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Archer W, Presnyakova D, Aldeias V, Colarossi D, Hutten L, Lauer T, Porraz G, Rossouw L, Shaw M. Late Acheulean occupations at Montagu Cave and the pattern of Middle Pleistocene behavioral change in Western Cape, southern Africa. J Hum Evol 2023; 184:103435. [PMID: 37774470 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103435] [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: 03/01/2023] [Revised: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 10/01/2023]
Abstract
Patterns of so-called modern human behavior are increasingly well documented in an abundance of Middle Stone Age archaeological sites across southern Africa. Contextualized archives directly preceding the southern African Middle Stone Age, however, remain scarce. Current understanding of the terminal Acheulean in southern Africa derives from a small number of localities that are predominantly in the central and northern interior. Many of these localities are surface and deflated contexts, others were excavated prior to the availability of modern field documentation techniques, and yet other relevant assemblages contain low numbers of characteristic artifacts relative to volume of excavated deposit. The site of Montagu Cave, situated in the diverse ecosystem of the Cape Floral Region, South Africa, contains the rare combination of archaeologically rich, laminated and deeply stratified Acheulean layers followed by a younger Middle Stone Age occupation. Yet little is known about the site owing largely to a lack of contextual information associated with the early excavations. Here we present renewed excavation of Levels 21-22 at Montagu Cave, located in the basal Acheulean sequence, including new data on site formation and ecological context, geochronology, and technological variability. We document intensive occupation of the cave by Acheulean tool-producing hominins, likely at the onset of interglacial conditions in MIS 7. New excavations at Montagu Cave suggest that, while Middle Stone Age technologies were practiced by 300 ka in several other regions of Africa, the classic Acheulean persisted later in the Fynbos Biome of the southwestern Cape. We discuss the implications of this regionalized persistence for the biogeography of African later Middle Pleistocene hominin populations, for the ecological drivers of their technological systems, and for the pattern and pace of behavioral change just prior to the proliferation of the southern African later Middle Stone Age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Will Archer
- Max Planck Partner Group, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, National Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa; Department of Geology, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
| | - Darya Presnyakova
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, UMR 7269, Laboratoire Méditerranéen de Préhistoire Europe Afrique (LAMPEA), Aix-en Provence, France
| | - Vera Aldeias
- Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour (ICArEHB), University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal
| | - Debra Colarossi
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Wales, United Kingdom
| | - Louisa Hutten
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Tobias Lauer
- Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Guillaume Porraz
- Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, UMR 7269, Laboratoire Méditerranéen de Préhistoire Europe Afrique (LAMPEA), Aix-en Provence, France
| | - Lloyd Rossouw
- Florisbad Quaternary Research Department, National Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa
| | - Matthew Shaw
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth, Atmospheric, and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Australia
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2
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Carr AS, Chase BM, Birkinshaw SJ, Holmes PJ, Rabumbulu M, Stewart BA. Paleolakes and socioecological implications of last glacial "greening" of the South African interior. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2221082120. [PMID: 37186818 PMCID: PMC10214169 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2221082120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 04/03/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Determining the timing and drivers of Pleistocene hydrological change in the interior of South Africa is critical for testing hypotheses regarding the presence, dynamics, and resilience of human populations. Combining geological data and physically based distributed hydrological modeling, we demonstrate the presence of large paleolakes in South Africa's central interior during the last glacial period, and infer a regional-scale invigoration of hydrological networks, particularly during marine isotope stages 3 and 2, most notably 55 to 39 ka and 34 to 31 ka. The resulting hydrological reconstructions further permit investigation of regional floral and fauna responses using a modern analog approach. These suggest that the climate change required to sustain these water bodies would have replaced xeric shrubland with more productive, eutrophic grassland or higher grass-cover vegetation, capable of supporting a substantial increase in ungulate diversity and biomass. The existence of such resource-rich landscapes for protracted phases within the last glacial period likely exerted a recurrent draw on human societies, evidenced by extensive pan-side artifact assemblages. Thus, rather than representing a perennially uninhabited hinterland, the central interior's underrepresentation in late Pleistocene archeological narratives likely reflects taphonomic biases stemming from a dearth of rockshelters and regional geomorphic controls. These findings suggest that South Africa's central interior experienced greater climatic, ecological, and cultural dynamism than previously appreciated and potential to host human populations whose archaeological signatures deserve systematic investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew S. Carr
- School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, LeicesterLE1 7RH, United Kingdom
| | - Brian M. Chase
- Institut des Sciences de L'Evolution-Montpellier, University of Montpellier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement,34095Montpellier, France
- Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch7701, South Africa
| | - Stephen J. Birkinshaw
- School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon TyneNE1 7RU, United Kingdom
| | - Peter J. Holmes
- Department of Geography, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein9300, South Africa
| | - Mulalo Rabumbulu
- Department of Geography Environmental Management and Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg2006, South Africa
| | - Brian A. Stewart
- Department of Anthropology and Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109
- Rock Art Research Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, 2050Wits, South Africa
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3
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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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Mesfin I, Benjamim MH, Lebatard AE, Saos T, Pleurdeau D, Matos J, Lotter M. Evidence for Earlier Stone Age 'coastal use': The site of Dungo IV, Benguela Province, Angola. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0278775. [PMID: 36827267 PMCID: PMC9955982 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The relationship between Earlier Stone Age (ESA) hominins and the southern African coastal environment has been poorly investigated, despite the high concentration of open-air sites in marine and fluvial terraces of the coastal plain from c. 1Ma onward during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. Southern Africa provides some of the earliest evidence of coastal subsistence strategies since the end of the Middle Pleistocene, during the Middle Stone Age (MSA). These coastal MSA sites showcase the role of coastal environments in the emergence and development of modern human behaviors. Given the high prevalence of coastal ESA sites throughout the region, we seek to question the relationship between hominins and coastal landscapes much earlier in time. In this regard, the +100 m raised beaches of the Benguela Province, Angola, are key areas as they are well-preserved and contain a dense record of prehistoric occupation from the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene, including sites like Dungo, Mormolo, Sombreiro, Macaca and Punta das Vacas. Accordingly, this paper provides a critical review of the coastal ESA record of southern Africa and a detailed presentation of the Dungo IV site, through a qualitative technological analysis coupled with a quantitative inter-site comparison with contemporary southern African coastal plain sites. Through our detailed technological analyses, we highlight the influence of coastal lithological resources on the technical behaviors of hominin groups, and we propose the existence of a "regional adaptive strategy" in a coastal landscape more than 600 000 years ago. Finally, we argue for the integration of coastal landscapes into hominins' territories, suggesting that adaptation to coastal environments is actually a slower process which begins with "territorialization" well before the emergence and development of Homo sapiens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isis Mesfin
- Fyssen Foundation - Museu Nacional de Arqueologia de Benguela, Benguela, Angola
- UMR 7194 Histoire Naturelle de l’Homme Préhistorique – CNRS, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Université Perpignan Via Domitia – Alliance Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
- Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
- * E-mail: ,
| | | | | | - Thibaud Saos
- UMR 7194 Histoire Naturelle de l’Homme Préhistorique – CNRS, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Université Perpignan Via Domitia – Alliance Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - David Pleurdeau
- UMR 7194 Histoire Naturelle de l’Homme Préhistorique – CNRS, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Université Perpignan Via Domitia – Alliance Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Jorge Matos
- Instituto Superior Politecnico Jean Piaget, Bairro Nossa Senhora da Graça, Benguela, Angola
| | - Matt Lotter
- Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Herries AIR, Arnold LJ, Boschian G, Blackwood AF, Wilson C, Mallett T, Armstrong B, Demuro M, Petchey F, Meredith-Williams M, Penzo-Kajewski P, Caruana MV. A marine isotope stage 11 coastal Acheulian workshop with associated wood at Amanzi Springs Area 1, South Africa. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0273714. [PMID: 36264956 PMCID: PMC9584507 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Amanzi Springs is a series of inactive thermal springs located near Kariega in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Excavations in the 1960s exposed rare, stratified Acheulian-bearing deposits that were not further investigated over the next 50 years. Reanalysis of the site and its legacy collection has led to a redefined stratigraphic context for the archaeology, a confirmed direct association between Acheulian artefacts and wood, as well as the first reliable age estimates for the site. Thermally transferred optically stimulated luminescence and post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence dating indicates that the Acheulian deposits from the Amanzi Springs Area 1 spring eye formed during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 at ~ 404–390 ka. At this time, higher sea levels of ~13-14m would have placed Amanzi Springs around 7 km from a ria that would have formed along what is today the Swartkops River, and which likely led to spring reactivation. This makes the Amanzi Springs Area 1 assemblage an unusual occurrence of a verified late occurring, seaward, open-air Acheulian occupation. The Acheulian levels do not contain any Middle Stone Age (MSA) elements such as blades and points that have been documented in the interior of South Africa at this time. However, a small number of stone tools from the upper layers of the artefact zone, and originally thought of as intrusive, have been dated to ~190 ka, at the transition between MIS 7 to 6, and represent the first potential MSA identified at the site.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andy I. R. Herries
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
- The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa
- * E-mail:
| | - Lee J. Arnold
- Environment Institute and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Giovanni Boschian
- The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Pisa. 1, Pisa, Italy
| | - Alexander F. Blackwood
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
| | - Coen Wilson
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Tom Mallett
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Brian Armstrong
- The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa
| | - Martina Demuro
- Environment Institute and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Fiona Petchey
- Environmental Research Institute, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Matthew Meredith-Williams
