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Scerri EML, Will M. The revolution that still isn't: The origins of behavioral complexity in Homo sapiens. J Hum Evol 2023; 179:103358. [PMID: 37058868 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
Abstract
The behavioral origins of Homo sapiens can be traced back to the first material culture produced by our species in Africa, the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Beyond this broad consensus, the origins, patterns, and causes of behavioral complexity in modern humans remain debated. Here, we consider whether recent findings continue to support popular scenarios of: (1) a modern human 'package,' (2) a gradual and 'pan-African' emergence of behavioral complexity, and (3) a direct connection to changes in the human brain. Our geographically structured review shows that decades of scientific research have continuously failed to find a discrete threshold for a complete 'modernity package' and that the concept is theoretically obsolete. Instead of a continent-wide, gradual accumulation of complex material culture, the record exhibits a predominantly asynchronous presence and duration of many innovations across different regions of Africa. The emerging pattern of behavioral complexity from the MSA conforms to an intricate mosaic characterized by spatially discrete, temporally variable, and historically contingent trajectories. This archaeological record bears no direct relation to a simplistic shift in the human brain but rather reflects similar cognitive capacities that are variably manifested. The interaction of multiple causal factors constitutes the most parsimonious explanation driving the variable expression of complex behaviors, with demographic processes such as population structure, size, and connectivity playing a key role. While much emphasis has been given to innovation and variability in the MSA record, long periods of stasis and a lack of cumulative developments argue further against a strictly gradualistic nature in the record. Instead, we are confronted with humanity's deep, variegated roots in Africa, and a dynamic metapopulation that took many millennia to reach the critical mass capable of producing the ratchet effect commonly used to define contemporary human culture. Finally, we note a weakening link between 'modern' human biology and behavior from around 300 ka ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor M L Scerri
- Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Kahlaische Str. 10, 07749, Jena, Germany; Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, MSD 2080, Malta; Department of Prehistory, University of Cologne, 50931, Cologne, Germany.
| | - Manuel Will
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, Burgsteige 11, 72070, Tübingen, Germany
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2
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Martin-Viveros JI, Oron M, Ollé A, Chacón MG, Sharon G. Butchering knives and hafting at the Late Middle Paleolithic open-air site of Nahal Mahanayeem Outlet (NMO), Israel. Sci Rep 2023; 13:112. [PMID: 36596848 PMCID: PMC9810700 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-27321-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Much of what is known about human behavior and subsistence strategies in the Levantine Middle Paleolithic comes from long sequences from caves and rock shelters. In this context, studies of stone tool function have traditionally focused on determining the use of Levallois points and triangular elements, either as projectiles or, more rarely, multipurpose knives. Little is known about such tool use and hafting in Middle Paleolithic open-air sites in the Levant through the systematic application of micro-wear analysis. Here we report the results of a low and high-power study performed on the lithic assemblage of the Late Middle Paleolithic open-air site of Nahal Mahanayeem Outlet (NMO, Israel). Most pointed items, including Levallois and non-Levallois points, were used as butchering knives, many of them while hafted; to a much lesser extent they were also used for hide, bone, and wood/plant processing activities. Blades and flakes were mostly handheld and used as butchering knives, with hide, bone, antler, and wood/plant-processing tasks being rare. Hafted artifacts include morphologies and activities for which hafting is not required, indicating that NMO inhabitants possessed varied hafting expertise. Wood/plant processing tools, some of which were hafted, attest that manufacture and maintenance tasks were planned well in advance of game procurement at the site. These results attest to early evidence of hafted butchering knives and hafted plant processing tools for a Late Middle Paleolithic open-air site in the Levant, and support previous interpretations of NMO as a short-term task-specific location focused on animal processing activities, mostly butchery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Ignacio Martin-Viveros
- grid.452421.4Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain ,grid.410367.70000 0001 2284 9230Departament d’Història i Història de l’Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Maya Oron
- grid.497332.80000 0004 0604 8857Archaeological Research Department, Israel Antiquities Authority, POB 586, 91004 Jerusalem, Israel ,grid.9619.70000 0004 1937 0538Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mt. Scopus, 91905 Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Andreu Ollé
- grid.452421.4Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain ,grid.410367.70000 0001 2284 9230Departament d’Història i Història de l’Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - M. Gema Chacón
- grid.452421.4Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain ,grid.410367.70000 0001 2284 9230Departament d’Història i Història de l’Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain ,grid.462844.80000 0001 2308 1657UMR7194 – HNHP (CNRS – MNHN –UPVD – Sorbonne Universités), 1 rue Renè Panhard, 75013 Paris, France ,grid.420021.50000 0001 2153 6793Musée de l’Homme, 17 Place du Trocadéro, 75016 Paris, France
