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Kadowaki S, Wakano JY, Tamura T, Watanabe A, Hirose M, Suga E, Tsukada K, Tarawneh O, Massadeh S. Delayed increase in stone tool cutting-edge productivity at the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in southern Jordan. Nat Commun 2024; 15:610. [PMID: 38326315 PMCID: PMC10850154 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44798-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Although the lithic cutting-edge productivity has long been recognized as a quantifiable aspect of prehistoric human technological evolution, there remains uncertainty how the productivity changed during the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition. Here we present the cutting-edge productivity of eight lithic assemblages in the eastern Mediterranean region that represent a chrono-cultural sequence including the Late Middle Paleolithic, Initial Upper Paleolithic, the Early Upper Paleolithic, and the Epipaleolithic. The results show that a major increase in the cutting-edge productivity does not coincide with the conventional Middle-Upper Paleolithic boundary characterized by the increase in blades in the Initial Upper Paleolithic, but it occurs later in association with the development of bladelet technology in the Early Upper Paleolithic. Given increasing discussions on the complexity of Middle-Upper Paleolithic cultural changes, it may be fruitful to have a long-term perspective and employ consistent criteria for diachronic comparisons to make objective assessment of how cultural changes proceeded across conventional chrono-cultural boundaries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seiji Kadowaki
- Nagoya University Museum, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan.
| | - Joe Yuichiro Wakano
- School of Interdisciplinary Mathematical Sciences, Meiji University, Nakano 4-21-1, Nakano-ku, Tokyo, 164-8525, Japan
| | - Toru Tamura
- Geological Survey of Japan, AIST, Central 7, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8567, Japan
| | - Ayami Watanabe
- Nagoya University Museum, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan
| | - Masato Hirose
- Laboratory of Archaeology, Kiso Regional Union, Nagano, 399-6101, Japan
| | - Eiki Suga
- Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan
| | - Kazuhiro Tsukada
- Nagoya University Museum, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan
| | - Oday Tarawneh
- Department of Antiquities, Third Circle, Jabal Amman, Amman, Jordan
| | - Sate Massadeh
- Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Third Circle, Jabal Amman, Amman, Jordan
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Ancient DNA and deep population structure in sub-Saharan African foragers. Nature 2022; 603:290-296. [PMID: 35197631 PMCID: PMC8907066 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04430-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Multiple lines of genetic and archaeological evidence suggest that there were major demographic changes in the terminal Late Pleistocene epoch and early Holocene epoch of sub-Saharan Africa1–4. Inferences about this period are challenging to make because demographic shifts in the past 5,000 years have obscured the structures of more ancient populations3,5. Here we present genome-wide ancient DNA data for six individuals from eastern and south-central Africa spanning the past approximately 18,000 years (doubling the time depth of sub-Saharan African ancient DNA), increase the data quality for 15 previously published ancient individuals and analyse these alongside data from 13 other published ancient individuals. The ancestry of the individuals in our study area can be modelled as a geographically structured mixture of three highly divergent source populations, probably reflecting Pleistocene interactions around 80–20 thousand years ago, including deeply diverged eastern and southern African lineages, plus a previously unappreciated ubiquitous distribution of ancestry that occurs in highest proportion today in central African rainforest hunter-gatherers. Once established, this structure remained highly stable, with limited long-range gene flow. These results provide a new line of genetic evidence in support of hypotheses that have emerged from archaeological analyses but remain contested, suggesting increasing regionalization at the end of the Pleistocene epoch. DNA analysis of 6 individuals from eastern and south-central Africa spanning the past approximately 18,000 years, and of 28 previously published ancient individuals, provides genetic evidence supporting hypotheses of increasing regionalization at the end of the Pleistocene.
