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Scerri EML, Will M. The revolution that still isn't: The origins of behavioral complexity in Homo sapiens. J Hum Evol 2023; 179:103358. [PMID: 37058868 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
Abstract
The behavioral origins of Homo sapiens can be traced back to the first material culture produced by our species in Africa, the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Beyond this broad consensus, the origins, patterns, and causes of behavioral complexity in modern humans remain debated. Here, we consider whether recent findings continue to support popular scenarios of: (1) a modern human 'package,' (2) a gradual and 'pan-African' emergence of behavioral complexity, and (3) a direct connection to changes in the human brain. Our geographically structured review shows that decades of scientific research have continuously failed to find a discrete threshold for a complete 'modernity package' and that the concept is theoretically obsolete. Instead of a continent-wide, gradual accumulation of complex material culture, the record exhibits a predominantly asynchronous presence and duration of many innovations across different regions of Africa. The emerging pattern of behavioral complexity from the MSA conforms to an intricate mosaic characterized by spatially discrete, temporally variable, and historically contingent trajectories. This archaeological record bears no direct relation to a simplistic shift in the human brain but rather reflects similar cognitive capacities that are variably manifested. The interaction of multiple causal factors constitutes the most parsimonious explanation driving the variable expression of complex behaviors, with demographic processes such as population structure, size, and connectivity playing a key role. While much emphasis has been given to innovation and variability in the MSA record, long periods of stasis and a lack of cumulative developments argue further against a strictly gradualistic nature in the record. Instead, we are confronted with humanity's deep, variegated roots in Africa, and a dynamic metapopulation that took many millennia to reach the critical mass capable of producing the ratchet effect commonly used to define contemporary human culture. Finally, we note a weakening link between 'modern' human biology and behavior from around 300 ka ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor M L Scerri
- Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Kahlaische Str. 10, 07749, Jena, Germany; Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, MSD 2080, Malta; Department of Prehistory, University of Cologne, 50931, Cologne, Germany.
| | - Manuel Will
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, Burgsteige 11, 72070, Tübingen, Germany
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2
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Blinkhorn J, Timbrell L, Grove M, Scerri EML. Evaluating refugia in recent human evolution in Africa. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200485. [PMID: 35249393 PMCID: PMC8899617 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 01/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Homo sapiens have adapted to an incredible diversity of habitats around the globe. This capacity to adapt to different landscapes is clearly expressed within Africa, with Late Pleistocene Homo sapiens populations occupying savannahs, woodlands, coastlines and mountainous terrain. As the only area of the world where Homo sapiens have clearly persisted through multiple glacial-interglacial cycles, Africa is the only continent where classic refugia models can be formulated and tested to examine and describe changing patterns of past distributions and human phylogeographies. The potential role of refugia has frequently been acknowledged in the Late Pleistocene palaeoanthropological literature, yet explicit identification of potential refugia has been limited by the patchy nature of palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records, and the low temporal resolution of climate or ecological models. Here, we apply potential climatic thresholds on human habitation, rooted in ethnographic studies, in combination with high-resolution model datasets for precipitation and biome distributions to identify persistent refugia spanning the Late Pleistocene (130-10 ka). We present two alternate models suggesting that between 27% and 66% of Africa may have provided refugia to Late Pleistocene human populations, and examine variability in precipitation, biome and ecotone distributions within these refugial zones. This article is part of the theme issue 'Tropical forests in the deep human past'.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Blinkhorn
- Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Centre for Quaternary Research, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
| | - Lucy Timbrell
- Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Matt Grove
- Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Eleanor M. L. Scerri
- Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
- Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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3
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No direct evidence for the presence of Nubian Levallois technology and its association with Neanderthals at Shukbah Cave. Sci Rep 2022; 12:1204. [PMID: 35075192 PMCID: PMC8786851 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05072-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Accepted: 01/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
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4
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Multiple hominin dispersals into Southwest Asia over the past 400,000 years. Nature 2021; 597:376-380. [PMID: 34471286 PMCID: PMC8443443 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03863-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Pleistocene hominin dispersals out of, and back into, Africa necessarily involved traversing the diverse and often challenging environments of Southwest Asia1-4. Archaeological and palaeontological records from the Levantine woodland zone document major biological and cultural shifts, such as alternating occupations by Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. However, Late Quaternary cultural, biological and environmental records from the vast arid zone that constitutes most of Southwest Asia remain scarce, limiting regional-scale insights into changes in hominin demography and behaviour1,2,5. Here we report a series of dated palaeolake sequences, associated with stone tool assemblages and vertebrate fossils, from the Khall Amayshan 4 and Jubbah basins in the Nefud Desert. These findings, including the oldest dated hominin occupations in Arabia, reveal at least five hominin expansions into the Arabian interior, coinciding with brief 'green' windows of reduced aridity approximately 400, 300, 200, 130-75 and 55 thousand years ago. Each occupation phase is characterized by a distinct form of material culture, indicating colonization by diverse hominin groups, and a lack of long-term Southwest Asian population continuity. Within a general pattern of African and Eurasian hominin groups being separated by Pleistocene Saharo-Arabian aridity, our findings reveal the tempo and character of climatically modulated windows for dispersal and admixture.
