geoffrey A. Clark | Arizona State University (original) (raw)
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Papers by Geoffrey A. Clark
curriculum vita, 2022
It's a current cv, replacing one from 2017.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1993
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 1992
Steven Mithen's ‘Ecological Interpretations of Palaeolithic Art’ (PPS57, 103–14) reminded me ... more Steven Mithen's ‘Ecological Interpretations of Palaeolithic Art’ (PPS57, 103–14) reminded me of a Chinese meal — initially satisfying, but it doesn't stick with you for very long. While I subscribe to broadly similar paradigmatic biases at the level of the metaphysic, the ‘thoughtful forager’ model itself, proposed to relate various aspects of the art under the aegis of a particular kind of adaptationist perspective, seems to be conceptually muddled and operationally problematic. Also, Mithen's starting-point, the notion of an inherent contradiction between human creativity and an adaptationist point of view, is a red herring—wherever did he get it?! I will confine these brief remarks to three points that bear on different conceptions of adaptation and how they effect construals of pattern and the meaning of pattern in Palaeolithic art. I also respond to referees' comments.Mithen takes me, Straus and Gamble to task for omitting the individual and individual decision-...
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1994
The Archaeology of the Wadi al-Hasa, …, 2000
Comparison of mortuary data from the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological record sho... more Comparison of mortuary data from the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological record shows that, contrary to previous assessments, there is much evidence for continuity between the two periods. This suggests that if R. H. Gargett’s critique of alleged Middle Paleolithic burials is to be given credence, it should also be applied to the “burials” of the Early Upper Paleolithic. Evidence for continuity reinforces conclusions derived from lithic and faunal analyses and site locations that the Upper Paleolithic as a reified category masks much variation in the archaeological record and is therefore not an appropriate analytical tool. Dividing the Upper Paleolithic into Early and Late phases might be helpful for understanding the cultural and biological processes at work.
Paléorient, 1994
Le sondage effectué en 1984 dans l'abri sous roche effondré de Yutil al-Hasa avait livré des... more Le sondage effectué en 1984 dans l'abri sous roche effondré de Yutil al-Hasa avait livré des assemblages du Paléolithique supérieur final de tradition ahmarienne. De nouveaux sondages en 1993 ont permis de reconnaître des dépôts du Madamaghien et du Natoufien ancien. ...
Paléorient, 1994
Le sondage effectué en 1984 dans l'abri sous roche effondré de Yutil al-Hasa avait livré des... more Le sondage effectué en 1984 dans l'abri sous roche effondré de Yutil al-Hasa avait livré des assemblages du Paléolithique supérieur final de tradition ahmarienne. De nouveaux sondages en 1993 ont permis de reconnaître des dépôts du Madamaghien et du Natoufien ancien. ...
Current Anthropology, 2001
Comparison of mortuary data from the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological record sho... more Comparison of mortuary data from the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological record shows that, contrary to previous assessments, there is much evidence for continuity between the two periods. This suggests that if R. H. Gargett's critique of alleged Middle Paleolithic burials is to be given credence, it should also be applied to the "burials" of the Early Upper Paleolithic. Evidence for continuity reinforces conclusions derived from lithic and faunal analyses and site locations that the Upper Paleolithic as a reified category masks much variation in the archaeological record and is therefore not an appropriate analytical tool. Dividing the Upper Paleolithic into Early and Late phases might be helpful for understanding the cultural and biological processes at work.
Current Anthropology, 2001
Comparison of mortuary data from the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological record sho... more Comparison of mortuary data from the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological record shows that, contrary to previous assessments, there is much evidence for continuity between the two periods. This suggests that if R. H. Gargett's critique of alleged Middle Paleolithic burials is to be given credence, it should also be applied to the "burials" of the Early Upper Paleolithic. Evidence for continuity reinforces conclusions derived from lithic and faunal analyses and site locations that the Upper Paleolithic as a reified category masks much variation in the archaeological record and is therefore not an appropriate analytical tool. Dividing the Upper Paleolithic into Early and Late phases might be helpful for understanding the cultural and biological processes at work.
