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Kappelman J, Todd LC, Davis CA, Cerling TE, Feseha M, Getahun A, Johnsen R, Kay M, Kocurek GA, Nachman BA, Negash A, Negash T, O'Brien K, Pante M, Ren M, Smith EI, Tabor NJ, Tewabe D, Wang H, Yang D, Yirga S, Crowell JW, Fanuka MF, Habtie T, Hirniak JN, Klehm C, Loewen ND, Melaku S, Melton SM, Myers TS, Millonig S, Plummer MC, Riordan KJ, Rosenau NA, Skinner A, Thompson AK, Trombetta LM, Witzel A, Assefa E, Bodansky M, Desta AA, Campisano CJ, Dalmas D, Elliott C, Endalamaw M, Ford NJ, Foster F, Getachew T, Haney YL, Ingram BH, Jackson J, Marean CW, Mattox S, de la Cruz Medina K, Mulubrhan G, Porter K, Roberts A, Santillan P, Sollenberger A, Sponholtz J, Valdes J, Wyman L, Yadeta M, Yanny S. Adaptive foraging behaviours in the Horn of Africa during Toba supereruption. Nature 2024; 628:365-372. [PMID: 38509364 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07208-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2021] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
Although modern humans left Africa multiple times over 100,000 years ago, those broadly ancestral to non-Africans dispersed less than 100,000 years ago1. Most models hold that these events occurred through green corridors created during humid periods because arid intervals constrained population movements2. Here we report an archaeological site-Shinfa-Metema 1, in the lowlands of northwest Ethiopia, with Youngest Toba Tuff cryptotephra dated to around 74,000 years ago-that provides early and rare evidence of intensive riverine-based foraging aided by the likely adoption of the bow and arrow. The diet included a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic animals. Stable oxygen isotopes from fossil mammal teeth and ostrich eggshell show that the site was occupied during a period of high seasonal aridity. The unusual abundance of fish suggests that capture occurred in the ever smaller and shallower waterholes of a seasonal river during a long dry season, revealing flexible adaptations to challenging climatic conditions during the Middle Stone Age. Adaptive foraging along dry-season waterholes would have transformed seasonal rivers into 'blue highway' corridors, potentially facilitating an out-of-Africa dispersal and suggesting that the event was not restricted to times of humid climates. The behavioural flexibility required to survive seasonally arid conditions in general, and the apparent short-term effects of the Toba supereruption in particular were probably key to the most recent dispersal and subsequent worldwide expansion of modern humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Kappelman
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.
| | - Lawrence C Todd
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | | | - Thure E Cerling
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Mulugeta Feseha
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Abebe Getahun
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Department of Zoological Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Racheal Johnsen
- Department of Geoscience, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
| | - Marvin Kay
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
| | - Gary A Kocurek
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Brett A Nachman
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Agazi Negash
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Tewabe Negash
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Department of Anthropology and Geography, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Kaedan O'Brien
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Michael Pante
- Department of Anthropology and Geography, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Minghua Ren
- Department of Geoscience, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
| | - Eugene I Smith
- Department of Geoscience, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
| | - Neil J Tabor
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Dereje Tewabe
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Bahir Dar Fisheries and Other Aquatic Life Research Centre, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
| | - Hong Wang
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Deming Yang
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Solomon Yirga
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Department of Zoological Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Jordan W Crowell
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Matthew F Fanuka
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Teshager Habtie
- Department of History and Heritage Management, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia
| | - Jayde N Hirniak
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Carla Klehm
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | | | | | - Sierra M Melton
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Timothy S Myers
- Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Sarah Millonig
- Department of Anthropology and Geography, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Megan C Plummer
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Keenan J Riordan
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Nicholas A Rosenau
- Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Anne Skinner
- Chemistry Department, Williams College, Williamstown, MA, USA
| | - Abraham K Thompson
- Department of Anthropology and Geography, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Lindsey M Trombetta
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Adrienne Witzel
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Ephrem Assefa
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Maria Bodansky
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Ayenachew A Desta
- Department of Geology, School of Earth Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
| | - Christopher J Campisano
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Daniel Dalmas
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
| | - Connor Elliott
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Metasebia Endalamaw
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Ethiopian Heritage Authority, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Nicholas J Ford
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Frederick Foster
- Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