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5
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Zaidner Y, Centi L, Prévost M, Mercier N, Falguères C, Guérin G, Valladas H, Richard M, Galy A, Pécheyran C, Tombret O, Pons-Branchu E, Porat N, Shahack-Gross R, Friesem DE, Yeshurun R, Turgeman-Yaffe Z, Frumkin A, Herzlinger G, Ekshtain R, Shemer M, Varoner O, Sarig R, May H, Hershkovitz I. Middle Pleistocene
Homo
behavior and culture at 140,000 to 120,000 years ago and interactions with
Homo sapiens. Science 2021. [DOI: 10.1126/science.abh3020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Yossi Zaidner
- Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Laura Centi
- Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Marion Prévost
- Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Norbert Mercier
- Institut de Recherche sur les Archéomatériaux, UMR 5060 CNRS–Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Centre de Recherche en Physique Appliquée à l’Archéologie (CRP2A), Maison de l’Archéologie, 33607 PESSAC Cedex, France
| | - Christophe Falguères
- UMR7194, Départment “Homme et Environnement, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, CNRS, UPVD, Sorbonne Université, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, 75103 Paris, France
| | - Gilles Guérin
- Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement LSCE/IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Hélène Valladas
- Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement LSCE/IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Maïlys Richard
- Institut de Recherche sur les Archéomatériaux, UMR 5060 CNRS–Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Centre de Recherche en Physique Appliquée à l’Archéologie (CRP2A), Maison de l’Archéologie, 33607 PESSAC Cedex, France
- UMR7194, Départment “Homme et Environnement, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, CNRS, UPVD, Sorbonne Université, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, 75103 Paris, France
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002 Burgos, Spain
| | - Asmodée Galy
- Institut de Recherche sur les Archéomatériaux, UMR 5060 CNRS–Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Centre de Recherche en Physique Appliquée à l’Archéologie (CRP2A), Maison de l’Archéologie, 33607 PESSAC Cedex, France
- Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, E2S UPPA, CNRS, IPREM, BP 576 64012 PAU Cedex, France
| | - Christophe Pécheyran
- Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, E2S UPPA, CNRS, IPREM, BP 576 64012 PAU Cedex, France
| | - Olivier Tombret
- UMR7194, Départment “Homme et Environnement, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, CNRS, UPVD, Sorbonne Université, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, 75103 Paris, France
- UMR7209, Départment Homme et Environnement, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Edwige Pons-Branchu
- Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement LSCE/IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Naomi Porat
- Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Ruth Shahack-Gross
- Department of Maritime Civilizations, Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - David E. Friesem
- Department of Maritime Civilizations, Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Reuven Yeshurun
- Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel
| | - Zohar Turgeman-Yaffe
- Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel
| | - Amos Frumkin
- Cave Research Center, Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus–Givat Ram, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel
| | - Gadi Herzlinger
- Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
- Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Ravid Ekshtain
- Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Maayan Shemer
- Prehistoric Branch, Archaeological Research Department, Israel Antiquity Authority, Jerusalem, Israel
- Department of Bible, Archaeology and the Ancient Near East, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - Oz Varoner
- Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Rachel Sarig
- Department of Oral Biology, Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Shmunis Family Anthropology Institute, Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Biohistory Research, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Hila May
- Shmunis Family Anthropology Institute, Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Biohistory Research, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Israel Hershkovitz
- Shmunis Family Anthropology Institute, Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Biohistory Research, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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6
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Directional changes in Levallois core technologies between Eastern Africa, Arabia, and the Levant during MIS 5. Sci Rep 2021; 11:11465. [PMID: 34075081 PMCID: PMC8169925 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-90744-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, ~ 130 to 71 thousand years ago, was a key period for the geographic expansion of Homo sapiens, including engagement with new landscapes within Africa and dispersal into Asia. Occupation of the Levant by Homo sapiens in MIS 5 is well established, while recent research has documented complementary evidence in Arabia. Here, we undertake the first detailed comparison of Levallois core technology from eastern Africa, Arabia, and the Levant during MIS 5, including multiple sites associated with Homo sapiens fossils. We employ quantitative comparisons of individual artefacts that provides a detailed appraisal of Levallois reduction activity in MIS 5, thereby enabling assessment of intra- and inter-assemblage variability for the first time. Our results demonstrate a pattern of geographically structured variability embedded within a shared focus on centripetal Levallois reduction schemes and overlapping core morphologies. We reveal directional changes in core shaping and flake production from eastern Africa to Arabia and the Levant that are independent of differences in geographic or environmental parameters. These results are consistent with a common cultural inheritance between these regions, potentially stemming from a shared late Middle Pleistocene source in eastern Africa.
