1
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Mussi M, Skinner MM, Melis RT, Panera J, Rubio-Jara S, Davies TW, Geraads D, Bocherens H, Briatico G, Le Cabec A, Hublin JJ, Gidna A, Bonnefille R, Di Bianco L, Méndez-Quintas E. Early Homo erectus lived at high altitudes and produced both Oldowan and Acheulean tools. Science 2023:eadd9115. [PMID: 37824630 DOI: 10.1126/science.add9115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
In Africa, the scarcity of hominin remains found in direct association with stone tools has hindered attempts to link Homo habilis and Homo erectus with particular lithic industries. The infant mandible discovered in level E at Garba IV (Melka Kunture) on the highlands of Ethiopia is critical to this issue due to its direct association with an Oldowan lithic industry. Here, we use synchrotron imaging to examine the internal morphology of the unerupted permanent dentition and confirm its identification as Homo erectus. Additionally, we utilize new palaeomagnetic ages to show that (i) the mandible in level E is ca. 2 million-years-old, and represents one of the earliest Homo erectus fossils, and (ii) that overlying level D, ca. 1.95 million-years-old, contains the earliest known Acheulean assemblage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margherita Mussi
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185 Roma, Italy
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Italy-Spain
- ISMEO - The International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies, 00186 Roma, Italy
| | - Matthew M Skinner
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NR, UK
- Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey (CSDHJ), University of the Witwatersrand, Braamfontein 2000, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Rita T Melis
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Italy-Spain
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Geologiche, Università di Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, 09042 Monserrato, Italy
| | - Joaquín Panera
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Italy-Spain
- Departamento de Prehistoria, Historia Antigua y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Prof. Aranguren, 28040 Madrid, Spain
- IDEA, Instituto de Evolución en África, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, 28010 Madrid, Spain
| | - Susana Rubio-Jara
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Italy-Spain
- Departamento de Prehistoria, Historia Antigua y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Prof. Aranguren, 28040 Madrid, Spain
- IDEA, Instituto de Evolución en África, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, 28010 Madrid, Spain
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, 09002 Burgos, Spain
| | - Thomas W Davies
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NR, UK
| | - Denis Geraads
- Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie - Paris, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Hervé Bocherens
- Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Giuseppe Briatico
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185 Roma, Italy
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Italy-Spain
- Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Adeline Le Cabec
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Ministère de la Culture, PACEA (UMR 5199), F-33600 Pessac, France
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Chaire de Paléoanthropologie, CIRB (UMR 7241-U1050), Collège de France, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Agness Gidna
- Department of Cultural Heritage, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Arusha, Tanzania
| | - Raymonde Bonnefille
- CEREGE, Université Aix-Marseille, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Technopole Arbois-Méditerranée, 13545 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 04, France
| | - Luca Di Bianco
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Italy-Spain
| | - Eduardo Méndez-Quintas
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Italy-Spain
- IDEA, Instituto de Evolución en África, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, 28010 Madrid, Spain
- GEAAT, Grupo de Estudos de Arqueoloxía, Antigüidade e Territorio. Universidade de Vigo, Facultade de Historia, Campus As Lagoas, 32004 Ourense, Spain
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2
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Harmand S, Arroyo A. Linking primatology and archaeology: The transversality of stone percussive behaviors. J Hum Evol 2023; 181:103398. [PMID: 37329870 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2022] [Revised: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Since the launch of the Journal of Human Evolution fifty years ago, the archaeology of human origins and the evolution of culture have witnessed major breakthroughs with the identification of several new archaeological sites whose chronology has been slowly pushed back until the discovery of the earliest evidence of stone tool making at Lomekwi 3 (West Turkana, Kenya), at 3.3 Ma. Parallel to these discoveries, the study of wild primates, especially chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), allowed the development of models to understand key aspects of the behavior of extinct hominin species. Indeed, chimpanzees possess an impressive diversity of tool-aided foraging behaviors, demonstrating that technology (and culture) is not exclusive to humans. Additionally, current research has also shown that wild capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) and long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) also rely on stone percussive foraging behaviors. The investigation of these primates is boosting new interpretative models to understand the origins of stone flaking and the archaeological signature left by these primates. This review aims to present an examination of the state-of-the-art and the current advances made in the study of the earliest hominin technology and primate percussive behaviors. Overall, we argue that while it has been shown that extant primates can generate unintentional flakes, early hominins exhibited skills in the production and use of flakes not identified in primates. Nonetheless, we stand up to continue developing interdisciplinary approaches (i.e., primate archaeology) to study extant primates, as these endeavors are essential to move forward toward a detailed understanding of the technological foraging behaviors beyond the genus Homo. Finally, we discuss future challenges for the study of the emergence of stone technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Harmand
- Turkana Basin Institute, Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-4364, USA; TRACES (Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les Sociétés), UMR 5608 of the CNRS, Jean Jaurès University, Toulouse, 31058, France; IFRA Nairobi, Institut Français de Recherche en Afrique, UMIFRE, USR, 3336, CNRS, Kenya.
| | - Adrián Arroyo
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007, Tarragona, Spain; Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Àrea de Prehistòria, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002, Tarragona, Spain.
