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Finestone EM, Plummer TW, Vincent TH, Blumenthal SA, Ditchfield PW, Bishop LC, Oliver JS, Herries AIR, Palfery CV, Lane TP, McGuire E, Reeves JS, Rodés A, Whitfield E, Braun DR, Bartilol SK, Rotich NK, Parkinson JA, Lemorini C, Caricola I, Kinyanjui RN, Potts R. New Oldowan locality Sare-Abururu (ca. 1.7 Ma) provides evidence of diverse hominin behaviors on the Homa Peninsula, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2024; 190:103498. [PMID: 38581918 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2023] [Revised: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/08/2024]
Abstract
The Homa Peninsula, in southwestern Kenya, continues to yield insights into Oldowan hominin landscape behaviors. The Late Pliocene locality of Nyayanga (∼3-2.6 Ma) preserves some of the oldest Oldowan tools. At the Early Pleistocene locality of Kanjera South (∼2 Ma) toolmakers procured a diversity of raw materials from over 10 km away and strategically reduced them in a grassland-dominated ecosystem. Here, we report findings from Sare-Abururu, a younger (∼1.7 Ma) Oldowan locality approximately 12 km southeast of Kanjera South and 18 km east of Nyayanga. Sare-Abururu has yielded 1754 artifacts in relatively undisturbed low-energy silts and sands. Stable isotopic analysis of pedogenic carbonates suggests that hominin activities were carried out in a grassland-dominated setting with similar vegetation structure as documented at Kanjera South. The composition of a nearby paleo-conglomerate indicates that high-quality stone raw materials were locally abundant. Toolmakers at Sare-Abururu produced angular fragments from quartz pebbles, representing a considerable contrast to the strategies used to reduce high quality raw materials at Kanjera South. Although lithic reduction at Sare-Abururu was technologically simple, toolmakers proficiently produced cutting edges, made few mistakes and exhibited a mastery of platform management, demonstrating that expedient technical strategies do not necessarily indicate a lack of skill or suitable raw materials. Lithic procurement and reduction patterns on the Homa Peninsula appear to reflect variation in local resource contexts rather than large-scale evolutionary changes in mobility, energy budget, or toolmaker cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma M Finestone
- Department of Anthropology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 1 Wade Oval Dr, Cleveland, OH, 44113, United States; Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Kahlaische Str. 10, 07745, Jena, Germany.
| | - Thomas W Plummer
- Department of Anthropology, Queens College, 314 Powdermaker Hall 65-30 Kissena Boulevard Flushing, Flushing, NY, 11367, United States; The CUNY Graduate Center, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY, 10016, United States; Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC, 20560, United States
| | - Thomas H Vincent
- Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, United Kingdom
| | - Scott A Blumenthal
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC, 20560, United States; Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, 1585 East 13th Avenue, Eugene, OR, 97403, United States; Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2020 - 2207 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Peter W Ditchfield
- School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 1 S Parks Rd, Oxford, OX1 3TG, United Kingdom
| | - Laura C Bishop
- Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, United Kingdom
| | - James S Oliver
- Anthropology Section, Illinois State Museum, 502 S Spring St, Springfield, IL, 62706, United States
| | - Andy I R Herries
- The Australian Archaeomagnetism Laboratory, Department Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Victoria, 3086, Australia; Paleo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, 42 Bunting Rd, Cottesloe, Johannesburg, 2092, South Africa
| | - Christopher Vere Palfery
- The Australian Archaeomagnetism Laboratory, Department Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Victoria, 3086, Australia
| | - Timothy P Lane
- Geography and Environmental Science Research Group, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, United Kingdom
| | - Elizabeth McGuire
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, 1585 East 13th Avenue, Eugene, OR, 97403, United States
| | - Jonathan S Reeves
- Technological Origins Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Pl. 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany; Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, 800 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC, 20052, United States
| | - Angel Rodés
- Departamento de Xeografía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Praza da Universidade,1, 15703 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Rankine Ave, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride G75 0QF, United Kingdom
| | - Elizabeth Whitfield
- Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, United Kingdom
| | - David R Braun
- Technological Origins Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Pl. 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany; Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, 800 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC, 20052, United States
| | - Simion K Bartilol
- Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Nelson Kiprono Rotich
- Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197, Nairobi, Kenya; Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, Dorodna 16, 03-195, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Jennifer A Parkinson
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC, 20560, United States; Department of Anthropology, University of San Diego, 5998 Alcala Park Way, San Diego, CA, 92110, United States
| | - Cristina Lemorini
- LTFAPA Laboratory, Department of Science of Antiquities, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Isabella Caricola