| | - Tomas Getachew
- Ethiopian Heritage Authority, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Laboratoire Paléontologie Évolution Paléoécosystèmes Paléoprimatologie, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Yibai Li Haney
- Chemistry Department, Williams College, Williamstown, MA, USA
| | - Brittney H Ingram
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Jonayah Jackson
- Chemistry Department, Williams College, Williamstown, MA, USA
| | - Curtis W Marean
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, South Africa
| | - Sissi Mattox
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Karla de la Cruz Medina
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Gebretsadkan Mulubrhan
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Keri Porter
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Alexis Roberts
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Perla Santillan
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Alaric Sollenberger
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Julia Sponholtz
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Jessica Valdes
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Lani Wyman
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Meklit Yadeta
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Sierra Yanny
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
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Schmidt P, Pappas I, Porraz G, Berthold C, Nickel KG. The driving force behind tool-stone selection in the African Middle Stone Age. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2318560121. [PMID: 38408239 PMCID: PMC10927537 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2318560121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2024] Open
Abstract
In the Stone Age, the collection of specific rocks was the first step in tool making. Very little is known about the choices made during tool-stone acquisition. Were choices governed by the knowledge of, and need for, specific properties of stones? Or were the collected raw materials a mere by-product of the way people moved through the landscape? We investigate these questions in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) of southern Africa, analyzing the mechanical properties of tool-stones used at the site Diepkloof Rock Shelter. To understand knapping quality, we measure flaking predictability and introduce a physical model that allows calculating the relative force necessary to produce flakes from different rocks. To evaluate their quality as finished tools, we investigate their resistance during repeated use activities (scraping or cutting) and their strength during projectile impacts. Our findings explain tool-stone selection in two emblematic periods of the MSA, the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort, as being the result of a deep understanding of these mechanical properties. In both cases, people chose those rocks, among many others, that allowed the most advantageous trade-off between anticipated properties of finished tools and the ease of acquiring rocks and producing tools. The implications are an understanding of African MSA toolmakers as engineers who carefully weighed their choices taking into account workability and the quality of the tools they made.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Schmidt
- Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen72070, Germany
- Applied Mineralogy, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen72074, Germany
| | - Ioannis Pappas
- Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen72070, Germany
| | - Guillaume Porraz
- Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Ministère de la Culture, UMR 7269 Lampea, Aix-en-ProvenceF-13094, France
- Faculty of Humanities, Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg2017, South Africa
| | - Christoph Berthold
- Applied Mineralogy, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen72074, Germany
- Department of Geosciences, Competence Center Archaeometry–Baden Wuerttemberg, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen72074, Germany
| | - Klaus G. Nickel
- Applied Mineralogy, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen72074, Germany
- Department of Geosciences, Competence Center Archaeometry–Baden Wuerttemberg, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen72074, Germany
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3
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Coppe J, Taipale N, Rots V. Terminal ballistic analysis of impact fractures reveals the use of spearthrower 31 ky ago at Maisières-Canal, Belgium. Sci Rep 2023; 13:18305. [PMID: 37880379 PMCID: PMC10600151 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-45554-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 10/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of hunting technology in the deep past fundamentally shaped the subsistence strategies of early human populations. Hence knowing when different weapons were first introduced is important for understanding our evolutionary trajectory. The timing of the adoption of long-range weaponry remains heavily debated because preserved organic weapon components are extremely rare in the Paleolithic record and stone points are difficult to attribute reliably to weapon delivery methods without supporting organic evidence. Here, we use a refined use-wear approach to demonstrate that spearthrower was used for launching projectiles armed with tanged flint points at Maisières-Canal (Belgium) 31,000 years ago. The novelty of our approach lies in the combination of impact fracture data with terminal ballistic analysis of the mechanical stress suffered by a stone armature on impact. This stress is distinct for each weapon and visible archaeologically as fracture proportions on assemblage scale. Our reference dataset derives from a sequential experimental program that addressed individually each key parameter affecting fracture formation and successfully reproduced the archaeological fracture signal. The close match between the archaeological sample and the experimental spearthrower set extends the timeline of spearthrower use by over 10,000 years and represents the earliest reliable trace-based evidence for the utilization of long-distance weaponry in prehistoric hunting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin Coppe
- TraceoLab/Prehistory, University of Liège, Place du 20-Août 7 (Bât. A4), 4000, Liège, Belgium.