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Paul Penzo-Kajewski
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Matthew V. Caruana
- The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa
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6
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von der Meden J, Pickering R, Schoville BJ, Green H, Weij R, Hellstrom J, Greig A, Woodhead J, Khumalo W, Wilkins J. Tufas indicate prolonged periods of water availability linked to human occupation in the southern Kalahari. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0270104. [PMID: 35857764 PMCID: PMC9299332 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0270104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 06/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Detailed, well-dated palaeoclimate and archaeological records are critical for understanding the impact of environmental change on human evolution. Ga-Mohana Hill, in the southern Kalahari, South Africa, preserves a Pleistocene archaeological sequence. Relict tufas at the site are evidence of past flowing streams, waterfalls, and shallow pools. Here, we use laser ablation screening to target material suitable for uranium-thorium dating. We obtained 33 ages covering the last 110 thousand years (ka) and identify five tufa formation episodes at 114–100 ka, 73–48 ka, 44–32 ka, 15–6 ka, and ~3 ka. Three tufa episodes are coincident with the archaeological units at Ga-Mohana Hill dating to ~105 ka, ~31 ka, and ~15 ka. Based on our data and the coincidence of dated layers from other local records, we argue that in the southern Kalahari, from ~240 ka to ~71 ka wet phases and human occupation are coupled, but by ~20 ka during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), they are decoupled.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica von der Meden
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
- * E-mail:
| | - Robyn Pickering
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
| | - Benjamin J. Schoville
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
- School of Social Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Helen Green
- School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Rieneke Weij
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
- School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - John Hellstrom
- School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Alan Greig
- School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jon Woodhead
- School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Wendy Khumalo
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
| | - Jayne Wilkins
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Australia
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7
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Scerri EML, Roberts P, Yoshi Maezumi S, Malhi Y. Tropical forests in the deep human past. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200500. [PMID: 35249383 PMCID: PMC8899628 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Since Darwin, studies of human evolution have tended to give primacy to open 'savannah' environments as the ecological cradle of our lineage, with dense tropical forests cast as hostile, unfavourable frontiers. These perceptions continue to shape both the geographical context of fieldwork as well as dominant narratives concerning hominin evolution. This paradigm persists despite new, ground-breaking research highlighting the role of tropical forests in the human story. For example, novel research in Africa's rainforests has uncovered archaeological sites dating back into the Pleistocene; genetic studies have revealed very deep human roots in Central and West Africa and in the tropics of Asia and the Pacific; an unprecedented number of coexistent hominin species have now been documented, including Homo erectus, the 'Hobbit' (Homo floresiensis), Homo luzonensis, Denisovans, and Homo sapiens. Some of the earliest members of our own species to reach South Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania and the tropical Americas have shown an unexpected rapidity in their adaptation to even some of the more 'extreme' tropical settings. This includes the early human manipulation of species and even habitats. This volume builds on these currently disparate threads and, for the first time, draws together a group of interdisciplinary, agenda-setting papers that firmly places a broader spectrum of tropical environments at the heart of the deep human past. This article is part of the theme issue 'Tropical forests in the deep human past'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor M L Scerri
- Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany.,Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta.,Department of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany.,School of Social Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - S Yoshi Maezumi
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Yadvinder Malhi
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK
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8
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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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9
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Portable, non-destructive colorimetry and visible reflectance spectroscopy paired with machine learning can classify experimentally heat-treated silcrete from three South African sources. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0266389. [PMID: 35395051 PMCID: PMC8992976 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 03/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine if visible reflectance spectroscopy and quantitative colorimetry represent viable approaches to classifying the heat treatment state of silcrete. Silcrete is a soil duricrust that has been used as toolstone since at least the Middle Stone Age. The ancient practice of heat treating silcrete prior to knapping is of considerable interest to paleolithic archaeologists because of its implications for early modern human complex cognition generally and the ability to manipulate the material properties of stone specifically. Here, we demonstrate that our quantitative, non-invasive, and portable approach to measuring color, used in conjunction with k-Nearest Neighbors “lazy” machine learning, is a highly promising method for heat treatment detection. Traditional, expert human analyst approaches typically rely upon subjective assessments of color and luster and comparison to experimental reference collections. This strongly visual method can prove quite accurate, but difficult to reproduce between different analysts. In this work, we measured percent reflectance for the visible spectrum (1018 variables) and standardized color values (CIEL*a*b*) in unheated and experimentally heat-treated silcrete specimens from three sources in South Africa. k-NN classification proved highly effective with both the spectroscopy and colorimetry data sets. An important innovation was using the heat treatment state predicted by the k-NN model for the majority of replicate observations of a single specimen to predict the heat treatment state for the specimen overall. When this majority voting approach was applied to the 746 individual observations in this study, associated with 94 discrete silcrete flakes, both spectroscopy and colorimetry k-NN models yielded 0% test set misclassification rates at the specimen level.
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10
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Mackay A, Armitage SJ, Niespolo EM, Sharp WD, Stahlschmidt MC, Blackwood AF, Boyd KC, Chase BM, Lagle SE, Kaplan CF, Low MA, Martisius NL, McNeill PJ, Moffat I, O'Driscoll CA, Rudd R, Orton J, Steele TE. Environmental influences on human innovation and behavioural diversity in southern Africa 92-80 thousand years ago. Nat Ecol Evol 2022; 6:361-369. [PMID: 35228670 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01667-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Africa's Middle Stone Age preserves sporadic evidence for novel behaviours among early modern humans, prompting a range of questions about the influence of social and environmental factors on patterns of human behavioural evolution. Here we document a suite of novel adaptations dating approximately 92-80 thousand years before the present at the archaeological site Varsche Rivier 003 (VR003), located in southern Africa's arid Succulent Karoo biome. Distinctive innovations include the production of ostrich eggshell artefacts, long-distance transportation of marine molluscs and systematic use of heat shatter in stone tool production, none of which occur in coeval assemblages at sites in more humid, well-studied regions immediately to the south. The appearance of these novelties at VR003 corresponds with a period of reduced regional wind strength and enhanced summer rainfall, and all of them disappear with increasing winter rainfall dominance after 80 thousand years before the present, following which a pattern of technological similarity emerges at sites throughout the broader region. The results indicate complex and environmentally contingent processes of innovation and cultural transmission in southern Africa during the Middle Stone Age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Mackay
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. .,Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Upper Campus, Rondebosch, Western Cape, South Africa.
| | - Simon J Armitage
- Centre for Quaternary Research, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK.,SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Elizabeth M Niespolo
- Berkeley Geochronology Center, Berkeley, CA, USA.,Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.,Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.,Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI), University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | | | - Mareike C Stahlschmidt
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Alexander F Blackwood
- Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI), University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.,Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Kelsey C Boyd
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Brian M Chase
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution-Montpellier (ISEM), University of Montpellier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France.,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Upper Campus, Rondebosch, South Africa
| | - Susan E Lagle
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.,Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | | | | | - Naomi L Martisius
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.,Department of Anthropology, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA
| | - Patricia J McNeill
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Ian Moffat
- Archaeology, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia
| | - Corey A O'Driscoll
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Rachel Rudd
- Archaeology, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia.,School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Jayson Orton
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of South Africa, Unisa, South Africa
| | - Teresa E Steele
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany. .,Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
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11
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The cost of cooking for foragers. J Hum Evol 2021; 162:103091. [PMID: 34801770 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2020] [Revised: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 10/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Cooked food provides more calories to a consumer than raw food. When our human ancestors adopted cooking, the result was an increase in the caloric value of the diet. Generating the heat to cook, however, requires fuel, and accessing fuel was and remains a common problem for humanity. Cooking also frequently requires monitoring, special technology and other investments. These cooking costs should vary greatly across multiple contexts. Here I explain how to quantify this cooking trade-off as the ratio of the energetic benefits of cooking to the increased cost in handling time and examine the implications for foragers, including the first of our ancestors to cook. Ethnographic and experimental return rates and nutritional analysis about important prey items exploited by ethnohistoric Numic foragers in the North American Great Basin provide a demonstration of how the costs of cooking impact different types of prey. Foragers should make choices about which prey to capture based on expectations about the costs involved to cook them. The results indicate that the caloric benefit achieved by cooking meat is quickly lost as the cost of cooking increases, whereas many plant foods are beneficially cooked across a range of cooking costs. These findings affirm the importance of plant foods, especially geophytes, among foragers, and are highly suggestive of their importance at the onset of cooking in the human lineage.