| | - Gonen Sharon
- grid.443193.80000 0001 2107 842XDepartment of Galilee Studies (M.A.), Tel-Hai College, Upper Galilee, Israel
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3
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Cancellieri E, Bel Hadj Brahim H, Ben Nasr J, Ben Fraj T, Boussoffara R, Di Matteo M, Mercier N, Marnaoui M, Monaco A, Richard M, Mariani GS, Scancarello O, Zerboni A, di Lernia S. A late Middle Pleistocene Middle Stone Age sequence identified at Wadi Lazalim in southern Tunisia. Sci Rep 2022; 12:3996. [PMID: 35304482 PMCID: PMC8933421 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-07816-x] [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: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The late Middle Pleistocene, starting at around 300 ka, witnessed large-scale biological and cultural dynamics in hominin evolution across Africa including the onset of the Middle Stone Age that is closely associated with the evolution of our species—Homo sapiens. However, archaeological and geochronological data of its earliest appearance are scarce. Here we report on the late Middle Pleistocene sequence of Wadi Lazalim, in the Sahara of Southern Tunisia, which has yielded evidence for human occupations bracketed between ca. 300–130 ka. Wadi Lazalim contributes valuable information on the spread of early MSA technocomplexes across North Africa, that likely were an expression of large-scale diffusion processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emanuele Cancellieri
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
| | | | - Jaafar Ben Nasr
- Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines, Université de Kairouan, Kairouan, Tunisia
| | - Tarek Ben Fraj
- Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines, Université de Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia.,Laboratoire de Cartographie Géomorphologique des Milieux, des Environnements et des Dynamiques (CGMED), Université de Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia
| | | | - Martina Di Matteo
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Norbert Mercier
- Archéosciences-Bordeaux, UMR 6034 CNRS-Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Pessac, France
| | - Marwa Marnaoui
- Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines, Université de Kairouan, Kairouan, Tunisia
| | - Andrea Monaco
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Maïlys Richard
- Archéosciences-Bordeaux, UMR 6034 CNRS-Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Pessac, France.,Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain
| | - Guido S Mariani
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Geologiche, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Olivier Scancarello
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Andrea Zerboni
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra "A. Desio", Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Savino di Lernia
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.,School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Coe D, Barham L, Gardiner J, Crompton R. A biomechanical investigation of the efficiency hypothesis of hafted tool technology. J R Soc Interface 2022; 19:20210660. [PMID: 35291833 PMCID: PMC8923818 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2021.0660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The transition from hand-held to hafted tool technology marked a significant shift in conceptualizing the construction and function of tools. Among other benefits, hafting is thought to have given users a significant biomechanical and physiological advantage in undertaking basic subsistence tasks compared with hand-held tools. It is assumed that addition of a handle improved the (bio)mechanical properties of a tool and upper limb by offering greater amounts of leverage, force and precision. This controlled laboratory study compares upper limb kinematics, electromyography and physiological performance during two subsistence tasks (chopping, scraping) using hafted and hand-held tools. Results show that hafted tool use elicits greater ranges of motion, greater muscle activity and greater net energy expenditure (EE) compared with hand-held equivalents. Importantly, however, these strategies resulted in reduced relative EE compared with the hand-held condition in both tasks. More specifically, the hafted axe prompted use of two well-known biomechanical strategies that help produce larger velocities at the distal end of the limb without requiring heavy muscular effort, thus improving the tool's functional efficiency and relative energy use. The energetic and biomechanical benefits of hafting arguably contributed to both the invention and spread of this technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominic Coe
- School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7WZ, UK
| | - Larry Barham
- School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7WZ, UK
| | - James Gardiner
- Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L7 8TX, UK
| | - Robin Crompton
- Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L7 8TX, UK
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5