| | - Noora Taipale
- TraceoLab/Prehistory, University of Liège, Place du 20-Août 7 (Bât. A4), 4000, Liège, Belgium
- F.R.S.-FNRS, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Veerle Rots
- TraceoLab/Prehistory, University of Liège, Place du 20-Août 7 (Bât. A4), 4000, Liège, Belgium
- F.R.S.-FNRS, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
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4
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Scerri EML, Will M. The revolution that still isn't: The origins of behavioral complexity in Homo sapiens. J Hum Evol 2023; 179:103358. [PMID: 37058868 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
Abstract
The behavioral origins of Homo sapiens can be traced back to the first material culture produced by our species in Africa, the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Beyond this broad consensus, the origins, patterns, and causes of behavioral complexity in modern humans remain debated. Here, we consider whether recent findings continue to support popular scenarios of: (1) a modern human 'package,' (2) a gradual and 'pan-African' emergence of behavioral complexity, and (3) a direct connection to changes in the human brain. Our geographically structured review shows that decades of scientific research have continuously failed to find a discrete threshold for a complete 'modernity package' and that the concept is theoretically obsolete. Instead of a continent-wide, gradual accumulation of complex material culture, the record exhibits a predominantly asynchronous presence and duration of many innovations across different regions of Africa. The emerging pattern of behavioral complexity from the MSA conforms to an intricate mosaic characterized by spatially discrete, temporally variable, and historically contingent trajectories. This archaeological record bears no direct relation to a simplistic shift in the human brain but rather reflects similar cognitive capacities that are variably manifested. The interaction of multiple causal factors constitutes the most parsimonious explanation driving the variable expression of complex behaviors, with demographic processes such as population structure, size, and connectivity playing a key role. While much emphasis has been given to innovation and variability in the MSA record, long periods of stasis and a lack of cumulative developments argue further against a strictly gradualistic nature in the record. Instead, we are confronted with humanity's deep, variegated roots in Africa, and a dynamic metapopulation that took many millennia to reach the critical mass capable of producing the ratchet effect commonly used to define contemporary human culture. Finally, we note a weakening link between 'modern' human biology and behavior from around 300 ka ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor M L Scerri
- Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Kahlaische Str. 10, 07749, Jena, Germany; Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, MSD 2080, Malta; Department of Prehistory, University of Cologne, 50931, Cologne, Germany.
| | - Manuel Will
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, Burgsteige 11, 72070, Tübingen, Germany
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Way AM, de la Peña P, de la Peña E, Wadley L. Howiesons Poort backed artifacts provide evidence for social connectivity across southern Africa during the Final Pleistocene. Sci Rep 2022; 12:9227. [PMID: 35680943 PMCID: PMC9184481 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-12677-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Examining why human populations used specific technologies in the Final Pleistocene is critical to understanding our evolutionary path. A key Final Pleistocene techno-tradition is the Howiesons Poort, which is marked by an increase in behavioral complexity and technological innovation. Central to this techno-tradition is the production of backed artifacts-small, sharp blades likely used as insets in composite tools. Although backed artifacts were manufactured for thousands of years before the Howiesons Poort, this period is marked by a phenomenal increase in their production. In this paper we test both social and environmental hypotheses to explain this phenomenon. We correlate environmental data with changing frequencies of backed artifact production at Sibudu and assess morphological similarity across seven sites in southern Africa. We find that these artifacts are made to a similar template across different regions and that their increased production correlates with multiple paleo-environmental proxies. When compared to an Australian outgroup, the backed artifacts from the seven southern African sites cluster within the larger shape space described by the Australian group. This leads us to argue that the observed standardized across southern Africa is related to cultural similarities and marks a strengthening of long-distance social ties during the MIS4.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy M Way
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, PO Wits, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa.
