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Modernity, Enhanced Working Memory, and the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Record in the Levant

The Eurocentric (or rather Western European) outlook on cultural evolution envisioned a sharp demarcation between the phenomena grouped under the title Middle Paleolithic (i.e., archaic) and the phenomena recognized as Upper Paleolithic (i.e., modern). This view became the framework for testing cognitive, social, and economic hypotheses explaining the emergence of modern behavior. After nearly a century of research, it seems that this categorization is not applicable in the Levant despite some broad similarities between the two regions. The Levantine archaeological record provides us with the option to think outside the “European box” with regard to this important phase in human cultural evolution.