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Groman-Yaroslavski I, Zaidner Y, Weinstein-Evron M. Complexity and sophistication of Early Middle Paleolithic flint tools revealed through use-wear analysis of tools from Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. J Hum Evol 2021; 154:102955. [PMID: 33831631 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.102955] [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: 09/12/2019] [Revised: 01/18/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The Early Middle Paleolithic (EMP) is a less-studied phase of the Levantine Middle Paleolithic, attributable to the small number of sites discovered. Drawing on the dense archaeological accumulations at Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel, the present study seeks to trace EMP daily activities and behavioral patterns through the prism of use-wear analysis. The emergence of the laminar and Levallois technologies that form the EMP toolkit is investigated to reveal other dimensions of tool novelties. Through microscopic analyses, integrated with experimentation, the most outstanding aspect revealed in this study is the extensive evidence of hafting, which included the use of binding together with various techniques for tool design. A unique treatment was identified, never reported before, entailing the abrasion of cortical surfaces and protruding dorsal ridges. Other aspects include the clear preference for pointed tools as a leading morphological trend and the use of retouch as a mean to create durable working edges and facilitate grip arrangements. The analysis demonstrates the venue of use-wear to trace a wide variety of practices, including consumption-related (processing hunted game and edible plants) and craft-related (hide processing, woodworking, and perhaps stone working) activities that otherwise hardly leave a trace in the archaeological record. By exploring these features, the research provides important insights into early hominin behavior and way of life during the EMP, emphasizing the novelties brought by the earliest Homo sapiens out of Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Yossi Zaidner
- Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, 3498838 Haifa, Israel
| | - Mina Weinstein-Evron
- Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, 3498838 Haifa, Israel
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6
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Kitagawa K, Conard NJ. Split-based points from the Swabian Jura highlight Aurignacian regional signatures. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0239865. [PMID: 33170859 PMCID: PMC7654757 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2020] [Accepted: 09/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The systematic use of antlers and other osseous materials by modern humans marks a set of cultural and technological innovations in the early Upper Paleolithic, as is seen most clearly in the Aurignacian. Split-based points, which are one of the most common osseous tools, are present throughout most regions where the Aurignacian is documented. Using results from recent and ongoing excavations at Geißenklösterle, Hohle Fels and Vogelherd, we nearly tripled the sample of split-based points from 31 to 87 specimens, and thereby enhance our understanding of the technological economy surrounding the production of osseous tools. Aurignacian people of the Swabian Jura typically left spit-based points at sites that appear to be base camps rich with numerous examples of personal ornaments, figurative art, symbolic imagery, and musical instruments. The artifact assemblages from SW Germany highlight a production sequence that resembles that of SW France and Cantabria, except for the absence of tongued pieces. Our study documents the life histories of osseous tools and demonstrates templates for manufacture, use, recycling, and discard of these archetypal artifacts from the Aurignacian. The study also underlines the diversified repertoire of modern humans in cultural and technological realms highlighting their adaptive capabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keiko Kitagawa
- SFB 1070 ResourceCultures, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Nicholas J. Conard
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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7
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Hérisson D, Soriano S. A view of the Lower to Middle Paleolithic boundary from Northern France, far from the Near East? J Hum Evol 2020; 145:102814. [PMID: 32673890 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2019] [Revised: 04/16/2020] [Accepted: 04/16/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Northern France and the Near East play and have played a central role in the debate around the Lower Paleolithic (LP) to Middle Paleolithic (MP) boundary. In the early 1990s, the renewed Saalian record for Northern France began to outline a mosaic model of the LP-to-MP transition-mainly based on Tuffreau's works. It implied the coexistence of Upper Acheulean assemblages (numerous bifaces with few standardized retouched flakes), 'Epi-Acheulean' assemblages (rare bifaces and diversified retouched flakes), and Mousterian assemblages (Levalloisian industries) during the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 8-6 period. Since the 2000s, the discovery of new key sites and enhanced field and laboratory methods are challenging this model. We present first a brief historical summary of previous approaches to the LP to MP boundary in Northern France. A large data set of Saalian archaeological units available from previous works has been updated and expanded to include additional sites. This allows us to demonstrate that the current Saalian record from Northern France is both rich and sparse as it is heterogeneously biased through time and space and that these biases limit the accuracy of any attempt to model the LP-to-MP transition. Nevertheless, we describe the differences between pre-MIS 9 and MIS 9 and MIS 8-6 records for lithic industries and discuss whether the current periodization is still relevant considering new data on technological, behavioral, and cultural changes. The comparison between Northern France and Near Eastern records allows regional cultural patterns to be distinguished from global trends in lithic trajectories of change and determination of how they slotted together. Our review of the available data from these two distant regions confirms that the LP-to-MP transition is probably one of the major cultural shifts in human evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Hérisson
- CNRS-UMR7041 ArScAn, Équipe AnTET (Anthropologie des Techniques, des Espaces et des Territoires au Pliocène et au Pléistocène), MSH Mondes, Université Paris Nanterre, 21 Allée de l'Université, Nanterre Cedex, 93023, France.