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3
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A surge in obsidian exploitation more than 1.2 million years ago at Simbiro III (Melka Kunture, Upper Awash, Ethiopia). Nat Ecol Evol 2023; 7:337-346. [PMID: 36658266 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01970-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Pleistocene archaeology records the changing behaviour and capacities of early hominins. These behavioural changes, for example, to stone tools, are commonly linked to environmental constraints. It has been argued that, in earlier times, multiple activities of everyday life were all uniformly conducted at the same spot. The separation of focused activities across different localities, which indicates a degree of planning, according to this mindset characterizes later hominins since only 500,000 years ago. Simbiro III level C, in the upper Awash valley of Ethiopia, allows us to test this assumption in its assemblage of stone tools made only with obsidian, dated to more than 1.2 million years (Myr) old. Here we first reconstruct the palaeoenvironment, showing that the landscape was seasonally flooded. Following the deposition of an accumulation of obsidian cobbles by a meandering river, hominins began to exploit these in new ways, producing large tools with sharp cutting edges. We show through statistical analysis that this was a focused activity, that very standardized handaxes were produced and that this was a stone-tool workshop. We argue that at Simbiro III, hominins were doing much more than simply reacting to environmental changes; they were taking advantage of new opportunities, and developing new techniques and new skills according to them.
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4
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Gossa T, Hovers E. Continuity and change in lithic techno-economy of the early Acheulian on the Ethiopian highland: A case study from locality MW2; the Melka Wakena site-complex. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0277029. [PMID: 36477016 PMCID: PMC9728887 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent research has made great strides clarifying the chronology, temporal span, and geographic and technological patterning of the Acheulian in eastern Africa. However, highland occurrences of the Acheulian remain under-represented and their relationship to cultural dynamics in the Rift are still poorly understood. Recently, a stratified sequence of four archaeological layers, recording Acheulian occupations dated between ~1.6 Ma and ~1.3 Ma, has been discovered in locality MW2 of the Melka Wakena site-complex (south-central Ethiopian highlands). This database enabled a systematic exploration of the question of tempo and mode of technological changes at a local sequence, allowing, for the first time, comparison with other highland sites as well as in the Rift. The detailed techno-economic study presented in this study shows that the early Acheulian at the locality was characterized by the co-existence of lithic reduction sequences for small debitage and for flake-based Large Cutting Tool production. In the early, ~1.6 Ma assemblage, a strategy of variable raw material exploitation and technological emphasis on small debitage were coupled with production of few crude bifacial elements. These shifted at ~1.4 Ma towards a preferential and intensive exploitation of a highly knappable glassy ignimbrite and emphasis on Large Cutting Tool production, including higher investment in their techno-morphological aspects. The MW2 sequence tracks lithic technological trends observed in the Rift, with only a short time lag. Diachronic changes in the raw material economy and land use patterns may have occurred at MW2 earlier than previously reported for the Acheulian on the highlands. The behavioral dynamics gleaned from the early Acheulian assemblages at MW2 are important for our understanding of the diachronic changes in the abilities of Acheulian hominins to exploit the diverse geographic and ecological habitats of eastern Africa and beyond.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tegenu Gossa
- Human Evolution Research Center (HERC), The University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States of America
- Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
- Department of History and Heritage Management, Arba Minch University, Arba Minch, Ethiopia
- * E-mail:
| | - Erella Hovers
- Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
- Affiliate Researcher, Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States of America
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Duke H, Feibel C, Harmand S. Before the Acheulean: The emergence of bifacial shaping at Kokiselei 6 (1.8 Ma), West Turkana, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2021; 159:103061. [PMID: 34481224 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2020] [Revised: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 07/23/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
We present new evidence for the emergence of biface shaping from Kokiselei 6 in the Kokiselei Site Complex (KS) in West Turkana, Kenya. This rich and well-preserved new site presents an opportunity to investigate the earliest development of biface shaping. The emergence of biface shaping in lithic technology is often used as evidence for increased and/or novel cognitive abilities that contrast prior hominins' flaking capacities. Yet, recent research reveals a story of gradual change over time in a variety of different flaking and shaping strategies. Here, we present preliminary excavation and lithic data from Kokiselei 6 that will be critical for future investigations of biface shaping emergence at KS. Kokiselei preserves the oldest known Acheulean lithic assemblage, Kokiselei 4 (1.76 Ma), as well as several older sites. Geochronological research shows that Kokiselei 6 stratigraphically underlies Kokiselei 4 and is the oldest site in the complex at 1.8 Ma. The Kokiselei 6 excavation yielded thousands of piece-plotted lithic artifacts and faunal remains. Preliminary analysis of the lithics (n = 3856) indicates a prevalence of bifacial flaking strategies alongside minimal evidence for rough biface shaping. We argue that the flaking strategies observed from bifacial cores share similar operations and abilities as those involved in the production of the roughly shaped bifaces at the site. This preliminary evidence supports existing arguments that biface shaping emerged gradually out of variability in bifacial core reduction, ultimately leading to the systematic production of bifaces characteristic of the Acheulean. Future work teasing apart the processes of technological change at KS more broadly will be critical for understanding the emergence of biface shaping. These new data add to a growing narrative that opposes long-held assumptions about hominin cognitive evolution that suggest Acheulean technology required new, and more complex, cognitive abilities and gestures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hilary Duke
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Circle Rd., SBS Building S-501, Stony Brook, New York 11794-4364, USA.
