| VIRTUAL DIG: A Simulated Archaeological Excavation
of a Middle Paleolithic Site in France Harold L. Dibble, Shannon
P. McPherron, and Barbara Roth
This combination of workbook and CD-ROM functions as a
"virtual field school" that gives students the opportunity to carry out an
excavation using real data. Based on excavations at the Middle Paleolithic site of
Combe-Capelle in France, the exercises included in Virtual Dig ask students to access the
CD's database to analyze and interpret findings.
Features:
• Introduces students to the practicalities of the archaeological experience-from
creating a budget to acquiring field gear to selecting a crew-with a unique emphasis on
the planning stage and the creation of a research design and budget.
• Integrates method and theory with practical application: the workbook provides
background information; the computer simulation allows students to apply this information
to their own virtual excavation.
• Includes full-color photos of sites and artifacts, on-screen maps, site plans,
graphs, and charts, providing a challenging and entertaining interactive experience with a
strong pedagogical base.
• Offers the students the opportunity to revisit research plans, experiment with
different excavation techniques, and compare their results with the authors' published
case study of Combe-Capelle excavations in the 1990s.
1999 Mayfield Publishing Company. Paperback workbook (128 pages); CD-ROM /
ISBN 0-7674-0245-6
$39.95 [Publisher's
Info]
The Middle Paleolithic Site of Combe-Capelle Bas (France)
Harold L. Dibble and Michel Lenoir
This report presents the results of a new excavation at
Combe-Capelle Bas, a Middle Paleolithic site situated in the Couze valley in the Perigord
region of Southern France. The site had been extensively excavated since the latter part
of the 19th Century, though the most significant excavations were those conducted by
Henri-Marc Ami from the late twenties until his death in 1931. The decision to reopen the
site was due to a number of factors. The first of these was simply that so few details
were known about the geological and chronological context of the assemblages excavated by
Ami. For such an important site, it was imperative that these details be filled in so that
its assemblages could be put into a modern framework. Furthermore, like so many other
sites excavated long ago, a number of questions eventually arose concerning the nature of
the industrial sequence from Combe-Capelle Bas. Importantly, Combe-Capelle Bas offered a
good opportunity to examine the influence of raw material accessibility on Middle
Paleolithic assemblage variability. The site is one of very few known in this region to be
situated directly on a source of good quality flint and a number of recent theories
suggested that such a setting may have certain predictable effects on the lithic
industries. These effects, as well as others relating to other current models of raw
material procurement and use, provided a major focus for this work.
This book will be of interest to anyone interested in Paleolithic archaeology, and also
to those interested in lithic analysis, raw material use, and site formation and
taphonomy.
1995. University Museum Monograph 91, xxi + 365 pp., 315 figs., 45 tables,
biblio. ISBN 0-924171-38-3
$40.00 [Table of Contents]
A Multimedia Companion to
The Middle Paleolithic Site of Combe-Capelle Bas (France)
Harold L. Dibble and Shannon P. McPherron
Containing over 500 mgb of data including:
- Nearly 1,100 full color images, with over 100 taken of the site during the excavation
and of project participants and historical figures, and 1,000 images of artifacts
recovered during the excavation.
- CCIMAGE:
A Windows program to provide interactive browsing and searching capability
of the images.
- The complete set of analytical data recovered by the Combe-Capelle research project,
including artifacts proveniences, measurements, and over 20 other observations. This
represents all of the data generated by this project and was the foundation for the
studies presented in the monograph.
- CCPLOT:
A sophisticated DOS program to access these data directly and to map the
artifacts as they were found. The user can ask for one or many levels, excavation units,
or pre-defined subsets and look at their distribution across the site. With this program,
access to other database information and black/white photos of the objects can be obtained
instantly.
- ENTRER TROIS:
A generalized and very easy-to-use program for archaeological (or
other) data entry. This program, written by and for archaeologists, is completely
user-configurable and will work with electronic scales and calipers. Full program
documentation is included.