| | - Sylvain Soriano
- CNRS-UMR7041 ArScAn, Équipe AnTET (Anthropologie des Techniques, des Espaces et des Territoires au Pliocène et au Pléistocène), MSH Mondes, Université Paris Nanterre, 21 Allée de l'Université, Nanterre Cedex, 93023, France
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8
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Moncel MH, Ashton N, Arzarello M, Fontana F, Lamotte A, Scott B, Muttillo B, Berruti G, Nenzioni G, Tuffreau A, Peretto C. Early Levallois core technology between Marine Isotope Stage 12 and 9 in Western Europe. J Hum Evol 2020; 139:102735. [PMID: 32078934 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2018] [Revised: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 12/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Early Levallois core technology is usually dated in Europe to the end of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 9 and particularly from the beginning of MIS 8 to MIS 6. This technology is considered as one of the markers of the transition from lower to Middle Paleolithic or from Mode 2 to Mode 3. Recent discoveries show that some lithic innovations actually appeared earlier in western Europe, from MIS 12 to MIS 9, contemporaneous with changes in subsistence strategies and the first appearance of early Neanderthal anatomical features. Among these discoveries, there is the iconic Levallois core technology. A selection of well-dated assemblages in the United Kingdom, France, and Italy dated from MIS 12 to 9, which include both cores and flakes with Levallois features, has been described and compared with the aim of characterizing this technology. The conclusion supports the interpretation that several technical features may be attributed to a Levallois technology similar to those observed in younger Middle Paleolithic sites, distinct from the main associated core technologies in each level. Some features in the sample of sites suggest a gradual transformation of existing core technologies. The small evidence of Levallois could indicate occasional local innovations from different technological backgrounds and would explain the diversity of Levallois methods that is observed from MIS 12. The technological roots of Levallois technology in the Middle Pleistocene would suggest a multiregional origin and diffusion in Europe and early evidence of regionalization of local traditions through Europe from MIS 12 to 9. The relationships of Levallois technology with new needs and behaviors are discussed, such as flake preference, functional reasons related to hunting and hafting, an increase in the use of mental templates in European populations, and changes in the structure of hominin groups adapting to climatic and environmental changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie-Hélène Moncel
- UMR 7194 CNRS - Département Hommes et Environnement, Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, Paris, France.