Antiquity, 1996
The ANTIQUITY paper by Neeley &am... more The ANTIQUITY paper by Neeley & Barton (1994) — hereafter ‘N&B'— prompted responses published in the June number last year: Fellner (1995) and Kaufman (1995). Here are more (all shorter than the full versions received), together with a response from Barton & Neeley…
Transitions before the transition, 2006
The intellectual traditions that frame Paleolithic research in Europe and the United States are r... more The intellectual traditions that frame Paleolithic research in Europe and the United States are reviewed, and the European Middle Paleolithic archaeological record is examined for patterns that contradict the “textbook generalizations” embodied in Paul Mellars' “human revolution”. The fact that different typologies are used to describe the Middle and Upper Paleolithic respectively emphasizes differences between them (especially if typology “trumps”
![Research paper thumbnail of Paleoecology at La Riera (Asturias, Spain)[and Comments and Reply]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/68067530/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Current …, 1981
CANTABRIAN SEA RASCANO Fig. 1. Eastern Asturias and western Santander, showing major topographic ... more CANTABRIAN SEA RASCANO Fig. 1. Eastern Asturias and western Santander, showing major topographic features and the locations of La Riera Cave and a few of the other chief sites. ing of the late Pleistocene-early Holocene regional ecosystems in which prehistoric ...
![Research paper thumbnail of Paleoecology at La Riera (Asturias, Spain)[and Comments and Reply]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/68067476/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Current …, 1981
CANTABRIAN SEA RASCANO Fig. 1. Eastern Asturias and western Santander, showing major topographic ... more CANTABRIAN SEA RASCANO Fig. 1. Eastern Asturias and western Santander, showing major topographic features and the locations of La Riera Cave and a few of the other chief sites. ing of the late Pleistocene-early Holocene regional ecosystems in which prehistoric ...
World archaeology, 1994
Proceeding from the information exchange theory of style, we argue that the changing temporal and... more Proceeding from the information exchange theory of style, we argue that the changing temporal and spatial distributions of mobile and parietal art in Paleolithic Europe are related aspects of a single evolutionary process: alternating selective pressures differentially favoring the expression of assertive and emblemic style over the 30–7 kyr BP interval. These pressures result from demographic and social change across the European subcontinent in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. We develop a model of cultural selection for symbolic behavior manifest as art that proceeds from and parallels natural selection in neo‐Darwinian evolutionary theory.
curriculum vita, 2022
It's a current cv, replacing one from 2017.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1993
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 1992
Steven Mithen's ‘Ecological Interpretations of Palaeolithic Art’ (PPS57, 103–14) reminded me ... more Steven Mithen's ‘Ecological Interpretations of Palaeolithic Art’ (PPS57, 103–14) reminded me of a Chinese meal — initially satisfying, but it doesn't stick with you for very long. While I subscribe to broadly similar paradigmatic biases at the level of the metaphysic, the ‘thoughtful forager’ model itself, proposed to relate various aspects of the art under the aegis of a particular kind of adaptationist perspective, seems to be conceptually muddled and operationally problematic. Also, Mithen's starting-point, the notion of an inherent contradiction between human creativity and an adaptationist point of view, is a red herring—wherever did he get it?! I will confine these brief remarks to three points that bear on different conceptions of adaptation and how they effect construals of pattern and the meaning of pattern in Palaeolithic art. I also respond to referees' comments.Mithen takes me, Straus and Gamble to task for omitting the individual and individual decision-...
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1994
The Archaeology of the Wadi al-Hasa, …, 2000
Comparison of mortuary data from the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological record sho... more Comparison of mortuary data from the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological record shows that, contrary to previous assessments, there is much evidence for continuity between the two periods. This suggests that if R. H. Gargett’s critique of alleged Middle Paleolithic burials is to be given credence, it should also be applied to the “burials” of the Early Upper Paleolithic. Evidence for continuity reinforces conclusions derived from lithic and faunal analyses and site locations that the Upper Paleolithic as a reified category masks much variation in the archaeological record and is therefore not an appropriate analytical tool. Dividing the Upper Paleolithic into Early and Late phases might be helpful for understanding the cultural and biological processes at work.