- EDM:
A program for use in archaeological mapping and piece proveniencing with an
electronic total station. This program, which is similar to the one used in the
Combe-Capelle project and is especially geared to archaeological fieldwork, can run on any
DOS computer (including PC's, notebooks, or palmtops). It is completely user-configurable
and is compatible with major brands of equipment. Complete documentation is included.
System requirements: IBM compatible computer with a CD-ROM drive.
CCIMAGE requires Windows 3.0 or higher with a minimum 640*480 resolution with 256 colors;
other programs are DOS compatible.
CCPLOT requires VGA resolution.
$19.95
Handbook of Paleolithic Typology: Lower and Middle
Paleolithic of Europe
André Debénath and Harold L. Dibble
This book presents a detailed and comprehensive overview of the
major recognized stone tool types found in Lower and Middle Paleolithic industries of
Europe. Using the methodology established by François Bordes, this volume includes new
types recognized by other scholars and many more illustrations of the range of variation
within each type. It constitutes a most useful, informative, and welcome aid to workers,
students, and interested individuals of paleoanthropology. The technical and typological
aspects of stone artifacts are presented through thorough discussion and substantial
illustrations.
1994. 256 pp., 496 ills., appendices, index. ISBN 0-924171-23-5
$60.00
The Middle Paleolithic: Adaptation, Behavior and Variability
Harold Dibble and Paul Mellars, editors
Papers originally presented in a symposium on the Middle Paleolithic
of Europe and the Near East, organized as part of the annual meeting of the Society for
American Archaeology in the spring of 1989. Paleolithic archaeology has entered a period
in which new interpretations, based both on new finds and revised ideas concerning
previously known materials, are competing with traditional interpretations. There is an
urgent need for continued dialogue among Paleolithic scholars, as exemplified by
these papers and the discussions that follow.
1992. University Museum Monograph 78, Symposium Series IV. Hard. 217 pp., 77
ills. ISBN 0-924171-07-3
$50.00 [Table of Contents]
Upper Pleistocene Prehistory of Western Eurasia
Harold L. Dibble and Anta Montet-White, editors.
Proceedings of a symposium held at The University Museum in January
1987. The primary objective of this symposium was to examine the diversity in data,
methodologies, and interpretive models that have emerged from recent fieldwork. The volume
is divided into three main parts: the first contains articles devoted to the excavation
and interpretation of individual sites, the second focuses on papers dealing with issues
concerning the Middle Paleolithic, and the third deals with aspects of variability in the
Upper Paleolithic. An extensive bibliography is included.
1988. University Museum Monograph 54, Symposium Series I. Hard. xxii + 462 pp.,
192 ills., biblio. ISBN 0-934718-53-9
$50.00 [Table of Contents]
The Paleolithic Prehistory of The Zagros-Taurus
Deborah I. Olszewski and Harold L. Dibble, editors
Situated on the boundary between Europe, Asia, and the Levantine
corridor to Africa, the Zagros-Taurus region has enormous potential for the study of human
adaptation and population movement during the Pleistocene. While considerable
archaeological work was done in this area thirty to forty years ago, much of it has
remained unpublished and therefore inaccessible. The current political situation restricts
active research by Western archaeologists. This volume presents both new data and major
syntheses of the Paleolithic prehistory of the region, with detailed reports of the key
sites and industries. Many of the reports in this volume are the only detailed
descriptions ever published. By filling a major gap in our understanding of this area, it
represents an essential reference for all Near Eastern specialists and for anyone
interested in the Paleolithic.
1993. University Museum Monograph 83, University Museum Symposium Series V. xiii
+ 237 pp., 88 ills. Hard. ISBN 0-924171-24-3
$50.00 [Table of Contents]
The Definition and Interpretation of Levallois Technology
Harold L. Dibble and Ofer Bar-Yosef, editors
This volume contains the proceedings of a five-day conference on
Levallois technology held in 1993 at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology
and Anthropology, which involved over 40 Paleolithic specialists from around the world.
1995. Paper. Monographs in World Archaeology No. 23, xiii + 502 pp., 274 figs.,
79 tables, references. ISBN 1-881094-12-X
$75.00 [Table of Contents] |