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12
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Wilkins J. Homo sapiens origins and evolution in the Kalahari Basin, southern Africa. Evol Anthropol 2021; 30:327-344. [PMID: 34363428 PMCID: PMC8596755 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2020] [Revised: 02/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
The Kalahari Basin, southern Africa preserves a rich archeological record of human origins and evolution spanning the Early, Middle and Late Pleistocene. Since the 1930s, several stratified and dated archeological sites have been identified and investigated, together with numerous open-air localities that provide landscape-scale perspectives. However, next to recent discoveries from nearby coastal regions, the Kalahari Basin has remained peripheral to debates about the origins of Homo sapiens. Though the interior region of southern Africa is generally considered to be less suitable for hunter-gatherer occupation than coastal and near-coastal regions, especially during glacial periods, the archeological record documents human presence in the Kalahari Basin from the Early Pleistocene onwards, and the region is not abandoned during glacial phases. Furthermore, many significant behavioral innovations have an early origin in the Kalahari Basin, which adds support to poly-centric, pan-African models for the emergence of our species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Wilkins
- Australian Research Centre for Human EvolutionGriffith UniversityBrisbaneAustralia
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape TownCape TownSouth Africa
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13
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Faulkner P, Miller JM, Quintana Morales EM, Crowther A, Shipton C, Ndiema E, Boivin N, Petraglia MD. 67,000 years of coastal engagement at Panga ya Saidi, eastern Africa. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0256761. [PMID: 34437643 PMCID: PMC8389378 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The antiquity and nature of coastal resource procurement is central to understanding human evolution and adaptations to complex environments. It has become increasingly apparent in global archaeological studies that the timing, characteristics, and trajectories of coastal resource use are highly variable. Within Africa, discussions of these issues have largely been based on the archaeological record from the south and northeast of the continent, with little evidence from eastern coastal areas leaving significant spatial and temporal gaps in our knowledge. Here, we present data from Panga ya Saidi, a limestone cave complex located 15 km from the modern Kenyan coast, which represents the first long-term sequence of coastal engagement from eastern Africa. Rather than attempting to distinguish between coastal resource use and coastal adaptations, we focus on coastal engagement as a means of characterising human relationships with marine environments and resources from this inland location. We use aquatic mollusc data spanning the past 67,000 years to document shifts in the acquisition, transportation, and discard of these materials, to better understand long-term trends in coastal engagement. Our results show pulses of coastal engagement beginning with low-intensity symbolism, and culminating in the consistent low-level transport of marine and freshwater food resources, emphasising a diverse relationship through time. Panga ya Saidi has the oldest stratified evidence of marine engagement in eastern Africa, and is the only site in Africa which documents coastal resources from the Late Pleistocene through the Holocene, highlighting the potential archaeological importance of peri-coastal sites to debates about marine resource relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Faulkner
- Department of Archaeology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Jennifer M. Miller
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Eréndira M. Quintana Morales
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America
| | - Alison Crowther
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Ceri Shipton
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Emmanuel Ndiema
- Department of Earth Sciences, Archaeology Section, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Nicole Boivin
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, United States of America
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
| | - Michael D. Petraglia
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, United States of America
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE), Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
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14
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Folgerø PO, Johansson C, Stokkedal LH. The Superior Visual Perception Hypothesis: Neuroaesthetics of Cave Art. Behav Sci (Basel) 2021; 11:81. [PMID: 34073168 PMCID: PMC8226463 DOI: 10.3390/bs11060081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Revised: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Cave Art in the Upper Paleolithic presents a boost of creativity and visual thinking. What can explain these savant-like paintings? The normal brain function in modern man rarely supports the creation of highly detailed paintings, particularly the convincing representation of animal movement, without extensive training and access to modern technology. Differences in neuro-signaling and brain anatomy between modern and archaic Homo sapiens could also cause differences in perception. The brain of archaic Homo sapiens could perceive raw detailed information without using pre-established top-down concepts, as opposed to the common understanding of the normal modern non-savant brain driven by top-down control. Some ancient genes preserved in modern humans may be expressed in rare disorders. Researchers have compared Cave Art with art made by people with autism spectrum disorder. We propose that archaic primary consciousness, as opposed to modern secondary consciousness, included a savant-like perception with a superior richness of details compared to modern man. Modern people with high frequencies of Neanderthal genes, have notable anatomical features such as increased skull width in the occipital and parietal visual areas. We hypothesize that the anatomical differences are functional and may allow a different path to visual perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Per Olav Folgerø
- Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies, University of Bergen, 5007 Bergen, Norway;
| | - Christer Johansson
- Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies, University of Bergen, 5007 Bergen, Norway;
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15
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Gravel-Miguel C, Murray JK, Schoville BJ, Wren CD, Marean CW. Exploring variability in lithic armature discard in the archaeological record. J Hum Evol 2021; 155:102981. [PMID: 33848696 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.102981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2020] [Revised: 02/23/2021] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The invention of projectile technology had important ramifications for hominin evolution. However, the number of stone points that could have been used as projectiles fluctuates in archaeological assemblages, making it difficult to define when projectile technology was first widely adopted and how its usage changed over time. Here we use an agent-based model to simulate a hunter-gatherer foraging system where armatures are dropped according to their usage. We explore the impact of interactions between human behaviors and the environmental constraints of a data-informed landscape on the distribution and number of lithic armatures found in archaeological assemblages. We ran 2400 simulations modeling different population sizes, rates of hunting with projectiles, and tool curation levels. For each simulation, we recorded the location of dropped armatures and calculated the number and percentage of used armatures that were discarded at habitation camps vs. lost during hunting. We used linear regression to identify the demographic, behavioral, and environmental factor(s) that best explained changes in these numbers and percentages. The model results show that in a well-controlled environment, most armatures used as projectile weapons are lost or discarded at hunting sites; only ∼4.5% of used armatures (or ∼2 armatures per year of simulation) are discarded in habitation camps where they would likely be excavated. These findings suggest that even rare hafted armatures found in the Early and Middle Stone Age could indicate a well-established use of such tools. Our model shows that interactions between reoccupation of archaeological sites, population size, rate of hunting with projectile weapons, and tool curation levels strongly influence the count of lithic armatures found in archaeological assemblages. Therefore, we argue that fluctuations in the counts of armatures documented at archaeological sites should be evaluated within their demographic and environmental contexts to better understand if they reflect spatiotemporal changes in hunting behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudine Gravel-Miguel
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA; Département d'anthropologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
| | - John K Murray
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Benjamin J Schoville
- School of Social Science, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia
| | - Colin D Wren
- Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO, USA
| | - Curtis W Marean
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA; African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Eastern Cape, South Africa
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16
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Wilkins J, Schoville BJ, Pickering R, Gliganic L, Collins B, Brown KS, von der Meden J, Khumalo W, Meyer MC, Maape S, Blackwood AF, Hatton A. Innovative Homo sapiens behaviours 105,000 years ago in a wetter Kalahari. Nature 2021; 592:248-252. [DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03419-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2020] [Accepted: 03/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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17
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Helm CW, Cawthra HC, Cowling RM, De Vynck JC, Lockley MG, Marean CW, Dixon MG, Helm CJ, Stear W, Thesen GH, Venter JA. Protecting and preserving South African aeolianite surfaces from graffiti. KOEDOE: AFRICAN PROTECTED AREA CONSERVATION AND SCIENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.4102/koedoe.v63i1.1656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
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18
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Helm CW, Lockley MG, Cawthra HC, De Vynck JC, Dixon MG, Helm CJ, Thesen GH. Newly identified hominin trackways from the Cape south coast of South Africa. S AFR J SCI 2020. [DOI: 10.17159/sajs.2020/8156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Three new Pleistocene hominin tracksites have been identified on the Cape south coast of South Africa, one in the Garden Route National Park and two in the Goukamma Nature Reserve, probably dating to Marine Isotope Stage 5. As a result, southern Africa now boasts six hominin tracksites, which are collectively the oldest sites in the world that are attributed to Homo sapiens. The tracks were registered on dune surfaces, now preserved in aeolianites. Tracks of varying size were present at two sites, indicating the presence of more than one trackmaker, and raising the possibility of family groups. A total of 18 and 32 tracks were recorded at these two sites, respectively. Ammoglyphs were present at one site. Although track quality was not optimal, and large aeolianite surface exposures are rare in the region, these sites prove the capacity of coastal aeolianites to yield such discoveries, and they contribute to what remains a sparse global hominin track record. It is evident that hominin tracks are more common in southern Africa than was previously supposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles W. Helm
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | - Martin G. Lockley
- Dinosaur Trackers Research Group, University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado, USA
| | - Hayley C. Cawthra
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- Geophysics and Remote Sensing Unit, Council for Geoscience, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Jan C. De Vynck
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | - Mark G. Dixon
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | - Carina J.Z. Helm
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | - Guy H.H. Thesen
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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19
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Zilhão J, Angelucci DE, Igreja MA, Arnold LJ, Badal E, Callapez P, Cardoso JL, d'Errico F, Daura J, Demuro M, Deschamps M, Dupont C, Gabriel S, Hoffmann DL, Legoinha P, Matias H, Monge Soares AM, Nabais M, Portela P, Queffelec A, Rodrigues F, Souto P. Last Interglacial Iberian Neandertals as fisher-hunter-gatherers. Science 2020; 367:367/6485/eaaz7943. [PMID: 32217702 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz7943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2019] [Accepted: 02/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Marine food-reliant subsistence systems such as those in the African Middle Stone Age (MSA) were not thought to exist in Europe until the much later Mesolithic. Whether this apparent lag reflects taphonomic biases or behavioral distinctions between archaic and modern humans remains much debated. Figueira Brava cave, in the Arrábida range (Portugal), provides an exceptionally well preserved record of Neandertal coastal resource exploitation on a comparable scale to the MSA and dated to ~86 to 106 thousand years ago. The breadth of the subsistence base-pine nuts, marine invertebrates, fish, marine birds and mammals, tortoises, waterfowl, and hoofed game-exceeds that of regional early Holocene sites. Fisher-hunter-gatherer economies are not the preserve of anatomically modern people; by the Last Interglacial, they were in place across the Old World in the appropriate settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Zilhão