- Geoscience and Archaeology, Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia.
- Department of Archaeology, School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
| | - Paloma de la Peña
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, PO Wits, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3ER, UK
- Center of Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, PO Wits, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa
| | - Eduardo de la Peña
- Department of Plants & Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
- Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea "La Mayora (IHSM-UMA-CSIC), Estación Experimental "La Mayora", Málaga, Spain
| | - Lyn Wadley
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, PO Wits, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa
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Botha MS, Cowling RM, De Vynck JC, Esler KJ, Potts AJ. The response of geophytes to continuous human foraging on the Cape south coast, South Africa and its implications for early hunter-gatherer mobility patterns. PeerJ 2022; 10:e13066. [PMID: 35529488 PMCID: PMC9074880 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Current ecological understanding of plants with underground storage organs (USOs) suggests they have, in general, low rates of recruitment and thus as a resource it should be rapidly exhausted, which likely had implications for hunter-gatherer mobility patterns. We focus on the resilience (defined here as the ability of species to persist after being harvested) of USOs to human foraging. Human foragers harvested all visible USO material from 19 plots spread across six Cape south coast (South Africa) vegetation types for three consecutive years (2015-2017) during the period of peak USO apparency (September-October). We expected the plots to be depleted after the first year of harvesting since the entire storage organ of the USO is removed during foraging, i.e. immediate and substantial declines from the first to the second harvest. However, over 50% of the total weight harvested in 2015 was harvested in 2016 and 2017; only after two consecutive years of harvesting, was there evidence of significantly lower yield (p = 0.034) than the first (2015) harvest. Novel emergence of new species and new individuals in year two and three buffered the decline of harvested USOs. We use our findings to make predictions on hunter-gatherer mobility patterns in this region compared to the Hadza in East Africa and the Alyawara in North Australia.
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Affiliation(s)
- M. Susan Botha
- Botany Department, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, South Africa
| | - Richard M. Cowling
- Botany Department, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, South Africa
| | - Jan C. De Vynck
- Botany Department, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, South Africa
| | - Karen J. Esler
- Stellenbosch University, Conservation Ecology & Entomology, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa
| | - Alastair J. Potts
- Botany Department, Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, South Africa
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Portable, non-destructive colorimetry and visible reflectance spectroscopy paired with machine learning can classify experimentally heat-treated silcrete from three South African sources. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0266389. [PMID: 35395051 PMCID: PMC8992976 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 03/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine if visible reflectance spectroscopy and quantitative colorimetry represent viable approaches to classifying the heat treatment state of silcrete. Silcrete is a soil duricrust that has been used as toolstone since at least the Middle Stone Age. The ancient practice of heat treating silcrete prior to knapping is of considerable interest to paleolithic archaeologists because of its implications for early modern human complex cognition generally and the ability to manipulate the material properties of stone specifically. Here, we demonstrate that our quantitative, non-invasive, and portable approach to measuring color, used in conjunction with k-Nearest Neighbors “lazy” machine learning, is a highly promising method for heat treatment detection. Traditional, expert human analyst approaches typically rely upon subjective assessments of color and luster and comparison to experimental reference collections. This strongly visual method can prove quite accurate, but difficult to reproduce between different analysts. In this work, we measured percent reflectance for the visible spectrum (1018 variables) and standardized color values (CIEL*a*b*) in unheated and experimentally heat-treated silcrete specimens from three sources in South Africa. k-NN classification proved highly effective with both the spectroscopy and colorimetry data sets. An important innovation was using the heat treatment state predicted by the k-NN model for the majority of replicate observations of a single specimen to predict the heat treatment state for the specimen overall. When this majority voting approach was applied to the 746 individual observations in this study, associated with 94 discrete silcrete flakes, both spectroscopy and colorimetry k-NN models yielded 0% test set misclassification rates at the specimen level.