| | - Nick Ashton
- Department Britain, Europe & Prehistory, British Museum, Franks House, 56 Orsman Road, London N1 5QJ, UK
| | - Marta Arzarello
- Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università Degli Studi di Ferrara, Corso Ercole I D'Este, 32, I-44121, Italy
| | - Federica Fontana
- Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università Degli Studi di Ferrara, Corso Ercole I D'Este, 32, I-44121, Italy
| | - Agnès Lamotte
- University of Lille, UMR 8164, Bâtiment de Géographie, Avenue Paul Langevin, Villeneuve D'Ascq, France
| | - Beccy Scott
- Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università Degli Studi di Ferrara, Corso Ercole I D'Este, 32, I-44121, Italy
| | - Brunella Muttillo
- Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università Degli Studi di Ferrara, Corso Ercole I D'Este, 32, I-44121, Italy
| | - Gabriele Berruti
- Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università Degli Studi di Ferrara, Corso Ercole I D'Este, 32, I-44121, Italy; Museo di Archeologia e Paleontologia C. Conti, Borgosesia, Italy
| | | | - Alain Tuffreau
- University of Lille, UMR 8164, Bâtiment de Géographie, Avenue Paul Langevin, Villeneuve D'Ascq, France
| | - Carlo Peretto
- Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università Degli Studi di Ferrara, Corso Ercole I D'Este, 32, I-44121, Italy
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9
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Technology and Function of Middle Stone Age Points. Insights from a Combined Approach at Bushman Rock Shelter, South Africa. VERTEBRATE PALEOBIOLOGY AND PALEOANTHROPOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-46126-3_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
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10
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Kozowyk PRB, Poulis JA. A new experimental methodology for assessing adhesive properties shows that Neandertals used the most suitable material available. J Hum Evol 2019; 137:102664. [PMID: 31675491 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2019] [Revised: 08/16/2019] [Accepted: 08/19/2019] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
The use of adhesives for hafting stone tools at least 191 ka was a major technological development. Stone tools could be more securely attached to handles, thus improving their efficiency and practicality. To produce functional adhesives required forethought and planning, as well as expertise and knowledge of the resources available in the landscape. This makes adhesives important in discussions about Neandertal and early modern human technological and mental capabilities. However, we currently know very little about how these early adhesive materials behaved under different circumstances, or why certain materials were used and others were not. Here we present the results of controlled laboratory bulk property tests (hardness, rheology and thermogravimetric analysis) on replica Paleolithic adhesives. We conclude that birch tar is more versatile, has better working properties, and is more reusable than pine resin, the most likely alternative material. Neandertals may therefore have invested more time and resources to produce birch tar because it was the best material available, both functionally and economically, throughout the majority of Europe during the Middle to Late Pleistocene. Our results further demonstrate that Neandertals had high levels of technological expertise and knowledge of the natural resources available to them in their environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul R B Kozowyk
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333 CC, Leiden, the Netherlands.
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11
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Perrault KA, Dubois LM, Cnuts D, Rots V, Focant JF, Stefanuto PH. Characterization of hafting adhesives using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry. SEPARATION SCIENCE PLUS 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/sscp.201800111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Katelynn A. Perrault
- Organic and Biological Analytical Chemistry Group; University of Liège; Liège Belgium
- Forensic Sciences Unit; Chaminade University of Honolulu; Honolulu HI USA
| | - Lena M. Dubois
- Organic and Biological Analytical Chemistry Group; University of Liège; Liège Belgium
| | - Dries Cnuts
- TraceoLab / Prehistory - University of Liège; Liège Belgium
| | - Veerle Rots
- TraceoLab / Prehistory - University of Liège; Liège Belgium
| | - Jean-François Focant
- Organic and Biological Analytical Chemistry Group; University of Liège; Liège Belgium
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12
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Sanchez C, Nigen M, Mejia Tamayo V, Doco T, Williams P, Amine C, Renard D. Acacia gum: History of the future. Food Hydrocoll 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2017.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
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13
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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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Scerri EML. The North African Middle Stone Age and its place in recent human evolution. Evol Anthropol 2017. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.21527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor M. L. Scerri
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of Archaeology; University of Oxford; Oxford U.K
- Department of Archaeology; Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History; Jena Germany