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7
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Gürbüz RB, Lycett SJ. Could woodworking have driven lithic tool selection? J Hum Evol 2021; 156:102999. [PMID: 34022498 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.102999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2021] [Revised: 02/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Understanding early stone tools, particularly relationships between form and function, is fundamental to understanding the behavioral evolution of early hominins. The oldest-claimed flake tools date to ca. 3.3 million years ago, and their development may represent a key step in hominin evolution. Flake form, and its relationship to function, has long been a focus of Paleolithic studies, almost exclusively with respect to meat acquisition. However, evidence for woodworking is now known from sites dating to 1.5 Ma. Additionally, Pan troglodytes are known to manufacture wooden tools for hunting and foraging, thus creating a phylogenetic (parsimony) argument for more ancient woodworking. However, few studies examining woodworking and Paleolithic tools have been completed to date. Indeed, it remains an open question whether woodworking may have instigated specific selective demands on the form of early stone tools. Here, we conducted an experiment testing the comparative woodworking efficiency (measured by time) of small and large flakes. Two groups of participants used either a relatively small or large unretouched flake to remove a predefined area from standardized samples of wood. Those using larger flakes were significantly more efficient (i.e., required less time) during this woodworking task. Our results demonstrate that larger flakes could have been preferentially chosen by hominins for woodworking, consistent with previous data generated experimentally in other (non-woodworking) tasks. Moreover, the production of relatively large flakes, such as those at Lomekwi, could have been motivated by woodworking, rather than, or in addition to, butchery. Such issues may also have encouraged the use of Levallois production strategies in later times.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Biermann Gürbüz
- Department of Anthropology, Ellicott Complex, 380 Academic Center, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY 14261, USA.
| | - Stephen J Lycett
- Department of Anthropology, Ellicott Complex, 380 Academic Center, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY 14261, USA
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8
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The emergence of the Levallois technology in the Levant: A view from the Early Middle Paleolithic site of Misliya Cave, Israel. J Hum Evol 2020; 144:102785. [PMID: 32428731 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2019] [Revised: 03/13/2020] [Accepted: 03/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
The Early Middle Paleolithic (EMP) lithic assemblage of Misliya Cave, dated to 240-150 ka, is associated with one of the earliest occurrences of Homo sapiens outside Africa. Our research provides a detailed technological study of the lithic assemblage of stratigraphic unit 5-6c of the site, using the chaîne opératoire approach, to characterize the technological behavior of the early H. sapiens. Our results indicate that both Levallois and laminar volumetric concepts were used. The Levallois reduction strategy involved preparing subtriangular cores with steep distal edges that allowed producing a series of triangular/subtriangular Levallois blanks using a unidirectional convergent method. Laminar débitage constitutes a semirotating/rotating method. The results of our study and comparisons with other Levantine sites indicate that the EMP represents a distinct entity within the Levantine Middle Pleistocene record that can be distinguished by the earliest occurrence of a full-fledged Levallois technology in the region, laminar technology, and a distinct tool kit dominated by elongated retouched points. The level of core management involved in producing convergent Levallois products and in preparing laminar cores points to a major conceptual change from the preceding Acheulian and Acheulo-Yabrudian. This suggests a break in knapping strategies between the Lower and the Middle Paleolithic. The finding of a H. sapiens maxilla at Misliya Cave in association with the EMP industry supports the hypothesis that the introduction of the Levallois technology in the Near East was associated with an early dispersal of H. sapiens from Africa. A comparison between the Levantine EMP and other regional records indicates that different Levallois methods were routinely used by hominins from the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic and the Middle Stone Age.