Paléorient, 1994
Le sondage effectué en 1984 dans l'abri sous roche effondré de Yutil al-Hasa avait livré des... more Le sondage effectué en 1984 dans l'abri sous roche effondré de Yutil al-Hasa avait livré des assemblages du Paléolithique supérieur final de tradition ahmarienne. De nouveaux sondages en 1993 ont permis de reconnaître des dépôts du Madamaghien et du Natoufien ancien. ...
Paléorient, 1994
Le sondage effectué en 1984 dans l'abri sous roche effondré de Yutil al-Hasa avait livré des... more Le sondage effectué en 1984 dans l'abri sous roche effondré de Yutil al-Hasa avait livré des assemblages du Paléolithique supérieur final de tradition ahmarienne. De nouveaux sondages en 1993 ont permis de reconnaître des dépôts du Madamaghien et du Natoufien ancien. ...
Current Anthropology, 2001
Comparison of mortuary data from the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological record sho... more Comparison of mortuary data from the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological record shows that, contrary to previous assessments, there is much evidence for continuity between the two periods. This suggests that if R. H. Gargett's critique of alleged Middle Paleolithic burials is to be given credence, it should also be applied to the "burials" of the Early Upper Paleolithic. Evidence for continuity reinforces conclusions derived from lithic and faunal analyses and site locations that the Upper Paleolithic as a reified category masks much variation in the archaeological record and is therefore not an appropriate analytical tool. Dividing the Upper Paleolithic into Early and Late phases might be helpful for understanding the cultural and biological processes at work.
Current Anthropology, 2001
Comparison of mortuary data from the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological record sho... more Comparison of mortuary data from the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological record shows that, contrary to previous assessments, there is much evidence for continuity between the two periods. This suggests that if R. H. Gargett's critique of alleged Middle Paleolithic burials is to be given credence, it should also be applied to the "burials" of the Early Upper Paleolithic. Evidence for continuity reinforces conclusions derived from lithic and faunal analyses and site locations that the Upper Paleolithic as a reified category masks much variation in the archaeological record and is therefore not an appropriate analytical tool. Dividing the Upper Paleolithic into Early and Late phases might be helpful for understanding the cultural and biological processes at work.
Antiquity, 1996
The ANTIQUITY paper by Neeley &am... more The ANTIQUITY paper by Neeley & Barton (1994) — hereafter ‘N&B'— prompted responses published in the June number last year: Fellner (1995) and Kaufman (1995). Here are more (all shorter than the full versions received), together with a response from Barton & Neeley…
Transitions before the transition, 2006
The intellectual traditions that frame Paleolithic research in Europe and the United States are r... more The intellectual traditions that frame Paleolithic research in Europe and the United States are reviewed, and the European Middle Paleolithic archaeological record is examined for patterns that contradict the “textbook generalizations” embodied in Paul Mellars' “human revolution”. The fact that different typologies are used to describe the Middle and Upper Paleolithic respectively emphasizes differences between them (especially if typology “trumps”
Current …, 1981
CANTABRIAN SEA RASCANO Fig. 1. Eastern Asturias and western Santander, showing major topographic ... more CANTABRIAN SEA RASCANO Fig. 1. Eastern Asturias and western Santander, showing major topographic features and the locations of La Riera Cave and a few of the other chief sites. ing of the late Pleistocene-early Holocene regional ecosystems in which prehistoric ...
Current …, 1981
CANTABRIAN SEA RASCANO Fig. 1. Eastern Asturias and western Santander, showing major topographic ... more CANTABRIAN SEA RASCANO Fig. 1. Eastern Asturias and western Santander, showing major topographic features and the locations of La Riera Cave and a few of the other chief sites. ing of the late Pleistocene-early Holocene regional ecosystems in which prehistoric ...
World archaeology, 1994
Proceeding from the information exchange theory of style, we argue that the changing temporal and... more Proceeding from the information exchange theory of style, we argue that the changing temporal and spatial distributions of mobile and parietal art in Paleolithic Europe are related aspects of a single evolutionary process: alternating selective pressures differentially favoring the expression of assertive and emblemic style over the 30–7 kyr BP interval. These pressures result from demographic and social change across the European subcontinent in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. We develop a model of cultural selection for symbolic behavior manifest as art that proceeds from and parallels natural selection in neo‐Darwinian evolutionary theory.