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Archaeology

Signalling Palaeolithic identity

Nature Human Behaviour volume 8, pages 414–415 (2024)Cite this article

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The sense of belonging to a larger group is a central feature of humanity but its identification in Palaeolithic societies is challenging. Baker et al. use a pan-European dataset of personal ornaments to show that these markers of group identity form distinct clusters that cannot be explained simply by geographical proximity or shared biological descent.

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Fig. 1: Types of personal ornaments from Gravettian sites of the Upper Palaeolithic of Europe (about 34,000–24,000 years ago).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Reuven Yeshurun

  2. School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Reuven Yeshurun

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  1. Reuven Yeshurun
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Correspondence to Reuven Yeshurun.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Yeshurun, R. Signalling Palaeolithic identity. Nat Hum Behav 8, 414–415 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01805-4

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