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Rots V, Lentfer C, Schmid VC, Porraz G, Conard NJ. Pressure flaking to serrate bifacial points for the hunt during the MIS5 at Sibudu Cave (South Africa). PLoS One 2017; 12:e0175151. [PMID: 28445544 PMCID: PMC5405927 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2017] [Accepted: 03/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Projectile technology is considered to appear early in the southern African Middle Stone Age (MSA) and the rich and high resolution MSA sequence of Sibudu Cave in KwaZulu-Natal has provided many new insights about the use and hafting of various projectile forms. We present the results of a functional and technological analysis on a series of unpublished serrated bifacial points recently recovered from the basal deposits of Sibudu Cave. These serrated tools, which only find equivalents in the neighbouring site of Umhlatuzana, precede the Still Bay techno-complex and are older than 77 ka BP. Independent residue and use-wear analyses were performed in a phased procedure involving two separate analysts, which allowed the engagement between two separate lines of functional evidence. Thanks to the excellent preservation at Sibudu Cave, a wide range of animal, plant and mineral residues were observed in direct relation with diagnostic wear patterns. The combination of technological, wear and residue evidence allowed us to confirm that the serration was manufactured with bone compressors and that the serrated points were mounted with a composite adhesive as the tips of projectiles used in hunting activities. The suite of technological and functional data pushes back the evidence for the use of pressure flaking during the MSA and highlights the diversity of the technical innovations adopted by southern African MSA populations. We suggest the serrated points from the stratigraphic units Adam to Darya of Sibudu illustrate one important technological adaptation of the southern African MSA and provide another example of the variability of MSA bifacial technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veerle Rots
- Chercheur Qualifié du FNRS, TraceoLab / Prehistory, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
- * E-mail:
| | - Carol Lentfer
- TraceoLab / Prehistory, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Viola C. Schmid
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- UMR 7041, Equipe AnTET, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Nanterre Cedex, France
| | - Guillaume Porraz
- CNRS, UMR 7041, Equipe AnTET, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Nanterre, France
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Nicholas J. Conard
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg, Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Sahle Y, Braun DR. A reply to Douze and Delagnes's 'The pattern of emergence of a Middle Stone Age tradition at Gademotta and Kulkuletti (Ethiopia) through convergent tool and point technologies' [J. Hum. Evol. 91 (2016) 93-121]. J Hum Evol 2017; 125:201-206. [PMID: 28089508 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2016] [Revised: 10/14/2016] [Accepted: 10/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Douze and Delagnes (2016) revisit Middle Stone Age (MSA) lithic assemblages from the Gademotta Formation (Fm.), Ethiopia. Their analysis of selected assemblages from three of the 1972 excavations expands the original typo-technological interpretations by Wendorf and Schild (1974). We particularly welcome their evaluation of our recent inferences about the function of pointed artifacts and technological patterns in the Gademotta Fm. (Sahle et al., 2013, 2014). However, we find several arguments and conclusions in Douze and Delagnes (2016) to be rather unconvincing and irreconcilable with results from analyses of whole assemblages (Wendorf and Schild, 1974; Sahle et al., 2013, 2014). Specifically, their summary attribution of all early MSA burin-like fractures on the distal tips of pointed artifacts to intentional resharpening blows, and their use of this pattern as a technological "chrono-marker" unique to the region are untenable. Here, we highlight these issues in the hopes of a clearer understanding of the evident technological patterns in the Gademotta Fm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yonatan Sahle
- DFG Center for Advanced Studies, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany.
| | - David R Braun
- Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20025, USA; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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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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Early Gravettian Projectile Technology in Southwestern Iberian Peninsula: The Double Backed and Bipointed Bladelets of Vale Boi (Portugal). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-7602-8_10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register]
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Kozowyk PRB, Langejans GHJ, Poulis JA. Lap Shear and Impact Testing of Ochre and Beeswax in Experimental Middle Stone Age Compound Adhesives. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0150436. [PMID: 26983080 PMCID: PMC4794155 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0150436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2015] [Accepted: 02/12/2016] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The production of compound adhesives using disparate ingredients is seen as some of the best evidence of advanced cognition outside of the use of symbolism. Previous field and laboratory testing of adhesives has shown the complexities involved in creating an effective Middle Stone Age glue using Acacia gum. However, it is currently unclear how efficient different adhesive recipes are, how much specific ingredients influence their performance, and how difficult it may have been for those ingredients to be combined to maximum effect. We conducted a series of laboratory-based lap shear and impact tests, following modern adhesion testing standards, to determine the efficacy of compound adhesives, with particular regard to the ingredient ratios. We tested rosin (colophony) and gum adhesives, containing additives of beeswax and ochre in varying ratios. During both lap shear and impact tests compound rosin adhesives performed better than single component rosin adhesives, and pure acacia gum was the strongest. The large difference in performance between each base adhesive and the significant changes in performance that occur due to relatively small changes in ingredient ratios lend further support to the notion that high levels of skill and knowledge were required to consistently produce the most effective adhesives.