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9
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Prévost M, Zaidner Y. New insights into early MIS 5 lithic technological behavior in the Levant: Nesher Ramla, Israel as a case study. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0231109. [PMID: 32243464 PMCID: PMC7122790 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0231109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2019] [Accepted: 03/16/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Interpreting human behavioral patterns during the Middle Paleolithic in the Levant is crucial for better understanding the dispersals and evolution of Homo sapiens and their possible interactions with other hominin groups. Here, we reconstruct the technological behavior, focusing on the centripetal Levallois method at Nesher Ramla karst sinkhole, Israel. Nesher Ramla karst sinkhole is dated to the Marine Isotope stages (MIS) 6 and 5 and represents one of the oldest occurrences of the centripetal Levallois reduction strategy in the Near East. The Levallois centripetal technology is often seen as a marker of human dispersals and adaptations in the Middle Paleolithic/Middle Stone Age of Africa and the Near East. This technology is documented in East African sites as early as 300 kya and in the Levant as early as 130 kya. However, the degree of similarity between African and Levantine centripetal technology and whether it originates from the same source remain under debate. In this paper, we focus on describing the lithic organization at Unit III of Nesher Ramla (dated to MIS 5), which is dominated by the centripetal Levallois method in association with other reduction sequences. Both preferential and recurrent centripetal Levallois modes were used at the site to produce oval and rectangular flakes. Other minor reduction sequences include unidirectional convergent method for Levallois points production and a specific method for the manufacture of naturally backed knives. The lithic data from Unit III of Nesher Ramla is further used in inter-site comparisons suggesting that the mid-Middle Paleolithic sites in the Near East possess common technological characteristics, especially the use of the centripetal Levallois method as predominant reduction strategy. This trend differs from what is usually observed in Africa and Europe, where the centripetal Levallois method is modestly represented during MIS 5 and is accompanied by other, more dominant, reduction strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marion Prévost
- Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Yossi Zaidner
- Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel
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10
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Meignen L, Bar-Yosef O. Acheulo-Yabrudian and Early Middle Paleolithic at Hayonim Cave (Western Galilee, Israel): Continuity or break? J Hum Evol 2020; 139:102733. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2019] [Revised: 11/18/2019] [Accepted: 11/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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11
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Technology and Function of Middle Stone Age Points. Insights from a Combined Approach at Bushman Rock Shelter, South Africa. VERTEBRATE PALEOBIOLOGY AND PALEOANTHROPOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-46126-3_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
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12
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Pargeter J, Shea JJ. Going big versus going small: Lithic miniaturization in hominin lithic technology. Evol Anthropol 2019; 28:72-85. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.21775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2018] [Revised: 11/19/2018] [Accepted: 02/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Justin Pargeter
- Department of Anthropology Emory University Atlanta Georgia
- Palaeo‐Research Institute University of Johannesburg Auckland Park South Africa
| | - John J. Shea
- Anthropology Department & Turkana Basin Institute Stony Brook University Stony Brook New York
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13
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Malinsky-Buller A, Hovers E. One size does not fit all: Group size and the late middle Pleistocene prehistoric archive. J Hum Evol 2019; 127:118-132. [PMID: 30777353 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2018] [Revised: 11/02/2018] [Accepted: 11/06/2018] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
The role of demography is often suggested to be a key factor in both biological and cultural evolution. Recent research has shown that the linkage between population size and cultural evolution is not straightforward and emerges from the interplay of many demographic, economic, social and ecological variables. Formal modelling has yielded interesting insights into the complex relationship between population structure, intergroup connectedness, and magnitude and extent of population extinctions. Such studies have highlighted the importance of effective (as opposed to census) population size in transmission processes. At the same time, it remained unclear how such insights can be applied to material culture phenomena in the prehistoric record, especially for deeper prehistory. In this paper we approach the issue of population sizes during the time of the Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition through the proxy of regional trajectories of lithic technological change, identified in the archaeological records from Africa, the Levant, Southwestern and Northwestern Europe. Our discussion of the results takes into consideration the constraints inherent to the archaeological record of deep time - e.g., preservation bias, time-averaging and the incomplete nature of the archaeological record - and of extrapolation from discrete archaeological case studies to an evolutionary time scale. We suggest that technological trajectories of change over this transitional period reflect the robustness of transmission networks. Our results show differences in the pattern and rate of cultural transmission in these regions, from which we infer that information networks, and their underlying effective population sizes, also differed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariel Malinsky-Buller
- MONREPOS, Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution, Schloss Monrepos, 56567, Neuwied, Germany.
| | - Erella Hovers
- The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mt. Scopus, 91905, Jerusalem, Israel; International Affiliate, Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
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14
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Brooks AS, Yellen JE, Potts R, Behrensmeyer AK, Deino AL, Leslie DE, Ambrose SH, Ferguson JR, d'Errico F, Zipkin AM, Whittaker S, Post J, Veatch EG, Foecke K, Clark JB. Long-distance stone transport and pigment use in the earliest Middle Stone Age. Science 2018; 360:90-94. [PMID: 29545508 DOI: 10.1126/science.aao2646] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2017] [Accepted: 02/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Previous research suggests that the complex symbolic, technological, and socioeconomic behaviors that typify Homo sapiens had roots in the middle Pleistocene <200,000 years ago, but data bearing on human behavioral origins are limited. We present a series of excavated Middle Stone Age sites from the Olorgesailie basin, southern Kenya, dating from ≥295,000 to ~320,000 years ago by argon-40/argon-39 and uranium-series methods. Hominins at these sites made prepared cores and points, exploited iron-rich rocks to obtain red pigment, and procured stone tool materials from ≥25- to 50-kilometer distances. Associated fauna suggests a broad resource strategy that included large and small prey. These practices imply notable changes in how individuals and groups related to the landscape and to one another and provide documentation relevant to human social and cognitive evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison S Brooks