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Passeig Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain. .,Universitat de Barcelona, Departament d'Història i Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, c/Montalegre 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - D E Angelucci
- Università degli Studi di Trento, Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia, via Tommaso Gar 14, 38122 Trento, Italy
| | - M Araújo Igreja
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal.,Laboratório de Arqueociências (LARC), Direcção Geral do Património Cultural, Calçada do Mirante à Ajuda 10A, 1300-418 Lisboa, Portugal.,Environmental Archaeology Group, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (ENVARCH, CIBIO/InBIO), University of Oporto, Rua Padre Armando Quintas 7, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
| | - L J Arnold
- Environment Institute and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
| | - E Badal
- Universitat de València, Departament de Prehistòria, Arqueologia i Història Antiga, Av. Blasco Ibañez 28, 46010 València, Spain
| | - P Callapez
- Departamento de Ciências da Terra (CITEUC), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Coimbra, Rua Sílvio Lima, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - J L Cardoso
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal.,Universidade Aberta, Rua da Escola Politécnica 147, 1269-001 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - F d'Errico
- CNRS (UMR 5199-PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Bât. B18, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, CS 50023, 33615 Pessac Cedex, France.,SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), Sydnesplassen 12/13, 4 Etage, Postboks 7805, 5020 University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - J Daura
- Universitat de Barcelona, Departament d'Història i Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, c/Montalegre 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - M Demuro
- Environment Institute and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
| | - M Deschamps
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5608-TRACES, Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès, Maison de la Recherche, 5 allées Antonio Machado, 31058 Toulouse cedex 9, France
| | - C Dupont
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 6566-CReAAH, Laboratoire Archéosciences, Bât. 24-25, Université de Rennes 1-Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France
| | - S Gabriel
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal.,Laboratório de Arqueociências (LARC), Direcção Geral do Património Cultural, Calçada do Mirante à Ajuda 10A, 1300-418 Lisboa, Portugal.,Environmental Archaeology Group, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (ENVARCH, CIBIO/InBIO), University of Oporto, Rua Padre Armando Quintas 7, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
| | - D L Hoffmann
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.,Geoscience Center, Isotope Geology Division, University of Göttingen, Goldschmidtstrasse 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - P Legoinha
- Geobiotec, Departamento de Ciências da Terra, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
| | - H Matias
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - A M Monge Soares
- Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares (C2TN), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada Nacional 10, 2695-066 Bobadela, Portugal
| | - M Nabais
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal.,Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, UK
| | - P Portela
- Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares (C2TN), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada Nacional 10, 2695-066 Bobadela, Portugal
| | - A Queffelec
- CNRS (UMR 5199-PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Bât. B18, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, CS 50023, 33615 Pessac Cedex, France
| | - F Rodrigues
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - P Souto
- Sociedade Torrejana de Espeleologia e Arqueologia, Quinta da Lezíria, 2350-510, Torres Novas, Portugal
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20
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Cultural bistability and connectedness in a subdivided population. Theor Popul Biol 2019; 129:103-117. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2019.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2018] [Revised: 02/06/2019] [Accepted: 03/19/2019] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
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21
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Schubel JR, Thompson K. Farming the Sea: The Only Way to Meet Humanity's Future Food Needs. GEOHEALTH 2019; 3:238-244. [PMID: 32159044 PMCID: PMC7007165 DOI: 10.1029/2019gh000204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2019] [Revised: 08/15/2019] [Accepted: 08/19/2019] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
A major change began 10,000-12,000 years ago when humans began to practice agriculture. A series of "green revolutions" enabled the human population to explode, but these advancements have dramatically changed the planet. The United Nations predicts that we will need to produce 50% more food by 2050 to feed another 2.5 billion people, but this will be challenging with tighter land and water resources and a changing climate. Responsible marine aquaculture can complement responsible land-based agriculture and aquaculture and well-managed fisheries to increase the global supply of nutritious food.
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22
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Williams AC, Hill LJ. Nicotinamide and Demographic and Disease transitions: Moderation is Best. Int J Tryptophan Res 2019; 12:1178646919855940. [PMID: 31320805 PMCID: PMC6610439 DOI: 10.1177/1178646919855940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2019] [Accepted: 05/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Good health and rapid progress depend on an optimal dose of nicotinamide. Too little meat triggers the neurodegenerative condition pellagra and tolerance of symbionts such as tuberculosis (TB), risking dysbioses and impaired resistance to acute infections. Nicotinamide deficiency is an overlooked diagnosis in poor cereal-dependant economies masquerading as 'environmental enteropathy' or physical and cognitive stunting. Too much meat (and supplements) may precipitate immune intolerance and autoimmune and allergic disease, with relative infertility and longevity, via the tryptophan-nicotinamide pathway. This switch favours a dearth of regulatory T (Treg) and an excess of T helper cells. High nicotinamide intake is implicated in cancer and Parkinson's disease. Pro-fertility genes, evolved to counteract high-nicotinamide-induced infertility, may now be risk factors for degenerative disease. Moderation of the dose of nicotinamide could prevent some common diseases and personalised doses at times of stress or, depending on genetic background or age, may treat some other conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrian C Williams
- Department of Neurology, University
Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK
| | - Lisa J Hill
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Institute
of Clinical Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
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23
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Williams AC, Hill LJ. Nicotinamide as Independent Variable for Intelligence, Fertility, and Health: Origin of Human Creative Explosions? Int J Tryptophan Res 2019; 12:1178646919855944. [PMID: 31258332 PMCID: PMC6585247 DOI: 10.1177/1178646919855944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2019] [Accepted: 05/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Meat and nicotinamide acquisition was a defining force during the 2-million-year evolution of the big brains necessary for, anatomically modern, Homo sapiens to survive. Our next move was down the food chain during the Mesolithic 'broad spectrum', then horticultural, followed by the Neolithic agricultural revolutions and progressively lower average 'doses' of nicotinamide. We speculate that a fertility crisis and population bottleneck around 40 000 years ago, at the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, was overcome by Homo (but not the Neanderthals) by concerted dietary change plus profertility genes and intense sexual selection culminating in behaviourally modern Homo sapiens. Increased reliance on the 'de novo' synthesis of nicotinamide from tryptophan conditioned the immune system to welcome symbionts, such as TB (that excrete nicotinamide), and to increase tolerance of the foetus and thereby fertility. The trade-offs during the warmer Holocene were physical and mental stunting and more infectious diseases and population booms and busts. Higher nicotinamide exposure could be responsible for recent demographic and epidemiological transitions to lower fertility and higher longevity, but with more degenerative and auto-immune disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrian C Williams
- Department of Neurology, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK
| | - Lisa J Hill
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Clinical Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
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A dispersal of Homo sapiens from southern to eastern Africa immediately preceded the out-of-Africa migration. Sci Rep 2019; 9:4728. [PMID: 30894612 PMCID: PMC6426877 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41176-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2018] [Accepted: 02/19/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Africa was the birth-place of Homo sapiens and has the earliest evidence for symbolic behaviour and complex technologies. The best-attested early flowering of these distinctive features was in a glacial refuge zone on the southern coast 100–70 ka, with fewer indications in eastern Africa until after 70 ka. Yet it was eastern Africa, not the south, that witnessed the first major demographic expansion, ~70–60 ka, which led to the peopling of the rest of the world. One possible explanation is that important cultural traits were transmitted from south to east at this time. Here we identify a mitochondrial signal of such a dispersal soon after ~70 ka – the only time in the last 200,000 years that humid climate conditions encompassed southern and tropical Africa. This dispersal immediately preceded the out-of-Africa expansions, potentially providing the trigger for these expansions by transmitting significant cultural elements from the southern African refuge.
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Loftus E, Lee-Thorp J, Leng M, Marean C, Sealy J. Seasonal scheduling of shellfish collection in the Middle and Later Stone Ages of southern Africa. J Hum Evol 2019; 128:1-16. [PMID: 30825979 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2018] [Revised: 12/06/2018] [Accepted: 12/14/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
This study assesses the seasonal scheduling of shellfish harvesting among hunter-gatherer populations along the southernmost coast of South Africa, based on a large number of serial oxygen isotope analyses of marine mollusk shells from four archaeological sites. The south coast of South Africa boasts an exceptional record of coastal hunter-gatherer occupation spanning the Holocene, the last glacial cycle and beyond. The significance of coastal adaptations, in this region in particular, for later modern human evolution has been prominently debated. Shellfishing behaviors are an important focus for investigation given the dietary and scheduling implications and the abundant archaeological shell remains in numerous sites. Key to better understanding coastal foraging is whether it was limited to one particular season, or year-round. Yet, this has proven very difficult to establish by conventional archaeological methods. This study reconstructs seasonal harvesting patterns by calculating water temperatures from the final growth increment of shells. Results from two Later Stone Age sites, Nelson Bay Cave (together with the nearby Hoffman's Robberg Cave) and Byneskranskop 1, show a pronounced cool season signal, which is unexpected given previous ethnographic documentation of summer as the optimal season for shellfishing activities and inferences about hunter-gatherer scheduling and mobility in the late Holocene. Results from two Middle Stone Age sites, Klasies River and Pinnacle Point 5-6, show distinct seasonal patterns that likely reflect the seasonal availability of resources in the two locations. The Pinnacle Point 5-6 assemblage, which spans the MIS5-4 transition, records a marked shift in shellfishing seasonality at c. 71 ka that aligns with other indications of archaeological and environmental change at this time. We conclude that the scheduling and intensity of shellfishing in this region is affected by a suite of factors, including environmental and cultural drivers, rather than a single variable, such as population growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Loftus
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 1-2 South Parks Road, OX1 3TG, UK; Merton College, University of Oxford, Merton Street, OX1 4JD, UK.