| | - Craig Feibel
- Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, 131 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1414, USA
| | - Sonia Harmand
- Department of Anthropology, Turkana Basin Institute, Stony Brook University, Circle Rd., SBS Building S-501, Stony Brook, New York 11794-4364, USA; UMR 7055, CNRS - Université Paris Nanterre, MAE, 21 allée de l'Université, 92023 Nanterre Cedex, France
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6
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Gallotti R, Mohib A, Fernandes P, El Graoui M, Lefèvre D, Raynal JP. Dedicated core-on-anvil production of bladelet-like flakes in the Acheulean at Thomas Quarry I - L1 (Casablanca, Morocco). Sci Rep 2020; 10:9225. [PMID: 32514002 PMCID: PMC7280310 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-65903-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2019] [Accepted: 05/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to produce large cutting tools (LCTs) is considered as the technological marker of the Acheulean and the indicator of a greater technological complexity compared to the previous Oldowan. Although Acheulean techno-complexes are also composed of a concurrent core-and-flake technology, the iconic handaxes have attracted more attention than any other lithic component. Consequently, little is known of the small and medium-sized flake productions (small flaking), especially starting from 1 Ma, when handaxe and cleaver manufacture becomes intensive and widespread across Africa, including the Atlantic coastal regions of Morocco. Research at Thomas Quarry I yielded a rich early Acheulean lithic assemblage, mainly composed of quartzite LCTs and small flaking, together with a small-sized flint production. Here, we report a particular aspect of this flint assemblage, i.e. a flint bladelet-like flake production. This process represents a discrete technical behaviour among those related to small flaking both in quartzite and flint: pebbles were flaked using the bipolar-on-anvil technique repeatedly employing a specific method to produce bladelet-like flakes. This production represents the oldest dated occurrence of bladelet-like technology in Africa and reveals technical competencies hitherto unknown for these periods, providing further elements for the techno-economic diversification of the African Acheulean.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosalia Gallotti
- Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, CNRS, LabEx Archimede - ANR-11-LABX-0032-01 - and UMR 5140 Archéologie des sociétés méditerranéennes, Campus Saint Charles, 34199, Montpellier, France. .,Université Bordeaux 1 UMR 5199 PACEA-PPP, Bâtiment B18 allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire CS 50023F, 33615, Pessac, Cedex, France.