- LTFAPA Laboratory, Department of Science of Antiquities, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy; Zinman Institute of Archaeology, Haifa University, 199 Aba Hushi Avenue, Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498838, Israel
| | - Rahab N Kinyanjui
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Kahlaische Str. 10, 07745, Jena, Germany; Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC, 20560, United States; Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Kipande Rd, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Richard Potts
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC, 20560, United States; Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Kipande Rd, Nairobi, Kenya
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Reeves JS, Proffitt T, Almeida-Warren K, Luncz LV. Modeling Oldowan tool transport from a primate perspective. J Hum Evol 2023; 181:103399. [PMID: 37356333 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Revised: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/27/2023]
Abstract
Living nonhuman primates have long served as a referential framework for understanding various aspects of hominin biological and cultural evolution. Comparing the cognitive, social, and ecological contexts of nonhuman primate and hominin tool use has allowed researchers to identify key adaptations relevant to the evolution of hominin behavior. Although the Oldowan is often considered to be a major evolutionary milestone, it has been argued that the Oldowan is rather an extension of behaviors already present in the ape lineage. This is based on the fact that while apes move tools through repeated, unplanned, short-distance transport bouts, they produce material patterning often associated with long-distance transport, planning, and foresight in the Oldowan. Nevertheless, remain fundamental differences in how Oldowan core and flake technology and nonhuman primate tools are used. The goal of the Oldowan hominins is to produce sharp-edged flakes, whereas nonhuman primates use stone tools primarily as percussors. Here, we present an agent-based model that investigates the explanatory power of the ape tool transport model in light of these differences. The model simulates the formation of the Oldowan record under the conditions of an accumulated short-distance transport pattern, as seen in extant chimpanzees. Our results show that while ape tool transport can account for some of the variation observed in the archaeological record, factors related to use-life duration severely limit how far an Oldowan core can be moved through repeated short-distance transport bouts. Thus, the ape tool transport has limitations in its ability to explain patterns in the Oldowan. These results provide a basis for discussing adaptive processes that would have facilitated the development of the Oldowan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan S Reeves
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany; Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, 800 2nd Street, NW, 20052, USA.
| | - Tomos Proffitt
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany
| | - Katarina Almeida-Warren
- Primate Models for Behavioural Evolution Lab, Institute of Human Sciences, University of Oxford, 64 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 6PN, UK; Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour (ICArEHB), Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal
| | - Lydia V Luncz
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany; Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, 800 2nd Street, NW, 20052, USA
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Caruana MV, Wilson CG, Arnold LJ, Blackwood AF, Demuro M, Herries AIR. A marine isotope stage 13 Acheulian sequence from the Amanzi Springs Area 2 Deep Sounding excavation, Eastern Cape, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2023; 176:103324. [PMID: 36812778 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103324] [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: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
Renewed research at Amanzi Springs has increased resolution on the timing and technology of the Acheulian industry in South Africa. The archeology from the Area 1 spring eye has recently been dated to MIS 11 (∼404-390 ka), and analyses revealed significant technological variability when compared to other southern African Acheulian assemblages. We expand on these results in presenting new luminescence dating and technological analyses of Acheulian stone tools from three artifact-bearing surfaces exposed within the White Sands unit of the Deep Sounding excavation in the Area 2 spring eye. The two lowest surfaces (Surfaces 3 and 2) are sealed within the White Sands and dated between ∼534 to 496 ka and ∼496 to 481 ka (MIS 13), respectively. Surface 1 represents materials deflated onto an erosional surface that cut the upper part of the White Sands (∼481 ka; late MIS 13), which occurred before the deposition of younger Cutting 5 sediments (<408-<290 ka; MIS 11-8). Archaeological comparisons reveal that the older Surface 3 and 2 assemblages are predominated by unifacial and bifacial core reduction and relatively thick, cobble-reduced large cutting tools. In contrast, the younger Surface 1 assemblage is characterized by discoidal core reduction and thinner large cutting tools, mostly made from flake blanks. Typological similarities between the older Area 2 White Sands and younger Area 1 (404-390 ka; MIS 11) assemblages further suggest long-term continuity in site function. We hypothesize Amanzi Springs represent a workshop locality that Acheulian hominins repeatedly visited to access unique floral, faunal, and raw material resources from at least ∼534 to 390 ka.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew V Caruana
- The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa.