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA. .,Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
| | - John E Yellen
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA.,Archaeology Program, National Science Foundation, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA
| | - Richard Potts
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA. .,Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Post Office Box 40658-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Anna K Behrensmeyer
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
| | - Alan L Deino
- Berkeley Geochronology Center, Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA
| | - David E Leslie
- Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
| | - Stanley H Ambrose
- Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | | | - Francesco d'Errico
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5199-De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, 33615 Pessac, France.,Senter for Fremragende Forskning (SFF) Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen, Postboks 7805, 5020 Bergen, Norway
| | - Andrew M Zipkin
- Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Scott Whittaker
- Laboratory of Analytical Biology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
| | - Jeffrey Post
- Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
| | | | - Kimberly Foecke
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Jennifer B Clark
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
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Deino AL, Behrensmeyer AK, Brooks AS, Yellen JE, Sharp WD, Potts R. Chronology of the Acheulean to Middle Stone Age transition in eastern Africa. Science 2018; 360:95-98. [PMID: 29545510 DOI: 10.1126/science.aao2216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2017] [Accepted: 02/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
The origin of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) marks the transition from a highly persistent mode of stone toolmaking, the Acheulean, to a period of increasing technological innovation and cultural indicators associated with the evolution of Homo sapiens We used argon-40/argon-39 and uranium-series dating to calibrate the chronology of Acheulean and early MSA artifact-rich sedimentary deposits in the Olorgesailie basin, southern Kenya rift. We determined the age of late Acheulean tool assemblages from 615,000 to 499,000 years ago, after which a large technological and faunal transition occurred, with a definitive MSA lacking Acheulean elements beginning most likely by ~320,000 years ago, but at least by 305,000 years ago. These results establish the oldest repository of MSA artifacts in eastern Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan L Deino
- Berkeley Geochronology Center, Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA.
| | - Anna K Behrensmeyer
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
| | - Alison S Brooks
- Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.,Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
| | - John E Yellen
- Archaeology Program, National Science Foundation, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA.,Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
| | - Warren D Sharp
- Berkeley Geochronology Center, Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA
| | - Richard Potts
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA. .,Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box 40658-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
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16
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Riede F, Johannsen NN, Högberg A, Nowell A, Lombard M. The role of play objects and object play in human cognitive evolution and innovation. Evol Anthropol 2018; 27:46-59. [PMID: 29446561 PMCID: PMC5838546 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In this contribution, we address a major puzzle in the evolution of human material culture: If maturing individuals just learn their parental generation's material culture, then what is the origin of key innovations as documented in the archeological record? We approach this question by coupling a life‐history model of the costs and benefits of experimentation with a niche‐construction perspective. Niche‐construction theory suggests that the behavior of organisms and their modification of the world around them have important evolutionary ramifications by altering developmental settings and selection pressures. Part of Homo sapiens' niche is the active provisioning of children with play objects — sometimes functional miniatures of adult tools — and the encouragement of object play, such as playful knapping with stones. Our model suggests that salient material culture innovation may occur or be primed in a late childhood or adolescence sweet spot when cognitive and physical abilities are sufficiently mature but before the full onset of the concerns and costs associated with reproduction. We evaluate the model against a series of archeological cases and make suggestions for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix Riede
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Aarhus University Moesgård, Denmark.,Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Denmark.,Centre for Biocultural History, Aarhus University, Denmark
| | - Niels N Johannsen
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Aarhus University Moesgård, Denmark.,Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Denmark
| | - Anders Högberg
- Department of Cultural Sciences, Linnaeus University, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Sweden.,Centre for Anthropological Research and Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.,Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), Wallenberg Research Centre at Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - April Nowell
- Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
| | - Marlize Lombard
- Centre for Anthropological Research and Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.,Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), Wallenberg Research Centre at Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
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17
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Shea JJ. Occasional, obligatory, and habitual stone tool use in hominin evolution. Evol Anthropol 2017; 26:200-217. [PMID: 29027335 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Archeologists have long assumed that earlier hominins were obligatory stone tool users. This assumption is deeply embedded in traditional ways of describing the lithic record. This paper argues that lithic evidence dating before 1.7 Ma reflects occasional stone tool use, much like that practiced by nonhuman primates except that it involved flaked-stone cutting tools. Evidence younger than 0.3 Ma is more congruent with obligatory stone tool use, like that among recent humans. The onset of habitual stone tool use at about 1.7 Ma appears correlated with increased hominin logistical mobility (carrying things). The onset of obligatory stone tool use after 0.3 Ma may be linked to the evolution of spoken language. Viewing the lithic evidence dating between 0.3-1.7 Ma as habitual stone tool use explains previously inexplicable aspects of the Early-Middle Pleistocene lithic record.