| | - Julia Lee-Thorp
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 1-2 South Parks Road, OX1 3TG, UK
| | - Melanie Leng
- NERC Isotope Geoscience Laboratory Facilities, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK; Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Curtis Marean
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, PO Box 874101, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4101, USA; African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa
| | - Judith Sealy
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
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Henn BM, Steele TE, Weaver TD. Clarifying distinct models of modern human origins in Africa. Curr Opin Genet Dev 2018; 53:148-156. [PMID: 30423527 DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2018.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2018] [Revised: 10/09/2018] [Accepted: 10/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Accumulating genomic, fossil and archaeological data from Africa have led to a renewed interest in models of modern human origins. However, such discussions are often discipline-specific, with limited integration of evidence across the different fields. Further, geneticists typically require explicit specification of parameters to test competing demographic models, but these have been poorly outlined for some scenarios. Here, we describe four possible models for the origins of Homo sapiens in Africa based on published literature from paleoanthropology and human genetics. We briefly outline expectations for data patterns under each model, with a special focus on genetic data. Additionally, we present schematics for each model, doing our best to qualitatively describe demographic histories for which genetic parameters can be specifically attached. Finally, it is our hope that this perspective provides context for discussions of human origins in other manuscripts presented in this special issue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brenna M Henn
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, United States; UC Davis Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, United States.
| | - Teresa E Steele
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, United States
| | - Timothy D Weaver
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, United States
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Stolarczyk RE, Schmidt P. Is early silcrete heat treatment a new behavioural proxy in the Middle Stone Age? PLoS One 2018; 13:e0204705. [PMID: 30273411 PMCID: PMC6166942 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2018] [Accepted: 09/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The South African Middle Stone Age (MSA) has in recent years become increasingly important for our understanding of the emergence of ‘modern human behaviours’. Several key innovations appeared in this context for the first time, significantly pre-dating their re-invention in the European Upper Palaeolithic. One of these innovations was heat treatment of stone to improve its quality for the production of stone tools. Heat treatment may even be the oldest well-documented technique used to intentionally alter the properties of materials in general. It is commonly thought of as requiring the skilled use of fire, a high degree of planning depth and complex cognitive abilities. However, to work on these fundamental concepts we need to analyse the techniques and procedures used to heat-treat and we need to understand what they imply. In this paper, we present a direct and expedient comparison between the technical complexities of four alternative heat treatment procedures by coding the behaviours required for their set-up in so-called cognigrams, a relatively new method for understanding complexity based on the problem-solution distance. Our results show that although the techniques significantly differ in complexity, the techniques used in the MSA fall within the range of complexities known from other MSA techniques. Heat treatment in above-ground fires, as it was practised during this period in South Africa, was even one of the most complex techniques at the time of its invention. Early heat treatment can therefore be considered an important behavioural proxy that may shed light on the behaviour and socioeconomic structure of past groups. The implications of this are highlighted by the ongoing debate about ‘modernity’, ‘behavioural flexibility’ and ‘complex cognition’ of early anatomically modern humans in Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Regine E. Stolarczyk
- Department of Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- Research Center ‘The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans’, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities housed at the University of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Patrick Schmidt
- Department of Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- Department of Geosciences—Applied Mineralogy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- * E-mail:
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Intermittent living; the use of ancient challenges as a vaccine against the deleterious effects of modern life - A hypothesis. Med Hypotheses 2018; 120:28-42. [PMID: 30220336 DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2018.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2018] [Revised: 07/25/2018] [Accepted: 08/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCD) are the leading cause of mortality in developed countries. They ensue from the sum of modern anthropogenic risk factors, including high calorie nutrition, malnutrition, sedentary lifestyle, social stress, environmental toxins, politics and economic factors. Many of these factors are beyond the span of control of individuals, suggesting that CNCD are inevitable. However, various studies, ours included, show that the use of intermittent challenges with hormetic effects improve subjective and objective wellbeing of individuals with CNCD, while having favourable effects on immunological, metabolic and behavioural indices. Intermittent cold, heat, fasting and hypoxia, together with phytochemicals in multiple food products, have widespread influence on many pathways related with overall health. Until recently, most of the employed challenges with hormetic effects belonged to the usual transient live experiences of our ancestors. Our hypothesis; we conclude that, whereas the total inflammatory load of multi-metabolic and psychological risk factors causes low grade inflammation and aging, the use of intermittent challenges, united in a 7-10 days lasting hormetic intervention, might serve as a vaccine against the deleterious effects of chronic low grade inflammation and it's metabolic and (premature) aging consequences.
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Esteban I, Marean CW, Fisher EC, Karkanas P, Cabanes D, Albert RM. Phytoliths as an indicator of early modern humans plant gathering strategies, fire fuel and site occupation intensity during the Middle Stone Age at Pinnacle Point 5-6 (south coast, South Africa). PLoS One 2018; 13:e0198558. [PMID: 29864147 PMCID: PMC5986156 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2018] [Accepted: 05/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The study of plant remains in archaeological sites, along with a better understanding of the use of plants by prehistoric populations, can help us shed light on changes in survival strategies of hunter-gatherers and consequent impacts on modern human cognition, social organization, and technology. The archaeological locality of Pinnacle Point (Mossel Bay, South Africa) includes a series of coastal caves, rock-shelters, and open-air sites with human occupations spanning the Acheulian through Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA). These sites have provided some of the earliest evidence for complex human behaviour and technology during the MSA. We used phytoliths-amorphous silica particles that are deposited in cells of plants-as a proxy for the reconstruction of past human plant foraging strategies on the south coast of South Africa during the Middle and Late Pleistocene, emphasizing the use and control of fire as well as other possible plant uses. We analysed sediment samples from the different occupation periods at the rock shelter Pinnacle Point 5-6 North (PP5-6N). We also present an overview of the taphonomic processes affecting phytolith preservation in this site that will be critical to conduct a more reliable interpretation of the original plant use in the rock shelter. Our study reports the first evidence of the intentional gathering and introduction into living areas of plants from the Restionaceae family by MSA hunter-gatherers inhabiting the south coast of South Africa. We suggest that humans inhabiting Pinnacle Point during short-term occupation events during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 built fast fires using mainly grasses with some wood from trees and/or shrubs for specific purposes, perhaps for shellfish cooking. With the onset of MIS 4 we observed a change in the plant gathering strategies towards the intentional and intensive exploitation of dry wood to improve, we hypothesise, combustion for heating silcrete. This human behaviour is associated with changes in stone tool technology, site occupation intensity and climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Esteban
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- ERAAUB. Dept. Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Curtis W. Marean
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, United States of America
| | - Erich C. Fisher
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, United States of America
| | - Panagiotis Karkanas
- The Malcolm H. Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Science, American School of Classical Studies, Athens, Greece
| | - Dan Cabanes
- Department of Anthropology, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Biological Sciences Building, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States of America
- Center for Human Evolutionary Studies. Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Biological Sciences Building, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States of America
| | - Rosa M. Albert
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- ERAAUB. Dept. Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- ICREA, Barcelona, Spain
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Read D. Kinship and Human Evolution: Making Culture, Becoming Human by Steen Bergendorff Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2016. 105 pp. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/aman.13036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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78,000-year-old record of Middle and Later stone age innovation in an East African tropical forest. Nat Commun 2018; 9:1832. [PMID: 29743572 PMCID: PMC5943315 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04057-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2017] [Accepted: 03/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The Middle to Later Stone Age transition in Africa has been debated as a significant shift in human technological, cultural, and cognitive evolution. However, the majority of research on this transition is currently focused on southern Africa due to a lack of long-term, stratified sites across much of the African continent. Here, we report a 78,000-year-long archeological record from Panga ya Saidi, a cave in the humid coastal forest of Kenya. Following a shift in toolkits ~67,000 years ago, novel symbolic and technological behaviors assemble in a non-unilinear manner. Against a backdrop of a persistent tropical forest-grassland ecotone, localized innovations better characterize the Late Pleistocene of this part of East Africa than alternative emphases on dramatic revolutions or migrations. Most of the archaeological record of the Middle to Later Stone Age transition comes from southern Africa. Here, Shipton et al. describe the new site Panga ya Saidi on the coast of Kenya that covers the last 78,000 years and shows gradual cultural and technological change in the Late Pleistocene.