| | - Coen G Wilson
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, 3086, VIC, Australia
| | - Lee J Arnold
- Environment Institute, and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia
| | - Alexander F Blackwood
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, 3086, VIC, Australia; Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI), University of Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Martina Demuro
- Environment Institute, and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia
| | - Andy I R Herries
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, 3086, VIC, Australia; The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa
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Herries AIR, Arnold LJ, Boschian G, Blackwood AF, Wilson C, Mallett T, Armstrong B, Demuro M, Petchey F, Meredith-Williams M, Penzo-Kajewski P, Caruana MV. A marine isotope stage 11 coastal Acheulian workshop with associated wood at Amanzi Springs Area 1, South Africa. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0273714. [PMID: 36264956 PMCID: PMC9584507 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Amanzi Springs is a series of inactive thermal springs located near Kariega in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Excavations in the 1960s exposed rare, stratified Acheulian-bearing deposits that were not further investigated over the next 50 years. Reanalysis of the site and its legacy collection has led to a redefined stratigraphic context for the archaeology, a confirmed direct association between Acheulian artefacts and wood, as well as the first reliable age estimates for the site. Thermally transferred optically stimulated luminescence and post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence dating indicates that the Acheulian deposits from the Amanzi Springs Area 1 spring eye formed during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 at ~ 404–390 ka. At this time, higher sea levels of ~13-14m would have placed Amanzi Springs around 7 km from a ria that would have formed along what is today the Swartkops River, and which likely led to spring reactivation. This makes the Amanzi Springs Area 1 assemblage an unusual occurrence of a verified late occurring, seaward, open-air Acheulian occupation. The Acheulian levels do not contain any Middle Stone Age (MSA) elements such as blades and points that have been documented in the interior of South Africa at this time. However, a small number of stone tools from the upper layers of the artefact zone, and originally thought of as intrusive, have been dated to ~190 ka, at the transition between MIS 7 to 6, and represent the first potential MSA identified at the site.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andy I. R. Herries
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
- The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa
- * E-mail:
| | - Lee J. Arnold
- Environment Institute and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Giovanni Boschian
- The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Pisa. 1, Pisa, Italy
| | - Alexander F. Blackwood
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
| | - Coen Wilson
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Tom Mallett
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Brian Armstrong
- The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa
| | - Martina Demuro
- Environment Institute and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Fiona Petchey
- Environmental Research Institute, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Matthew Meredith-Williams
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Paul Penzo-Kajewski
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Matthew V. Caruana
- The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa
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Diez-Martín F, Cobo-Sánchez L, Baddeley A, Uribelarrea D, Mabulla A, Baquedano E, Domínguez-Rodrigo M. Tracing the spatial imprint of Oldowan technological behaviors: A view from DS (Bed I, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania). PLoS One 2021; 16:e0254603. [PMID: 34252171 PMCID: PMC8274881 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