| | - Abderrahim Mohib
- Centre d'interprétation du Patrimoine du Gharb, Direction provinciale de la Culture, Quartier administratif, Bd Mohamed V, Kenitra, Morocco
| | - Paul Fernandes
- Université Bordeaux 1 UMR 5199 PACEA-PPP, Bâtiment B18 allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire CS 50023F, 33615, Pessac, Cedex, France.,SARL Paleotime, 6173 rue Jean Séraphin Achard Picard, 38250, Villard-de-Lans, France
| | - Mohssine El Graoui
- Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine, Madinat Al Irfane, Angle rue N°5 et rue N°7, Rabat-Institut, BP, 6828, Rabat, Morocco
| | - David Lefèvre
- Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, CNRS, LabEx Archimede - ANR-11-LABX-0032-01 - and UMR 5140 Archéologie des sociétés méditerranéennes, Campus Saint Charles, 34199, Montpellier, France
| | - Jean-Paul Raynal
- Université Bordeaux 1 UMR 5199 PACEA-PPP, Bâtiment B18 allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire CS 50023F, 33615, Pessac, Cedex, France.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
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Daujeard C, Falguères C, Shao Q, Geraads D, Hublin JJ, Lefèvre D, Graoui ME, Rué M, Gallotti R, Delvigne V, Queffelec A, Arous EB, Tombret O, Mohib A, Raynal JP. Earliest African evidence of carcass processing and consumption in cave at 700 ka, Casablanca, Morocco. Sci Rep 2020; 10:4761. [PMID: 32179824 PMCID: PMC7075909 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-61580-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2019] [Accepted: 02/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
To date, in Africa, evidence for animal processing and consumption in caves routinely used as living spaces is only documented in the late Middle Pleistocene of the North and South of the continent and postdates the Middle Pleistocene in East Africa. Here we report the earliest evidence in a North-African cave (Grotte des Rhinocéros at Casablanca, Morocco) of cut, percussion and human gnawing marks on faunal remains directly associated with lithic knapping activities in the same space and in a well-documented stratified context. Ages for this Acheulean site are provided by the dating of herbivorous teeth to 690–720 ka and 520–550 ka (lower and upper sets) by combined Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) and U-series techniques. Traces of butchery on gazelle, alcelaphin, and zebra bones demonstrate that hominins had primary access to herbivore carcasses. Hominins brought and consumed meat in the cave, as documented by herbivore bones bearing human tooth marks concentrated in a circumscribed area of the excavation. In Africa, this site provides the earliest evidence for in situ carcass processing and meat-eating in cave, directly associated with lithic production and demonstrates the recurrent use by early Middle Pleistocene hominins of a North African cave site 400 000 years before that by Homo sapiens at Jebel Irhoud (Morocco).
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Affiliation(s)
- Camille Daujeard
- HNHP-UMR 7194, CNRS, MNHN, UPVD, Sorbonne Universités, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, 1 rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France.
| | - Christophe Falguères
- HNHP-UMR 7194, CNRS, MNHN, UPVD, Sorbonne Universités, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, 1 rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Qingfeng Shao
- College of Geography Science, Nanjing Normal University, 1, Wenyuan Road, 210023, Nanjing, China
| | - Denis Geraads
- CR2P-UMR 7207, CNRS, MNHN, Sorbonne Universités, CP 38, 8 rue Buffon, 75231, Paris cedex 05, France.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.,Collège de France, 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005, Paris, France
| | - David Lefèvre
- Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, CNRS, UMR 5140 Archéologie des sociétés méditerranéennes, Campus Saint Charles, 34199, Montpellier, France
| | - Mohssine El Graoui
- Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine (INSAP), Madinat al-Irfane, les Instituts - Hay Riyad, B.P. 6828, 10100, Rabat, Morocco
| | - Mathieu Rué
- Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, CNRS, UMR 5140 Archéologie des sociétés méditerranéennes, Campus Saint Charles, 34199, Montpellier, France.,Paléotime SARL, 6173 avenue JS Achard-Picard, 38250, Villard-de-Lans, France
| | - Rosalia Gallotti
- Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, CNRS, UMR 5140 Archéologie des sociétés méditerranéennes, Campus Saint Charles, 34199, Montpellier, France.,Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, UMR 5199 PACEA, Bâtiment B2, allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, CS 50023, 33615, Pessac cedex, France
| | - Vincent Delvigne
- Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, UMR 5199 PACEA, Bâtiment B2, allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, CS 50023, 33615, Pessac cedex, France.,Service de Préhistoire, Université de Liège, place du XX août, 4000, Liège, Belgium
| | - Alain Queffelec
- Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, UMR 5199 PACEA, Bâtiment B2, allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, CS 50023, 33615, Pessac cedex, France
| | - Eslem Ben Arous
- HNHP-UMR 7194, CNRS, MNHN, UPVD, Sorbonne Universités, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, 1 rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Olivier Tombret
- HNHP-UMR 7194, CNRS, MNHN, UPVD, Sorbonne Universités, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, 1 rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Abderrahim Mohib
- Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine (INSAP), Madinat al-Irfane, les Instituts - Hay Riyad, B.P. 6828, 10100, Rabat, Morocco.,Direction provinciale de la Culture, Avenue Mohammed V, quartier administratif, Kénitra, Morocco
| | - Jean-Paul Raynal
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.,Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, UMR 5199 PACEA, Bâtiment B2, allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, CS 50023, 33615, Pessac cedex, France
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8