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8
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Wilkins J. Homo sapiens origins and evolution in the Kalahari Basin, southern Africa. Evol Anthropol 2021; 30:327-344. [PMID: 34363428 PMCID: PMC8596755 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2020] [Revised: 02/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
The Kalahari Basin, southern Africa preserves a rich archeological record of human origins and evolution spanning the Early, Middle and Late Pleistocene. Since the 1930s, several stratified and dated archeological sites have been identified and investigated, together with numerous open-air localities that provide landscape-scale perspectives. However, next to recent discoveries from nearby coastal regions, the Kalahari Basin has remained peripheral to debates about the origins of Homo sapiens. Though the interior region of southern Africa is generally considered to be less suitable for hunter-gatherer occupation than coastal and near-coastal regions, especially during glacial periods, the archeological record documents human presence in the Kalahari Basin from the Early Pleistocene onwards, and the region is not abandoned during glacial phases. Furthermore, many significant behavioral innovations have an early origin in the Kalahari Basin, which adds support to poly-centric, pan-African models for the emergence of our species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Wilkins
- Australian Research Centre for Human EvolutionGriffith UniversityBrisbaneAustralia
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape TownCape TownSouth Africa
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9
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Lombard M, Shea JJ. Did Pleistocene Africans use the spearthrower-and-dart? Evol Anthropol 2021; 30:307-315. [PMID: 34343369 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21912] [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: 09/22/2020] [Revised: 12/16/2020] [Accepted: 06/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Archeologists commonly suppose that among complex projectile weapons humans use as subsistence aids, the spearthrower-and-dart preceded bow-and-arrow use. And yet, neither ethnographic nor archeological records furnish any robust evidence for spearthrower-and-dart use in Africa. Instead, evidence grows apace for ever-more ancient bow-and-arrow use. Here we explore these findings and their implications for models of early Homo sapiens behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlize Lombard
- Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa
| | - John J Shea
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA
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10
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Wilkins J, Schoville BJ, Pickering R, Gliganic L, Collins B, Brown KS, von der Meden J, Khumalo W, Meyer MC, Maape S, Blackwood AF, Hatton A. Innovative Homo sapiens behaviours 105,000 years ago in a wetter Kalahari. Nature 2021; 592:248-252. [DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03419-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2020] [Accepted: 03/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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11
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Helm CW, Cawthra HC, Cowling RM, De Vynck JC, Lockley MG, Marean CW, Dixon MG, Helm CJ, Stear W, Thesen GH, Venter JA. Protecting and preserving South African aeolianite surfaces from graffiti. KOEDOE: AFRICAN PROTECTED AREA CONSERVATION AND SCIENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.4102/koedoe.v63i1.1656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
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12
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Archer W. Carrying capacity, population density and the later Pleistocene expression of backed artefact manufacturing traditions in Africa. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 376:20190716. [PMID: 33250028 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
As is the case today, both climate variability and population density influenced human behavioural change in the past. The mechanisms underpinning later Pleistocene human behavioural evolution, however, remain contested. Many complex behaviours evolved in Africa, but early evidence for these behaviours varies both spatially and temporally. Scientists have not been able to explain this flickering pattern, which is present even in sites and regions clearly occupied by Homo sapiens. To explore this pattern, here the presence and frequency of evidence for backed stone artefact production are modelled against climate-driven, time-series population density estimates (Timmermann and Friedrich. 2016 Nature 538, 92. (doi:10.1038/nature19365)), in all known African Late Pleistocene archaeological sites (n = 116 sites, n = 409 assemblages, n = 893 dates). In addition, a moving-window, site density population estimate is included at the scale of southern Africa. Backed stone artefacts are argued in many archaeological contexts to have functioned in elaborate technologies like composite weapons and, in the African Pleistocene, are accepted proxies for cultural complexity. They show a broad but sporadic distribution in Africa, prior to their association with Homo sapiens dispersing into Europe 45-40 ka. Two independent population estimates explain this pattern and potentially implicate the interaction of climate change and demography in the expression of cultural complexity in African Pleistocene Homo sapiens. This article is part of the theme issue 'Cross-disciplinary approaches to prehistoric demography'.