DS (David's site) is one of the new archaeological sites documented in the same paleolandscape in which FLK 22 was deposited at about 1.85 Ma in Olduvai Gorge. Fieldwork in DS has unearthed the largest vertically-discrete archaeological horizon in the African Pleistocene, where a multi-cluster anthropogenic accumulation of fossil bones and stone tools has been identified. In this work we present the results of the techno-economic study of the lithic assemblage recovered from DS. We also explore the spatial magnitude of the technological behaviors documented at this spot using powerful spatial statistical tools to unravel correlations between the spatial distributional patterns of lithic categories. At DS, lavas and quartzite were involved in different technological processes. Volcanic materials, probably transported to this spot from a close source, were introduced in large numbers, including unmodified materials, and used in percussion activities and in a wide variety of reduction strategies. A number of volcanic products were subject to outward fluxes to other parts of the paleolandscape. In contrast, quartzite rocks were introduced in smaller numbers and might have been subject to a significantly more intense exploitation. The intra-site spatial analysis has shown that specialized areas cannot be identified, unmodified materials are not randomly distributed, percussion and knapping categories do not spatially overlap, while bipolar specimens show some sort of spatial correlation with percussion activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando Diez-Martín
- Department of Prehistory and Archeology, University of Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
| | - Lucía Cobo-Sánchez
- Institute of Archaeology, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany
- Institute of Evolution in Africa (IDEA), University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain
| | - Adrian Baddeley
- School of Electrical Engineering, Computing and Mathematical Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
| | - David Uribelarrea
- Department of Geodynamics, Stratigraphy and Paleontology, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain
| | - Audax Mabulla
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Enrique Baquedano
- Institute of Evolution in Africa (IDEA), University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain
- Regional Archaeological Museum of Madrid, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
| | - Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo
- Institute of Evolution in Africa (IDEA), University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain
- Area of Prehistory, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
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Kuman K, Lotter MG, Leader GM. The Fauresmith of South Africa: A new assemblage from Canteen Kopje and significance of the technology in human and cultural evolution. J Hum Evol 2020; 148:102884. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2019] [Revised: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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Pante M, Torre IDL, d'Errico F, Njau J, Blumenschine R. Bone tools from Beds II-IV, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, and implications for the origins and evolution of bone technology. J Hum Evol 2020; 148:102885. [PMID: 33049586 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2020] [Revised: 08/27/2020] [Accepted: 08/27/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The advent of bone technology in Africa is often associated with behavioral modernity that began sometime in the Middle Stone Age. Yet, small numbers of bone tools are known from Early Pleistocene sites in East and South Africa, complicating our understanding of the evolutionary significance of osseous technologies. These early bone tools vary geographically, with those in South Africa indicating use in foraging activities such as termite extraction and those in East Africa intentionally shaped in a manner similar to lithic tool manufacture, leading some to infer multiple hominin species were responsible for bone technology in these regions, with Paranthropus robustus assumed to be the maker of South African bone tools and Homo erectus responsible for those in East Africa. Here, we present on an assemblage of 52 supposed bone tools primarily from Beds III and IV, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, that was excavated by Mary Leakey in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but was only partially published and was never studied in detail from a taphonomic perspective. The majority of the sites from which the tools were recovered were deposited when only H. erectus is known to have existed in the region, potentially allowing a direct link between this fossil hominin and bone technology. Our analysis confirms at least six bone tools in the assemblage, the majority of which are intentionally flaked large mammal bones. However, one of the tools is a preform of the oldest barbed bone point known to exist anywhere in the world and pushes back the initial appearance of this technology by 700 kyr.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Pante
- Department of Anthropology and Geography, Colorado State University, 1787 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA.