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Smith EI, Jacobs Z, Johnsen R, Ren M, Fisher EC, Oestmo S, Wilkins J, Harris JA, Karkanas P, Fitch S, Ciravolo A, Keenan D, Cleghorn N, Lane CS, Matthews T, Marean CW. Humans thrived in South Africa through the Toba eruption about 74,000 years ago. Nature 2018. [DOI: 10.1038/nature25967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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O'Driscoll CA, Thompson JC. The origins and early elaboration of projectile technology. Evol Anthropol 2018; 27:30-45. [PMID: 29446556 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
The ability of Homo sapiens to kill prey at a distance is arguably one of the catalysts for our current ecological dominance. Many researchers have suggested its origins lie in the African Middle Stone Age or the European Middle Palaeolithic (∼300-30 thousand years ago), but the perishable components of armatures rarely preserve. Most research on this subject therefore emphasises analysis of armature tip size, shape, and diagnostic impacts or residues. Other lines of evidence have included human skeletal anatomy or analyses of the species composition of faunal assemblages. Projectile Impact Marks (PIMs) on archaeofaunal remains offer an ideal complement to this work, but their potential has been restricted mainly to the later Eurasian zooarchaeological record. A review of current evidence and approaches shows that systematic PIM research could add much to our understanding of early projectile technology, especially in Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corey A O'Driscoll
- School of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
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Stoutjesdijk E, Schaafsma A, Dijck-Brouwer DAJ, Muskiet FAJ. Fish oil supplemental dose needed to reach 1g% DHA+EPA in mature milk. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids 2018; 128:53-61. [PMID: 29413361 DOI: 10.1016/j.plefa.2017.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2017] [Revised: 11/14/2017] [Accepted: 11/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Erythrocyte (RBC) DHA+EPA is considered optimal at 8g%. Mothers with lifetime high fish intakes exhibiting this status produce milk with about 1g% DHA+EPA. We established DHA+EPA supplemental dosages needed to augment RBC DHA+EPA to 8g% and milk DHA+EPA to 1g%. MATERIALS AND METHODS Pregnant women were randomly allocated to DHA+EPA dosages of: 225+90 (n=9), 450+180 (n=9), 675+270 (n=11) and 900+360 (n=7) mg/day. Samples were collected at 20 and 36 gestational weeks and 4 weeks postpartum. RESULTS Linear regression revealed needed dosages rounded at 750mg/day to reach 8g% RBC DHA+EPA and 1000mg/day for 1g% milk DHA+EPA. RBC DHA+EPA increment depended on baseline values. There was no effect on milk AA, but milk EPA/AA ratio increased. CONCLUSION Women with an RBC DHA+EPA status of 5.5g% need 750 and 1000mg DHA+EPA/day to reach 8g% RBC DHA+EPA at the pregnancy end and 1g% mature milk DHA+EPA, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Stoutjesdijk
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Netherlands.
| | - A Schaafsma
- Friesland Campina, Amersfoort, The Netherlands
| | - D A J Dijck-Brouwer
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Netherlands
| | - F A J Muskiet
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Netherlands
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Lewis MC, West AG, O'Riain MJ. Isotopic assessment of marine food consumption by natural-foraging chacma baboons on the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2017; 165:77-93. [PMID: 29076130 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2017] [Revised: 08/14/2017] [Accepted: 09/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Stable isotope analysis has been used to investigate consumption of marine resources in a variety of terrestrial mammals, including humans, but not yet in extant nonhuman primates. We sought to test the efficacy of stable isotope analysis as a tool for such studies by comparing isotope- and observation-based estimates of marine food consumption by a troop of noncommensal, free-ranging chacma baboons. MATERIALS AND METHODS We determined δ13 C and δ15 N values of baboon hair (n = 9) and fecal samples (n = 144), and principal food items (n = 362). These values were used as input for diet models, the outputs of which were compared to observation-based estimates of marine food consumption. RESULTS Fecal δ13 C values ranged from -29.3‰ to -25.6‰. δ15 N values ranged from 0.9‰ to 6.3‰ and were positively correlated with a measure of marine foraging during the dietary integration period. Mean (± SD) δ13 C values of adult male and female baboon hairs were -21.6‰ (± 0.1) and -21.8‰ (± 0.3) respectively, and corresponding δ15 N values were 5.0‰ (± 0.3) and 3.9‰ (± 0.2). Models indicated that marine contributions were ≤10% of baboon diet within any season, and contributed ≤17% of dietary protein through the year. DISCUSSION Model output and observational data were in agreement, both indicating that despite their abundance in the intertidal region, marine foods comprised only a small proportion of baboon diet. This suggests that stable isotope analysis is a viable tool for investigating marine food consumption by natural-foraging primates in temperate regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew C Lewis
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa.,Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa.,Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
| | - Adam G West
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
| | - M Justin O'Riain
- Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
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Chase BM, Faith JT, Mackay A, Chevalier M, Carr AS, Boom A, Lim S, Reimer PJ. Climatic controls on Later Stone Age human adaptation in Africa's southern Cape. J Hum Evol 2017; 114:35-44. [PMID: 29447760 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2016] [Revised: 09/12/2017] [Accepted: 09/13/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Africa's southern Cape is a key region for the evolution of our species, with early symbolic systems, marine faunal exploitation, and episodic production of microlithic stone tools taken as evidence for the appearance of distinctively complex human behavior. However, the temporally discontinuous nature of this evidence precludes ready assumptions of intrinsic adaptive benefit, and has encouraged diverse explanations for the occurrence of these behaviors, in terms of regional demographic, social and ecological conditions. Here, we present a new high-resolution multi-proxy record of environmental change that indicates that faunal exploitation patterns and lithic technologies track climatic variation across the last 22,300 years in the southern Cape. Conditions during the Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation were humid, and zooarchaeological data indicate high foraging returns. By contrast, the Holocene is characterized by much drier conditions and a degraded resource base. Critically, we demonstrate that systems for technological delivery - or provisioning - were responsive to changing humidity and environmental productivity. However, in contrast to prevailing models, bladelet-rich microlithic technologies were deployed under conditions of high foraging returns and abandoned in response to increased aridity and less productive subsistence environments. This suggests that posited links between microlithic technologies and subsistence risk are not universal, and the behavioral sophistication of human populations is reflected in their adaptive flexibility rather than in the use of specific technological systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian M Chase
- Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5554, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier, Université Montpellier, Bat. 22, CC061, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
| | - J Tyler Faith
- Natural History Museum of Utah & Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA
| | - Alex Mackay
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Building 41, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Manuel Chevalier
- Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, Geopolis, University of Lausanne, Quartier UNIL-Mouline, Batiment Géopolis, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Andrew S Carr
- School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Arnoud Boom
- School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Sophak Lim
- Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5554, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier, Université Montpellier, Bat. 22, CC061, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
| | - Paula J Reimer
- School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, UK
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Wilkins J, Brown KS, Oestmo S, Pereira T, Ranhorn KL, Schoville BJ, Marean CW. Lithic technological responses to Late Pleistocene glacial cycling at Pinnacle Point Site 5-6, South Africa. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0174051. [PMID: 28355257 PMCID: PMC5371328 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2016] [Accepted: 03/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
There are multiple hypotheses for human responses to glacial cycling in the Late Pleistocene, including changes in population size, interconnectedness, and mobility. Lithic technological analysis informs us of human responses to environmental change because lithic assemblage characteristics are a reflection of raw material transport, reduction, and discard behaviors that depend on hunter-gatherer social and economic decisions. Pinnacle Point Site 5-6 (PP5-6), Western Cape, South Africa is an ideal locality for examining the influence of glacial cycling on early modern human behaviors because it preserves a long sequence spanning marine isotope stages (MIS) 5, 4, and 3 and is associated with robust records of paleoenvironmental change. The analysis presented here addresses the question, what, if any, lithic assemblage traits at PP5-6 represent changing behavioral responses to the MIS 5-4-3 interglacial-glacial cycle? It statistically evaluates changes in 93 traits with no a priori assumptions about which traits may significantly associate with MIS. In contrast to other studies that claim that there is little relationship between broad-scale patterns of climate change and lithic technology, we identified the following characteristics that are associated with MIS 4: increased use of quartz, increased evidence for outcrop sources of quartzite and silcrete, increased evidence for earlier stages of reduction in silcrete, evidence for increased flaking efficiency in all raw material types, and changes in tool types and function for silcrete. Based on these results, we suggest that foragers responded to MIS 4 glacial environmental conditions at PP5-6 with increased population or group sizes, 'place provisioning', longer and/or more intense site occupations, and decreased residential mobility. Several other traits, including silcrete frequency, do not exhibit an association with MIS. Backed pieces, once they appear in the PP5-6 record during MIS 4, persist through MIS 3. Changing paleoenvironments explain some, but not all temporal technological variability at PP5-6.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Wilkins
- Human Evolution Research Institute, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Private Bag, South Africa.,Centre for Coastal Paleoscience, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa
| | - Kyle S Brown
- Human Evolution Research Institute, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Private Bag, South Africa
| | - Simen Oestmo
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States of America
| | - Telmo Pereira
- Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behavior, Faculdade das Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Universidade do Algarve, Campus Gambelas, Faro, Portugal
| | - Kathryn L Ranhorn
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Benjamin J Schoville
- Human Evolution Research Institute, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Private Bag, South Africa.,Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States of America
| | - Curtis W Marean
- Centre for Coastal Paleoscience, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa.,Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States of America
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38
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Uren C, Möller M, van Helden PD, Henn BM, Hoal EG. Population structure and infectious disease risk in southern Africa. Mol Genet Genomics 2017; 292:499-509. [PMID: 28229227 DOI: 10.1007/s00438-017-1296-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2016] [Accepted: 02/01/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The KhoeSan populations are the earliest known indigenous inhabitants of southern Africa. The relatively recent expansion of Bantu-speaking agropastoralists, as well as European colonial settlement along the south-west coast, dramatically changed patterns of genetic diversity in a region which had been largely isolated for thousands of years. Owing to this unique history, population structure in southern Africa reflects both the underlying KhoeSan genetic diversity as well as differential recent admixture. This population structure has a wide range of biomedical and sociocultural implications; such as changes in disease risk profiles. Here, we consolidate information from various population genetic studies that characterize admixture patterns in southern Africa with an aim to better understand differences in adverse disease phenotypes observed among groups. Our review confirms that ancestry has a direct impact on an individual's immune response to infectious diseases. In addition, we emphasize the importance of collaborative research, especially for populations in southern Africa that have a high incidence of potentially fatal infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin Uren
- SA MRC Centre for TB Research, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, Parow, 7500, South Africa
| | - Marlo Möller
- SA MRC Centre for TB Research, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, Parow, 7500, South Africa
| | - Paul D van Helden
- SA MRC Centre for TB Research, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, Parow, 7500, South Africa
| | - Brenna M Henn
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | - Eileen G Hoal
- SA MRC Centre for TB Research, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, Parow, 7500, South Africa.
