Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in Eurasia
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World Heritage papers41 HEADWORLD HERITAGES 4 Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in Eurasia VOLUME I In support of UNESCO’s 70th Anniversary Celebrations United Nations [ Cultural Organization Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in Eurasia Nuria Sanz, Editor General Coordinator of HEADS Programme on Human Evolution HEADS 4 VOLUME I Published in 2015 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France and the UNESCO Office in Mexico, Presidente Masaryk 526, Polanco, Miguel Hidalgo, 11550 Ciudad de Mexico, D.F., Mexico. © UNESCO 2015 ISBN 978-92-3-100107-9 This publication is available in Open Access under the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC-BY-SA 3.0 IGO) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/). By using the content of this publication, the users accept to be bound by the terms of use of the UNESCO Open Access Repository (http://www.unesco.org/open-access/terms-use-ccbysa-en). The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The ideas and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors; they are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. Cover Photos: Top: Hohle Fels excavation. © Harry Vetter bottom (from left to right): Petroglyphs from Sikachi-Alyan rock art site. © Ekatrina Devlet; Kostenki 1 Female Figurine. © Andrei Sinitsyn; Excavation at Prai Rei Cortico, Peinche, Portugal. © Nuno Ferreira Bicho; Hand axes from Nadaouiyeh Aïn Askar © Jean Marie Le Tensorer Photos and images presented in the texts are the copyrights of the authors unless otherwise indicated. Supervision, editing and coordination: Nuria Sanz, General Coordinator, World Heritage Thematic Programme HEADS and Director, UNESCO Office in Mexico Anjelica Young, UNESCO Office in Mexico Chantal Connaughton, UNESCO Office in Mexico Coordination of the World Heritage Papers Series: Vesna Vujicic-Lugassy, UNESCO Culture Sector Graphic design: Recto Verso – realization by UNESCO/MSS/CLD Cover design: Recto Verso – realization by UNESCO/MSS/CLD Printed by Offset Santiago This printer is certified Imprim´Vert ®, the French printing industry´s environmental initiative. Printed in Mexico This publication was made possible thanks to the ongoing support to the World Heritage Thematic Programme HEADS by the Government of Spain. Table of Contents Foreword Page 5 Kishore Rao, Secretary, World Heritage Convention Scientific Perspectives: Eurasia and HEADS Page 7 Nuria Sanz, Head and Representative of the UNESCO Office in Mexico, General Coordinator of the HEADS Programme How to use the World Heritage List of cultural and natural criteria to Page 8 demonstrate the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of prehistoric sites in Eurasia, with particular reference to criterion (viii) Robin Dennell Europe: the Outstanding Universal Value Page 26 of a marginal area of the Palaeolithic world Margherita Mussi The Middle East 2 Page 33 Prehistoric archaeological sites in Arabia and Page 34 their potential for nomination to the World Heritage List Michael D. Petraglia Tracking Upper Pleistocene human dispersals Page 40 into the Iranian Plateau: a geoarchaeological model Saman Heydari-Guran Regional Perspective of early human populations Page 54 in Syria: the case of El Kowm Jean-Marie Le Tensorer The case of Mount Carmel: the Levant and Human Evolution, Page 72 future research in the framework of World Heritage Mina Weinstein-Evron Western Europe 3 Page 93 Early Human Occupation of Orce Page 94 Robert Sala i Ramos Ecological niches of the Iberian Peninsula: Page 108 a comparative analysis of European coastal adaptations Nuno Bicho Eastern Europe 4 Page 127 Rock art from the Russian Far East: Page 128 the Sikachi-Alyan Tentative World Heritage Site Ekaterina Devlet Natural and Cultural Complex the Bashkir Urals Page 142 Viacheslav G. Kotov The traces of the first humans in Eurasia Page 153 David O. Lordkipanidze Perspectives on the Palaeolithic of Eurasia: Page 163 Kostenki and related sites Andrei Sinitsyn Perspectives on the Upper Palaeolithic in Eurasia: Page 190 the Case of the Dolní Vestonice-Pavlov sites Jiří Svoboda Approaches to the Palaeolithic archaeological record in Eurasia 5 Page 205 Neanderthal adaptation: the biological costs of brawn Page 206 Fred H. Smith Defining a Neanderthal site ‘Cluster’: Page 220 reasons for international collaboration Gerd-Christian Weniger Foreword The World Heritage Thematic Programme Human Evolution: Adaptations, Dispersals and Social Developments (HEADS) was launched in the context of the Global Strategy