| | - Ignacio de la Torre
- Instituto de Historia, Spanish National Research Council-CSIC, Albasanz 26-28, 28037, Madrid, Spain
| | - Francesco d'Errico
- UMR 5199 CNRS De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement, et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, CS 50023, F - 33615, Pessac CEDEX, Talence, France; Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour, Øysteinsgate 3, Postboks 7805, 5020, University of Bergen, Norway
| | - Jackson Njau
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Indiana University, 1001 E Tenth Street, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA; The Stone Age Institute, Bloomington, IN, 47407, USA
| | - Robert Blumenschine
- Palaeontological Scientific Trust and Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, P Bag 3, WITS 2050, South Africa
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Arroyo A, de la Torre I. Pitted stones in the Acheulean from Olduvai Gorge Beds III and IV (Tanzania): A use-wear and 3D approach. J Hum Evol 2020; 145:102837. [PMID: 32652256 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2019] [Revised: 05/25/2020] [Accepted: 05/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The archaeological sequence of Olduvai Gorge Beds III and IV is essential for the study of the evolution of the African Acheulean between ∼1.3 Ma and 0.6 Ma. However, no further reexaminations of the lithic assemblages have been published after Mary Leakey's original work. In this article, we present an analysis of a part of these collections, with an emphasis on the microscopic and spatial analysis of percussive marks in the so-called pitted stones. To investigate the function of pitted stones and understand the formation process of depressions on lava cobbles, archaeological pitted stones were compared with experimental tools used in bipolar knapping, nut-cracking, and flake-splitting activities. Our results demonstrate that features of pitted stones remained homogeneous across Beds III and IV assemblages, with depressions preferentially located on the central areas of the tools and similar use-wear traces inside such depressions. Comparisons with the experimental collection demonstrate that these depressions are rapidly formed when splitting flakes, resulting in elongated morphologies similar to those documented in the archaeological tools. Our results are discussed within the context of other archaeological and nonhuman primate assemblages to further explore the function of pounding activities in which pitted stones could have potentially been involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrián Arroyo
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), Tarragona, 43007, Spain; Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Àrea de Prehistòria, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, Tarragona, 43002, Spain.
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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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10
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Key A, Proffitt T, de la Torre I. Raw material optimization and stone tool engineering in the Early Stone Age of Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania). J R Soc Interface 2020; 17:20190377. [PMID: 31910772 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2019.0377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
For more than 1.8 million years hominins at Olduvai Gorge were faced with a choice: whether to use lavas, quartzite or chert to produce stone tools. All are available locally and all are suitable for stone tool production. Using controlled cutting tests and fracture mechanics theory we examine raw material selection decisions throughout Olduvai's Early Stone Age. We quantify the force, work and material deformation required by each stone type when cutting, before using these data to compare edge sharpness and durability. Significant differences are identified, confirming performance to depend on raw material choice. When combined with artefact data, we demonstrate that Early Stone Age hominins optimized raw material choices based on functional performance characteristics. Doing so flexibly: choosing raw materials dependent on their sharpness and durability, alongside a tool's loading potential and anticipated use-life. In this way, we demonstrate that early lithic artefacts at Olduvai Gorge were engineered to be functionally optimized cutting tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alastair Key
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Marlowe Building, Canterbury CT2 7NZ, UK
| | - Tomos Proffitt
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, UK
| | - Ignacio de la Torre
- Departamento de Arqueología y Procesos Sociales, Instituto de Historia, CSIC, Albasanz 26-28, 28037 Madrid, Spain
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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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Rivals F, Uno KT, Bibi F, Pante MC, Njau J, de la Torre I. Dietary traits of the ungulates from the HWK EE site at Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania): Diachronic changes and seasonality. J Hum Evol 2018; 120:203-214. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2017] [Revised: 08/07/2017] [Accepted: 08/08/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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13
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A hidden treasure of the Lower Pleistocene at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania: The Leakey HWK EE assemblage. J Hum Evol 2018; 120:114-139. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2017] [Revised: 06/20/2017] [Accepted: 06/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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14
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Stanistreet IG, McHenry LJ, Stollhofen H, de la Torre I. Bed II Sequence Stratigraphic context of EF-HR and HWK EE archaeological sites, and the Oldowan/Acheulean succession at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. J Hum Evol 2018; 120:19-31. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2017] [Revised: 01/05/2018] [Accepted: 01/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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15
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Hominin raw material procurement in the Oldowan-Acheulean transition at Olduvai Gorge. J Hum Evol 2018; 120:378-401. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2016] [Revised: 11/19/2017] [Accepted: 11/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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16
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Proffitt T. Is there a Developed Oldowan A at Olduvai Gorge? A diachronic analysis of the Oldowan in Bed I and Lower-Middle Bed II at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. J Hum Evol 2018; 120:92-113. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2016] [Revised: 01/12/2018] [Accepted: 01/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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17
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de la Torre I, McHenry L, Njau J. From the Oldowan to the Acheulean at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania - An introduction to the special issue. J Hum Evol 2018; 120:1-6. [PMID: 29753442 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.03.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2018] [Accepted: 03/04/2018] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ignacio de la Torre
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY London, United Kingdom.