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39
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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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40
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Singels E, Potts AJ, Cowling RM, Marean CW, De Vynck J, Esler KJ. Foraging potential of underground storage organ plants in the southern Cape, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2016; 101:79-89. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2014] [Revised: 08/06/2016] [Accepted: 09/11/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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41
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Schoville BJ, Brown KS, Harris JA, Wilkins J. New Experiments and a Model-Driven Approach for Interpreting Middle Stone Age Lithic Point Function Using the Edge Damage Distribution Method. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0164088. [PMID: 27736886 PMCID: PMC5063385 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0164088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2016] [Accepted: 09/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The Middle Stone Age (MSA) is associated with early evidence for symbolic material culture and complex technological innovations. However, one of the most visible aspects of MSA technologies are unretouched triangular stone points that appear in the archaeological record as early as 500,000 years ago in Africa and persist throughout the MSA. How these tools were being used and discarded across a changing Pleistocene landscape can provide insight into how MSA populations prioritized technological and foraging decisions. Creating inferential links between experimental and archaeological tool use helps to establish prehistoric tool function, but is complicated by the overlaying of post-depositional damage onto behaviorally worn tools. Taphonomic damage patterning can provide insight into site formation history, but may preclude behavioral interpretations of tool function. Here, multiple experimental processes that form edge damage on unretouched lithic points from taphonomic and behavioral processes are presented. These provide experimental distributions of wear on tool edges from known processes that are then quantitatively compared to the archaeological patterning of stone point edge damage from three MSA lithic assemblages-Kathu Pan 1, Pinnacle Point Cave 13B, and Die Kelders Cave 1. By using a model-fitting approach, the results presented here provide evidence for variable MSA behavioral strategies of stone point utilization on the landscape consistent with armature tips at KP1, and cutting tools at PP13B and DK1, as well as damage contributions from post-depositional sources across assemblages. This study provides a method with which landscape-scale questions of early modern human tool-use and site-use can be addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin J. Schoville
- Centre for Excellence in Palaeosciences Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
- Human Evolution Research Institute, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
| | - Kyle S. Brown
- Human Evolution Research Institute, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
| | - Jacob A. Harris
- Institute for Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, 85287, United States of America
| | - Jayne Wilkins
- Human Evolution Research Institute, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
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42
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Demarchi B, Hall S, Roncal-Herrero T, Freeman CL, Woolley J, Crisp MK, Wilson J, Fotakis A, Fischer R, Kessler BM, Rakownikow Jersie-Christensen R, Olsen JV, Haile J, Thomas J, Marean CW, Parkington J, Presslee S, Lee-Thorp J, Ditchfield P, Hamilton JF, Ward MW, Wang CM, Shaw MD, Harrison T, Domínguez-Rodrigo M, MacPhee RDE, Kwekason A, Ecker M, Kolska Horwitz L, Chazan M, Kröger R, Thomas-Oates J, Harding JH, Cappellini E, Penkman K, Collins MJ. Protein sequences bound to mineral surfaces persist into deep time. eLife 2016; 5. [PMID: 27668515 PMCID: PMC5039028 DOI: 10.7554/elife.17092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 101] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2016] [Accepted: 08/17/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Proteins persist longer in the fossil record than DNA, but the longevity, survival mechanisms and substrates remain contested. Here, we demonstrate the role of mineral binding in preserving the protein sequence in ostrich (Struthionidae) eggshell, including from the palaeontological sites of Laetoli (3.8 Ma) and Olduvai Gorge (1.3 Ma) in Tanzania. By tracking protein diagenesis back in time we find consistent patterns of preservation, demonstrating authenticity of the surviving sequences. Molecular dynamics simulations of struthiocalcin-1 and -2, the dominant proteins within the eggshell, reveal that distinct domains bind to the mineral surface. It is the domain with the strongest calculated binding energy to the calcite surface that is selectively preserved. Thermal age calculations demonstrate that the Laetoli and Olduvai peptides are 50 times older than any previously authenticated sequence (equivalent to ~16 Ma at a constant 10°C). DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.17092.001 The pattern of chemical reactions that break down the molecules that make our bodies is still fairly mysterious. Archaeologists and geologists hope that dead organisms (or artefacts made from them) might not decay entirely, leaving behind clues to their lives. We know that some molecules are more resistant than others; for example, fats are tough and survive for a long time while DNA is degraded very rapidly. Proteins, which are made of chains of smaller molecules called amino acids, are usually sturdier than DNA. Since the amino acid sequence of a protein reflects the DNA sequence that encodes it, proteins in fossils can help researchers to reconstruct how extinct organisms are related in cases where DNA cannot be retrieved. Time, temperature, burial environment and the chemistry of the fossil all influence how quickly a protein decays. However, it is not clear what mechanisms slow down decay so that full protein sequences can be preserved and identified after millions of years. As a result, it is difficult to know where to look for these ancient sequences. In the womb of ostriches, several proteins are responsible for assembling the minerals that make up the ostrich eggshell. These proteins become trapped tightly within the mineral crystals themselves. In this situation, proteins can potentially be preserved over geological time. Demarchi et al. have now studied 3.8 million-year-old eggshells found close to the equator and, despite the extent to which the samples have degraded, discovered fully preserved protein sequences. Using a computer simulation method called molecular dynamics, Demarchi et al. calculated that the protein sequences that are able to survive the longest are stabilized by strong binding to the surface of the mineral crystals. The authenticity of these sequences was tested thoroughly using a combination of several approaches that Demarchi et al. recommend using as a standard for ancient protein studies. Overall, it appears that biominerals are an excellent source of ancient protein sequences because mineral binding ensures survival. A systematic survey of fossil biominerals from different environments is now needed to assess whether these biomolecules have the potential to act as barcodes for interpreting the evolution of organisms. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.17092.002
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatrice Demarchi
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Shaun Hall
- Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | | | - Colin L Freeman
- Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Jos Woolley
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Molly K Crisp
- Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Julie Wilson
- Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, United Kingdom.,Department of Mathematics, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Anna Fotakis
- Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Roman Fischer
- Advanced Proteomics Facility, Target Discovery Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Benedikt M Kessler
- Advanced Proteomics Facility, Target Discovery Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | | | - Jesper V Olsen
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - James Haile
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Jessica Thomas
- Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Molecular Ecology and Fisheries Genetics Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, United Kingdom
| | - Curtis W Marean
- Institute of Human Origins, SHESC, Arizona State University, Tempe, United States.,Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | - John Parkington
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Samantha Presslee
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Julia Lee-Thorp
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Ditchfield
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Jacqueline F Hamilton
- Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Martyn W Ward
- Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Chunting Michelle Wang
- Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Marvin D Shaw
- Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Terry Harrison
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, United States
| | | | - Ross DE MacPhee
- Department of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, New York, United States
| | | | - Michaela Ecker
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Liora Kolska Horwitz
- National Natural History Collections, Faculty of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Michael Chazan
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.,Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Braamfontein, South Africa
| | - Roland Kröger
- Department of Physics, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Jane Thomas-Oates
- Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, United Kingdom.,Centre of Excellence in Mass Spectrometry, University of York, New York, United States
| | - John H Harding
- Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Enrico Cappellini
- Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Kirsty Penkman
- Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Matthew J Collins
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom
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43
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Nel TH, Henshilwood CS. The Small Mammal Sequence from the c. 76 - 72 ka Still Bay Levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa - Taphonomic and Palaeoecological Implications for Human Behaviour. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0159817. [PMID: 27509023 PMCID: PMC4980004 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2016] [Accepted: 07/09/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The Still Bay, c. 76–72 ka, a prominent techno-tradition during the Middle Stone Age of southern Africa, has yielded innovative technologies, symbolic material culture, and shows evidence of expansion of hunting techniques and subsistence strategies. In this paper we present the results of the first systematic, taphonomic and palaeoenvironmental study of micromammals from the Still Bay levels at Blombos Cave. Our taphonomic analysis indicates that the micromammals were accumulated by avian predators occupying the cave. Post-depositional processes affecting the micromammal assemblage include organic waste decomposition and conditions associated with a limestone cave environment. The palaeoenvironmental reconstruction shows that Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5a at Blombos Cave had diverse micromammal communities occupying a variety of habitats and with rainfall pattern equal to present. The transition from MIS 5a to 4 is indicated by less diverse micromammal assemblages, increase in grassland and scrub vegetation, shifts in seasonal precipitation, and a decline in shrubs associated with fynbos. The onset of the glacial conditions associated with MIS 4 is visible in the micromammal assemblage. However humans occupying Blombos Cave during this c. 5 ka period showed an ability to cope with changing environmental conditions and were able to adapt and utilise a variety of available resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Turid Hillestad Nel
- Department of Archaeology, History, Culture and Religion, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- * E-mail:
| | - Christopher Stuart Henshilwood
- Department of Archaeology, History, Culture and Religion, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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44
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Marine and terrestrial foods as a source of brain-selective nutrients for early modern humans in the southwestern Cape, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2016; 97:86-96. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.04.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2014] [Revised: 03/10/2016] [Accepted: 04/30/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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45
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Langley MC, O'Connor S, Piotto E. 42,000-year-old worked and pigment-stained Nautilus shell from Jerimalai (Timor-Leste): Evidence for an early coastal adaptation in ISEA. J Hum Evol 2016; 97:1-16. [PMID: 27457541 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2015] [Revised: 04/22/2016] [Accepted: 04/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
In this paper, we describe worked and pigment-stained Nautilus shell artefacts recovered from Jerimalai, Timor-Leste. Two of these artefacts come from contexts dating to between 38,000 and 42,000 cal. BP (calibrated years before present), and exhibit manufacturing traces (drilling, pressure flaking, grinding), as well as red colourant staining. Through describing more complete Nautilus shell ornaments from younger levels from this same site (>15,900, 9500, and 5000 cal. BP), we demonstrate that those dating to the initial occupation period of Jerimalai are of anthropogenic origin. The identification of such early shell working examples of pelagic shell in Island Southeast Asia not only adds to our growing understanding of the importance of marine resources to the earliest modern human communities in this region, but also indicates that a remarkably enduring shell working tradition was enacted in this area of the globe. Additionally, these artefacts provide the first material culture evidence that the inhabitants of Jerimalai were not only exploiting coastal resources for their nutritional requirements, but also incorporating these materials into their social technologies, and by extension, their social systems. In other words, we argue that the people of Jerimalai were already practicing a developed coastal adaptation by at least 42,000 cal. BP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle C Langley
- Archaeology & Natural History, School of Culture, History & Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Australia.