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Titton S, Barsky D, Bargalló A, Serrano-Ramos A, Vergès JM, Toro-Moyano I, Sala-Ramos R, Solano JG, Jimenez Arenas JM. Subspheroids in the lithic assemblage of Barranco León (Spain): Recognizing the late Oldowan in Europe. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0228290. [PMID: 31999766 PMCID: PMC6992009 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0228290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2019] [Accepted: 01/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The lithic assemblage of Barranco León (BL), attributed to the Oldowan techno-complex, contributes valuable information to reconstruct behavioral patterning of the first hominins to disperse into Western Europe. This archaic stone tool assemblage comprises two, very different groups of tools, made from distinct raw materials. On the one hand, a small-sized toolkit knapped from Jurassic flint, comprising intensively exploited cores and small-sized flakes and fragments and, on the other hand, a large-sized limestone toolkit that is mainly linked to percussive activities. In recent years, the limestone macro-tools have been the center of particular attention, leading to a re-evaluation of their role in the assemblage. Main results bring to light strict hominin selective processes, mainly concerning the quality of the limestone and the morphology of the cobbles, in relation to their use-patterning. In addition to the variety of traces of percussion identified on the limestone tools, recurrences have recently been documented in their positioning and in the morphology of the active surfaces. Coupled with experimental work, this data has contributed to formulating hypothesis about the range of uses for these tools, beyond stone knapping and butchery, for activities such as: wood-working or tendon and meat tenderizing. The abundance of hammerstones, as well as the presence of heavy-duty scrapers, are special features recognized for the limestone component of the Barranco León assemblage. This paper presents, for the first time, another characteristic of the assemblage: the presence of polyhedral and, especially, subspheroid morphologies, virtually unknown in the European context for this timeframe. We present an analysis of these tools, combining qualitative evaluation of the raw materials, diacritical study, 3D geometric morphometric analysis of facet angles and an evaluation of the type and position of percussive traces; opening up the discussion of the late Oldowan beyond the African context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefania Titton
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Tarragona, Spain
- Area de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Tarragona, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - Deborah Barsky
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Tarragona, Spain
- Area de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Tarragona, Spain
| | - Amèlia Bargalló
- Institute of Archaeology, University College, London, United Kingdom
| | - Alexia Serrano-Ramos
- Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- Laboratorio 3D de Modelización Arqueológica, Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Josep Maria Vergès
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Tarragona, Spain
- Area de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Tarragona, Spain
| | | | - Robert Sala-Ramos
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Tarragona, Spain
- Area de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Tarragona, Spain
| | - José García Solano
- Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Juan Manuel Jimenez Arenas
- Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- Instituto Universitario de la Paz y los Conflictos, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
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9
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Pargeter J, Shea JJ. Going big versus going small: Lithic miniaturization in hominin lithic technology. Evol Anthropol 2019; 28:72-85. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.21775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2018] [Revised: 11/19/2018] [Accepted: 02/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Justin Pargeter
- Department of Anthropology Emory University Atlanta Georgia
- Palaeo‐Research Institute University of Johannesburg Auckland Park South Africa
| | - John J. Shea
- Anthropology Department & Turkana Basin Institute Stony Brook University Stony Brook New York
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10
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Site fragmentation, hominin mobility and LCT variability reflected in the early Acheulean record of the Okote Member, at Koobi Fora, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2018; 125:159-180. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2017] [Revised: 07/11/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
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11
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Technological behaviour in the early Acheulean of EF-HR (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania). J Hum Evol 2018; 120:329-377. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2017] [Revised: 12/25/2017] [Accepted: 01/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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12
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Moncel MH, Ashton N. From 800 to 500 ka in Western Europe. The Oldest Evidence of Acheuleans in Their Technological, Chronological, and Geographical Framework. VERTEBRATE PALEOBIOLOGY AND PALEOANTHROPOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-75985-2_11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
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13
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Semaw S, Rogers MJ, Cáceres I, Stout D, Leiss AC. The Early Acheulean ~1.6–1.2 Ma from Gona, Ethiopia: Issues related to the Emergence of the Acheulean in Africa. VERTEBRATE PALEOBIOLOGY AND PALEOANTHROPOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-75985-2_6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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14
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Bonnefille R, Melis RT, Mussi M. Variability in the Mountain Environment at Melka Kunture Archaeological Site, Ethiopia, During the Early Pleistocene (~1.7 Ma) and the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (0.9–0.6 Ma). VERTEBRATE PALEOBIOLOGY AND PALEOANTHROPOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-75985-2_5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
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15
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Arroyo A, de la Torre I. Pounding tools in HWK EE and EF-HR (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania): Percussive activities in the Oldowan-Acheulean transition. J Hum Evol 2017; 120:402-421. [PMID: 29169680 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2016] [Revised: 10/04/2017] [Accepted: 10/07/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
In this paper, we present pounded objects from excavations at HWK EE and EF-HR, which are studied from macro and microscopic perspectives. Analysis of HWK EE revealed one of the largest collections of percussive objects from Olduvai Gorge, while excavations at EF-HR have allowed us to recover a much wider collection of percussive tools than previously recorded. Differences are observed between the two localities. At the Acheulean site of EF-HR, percussive tools were predominantly used in the production of flakes and large cutting tools (LCTs). At the Oldowan site of HWK EE, the tool repertoire probably related to a wider range of activities, including bone breaking and bipolar knapping. Comparison of these two assemblages, potentially produced by different hominin species, helps provide a wider picture of pounding activities during the Oldowan-Acheulean transition at Olduvai Gorge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrián Arroyo
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0PY, UK.