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Affiliation(s)
- John J Shea
- Anthropology Department, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-4364
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18
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The earliest long-distance obsidian transport: Evidence from the ∼200 ka Middle Stone Age Sibilo School Road Site, Baringo, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2016; 103:1-19. [PMID: 28166905 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2016] [Revised: 11/12/2016] [Accepted: 11/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
This study presents the earliest evidence of long-distance obsidian transport at the ∼200 ka Sibilo School Road Site (SSRS), an early Middle Stone Age site in the Kapthurin Formation, Kenya. The later Middle Pleistocene of East Africa (130-400 ka) spans significant and interrelated behavioral and biological changes in human evolution including the first appearance of Homo sapiens. Despite the importance of the later Middle Pleistocene, there are relatively few archaeological sites in well-dated contexts (n < 10) that document hominin behavior from this time period. In particular, geochemically informed evidence of long-distance obsidian transport, important for investigating expansion of intergroup interactions in hominin evolution, is rare from the Middle Pleistocene record of Africa. The SSRS offers a unique contribution to this small but growing dataset. Tephrostratigraphic analysis of tuffs encasing the SSRS provides a minimum age of ∼200 ka for the site. Levallois points and methods of core preparation demonstrate characteristic Middle Stone Age lithic technologies present at the SSRS. A significant portion (43%) of the lithic assemblage is obsidian. The SSRS obsidian comes from three different sources located at distances of 25 km, 140 km and 166 km from the site. The majority of obsidian derives from the farthest source, 166 km to the south of the site. The SSRS thus provides important new evidence that long-distance raw material transport, and the expansion of hominin intergroup interactions that this entails, was a significant feature of hominin behavior ∼200 ka, the time of the first appearance of H. sapiens, and ∼150,000 years before similar behaviors were previously documented in the region.
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Muller A, Clarkson C. Identifying Major Transitions in the Evolution of Lithic Cutting Edge Production Rates. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0167244. [PMID: 27936135 PMCID: PMC5147885 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2016] [Accepted: 11/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The notion that the evolution of core reduction strategies involved increasing efficiency in cutting edge production is prevalent in narratives of hominin technological evolution. Yet a number of studies comparing two different knapping technologies have found no significant differences in edge production. Using digital analysis methods we present an investigation of raw material efficiency in eight core technologies broadly representative of the long-term evolution of lithic technology. These are bipolar, multiplatform, discoidal, biface, Levallois, prismatic blade, punch blade and pressure blade production. Raw material efficiency is assessed by the ratio of cutting edge length to original core mass. We also examine which flake attributes contribute to maximising raw material efficiency, as well as compare the difference between expert and intermediate knappers in terms of cutting edge produced per gram of core. We identify a gradual increase in raw material efficiency over the broad sweep of lithic technological evolution. The results indicate that the most significant transition in efficiency likely took place with the introduction of small foliate biface, Levallois and prismatic blade knapping, all introduced in the Middle Stone Age / Middle Palaeolithic among early Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. This suggests that no difference in raw material efficiency existed between these species. With prismatic blade technology securely dated to the Middle Palaeolithic, by including the more recent punch and pressure blade technology our results dispel the notion that the transition to the Upper Palaeolithic was accompanied by an increase in efficiency. However, further increases in cutting edge efficiency are evident, with pressure blades possessing the highest efficiency in this study, indicating that late/epi-Palaeolithic and Neolithic blade technologies further increased efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Muller
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
- * E-mail:
| | - Chris Clarkson
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
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20
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The pattern of emergence of a Middle Stone Age tradition at Gademotta and Kulkuletti (Ethiopia) through convergent tool and point technologies. J Hum Evol 2016; 91:93-121. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2015] [Revised: 11/19/2015] [Accepted: 11/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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21
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Groucutt HS, Petraglia MD, Bailey G, Scerri EM, Parton A, Clark-Balzan L, Jennings RP, Lewis L, Blinkhorn J, Drake NA, Breeze PS, Inglis RH, Devès MH, Meredith-Williams M, Boivin N, Thomas MG, Scally A. Rethinking the dispersal of Homo sapiens out of Africa. Evol Anthropol 2015; 24:149-64. [PMID: 26267436 PMCID: PMC6715448 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 224] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Current fossil, genetic, and archeological data indicate that Homo sapiens originated in Africa in the late Middle Pleistocene. By the end of the Late Pleistocene, our species was distributed across every continent except Antarctica, setting the foundations for the subsequent demographic and cultural changes of the Holocene. The intervening processes remain intensely debated and a key theme in hominin evolutionary studies. We review archeological, fossil, environmental, and genetic data to evaluate the current state of knowledge on the dispersal of Homo sapiens out of Africa. The emerging picture of the dispersal process suggests dynamic behavioral variability, complex interactions between populations, and an intricate genetic and cultural legacy. This evolutionary and historical complexity challenges simple narratives and suggests that hybrid models and the testing of explicit hypotheses are required to understand the expansion of Homo sapiens into Eurasia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huw S. Groucutt
- School of Archaeology, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, United Kingdom
| | - Michael D. Petraglia