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Integrative geochronology calibrates the Middle and Late Stone Ages of Ethiopia's Afar Rift. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2116329118. [PMID: 34873047 PMCID: PMC8685921 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2116329118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding the evolution, dispersals, behaviors, and ecologies of early African Homo sapiens requires accurate geochronological placement of fossils and artifacts. We introduce open-air occurrences of such remains in sediments of the Middle Awash study area in Ethiopia. We describe the stratigraphic and depositional contexts of our discoveries and demonstrate the effectiveness of recently developed uranium-series dating of ostrich eggshell at validating and bridging across more traditional radioisotopic methods (14C and 40Ar/39Ar). Homo sapiens fossils and associated Middle Stone Age artifacts are placed at >158 and ∼96 ka. Later Stone Age occurrences are dated to ∼21 to 24 ka and ∼31 to 32 ka, firmly dating the upper portion of one of the longest records of human evolution. The Halibee member of the Upper Dawaitoli Formation of Ethiopia’s Middle Awash study area features a wealth of Middle and Later Stone Age (MSA and LSA) paleoanthropological resources in a succession of Pleistocene sediments. We introduce these artifacts and fossils, and determine their chronostratigraphic placement via a combination of established radioisotopic methods and a recently developed dating method applied to ostrich eggshell (OES). We apply the recently developed 230Th/U burial dating of OES to bridge the temporal gap between radiocarbon (14C) and 40Ar/39Ar ages for the MSA and provide 14C ages to constrain the younger LSA archaeology and fauna to ∼24 to 21.4 ka. Paired 14C and 230Th/U burial ages of OES agree at ∼31 ka for an older LSA locality, validating the newer method, and in turn supporting its application to stratigraphically underlying MSA occurrences previously constrained only by a maximum 40Ar/39Ar age. Associated fauna, flora, and Homo sapiens fossils are thereby now fixed between 106 ± 20 ka and 96.4 ± 1.6 ka (all errors 2σ). Additional 40Ar/39 results on an underlying tuff refine its age to 158.1 ± 11.0 ka, providing a more precise minimum age for MSA lithic artifacts, fauna, and H. sapiens fossils recovered ∼9 m below it. These results demonstrate how chronological control can be obtained in tectonically active and stratigraphically complex settings to precisely calibrate crucial evidence of technological, environmental, and evolutionary changes during the African Middle and Late Pleistocene.
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A Phytolith Supported Biosphere-Hydrosphere Predictive Model for Southern Ethiopia: Insights into Paleoenvironmental Changes and Human Landscape Preferences since the Last Glacial Maximum. GEOSCIENCES 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/geosciences11100418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
During the past 25 ka, southern Ethiopia has undergone tremendous climatic changes, from dry and relatively cold during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 25–18 ka) to the African Humid Period (AHP, 15–5 ka), and back to present-day dry conditions. As a contribution to better understand the effects of climate change on vegetation and lakes, we here present a new Predictive Vegetation Model that is linked with a Lake Balance Model and available vegetation-proxy records from southern Ethiopia including a new phytolith record from the Chew Bahir basin. We constructed a detailed paleo-landcover map of southern Ethiopia during the LGM, AHP (with and without influence of the Congo Air Boundary) and the modern-day potential natural landcover. Compared to today, we observe a 15–20% reduction in moisture availability during the LGM with widespread open landscapes and only few remaining forest refugia. We identify 25–40% increased moisture availability during the AHP with prevailing forests in the mid-altitudes and indications that modern anthropogenic landcover change has affected the water balance. In comparison with existing archaeological records, we find that human occupations tend to correspond with open landscapes during the late Pleistocene and Holocene in southern Ethiopia.
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Faulkner P, Miller JM, Quintana Morales EM, Crowther A, Shipton C, Ndiema E, Boivin N, Petraglia MD. 67,000 years of coastal engagement at Panga ya Saidi, eastern Africa. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0256761. [PMID: 34437643 PMCID: PMC8389378 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The antiquity and nature of coastal resource procurement is central to understanding human evolution and adaptations to complex environments. It has become increasingly apparent in global archaeological studies that the timing, characteristics, and trajectories of coastal resource use are highly variable. Within Africa, discussions of these issues have largely been based on the archaeological record from the south and northeast of the continent, with little evidence from eastern coastal areas leaving significant spatial and temporal gaps in our knowledge. Here, we present data from Panga ya Saidi, a limestone cave complex located 15 km from the modern Kenyan coast, which represents the first long-term sequence of coastal engagement from eastern Africa. Rather than attempting to distinguish between coastal resource use and coastal adaptations, we focus on coastal engagement as a means of characterising human relationships with marine environments and resources from this inland location. We use aquatic mollusc data spanning the past 67,000 years to document shifts in the acquisition, transportation, and discard of these materials, to better understand long-term trends in coastal engagement. Our results show pulses of coastal engagement beginning with low-intensity symbolism, and culminating in the consistent low-level transport of marine and freshwater food resources, emphasising a diverse relationship through time. Panga ya Saidi has the oldest stratified evidence of marine engagement in eastern Africa, and is the only site in Africa which documents coastal resources from the Late Pleistocene through the Holocene, highlighting the potential archaeological importance of peri-coastal sites to debates about marine resource relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Faulkner
- Department of Archaeology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Jennifer M. Miller
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Eréndira M. Quintana Morales
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America
| | - Alison Crowther
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Ceri Shipton
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Emmanuel Ndiema
- Department of Earth Sciences, Archaeology Section, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Nicole Boivin
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, United States of America
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
| | - Michael D. Petraglia
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, United States of America
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE), Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
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