| | - Ignacio de la Torre
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0PY, UK
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16
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de la Torre I. The origins of the Acheulean: past and present perspectives on a major transition in human evolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2017; 371:rstb.2015.0245. [PMID: 27298475 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The emergence of the Acheulean from the earlier Oldowan constitutes a major transition in human evolution, the theme of this special issue. This paper discusses the evidence for the origins of the Acheulean, a cornerstone in the history of human technology, from two perspectives; firstly, a review of the history of investigations on Acheulean research is presented. This approach introduces the evolution of theories throughout the development of the discipline, and reviews the way in which cumulative knowledge led to the prevalent explanatory framework for the emergence of the Acheulean. The second part presents the current state of the art in Acheulean origins research, and reviews the hard evidence for the appearance of this technology in Africa around 1.7 Ma, and its significance for the evolutionary history of Homo erectusThis article is part of the themed issue 'Major transitions in human evolution'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignacio de la Torre
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, UK
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17
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The origin of the Acheulean. Techno-functional study of the FLK W lithic record (Olduvai, Tanzania). PLoS One 2017; 12:e0179212. [PMID: 28767645 PMCID: PMC5540295 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2017] [Accepted: 05/25/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The Acheulean materials documented in FLK West dated c. 1.7 Ma. are the focus of the present work. An original techno-functional approach is applied here to analyze the origin of Acheulean tools. According to the results, these tools were employed in different functional contexts in which tasks of different durations that transformed resources with different resistances were carried out. The exploitation of large and resistant resources suggests that the economic mechanism governing the manufacture of these tools was an increase in the demand of the work load. The decision processes underlying the production of these tools have thus an evident functional motivation. However, the presence of a refined handaxe in the studied sample indicates that the design form and production principles of handaxe manufacture were the result of an abrupt emergence rather than a long gradual development. The integration of mechanical and ergonomic investigation in our research has been crucial to explain how a core-and-flake industry gave way to a technology based on the production of large and heavy shaped tools.
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18
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Zanolli C, Dean MC, Assefa Y, Bayle P, Braga J, Condemi S, Endalamaw M, Engda Redae B, Macchiarelli R. Structural organization and tooth development in a Homo aff. erectus juvenile mandible from the Early Pleistocene site of Garba IV at Melka Kunture, Ethiopian highlands. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 162:533-549. [PMID: 27883188 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2016] [Revised: 10/25/2016] [Accepted: 11/09/2016] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The immature partial mandible GAR IVE from the c. 1.7 Ma old Garba IV site at Melka Kunture (Upper Awash Basin, Ethiopia), the earliest human representative from a mountain-like environment, represents one of the oldest early Homo specimens bearing a mixed dentition. Following its first description (Condemi, ), we extended the analytical and comparative record of this specimen by providing unreported details about its inner morphology, tooth maturational pattern and age at death, crown size, and tooth tissue proportions. MATERIALS AND METHODS The new body of quantitative structural information and virtual imaging derives from a medical CT record performed in 2013. RESULTS Compared to the extant human condition and to some fossil representatives of comparable individual age, the GAR IVE mandible reveals absolutely and relatively thick cortical bone. Crown size of the permanent lateral incisor and the canine fit the estimates of H. erectus s.l., while the dm2 and the M1 more closely approach those of H. habilis-rudolfensis. Molar crown pulp volumes are lower than reported in other fossil specimens and in extant humans. The mineralization sequence of the permanent tooth elements is represented four times in our reference sample of extant immature individuals (N = 795). CONCLUSIONS The tooth developmental pattern displayed by the immature individual from Garba IV falls within the range of variation of extant human populations and is also comparable with that of other very young early fossil hominins. Taken together, the evidence presented here for mandibular morphology and dental development suggest GAR IVE is a robust 2.5- to 3.5-year old early Homo specimen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clément Zanolli
- Laboratoire AMIS, UMR 5288 CNRS, Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - M Christopher Dean
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College, London, United Kingdom
| | - Yared Assefa
- Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH), National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Priscilla Bayle
- Laboratoire PACEA, UMR 5199 CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - José Braga
- Laboratoire AMIS, UMR 5288 CNRS, Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Silvana Condemi
- Laboratoire ADES, UMR 7268 CNRS, Université d'Aix-Marseille, Marseille, France
| | - Metasebia Endalamaw
- Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH), National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Blade Engda Redae
- Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH), National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Roberto Macchiarelli
- Laboratoire HNHP, UMR 7194 CNRS, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France.,Unité de Formation Géosciences Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