- School of Archaeology, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, United Kingdom
| | - Geoff Bailey
- Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, YO1 7EP, United Kingdom
| | - Eleanor M.L. Scerri
- UMR5199 (CNRS) De la Préhistoire à l’Actuel: Culture, Environment et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Avenues des Facultes, Pessac, 33405, France
| | - Ash Parton
- School of Archaeology, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, United Kingdom
| | - Laine Clark-Balzan
- School of Archaeology, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, United Kingdom
| | - Richard P. Jennings
- School of Archaeology, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, United Kingdom
| | - Laura Lewis
- School of Archaeology, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, United Kingdom
| | - James Blinkhorn
- UMR5199 (CNRS) De la Préhistoire à l’Actuel: Culture, Environment et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Avenues des Facultes, Pessac, 33405, France
| | - Nick A. Drake
- Department of Geography, King’s College London, WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom
| | - Paul S. Breeze
- Department of Geography, King’s College London, WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom
| | - Robyn H. Inglis
- Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, YO1 7EP, United Kingdom
| | - Maud H. Devès
- Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, YO1 7EP, United Kingdom
- Laboratoire Tectonique, Institut de Physique du Globe, Paris, 75252, France
| | | | - Nicole Boivin
- School of Archaeology, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, United Kingdom
| | - Mark G. Thomas
- Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Aylwyn Scally
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EH, United Kingdom
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22
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23
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Sahle Y, Hutchings WK, Braun DR, Sealy JC, Morgan LE, Negash A, Atnafu B. Earliest stone-tipped projectiles from the Ethiopian rift date to >279,000 years ago. PLoS One 2013; 8:e78092. [PMID: 24236011 PMCID: PMC3827237 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2013] [Accepted: 09/06/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Projectile weapons (i.e. those delivered from a distance) enhanced prehistoric hunting efficiency by enabling higher impact delivery and hunting of a broader range of animals while reducing confrontations with dangerous prey species. Projectiles therefore provided a significant advantage over thrusting spears. Composite projectile technologies are considered indicative of complex behavior and pivotal to the successful spread of Homo sapiens. Direct evidence for such projectiles is thus far unknown from >80,000 years ago. Data from velocity-dependent microfracture features, diagnostic damage patterns, and artifact shape reported here indicate that pointed stone artifacts from Ethiopia were used as projectile weapons (in the form of hafted javelin tips) as early as >279,000 years ago. In combination with the existing archaeological, fossil and genetic evidence, these data isolate eastern Africa as a source of modern cultures and biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yonatan Sahle
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- * E-mail:
| | - W. Karl Hutchings
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, Canada
| | - David R. Braun
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington DC, United States of America
| | - Judith C. Sealy
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Leah E. Morgan
- Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride, United Kingdom
| | - Agazi Negash
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Balemwal Atnafu
- Department of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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24
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Blome MW, Cohen AS, Tryon CA, Brooks AS, Russell J. The environmental context for the origins of modern human diversity: A synthesis of regional variability in African climate 150,000–30,000 years ago. J Hum Evol 2012; 62:563-92. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.01.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 202] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2011] [Revised: 12/02/2011] [Accepted: 01/24/2012] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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25
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Beyin A. Upper Pleistocene Human Dispersals out of Africa: A Review of the Current State of the Debate. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY 2011; 2011:615094. [PMID: 21716744 PMCID: PMC3119552 DOI: 10.4061/2011/615094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2010] [Revised: 01/22/2011] [Accepted: 02/24/2011] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Although there is a general consensus on African origin of early modern humans, there is disagreement about how and when they dispersed to Eurasia. This paper reviews genetic and Middle Stone Age/Middle Paleolithic archaeological literature from northeast Africa, Arabia, and the Levant to assess the timing and geographic backgrounds of Upper Pleistocene human colonization of Eurasia. At the center of the discussion lies the question of whether eastern Africa alone was the source of Upper Pleistocene human dispersals into Eurasia or were there other loci of human expansions outside of Africa? The reviewed literature hints at two modes of early modern human colonization of Eurasia in the Upper Pleistocene: (i) from multiple Homo sapiens source populations that had entered Arabia, South Asia, and the Levant prior to and soon after the onset of the Last Interglacial (MIS-5), (ii) from a rapid dispersal out of East Africa via the Southern Route (across the Red Sea basin), dating to ~74–60 kya.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanuel Beyin
- Turkana Basin Institute, Stony Brook University, SBS Building 5th Floor, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
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26
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Brattico P. Recursion Hypothesis Considered as a Research Program for Cognitive Science. Minds Mach (Dordr) 2010. [DOI: 10.1007/s11023-010-9189-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
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27
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Johnson CR, McBrearty S. 500,000 year old blades from the Kapthurin Formation, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2010; 58:193-200. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 117] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2009] [Revised: 09/03/2009] [Accepted: 08/05/2009] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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28