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Affiliation(s)
- W Archer
- Department of Archaeology, National Museum, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany.,Department of Geology, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300
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13
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Hallinan E, Shaw M. Nubian Levallois reduction strategies in the Tankwa Karoo, South Africa. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0241068. [PMID: 33091059 PMCID: PMC7580950 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 10/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The Middle Stone Age record in southern Africa is recognising increasing diversity in lithic technologies as research expands beyond the coastal-montane zone. New research in the arid Tankwa Karoo region of the South African interior has revealed a rich surface artefact record including a novel method of point production, recognised as Nubian Levallois technology in Late Pleistocene North Africa, Arabia and the Levant. We analyse 121 Nubian cores and associated points from the surface site Tweefontein against the strict criteria which are used to define Nubian technology elsewhere. The co-occurrence of typically post-Howiesons Poort unifacial points suggests an MIS 3 age. We propose that the occurrence of this distinctive technology at numerous localities in the Tankwa Karoo region reflects an environment-specific adaptation in line with technological regionalisation seen more widely in MIS 3. The arid setting of these assemblages in the Tankwa Karoo compares with the desert context of Nubian technology globally, consistent with convergent evolution in our case. The South African evidence contributes an alternative perspective on Nubian technology removed from the ‘dispersal’ or ‘diffusion’ scenarios of the debate surrounding its origin and spread within and out of Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Hallinan
- Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Human Behaviour, Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | - Matthew Shaw
- School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia
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14
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Helm CW, Lockley MG, Cawthra HC, De Vynck JC, Dixon MG, Helm CJ, Thesen GH. Newly identified hominin trackways from the Cape south coast of South Africa. S AFR J SCI 2020. [DOI: 10.17159/sajs.2020/8156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Three new Pleistocene hominin tracksites have been identified on the Cape south coast of South Africa, one in the Garden Route National Park and two in the Goukamma Nature Reserve, probably dating to Marine Isotope Stage 5. As a result, southern Africa now boasts six hominin tracksites, which are collectively the oldest sites in the world that are attributed to Homo sapiens. The tracks were registered on dune surfaces, now preserved in aeolianites. Tracks of varying size were present at two sites, indicating the presence of more than one trackmaker, and raising the possibility of family groups. A total of 18 and 32 tracks were recorded at these two sites, respectively. Ammoglyphs were present at one site. Although track quality was not optimal, and large aeolianite surface exposures are rare in the region, these sites prove the capacity of coastal aeolianites to yield such discoveries, and they contribute to what remains a sparse global hominin track record. It is evident that hominin tracks are more common in southern Africa than was previously supposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles W. Helm
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | - Martin G. Lockley
- Dinosaur Trackers Research Group, University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado, USA
| | - Hayley C. Cawthra
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- Geophysics and Remote Sensing Unit, Council for Geoscience, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Jan C. De Vynck
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | - Mark G. Dixon
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | - Carina J.Z. Helm
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | - Guy H.H. Thesen
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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15
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Will M, Conard NJ. Regional patterns of diachronic technological change in the Howiesons Poort of southern Africa. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0239195. [PMID: 32941544 PMCID: PMC7498030 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The Howiesons Poort (HP) of southern Africa plays an important role in models on the early behavioral evolution of Homo sapiens. The HP is often portrayed as a coherent MSA industry characterized by early complex material culture. Recent work has emphasized parallel technological change through time across southern Africa potentially driven by ecological adaptations or demographic change. Here we examine patterns of diachronic variation within the HP and evaluate potential causal factors behind these changes. We test previous temporal assessments of the technocomplex at the local and regional level based on high-resolution quantitative data on HP lithic assemblages from Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal) and comparisons with other southern African sites. At Sibudu, consistent unidirectional change in lithic technology characterizes the HP sequence. The results show a gradual reduction in typical HP