Research Compendium for 'Ex Oriente Lux? A quantitative comparison between northern Ahmarian and Protoaurignacian'

Compendium DOI:

https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.16932273

The content available at the above provided Zenodo DOI reproduces the results as documented in the publication. The files hosted at https://github.com/ArmandoFalcucci/The-Ahmarian-Mirage represent the developmental versions and might have undergone modifications since the paper's publication.

Maintainer of this Repository:

Armando Falcucci (armando.falcucci@uni-tuebingen.de; afalcucci@ualg.pt)

Published Paper:

Armando Falcucci & Steven L. Kuhn. Ex Oriente Lux? A quantitative comparison between northern Ahmarian and Protoaurignacian. Journal of Human Evolution, XX,XX (2025). DOI: [Insert DOI]

Abstract:

The appearance of the Protoaurignacian in Europe around 42,000 years ago is widely believed to result from a major dispersal of anatomically modern Homo sapiens out of the Levant, a view primarily supported by perceived similarities between Mediterranean Protoaurignacian and Levantine Ahmarian stone tools. However, no quantitative technological comparison has yet thoroughly tested this connection. Here, we present the first systematic evaluation of lithic technology from Protoaurignacian assemblages in Italy and from the northern Ahmarian and post-Ahmarian layers at the reference sequence of Ksar Akil (Lebanon). Using attribute analysis and multivariate statistics, we assessed technological similarities and differences across different stages of the core reduction sequence. Our results demonstrate very limited affinities and distinct technological trajectories between the two regions. While the northern Ahmarian at Ksar Akil is characterized by bidirectional volumetric core reduction aimed at blade production, the Protoaurignacian exhibits a strong emphasis on bladelet production from unidirectional cores. Although lithic miniaturization trends are observed in both regions, the post-Ahmarian layers at Ksar Akil primarily produced twisted bladelets from burins and carinated cores—a feature uncommon in the Protoaurignacian. These findings challenge the hypothesis of a Levantine origin for the Protoaurignacian and, more broadly, suggest that technological convergence—driven by the growing importance of multi-component projectile technology and increased mobility—played a central role. Thus, our study underscores the need to reconsider diffusionist explanations and emphasizes the central role of internal cultural innovation among foraging groups settled in different regions of the Old World in shaping the emergence of the Upper Paleolithic.

Keywords:

Modern human dispersal; Early Upper Paleolithic; Lithic Technology; Miniaturization; Convergence; Multiple Correspondence Analysis; Ksar Akil

Datasets Attribution:

The datasets used in this research come from the following sources:

- Dataset from Grotta di Castelcivita: Borrowed from Falcucci et al. (2024a) and available on Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10639552

- Dataset from Grotta di Fumane: Borrowed from Falcucci et al. (2024b) and available on Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10965413

- Dataset from Ksar Akil: Generated by Armando Falcucci and available in this repository as well as Zenodo at https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.16932273

- Dataset from Riparo Bombrini: Borrowed from Falcucci et al. (2025) and available on Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15363594

Overview of Contents and How to Reproduce:

This repository contains data, code, and output files associated with the paper. The files are organized into the following directories:

- data: Includes the Ksar Akil dataset (KA_dataset.csv), the imported Protoaurignacian datasets (imported-data-Protoaurignacian), and all datasets generated in this study.
- script: Contains the R scripts for data analysis and visualization, numbered from 1 to 8 for reproducibility.
- output: Houses the generated outputs from the analysis, including figures (main_figures and SI_figures) and supplementary materials (SOM-file.html).

To reproduce the results from the paper, follow these steps:

1. Download the entire repository.
2. Open the The-Ahmarian-Mirage.Rproj R project file.
3. Navigate to the script folder, where you will find the R scripts arranged in a numbered order for reproducibility.

For consistent results, the renv package (v. 1.0.3) was used, following the procedures outlined in its vignette. All analyses were performed using R 4.3.1 on Microsoft Windows 10.0.19045 (64-bit). Necessary packages are provided within the renv folder.

Licenses:

- Code: MIT License https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT, copyright holder: Armando Falcucci (2025).
- Data and Intellectual Work: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), copyright holders: Armando Falcucci and Steven L. Kuhn (2025).

References:

Falcucci A., Arrighi S., Spagnolo V., Rossini M., Higgins O.A., Muttillo B., Martini I., Crezzini J., Boschin F., Ronchitelli A. & Moroni A. (2024a) A pre-Campanian Ignimbrite techno-cultural shift in the Aurignacian sequence of Grotta di Castelcivita, southern Italy. Scientific Reports, 14: 12783. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-59896-6

Falcucci A., Giusti D., Zangrossi F., De Lorenzi M., Ceregatti L. & Peresani M. (2024b) Refitting the Context: A Reconsideration of Cultural Change among Early Homo sapiens at Fumane Cave through Blade Break Connections, Spatial Taphonomy, and Lithic Technology. Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology, 8: 2. doi:10.1007/s41982-024-00203-0

Falcucci A., Bertola S., Parise M., Rio M.D., Riel-Salvatore J. & Negrino F. (2025) A crossroads between the Mediterranean and the Alps: Lithic technology, raw material procurement, and mobility in the Aurignacian of Riparo Bombrini. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 79: 101705. doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2025.101705