| | - Lindsay McHenry
- Department of Geosciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 3209 N. Maryland Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA
| | - Jackson Njau
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Indiana University, 1001 E 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; Stone Age Institute, 1392 W Dittemore Rd., Gosport, IN 47433, USA
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18
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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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19
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de la Torre I, Albert RM, Arroyo A, Macphail R, McHenry LJ, Mora R, Njau JK, Pante MC, Rivera-Rondón CA, Rodríguez-Cintas Á, Stanistreet IG, Stollhofen H, Wehr K. New excavations at the HWK EE site: Archaeology, paleoenvironment and site formation processes during late Oldowan times at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. J Hum Evol 2017; 120:140-202. [PMID: 29153333 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.07.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2016] [Revised: 06/30/2017] [Accepted: 07/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
This paper reports the results of renewed fieldwork at the HWK EE site (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania). HWK EE is positioned across the boundary between Lower and Middle Bed II, a crucial interval for studying the emergence of the Acheulean at Olduvai Gorge. Our excavations at HWK EE have produced one of the largest collections of fossils and artefacts from any Oldowan site, distributed across several archaeological units and a large excavation surface in four separate trenches that can be stratigraphically correlated. Here we present the main stratigraphic and archaeological units and discuss site formation processes. Results show a great density of fossils and stone tools vertically through two stratigraphic intervals (Lemuta and Lower Augitic Sandstone) and laterally across an area of around 300 m2, and highlight the confluence of biotic and abiotic agents in the formation of the assemblage. The large size and diversity of the assemblage, as well as its good preservation, qualify HWK EE as a reference site for the study of the late Oldowan at Olduvai Gorge and elsewhere in Africa. In addition, the description of the stratigraphic and archaeological sequence of HWK EE presented in this paper constitutes the foundation for further studies on hominin behavior and paleoecology in Lower and Middle Bed II.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignacio de la Torre
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY London, United Kingdom.
| | - Rosa M Albert
- ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain; ERAAUB/Departament de Historia i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Montalegre 6-8, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Adrián Arroyo
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY London, United Kingdom
| | - Richard Macphail
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY London, United Kingdom
| | - Lindsay J McHenry
- Department of Geosciences, University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, 3209 N. Maryland Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA
| | - Rafael Mora
- Centre D'Estudis Del Patrimoni Arqueologic de La Prehistoria, Facultat de Lletres, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain
| | - Jackson K Njau
- Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, 1001 East 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405-1405, USA; Stone Age Institute, 1392 W Dittemore Road, Gosport, Indiana 47433, USA
| | - Michael C Pante
- Department of Anthropology, Colorado State University, 1787 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - Carlos A Rivera-Rondón
- Unidad de Ecología y Sistemática, Departamento de Biología, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Cra. 7 # 40-82, 110231 Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Ágata Rodríguez-Cintas
- ERAAUB/Departament de Historia i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Montalegre 6-8, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ian G Stanistreet
- Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Brownlow Street, Liverpool L69 3GP, United Kingdom; Stone Age Institute, 1392 W Dittemore Road, Gosport, Indiana 47433, USA
| | - Harald Stollhofen
- GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Friedrich-Alexander-University (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schloßgarten 5, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Karol Wehr
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY London, United Kingdom
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