| | - Sue O'Connor
- Archaeology & Natural History, School of Culture, History & Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Australia.
| | - Elena Piotto
- Archaeology & Natural History, School of Culture, History & Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Australia.
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46
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Marean CW. The transition to foraging for dense and predictable resources and its impact on the evolution of modern humans. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2016; 371:20150239. [PMID: 27298470 PMCID: PMC4920296 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Scientists have identified a series of milestones in the evolution of the human food quest that are anticipated to have had far-reaching impacts on biological, behavioural and cultural evolution: the inclusion of substantial portions of meat, the broad spectrum revolution and the transition to food production. The foraging shift to dense and predictable resources is another key milestone that had consequential impacts on the later part of human evolution. The theory of economic defendability predicts that this shift had an important consequence-elevated levels of intergroup territoriality and conflict. In this paper, this theory is integrated with a well-established general theory of hunter-gatherer adaptations and is used to make predictions for the sequence of appearance of several evolved traits of modern humans. The distribution of dense and predictable resources in Africa is reviewed and found to occur only in aquatic contexts (coasts, rivers and lakes). The palaeoanthropological empirical record contains recurrent evidence for a shift to the exploitation of dense and predictable resources by 110 000 years ago, and the first known occurrence is in a marine coastal context in South Africa. Some theory predicts that this elevated conflict would have provided the conditions for selection for the hyperprosocial behaviours unique to modern humans.This article is part of the themed issue 'Major transitions in human evolution'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Curtis W Marean
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, PO Box 872402, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape 6031, South Africa
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47
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Archer W, Pop CM, Gunz P, McPherron SP. What is Still Bay? Human biogeography and bifacial point variability. J Hum Evol 2016; 97:58-72. [PMID: 27457545 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.05.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2015] [Revised: 05/12/2016] [Accepted: 05/13/2016] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
'Still Bay' is the name given to a cultural phase within the southern African Middle Stone Age, which remains critical to our understanding of modern human behavioural evolution. Although represented in only a handful of sites, the Still Bay is widespread geographically and, at certain localities, persisted over a substantial period of time. Many studies have focused on tracing the temporal range and geographic reach of the Still Bay, as well as inferring degrees of early modern human demographic connectedness from these parameters. Variation within the Still Bay, relative to the accuracy with which it can be identified, has received considerably less attention. However, demographic models based on the spread of the Still Bay in space and time hinge on the reliability with which it can be recognized in the archaeological record. Here we document patterns of bifacial point shape and size variation in some key Still Bay assemblages, and analyse these patterns using the statistical shape analysis tools of geometric morphometrics. Morphological variation appears to be geographically structured and is driven by the spatial separation between north-eastern and south-western clusters of sites. We argue that allometric variation is labile and reflects environmentally driven differences in point reduction, whereas shape differences unrelated to size more closely reflect technological and cultural fragmentation. Our results suggest that the biogeographic structure of Middle Stone Age populations was complex during the period associated with the Still Bay, and provide little support for heightened levels of cultural interconnectedness between distantly separated groups at this time. We briefly discuss the implications of our findings for tracing classic techno-traditions in the Middle Stone Age record of southern Africa, and for inferring underpinning population dynamics from these patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Will Archer
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Cornel M Pop
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Philipp Gunz
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Shannon P McPherron
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
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48
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Faurby S, Werdelin L, Svenning JC. The difference between trivial and scientific names: There were never any true cheetahs in North America. Genome Biol 2016; 17:89. [PMID: 27150269 PMCID: PMC4858926 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-016-0943-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2015] [Accepted: 04/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Dobrynin et al. (Genome Biol 16:277, 2015) recently published the complete genome of the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and provided an exhaustive set of analyses supporting the famously low genetic variation in the species, known for several decades. Their genetic analyses represent state-of-the-art and we do not criticize them. However, their interpretation of the results is inconsistent with current knowledge of cheetah evolution. Dobrynin et al. suggest that the causes of the two inferred bottlenecks at ∼ 100,000 and 10,000 years ago were immigration by cheetahs from North America and end-Pleistocene megafauna extinction, respectively, but the first explanation is impossible and the second implausible.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Faurby
- Section of Biology and Environmental Science, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, 9220, Aalborg, Øst, Denmark. .,Department of Biogeography and Global Change, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Calle José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain.
| | - L Werdelin
- Swedish Museum of Natural History, Department of Palaeobiology, Box 50007, 10405, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - J C Svenning
- Section for Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
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Paleoenvironments, Sea Levels, and Land Use in Namaqualand, South Africa, During MIS 6-2. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-7520-5_11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/25/2023]
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De Vynck JC, Anderson R, Atwater C, Cowling RM, Fisher EC, Marean CW, Walker RS, Hill K. Return rates from intertidal foraging from Blombos Cave to Pinnacle Point: Understanding early human economies. J Hum Evol 2016; 92:101-115. [PMID: 26989020 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2015] [Revised: 01/27/2016] [Accepted: 01/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The south coast of South Africa provides the earliest evidence for Middle Stone Age (MSA) coastal resource exploitation by early Homo sapiens. In coastal archaeology worldwide, there has been a debate over the general productivity of intertidal foraging, leading to studies that directly measure productivity in some regions, but there have been no such studies in South Africa. Here we present energetic return rate estimates for intertidal foraging along the southern coast of South Africa from Blombos Cave to Pinnacle Point. Foraging experiments were conducted with Khoi-San descendants of the region, and hourly caloric return rates for experienced foragers were measured on 41 days near low tide and through three seasons over two study years. On-site return rates varied as a function of sex, tidal level, marine habitat type and weather conditions. The overall energetic return rate from the entire sample (1492 kcal h(-1)) equals or exceeds intertidal returns reported from other hunter-gatherer studies, as well as measured return rates for activities as diverse as hunting mammals and plant collecting. Returns are projected to be exceptionally high (∼ 3400 kcal h(-1) for men, ∼ 1900 kcal h(-1) for women) under the best combination of conditions. However, because of the monthly tidal cycle, high return foraging is only possible for about 10 days per month and for only 2-3 h on those days. These experiments suggest that while intertidal resources are attractive, women and children could not have subsisted independently, nor met all their protein-lipid needs from marine resources alone, and would have required substantial additional energy and nutrients from plant gathering and/or from males contributing game.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan C De Vynck
- Centre for Coastal Paleosciences, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa
| | - Robert Anderson
- Fisheries Branch, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Pvt Bag X2, Roggebaai, South Africa; Department of Biological Sciences and Marine Research Institute, University of Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Chloe Atwater
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, PO Box 872402, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA
| | - Richard M Cowling
- Botany Department, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa
| | - Erich C Fisher
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, PO Box 872402, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA
| | - Curtis W Marean
- Centre for Coastal Paleosciences, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa; Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, PO Box 872402, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA
| | - Robert S Walker
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
| | - Kim Hill
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, PO Box 872402, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA.
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