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Affiliation(s)
- P. R. B. Kozowyk
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
- * E-mail:
| | - G. H. J. Langejans
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - J. A. Poulis
- Adhesion Institute, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
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Wilkins J, Schoville BJ. Edge Damage on 500-Thousand-Year-Old Spear Tips from Kathu Pan 1, South Africa: The Combined Effects of Spear Use and Taphonomic Processes. VERTEBRATE PALEOBIOLOGY AND PALEOANTHROPOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-7602-8_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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Shimelmitz R, Kuhn SL, Ronen A, Weinstein-Evron M. Predetermined flake production at the Lower/Middle Paleolithic boundary: Yabrudian scraper-blank technology. PLoS One 2014; 9:e106293. [PMID: 25192429 PMCID: PMC4156331 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0106293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2014] [Accepted: 07/29/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
While predetermined débitage technologies are recognized beginning with the middle Acheulian, the Middle Paleolithic is usually associated with a sharp increase in their use. A study of scraper-blank technology from three Yabrudian assemblages retrieved from the early part of the Acheulo-Yabrudian complex of Tabun Cave (ca. 415–320 kyr) demonstrates a calculated and preplanned production, even if it does not show the same complexity and elaboration as in the Levallois technology. These scraper dominated assemblages show an organization of production based on an intensive use of predetermination blank technology already in place at the end of the Lower Paleolithic of the Levant. These results provide a novel perspective on the differences and similarities between the Lower and Middle Paleolithic industries. We suggest that there was a change in the paradigm in the way hominins exploited stone tools: in many Middle Paleolithic assemblages the potential of the stone tools for hafting was a central feature, in the Lower Paleolithic ergonometric considerations of manual prehension were central to the design of blanks and tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ron Shimelmitz
- Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- * E-mail:
| | - Steven L. Kuhn
- School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Avraham Ronen
- Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
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Wilkins J, Schoville BJ, Brown KS. An experimental investigation of the functional hypothesis and evolutionary advantage of stone-tipped spears. PLoS One 2014; 9:e104514. [PMID: 25162397 PMCID: PMC4146534 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2014] [Accepted: 07/09/2014] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Stone-tipped weapons were a significant innovation for Middle Pleistocene hominins. Hafted hunting technology represents the development of new cognitive and social learning mechanisms within the genus Homo, and may have provided a foraging advantage over simpler forms of hunting technology, such as a sharpened wooden spear. However, the nature of this foraging advantage has not been confirmed. Experimental studies and ethnographic reports provide conflicting results regarding the relative importance of the functional, economic, and social roles of hafted hunting technology. The controlled experiment reported here was designed to test the functional hypothesis for stone-tipped weapons using spears and ballistics gelatin. It differs from previous investigations of this type because it includes a quantitative analysis of wound track profiles and focuses specifically on hand-delivered spear technology. Our results do not support the hypothesis that tipped spears penetrate deeper than untipped spears. However, tipped spears create a significantly larger inner wound cavity that widens distally. This inner wound cavity is analogous to the permanent wound cavity in ballistics research, which is considered the key variable affecting the relative ‘stopping power’ or ‘killing power’ of a penetrating weapon. Tipped spears conferred a functional advantage to Middle Pleistocene hominins, potentially affecting the frequency and regularity of hunting success with important implications for human adaptation and life history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Wilkins
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Benjamin J. Schoville
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Kyle S. Brown
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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Andersson C, Törnberg A, Törnberg P. An Evolutionary Developmental Approach to Cultural Evolution. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2014. [DOI: 10.1086/675692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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O'Connor S, Robertson G, Aplin K. Are osseous artefacts a window to perishable material culture? Implications of an unusually complex bone tool from the Late Pleistocene of East Timor. J Hum Evol 2014; 67:108-19. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2012] [Revised: 10/08/2013] [Accepted: 12/18/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Sahle Y, Hutchings WK, Braun DR, Sealy JC, Morgan LE, Negash A, Atnafu B. Earliest stone-tipped projectiles from the Ethiopian rift date to >279,000 years ago. PLoS One 2013; 8:e78092. [PMID: 24236011 PMCID: PMC3827237 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2013] [Accepted: 09/06/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Projectile weapons (i.e. those delivered from a distance) enhanced prehistoric hunting efficiency by enabling higher impact delivery and hunting of a broader range of animals while reducing confrontations with dangerous prey species. Projectiles therefore provided a significant advantage over thrusting spears. Composite projectile technologies are considered indicative of complex behavior and pivotal to the successful spread of Homo sapiens. Direct evidence for such projectiles is thus far unknown from >80,000 years ago. Data from velocity-dependent microfracture features, diagnostic damage patterns, and artifact shape reported here indicate that pointed stone artifacts from Ethiopia were used as projectile weapons (in the form of hafted javelin tips) as early as >279,000 years ago. In combination with the existing archaeological, fossil and genetic evidence, these data isolate eastern Africa as a source of modern cultures and biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yonatan Sahle