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19
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Barsky D, Vergès JM, Sala R, Menéndez L, Toro-Moyano I. Limestone percussion tools from the late Early Pleistocene sites of Barranco León and Fuente Nueva 3 (Orce, Spain). Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2016; 370:rstb.2014.0352. [PMID: 26483530 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2014.0352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent years, there is growing interest in the study of percussion scars and breakage patterns on hammerstones, cores and tools from Oldowan African and Eurasian lithic assemblages. Oldowan stone toolkits generally contain abundant small-sized flakes and their corresponding cores, and are characterized by their structural dichotomy of heavy- and light-duty tools. This paper explores the significance of the lesser known heavy-duty tool component, providing data from the late Lower Pleistocene sites of Barranco León and Fuente Nueva 3 (Orce, Spain), dated 1.4-1.2 Myr. Using quantitative and qualitative data from the large-sized limestone industries from these two major sites, we present a new methodology highlighting their morpho-technological features. In the light of the results, we discuss the shortfalls of extant classificatory methods for interpreting the role of percussive technology in early toolkits. This work is rooted in an experimental program designed to reproduce the wide range of percussion marks observed on the limestone artefacts from these two sites. A visual and descriptive reference is provided as an interpretative aid for future comparative research. Further experiments using a variety of materials and gestures are still needed before the elusive traces yield the secrets of the kinds of percussive activities carried out by hominins at these, and other, Oldowan sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deborah Barsky
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, c/Marcelli Domingo s/n, Campus Sescelades URV, Edifici W3, 43007 Tarragona, Spain Area de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Josep-María Vergès
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, c/Marcelli Domingo s/n, Campus Sescelades URV, Edifici W3, 43007 Tarragona, Spain Area de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Robert Sala
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, c/Marcelli Domingo s/n, Campus Sescelades URV, Edifici W3, 43007 Tarragona, Spain Area de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Leticia Menéndez
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, c/Marcelli Domingo s/n, Campus Sescelades URV, Edifici W3, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Isidro Toro-Moyano
- Museo Arqueológico de Granada, Carrera del Darro 41-43, 18010 Granada, Spain
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20
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Gallotti R, Mussi M. The Unknown Oldowan: ~1.7-Million-Year-Old Standardized Obsidian Small Tools from Garba IV, Melka Kunture, Ethiopia. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0145101. [PMID: 26690569 PMCID: PMC4686928 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0145101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2015] [Accepted: 11/26/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The Oldowan Industrial Complex has long been thought to have been static, with limited internal variability, embracing techno-complexes essentially focused on small-to-medium flake production. The flakes were rarely modified by retouch to produce small tools, which do not show any standardized pattern. Usually, the manufacture of small standardized tools has been interpreted as a more complex behavior emerging with the Acheulean technology. Here we report on the ~1.7 Ma Oldowan assemblages from Garba IVE-F at Melka Kunture in the Ethiopian highland. This industry is structured by technical criteria shared by the other East African Oldowan assemblages. However, there is also evidence of a specific technical process never recorded before, i.e. the systematic production of standardized small pointed tools strictly linked to the obsidian exploitation. Standardization and raw material selection in the manufacture of small tools disappear at Melka Kunture during the Lower Pleistocene Acheulean. This proves that 1) the emergence of a certain degree of standardization in tool-kits does not reflect in itself a major step in cultural evolution; and that 2) the Oldowan knappers, when driven by functional needs and supported by a highly suitable raw material, were occasionally able to develop specific technical solutions. The small tool production at ~1.7 Ma, at a time when the Acheulean was already emerging elsewhere in East Africa, adds to the growing amount of evidence of Oldowan techno-economic variability and flexibility, further challenging the view that early stone knapping was static over hundreds of thousands of years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosalia Gallotti
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Università di Roma "La Sapienza", Via dei Volsci 122, 00185 Rome, Italy
- Italian Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Rome, Italy
- Université Bordeaux 1 –UMR5199 PACEA-PPP, Bâtiment B18 allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire CS 50023 F—33615 PESSAC CEDEX, France
- * E-mail:
| | - Margherita Mussi
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Università di Roma "La Sapienza", Via dei Volsci 122, 00185 Rome, Italy
- Italian Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Rome, Italy
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21
