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The origin of early Acheulean expansion in Europe 700 ka ago: new findings at Notarchirico (Italy). Sci Rep 2020; 10:13802. [PMID: 32796860 PMCID: PMC7429832 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-68617-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2020] [Accepted: 06/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Notarchirico (Southern Italy) has yielded the earliest evidence of Acheulean settlement in Italy and four older occupation levels have recently been unearthed, including one with bifaces, extending the roots of the Acheulean in Italy even further back in time. New 40Ar/39Ar on tephras and ESR dates on bleached quartz securely and accurately place these occupations between 695 and 670 ka (MIS 17), penecontemporaneous with the Moulin-Quignon and la Noira sites (France). These new data demonstrate a very rapid expansion of shared traditions over Western Europe during a period of highly variable climatic conditions, including interglacial and glacial episodes, between 670 and 650 (i.e., MIS17/MIS16 transition). The diversity of tools and activities observed in these three sites shows that Western Europe was populated by adaptable hominins during this time. These conclusions question the existence of refuge areas during intense glacial stages and raise questions concerning understudied migration pathways, such as the Sicilian route.
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Goren-Inbar N, Belfer-Cohen A. Reappraisal of hominin group size in the Lower Paleolithic: An introduction to the special issue. J Hum Evol 2020; 144:102821. [PMID: 32497921 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Naama Goren-Inbar
- Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mt. Scopus, 919051, Jerusalem Israel.
| | - Anna Belfer-Cohen
- Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mt. Scopus, 919051, Jerusalem Israel
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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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