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- * E-mail:
| | - W. Karl Hutchings
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, Canada
| | - David R. Braun
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington DC, United States of America
| | - Judith C. Sealy
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Leah E. Morgan
- Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride, United Kingdom
| | - Agazi Negash
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Balemwal Atnafu
- Department of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Gowlett J, Gamble C, Dunbar R. Human Evolution and the Archaeology of the Social Brain. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2012. [DOI: 10.1086/667994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Wilkins J, Schoville BJ, Brown KS, Chazan M. Evidence for Early Hafted Hunting Technology. Science 2012; 338:942-6. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1227608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 211] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Wilkins
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S2, Canada
| | - Benjamin J. Schoville
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Post Office Box 872402, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-4101, USA
| | - Kyle S. Brown
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Post Office Box 872402, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-4101, USA
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
| | - Michael Chazan
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S2, Canada
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Shape variation in Aterian tanged tools and the origins of projectile technology: a morphometric perspective on stone tool function. PLoS One 2012. [PMID: 22216161 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029029.] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent findings suggest that the North African Middle Stone Age technocomplex known as the Aterian is both much older than previously assumed, and certainly associated with fossils exhibiting anatomically modern human morphology and behavior. The Aterian is defined by the presence of 'tanged' or 'stemmed' tools, which have been widely assumed to be among the earliest projectile weapon tips. The present study systematically investigates morphological variation in a large sample of Aterian tools to test the hypothesis that these tools were hafted and/or used as projectile weapons. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Both classical morphometrics and Elliptical Fourier Analysis of tool outlines are used to show that the shape variation in the sample exhibits size-dependent patterns consistent with a reduction of the tools from the tip down, with the tang remaining intact. Additionally, the process of reduction led to increasing side-to-side asymmetries as the tools got smaller. Finally, a comparison of shape-change trajectories between Aterian tools and Late Paleolithic arrowheads from the North German site of Stellmoor reveal significant differences in terms of the amount and location of the variation. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE The patterns of size-dependent shape variation strongly support the functional hypothesis of Aterian tools as hafted knives or scrapers with alternating active edges, rather than as weapon tips. Nevertheless, the same morphological patterns are interpreted as one of the earliest evidences for a hafting modification, and for the successful combination of different raw materials (haft and stone tip) into one implement, in itself an important achievement in the evolution of hominin technologies.
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Iovita R. Shape variation in Aterian tanged tools and the origins of projectile technology: a morphometric perspective on stone tool function. PLoS One 2011; 6:e29029. [PMID: 22216161 PMCID: PMC3246439 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2011] [Accepted: 11/19/2011] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Recent findings suggest that the North African Middle Stone Age technocomplex known as the Aterian is both much older than previously assumed, and certainly associated with fossils exhibiting anatomically modern human morphology and behavior. The Aterian is defined by the presence of ‘tanged’ or ‘stemmed’ tools, which have been widely assumed to be among the earliest projectile weapon tips. The present study systematically investigates morphological variation in a large sample of Aterian tools to test the hypothesis that these tools were hafted and/or used as projectile weapons. Methodology/Principal Findings Both classical morphometrics and Elliptical Fourier Analysis of tool outlines are used to show that the shape variation in the sample exhibits size-dependent patterns consistent with a reduction of the tools from the tip down, with the tang remaining intact. Additionally, the process of reduction led to increasing side-to-side asymmetries as the tools got smaller. Finally, a comparison of shape-change trajectories between Aterian tools and Late Paleolithic arrowheads from the North German site of Stellmoor reveal significant differences in terms of the amount and location of the variation. Conclusions/Significance The patterns of size-dependent shape variation strongly support the functional hypothesis of Aterian tools as hafted knives or scrapers with alternating active edges, rather than as weapon tips. Nevertheless, the same morphological patterns are interpreted as one of the earliest evidences for a hafting modification, and for the successful combination of different raw materials (haft and stone tip) into one implement, in itself an important achievement in the evolution of hominin technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Radu Iovita
- Department of Palaeolithic Studies, Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz, Schloss Monrepos, Neuwied, Germany.
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