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Diez-Martín F, Sánchez Yustos P, Uribelarrea D, Baquedano E, Mark DF, Mabulla A, Fraile C, Duque J, Díaz I, Pérez-González A, Yravedra J, Egeland CP, Organista E, Domínguez-Rodrigo M. The Origin of The Acheulean: The 1.7 Million-Year-Old Site of FLK West, Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania). Sci Rep 2015; 5:17839. [PMID: 26639785 PMCID: PMC4671088 DOI: 10.1038/srep17839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2015] [Accepted: 11/02/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The appearance of the Acheulean is one of the hallmarks of human evolution. It represents the emergence of a complex behavior, expressed in the recurrent manufacture of large-sized tools, with standardized forms, implying more advance forethought and planning by hominins than those required by the precedent Oldowan technology. The earliest known evidence of this technology dates back to c. 1.7 Ma. and is limited to two sites (Kokiselei [Kenya] and Konso [Ethiopia]), both of which lack functionally-associated fauna. The functionality of these earliest Acheulean assemblages remains unknown. Here we present the discovery of another early Acheulean site also dating to c. 1.7 Ma from Olduvai Gorge. This site provides evidence of the earliest steps in developing the Acheulean technology and is the oldest Acheulean site in which stone tools occur spatially and functionally associated with the exploitation of fauna. Simple and elaborate large-cutting tools (LCT) and bifacial handaxes co-exist at FLK West, showing that complex cognition was present from the earliest stages of the Acheulean. Here we provide a detailed technological study and evidence of the use of these tools on the butchery and consumption of fauna, probably by early Homo erectus sensu lato.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Diez-Martín
- Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Valladolid, Pza. del Campus, s/n, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
| | - P Sánchez Yustos
- Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Valladolid, Pza. del Campus, s/n, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
| | - D Uribelarrea
- Department of Geodynamics, Complutense University, c/José Antonio Novás 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - E Baquedano
- Museo Arqueológico Regional, Plaza de las Bernardas s/n, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
- IDEA (Instituto de Evolución en África), Museo de los Orígenes, Plaza de San Andrés 2, 28005 Madrid, Spain
| | - D F Mark
- NERC Argon Isotope Facility, Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), East Kilbride, Scotland, G75 0QF, UK
| | - A Mabulla
- Archaeology Unit, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, P.O. Box 35050 Tanzania
| | - C Fraile
- Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Valladolid, Pza. del Campus, s/n, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
| | - J Duque
- Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Valladolid, Pza. del Campus, s/n, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
| | - I Díaz
- Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Valladolid, Pza. del Campus, s/n, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
| | - A Pérez-González
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, CENIEH. Pza. Sierra de Atapuerca s/n, 09002 Burgos, Spain
| | - J Yravedra
- Department of Prehistory, Complutense University, Prof. Aranguren s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - C P Egeland
- Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, USA
| | - E Organista
- Department of Prehistory, Complutense University, Prof. Aranguren s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - M Domínguez-Rodrigo
- IDEA (Instituto de Evolución en África), Museo de los Orígenes, Plaza de San Andrés 2, 28005 Madrid, Spain
- Department of Prehistory, Complutense University, Prof. Aranguren s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
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22
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Caruana MV, Carvalho S, Braun DR, Presnyakova D, Haslam M, Archer W, Bobe R, Harris JWK. Quantifying traces of tool use: a novel morphometric analysis of damage patterns on percussive tools. PLoS One 2014; 9:e113856. [PMID: 25415303 PMCID: PMC4240665 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2014] [Accepted: 10/31/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Percussive technology continues to play an increasingly important role in understanding the evolution of tool use. Comparing the archaeological record with extractive foraging behaviors in nonhuman primates has focused on percussive implements as a key to investigating the origins of lithic technology. Despite this, archaeological approaches towards percussive tools have been obscured by a lack of standardized methodologies. Central to this issue have been the use of qualitative, non-diagnostic techniques to identify percussive tools from archaeological contexts. Here we describe a new morphometric method for distinguishing anthropogenically-generated damage patterns on percussive tools from naturally damaged river cobbles. We employ a geomatic approach through the use of three-dimensional scanning and geographical information systems software to statistically quantify the identification process in percussive technology research. This will strengthen current technological analyses of percussive tools in archaeological frameworks and open new avenues for translating behavioral inferences of early hominins from percussive damage patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew V. Caruana
- School of Archaeology, Geography & Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, WITS 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa
- * E-mail:
| | - Susana Carvalho
- Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States of America
- Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behavior (ICArEHB), Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal
| | - David R. Braun
- Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States of America
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Darya Presnyakova
- Universität Tübingen, Abteilung Ältere Urgeschichte und Quartärökologie, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Michael Haslam
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Will Archer
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Rene Bobe
- Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States of America
- Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behavior (ICArEHB), Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal
| | - John W. K. Harris
- Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States of America
- National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
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23
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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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