to broaden the definition of World Heritage as well as the framework and implementation of the World Heritage Convention. The Programme acknowledges that the study of human evolution related sites presents a key focal area for a more multidimensional concept of heritage and continues to demonstrate its outstanding capacity for the implementation of international collaboration in order to enhance the integrated conservation of early properties related to Human Evolution. This issue of World Heritage Papers is the fourth volume of the HEADS series, following World Heritage Papers 29 Human Evolution: Adaptations, Dispersals and Social Developments (HEADS) World Heritage Thematic Programme; World Heritage Papers 33 Human origin sites and the World Heritage Convention in Africa; and, most recently World Heritage Papers 39 Human origin sites and the World Heritage Convention in Asia. These pages represent the continuous commitment of the HEADS Programme to the implementation of the World Heritage Convention across all continents. Eurasia presents one of the most complete records on Human Evolution, as the region has been the focus of extensive excavation and scientific investigation for over a century. It is a continent across which many scientific narratives relevant to human evolution have taken place: the emergence of and then the gradual, complete replacement of H. neanderthalensis by H. sapiens sapiens, and the dramatically increased occurrence of parietal art and portable representations, to name a few. They include the origins and diversity of the genus Homo genetically, biologically and anatomically, and its social organizations, major cognitive milestones, technological innovations and the colonization of new environments as well as associated dispersals and migrations. These pages bring together the interdisciplinary perspectives of twenty-five leading experts in their respective fields presenting and analysing the storehouse of knowledge that is the Eurasian archaeological record. This record is especially relevant within the context of the World Heritage Convention because of the rich Tentative List of the Eurasian continent. In this book, members of an international scientific community explore this unique record and analyse the role of the World Heritage Convention in the support of the future of these precious human origin sites in Eurasia. This volume furthers the HEADS Programme´s dedication to the Convention through the continuation of its initiative to expand the concept of heritage in that it contains an original dialogue regarding moveable heritage. It acknowledges that the best way to conserve cultural heritage in an integrated manner should include reference to both movable and immovable heritage when preparing World Heritage nomination dossiers. I cannot close this foreword without offering my most sincere and heartfelt gratitude to the worldwide scientific HEADS community, the contributors to this volume, the University of Tübingen for their outstanding scientific collaboration and finally to the Government of Germany, whose support in this endeavour has been and continues to be most valuable. Kishore Rao Secretary of the World Heritage Convention 5 Scientific Perspectives: Eurasia and HEADS The purpose of this publication and its two volumes is to present the reader with a panorama of Human Origins in Eurasia, by bringing together key papers written by leading scientists in the domain of research into human origins. The first volume focuses on the topic of Human Origins in Eurasia, whilst the second volume focuses entirely on the case of the Swabian Jura Aurignacian, particularly important in relation to some of the major research issues surrounding the dispersal of modern humans on the continent. The perspective of this publication is on Eurasia as a whole, transcending modern, political, cultural and regional frontiers, and thus allows for a greater and more profound study of prehistoric archaeological sites. The volumes and their papers offer a series of current reflections and a summary of the latest research methodologies and recent discoveries in human evolution and dispersal patterns gathered from the most important prehistoric archaeological sites in Eurasia and their material culture. The volumes provide a compelling interface between the ongoing hypothesis of researchers and the general interests of the scientific community, highlighting the role of the international cooperation in this endeavour and thus enabling State parties to identify the way in which sciences are the best ally to assess the concept of Outstanding Universal Value in regards to Eurasian prehistoric legacy. These