For the last two decades, the archaeological records on Asian Middle Palaeolithic have been challenged by paleogenetic, paleoanthropological, and, recently, paleoproteomic data. The previously established divisions and even paradigms started to crumble, and cultural data still struggle to be integrated into this renewed scenario. On the other hand, within the last decade, we can see a great intensification in Middle Palaeolithic fieldwork and collection studies in different parts of Asia. The long-lasting geographical research bias is gradually smoothing over thanks to a widespread investigation, which is permeating regions and geographical zones that were white spots on archaeological maps, such as high mountains or deep forests. The variety of the ecozones now under study brings new insight into our understanding of the Asian Middle Palaeolithic diversity. What is already understood and widely accepted is the fact that we cannot study the Asian Middle Palaeolithic with the measures and typological divisions established on European or African sites. The intensified microregional studies bring more insight into the specificity of the assemblages reflecting various paths of human adaptation to the settlement conditions. We start understanding that Asia’s huge geographical and environmental diversity is mirrored in its high technological and typological diversity in the Middle Palaeolithic. The diversity we observe might be not only due to cultural, environmental, functional or practical reasons, but we also have to take into consideration the biological diversity aspect, highlighted by the growing paleogenetic and paleoanthropological records. What we challenge most is to cope with big data analyses and still try to see the big picture.

The session aims to bring together multiple points of view on the diversity of the Asian Middle Palaeolithic. We invite researchers working in all parts of Asia to gather different points of view and start a wider discussion on the story that, in some aspects, needs to be told from scratch.

For inquiries and submissions, please contact:

Małgorzata Kot, Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Poland – m.kot@uw.edu.pl

Davide Delpiano, University of Ferrara, Italy – davide.delpiano@unife.it

Hao Li, Institute of Tibetan Plateau, CAS, China – lihao@itpcas.ac.cn