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Out of Africa: modern human origins special feature: middle and later Pleistocene hominins in Africa and Southwest Asia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2009; 106:16046-50. [PMID: 19581595 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0903930106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Approximately 700,000 years ago, Homo erectus in Africa was giving way to populations with larger brains accompanied by structural adjustments to the vault, cranial base, and face. Such early Middle Pleistocene hominins were not anatomically modern. Their skulls display strong supraorbital tori above projecting faces, flattened frontals, and less parietal expansion than is the case for Homo sapiens. Postcranial remains seem also to have archaic features. Subsequently, some groups evolved advanced skeletal morphology, and by ca. 200,000 years ago, individuals more similar to recent humans are present in the African record. These fossils are associated with Middle Stone Age lithic assemblages and, in some cases, Acheulean tools. Crania from Herto in Ethiopia carry defleshing cutmarks and superficial scoring that may be indicative of mortuary practices. Despite these signs of behavioral innovation, neither the Herto hominins, nor others from Late Pleistocene sites such as Klasies River in southern Africa and Skhūl/Qafzeh in Israel, can be matched in living populations. Skulls are quite robust, and it is only after approximately 35,000 years ago that people with more gracile, fully modern morphology make their appearance. Not surprisingly, many questions concerning this evolutionary history have been raised. Attention has centered on systematics of the mid-Pleistocene hominins, their paleobiology, and the timing of dispersals that spread H. sapiens out of Africa and across the Old World. In this report, I discuss structural changes characterizing the skulls from different time periods, possible regional differences in morphology, and the bearing of this evidence on recognizing distinct species.
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Intrasite spatial variation of the Omo Kibish Middle Stone Age assemblages: Artifact refitting and distribution patterns. J Hum Evol 2008; 55:486-500. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.05.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2007] [Accepted: 05/15/2008] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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30
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Fleagle JG, Assefa Z, Brown FH, Shea JJ. Paleoanthropology of the Kibish Formation, southern Ethiopia: Introduction. J Hum Evol 2008; 55:360-5. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.05.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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31
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Pearson OM, Fleagle JG, Grine FE, Royer DF. Further new hominin fossils from the Kibish Formation, southwestern Ethiopia. J Hum Evol 2008; 55:444-7. [PMID: 18691739 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.05.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2007] [Accepted: 05/15/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
In addition to the new fragments of the Omo I skeleton, renewed fieldwork in the Kibish Formation along the lower reaches of the Omo River in southwestern Ethiopia has yielded new hominin finds from the Kibish Formation. The new finds include four heavily mineralized specimens: a partial left tibia and a fragment of a distal fibular diaphysis from Awoke's Hominid Site (AHS), a parietal fragment, and a portion of a juvenile occipital bone. The AHS tibia and fibula derive from Member I and are contemporaneous with Omo I and II. The other specimens derive from Chad's Hominid Site (CHS), and derive from either Member III or IV, which constrains their age between approximately 8.6 and approximately 104 ka.
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Affiliation(s)
- Osbjorn M Pearson
- Department of Anthropology, MSC 01-1040, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
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32
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Feibel CS. Microstratigraphy of the Kibish hominin sites KHS and PHS, Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia. J Hum Evol 2008; 55:404-8. [PMID: 18586302 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.05.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2007] [Accepted: 05/15/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Detailed stratigraphic analysis of the Omo I and Omo II fossil localities confirms both the relational and sequential context reported by Butzer in 1969. The two fossils derive from approximately the same level within upper Member I of the Kibish Formation. Additional features of the local stratigraphic sequences indicate a complex history of depositional events, minor erosional surfaces, and weak soil formation throughout upper Member I.
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Affiliation(s)
- Craig S Feibel
- Department of Geological Sciences, Rutgers University, Busch Campus, 610 Taylor Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8066, USA.
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33
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A re-examination of a human femur found at the Blind River Site, East London, South Africa: Its age, morphology, and breakage pattern. ANTHROPOLOGICAL REVIEW 2008. [DOI: 10.2478/v10044-008-0009-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
A re-examination of a human femur found at the Blind River Site, East London, South Africa: Its age, morphology, and breakage patternModern human femoral features might have appeared in the early Middle Stone Age (156 ka to 20 ka) in South Africa, as demonstrated by the recent re-examination of a human femur fossil found at the Blind River Site, East London in the 1930s, if new dating results hold. Two optically stimulated luminescence dates from the relocated original Blind River shallow marine/estuarine deposits that contained the femur gave almost identical ages of ~120 ka, corresponding to the early part of the Last Interglacial (Oxygen Isotope Stage 5). Overall, the slender headless femur is of modern human form. The distal epiphysis bears some typical squatting features, including a newly recognized squatting facet on the anterior wall of the intercondylar fossa. With the typical V-shaped and oblique fracture pattern left by the missing head, the Blind River femur was most likely modified through human activity. But this style is not a cultural trait found in recent South African people. Further study is needed to place this specimen in its due context in the course of human evolution.
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