markers such as the proportion of blades, backed pieces, and HP cores, as well as declining size of blades and backed artifacts. Quantitative comparisons with seven HP sites in South Africa suggest that lithic technology varies between regions over time instead of following similar changes. Concerning hypotheses of causal drivers, directional changes in lithic technology at Sibudu covary with shifting hunting patterns towards larger-sized bovids and a gradual opening of the vegetation. In contrast, variation in lithic technology shows little association with site use, mobility patterns or demographic expansions. Unlike at Sibudu, diachronic changes at other HP sites such as Diepkloof, Klasies River and Klipdrift appear to be associated with aspects of mobility, technological organization and site use. The regional diachronic patterns in the HP partly follow paleoclimatic zones, which could imply different ecological adaptations and distinct connection networks over time. Divergent and at times decoupled changes in lithic traits across sites precludes monocausal explanations for the entire HP, supporting more complex models for the observed technological trajectories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Will
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Nicholas J. Conard
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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16
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Wilkins J. Learner-driven innovation in the stone tool technology of early Homo sapiens. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2020; 2:e40. [PMID: 37588390 PMCID: PMC10427492 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2020.40] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Current perspectives of stone tool technology tend to emphasize homogeneity in tool forms and core reduction strategies across time and space. This homogeneity is understood to represent shared cultural traditions that are passed down through the generations. This represents a top-down perspective on how and why stone tools are manufactured that largely restricts technological agency to experts, adults and teachers. However, just as bottom-up processes driven by children and youth influence technological innovation today, they are likely to have played a role in the past. This paper considers evidence from the archaeological record of early Homo sapiens' lithic technology in Africa that may attest to our long history of bottom-up social learning processes and learner-driven innovation. This evidence includes the role of emulative social learning in generating assemblages with diverse reduction strategies, a high degree of technological fragmentation across southern Africa during some time periods, and technological convergence through the Pleistocene. Counter to some perspectives on the uniqueness of our species, our ability to learn independently, to 'break the rules' and to play, as opposed to conforming to top-down influences, may also account for our technological success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Wilkins
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, QLD4111, Australia; and Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, South Africa
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17
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Turner JH, Schutt RK, Keshavan MS. Biology and American Sociology, Part II: Developing a Unique Evolutionary Sociology. THE AMERICAN SOCIOLOGIST 2020; 51:470-505. [PMID: 32836293 PMCID: PMC7275132 DOI: 10.1007/s12108-020-09448-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
In sociology's formative period between 1830 and 1930, evolutionary analysis organized much theorizing and research. This line of work ended abruptly in the 1920s but, over the last decades, has come back into the discipline somewhat piecemeal with the reintroduction of more sophisticated stage models of societal evolution, functional analysis, human ecological analysis, and other new lines of evolutionary inquiry outlined in this paper. Our goal is to demonstrate that revitalized paradigms of the past can still be useful with modest reconceptualization, while at the same time new intellectual movements in the other social sciences, especially economics and psychology, incorporating evolutionary ideas from biology provide sociology with an opportunity to develop its own approach to evolutionary analysis that avoids the problems that let to the demise of this line of inquiry in the 1920s, as well as the problems of other social sciences applying their more narrowly focus models to sociological problems. Indeed, sociology can become a leader in the social sciences in developing more sophisticated theoretical and methodological approaches to incorporating biology and evolutionary analysis into the social sciences. When presented in a new, more sophisticated guise, old approaches like functionalism, stage models of societal evolution, and ecological models can be seen as still having a great deal of explanatory power, while revealing a progressive and future orientation that should appeal to all contemporary sociologists. It is time, then, for sociology to remember its past in order to move into the future.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Russell K. Schutt
- Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Research Scientist I, University of Massachusetts Boston and Lecturer, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
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18
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Stibbard-Hawkes DNE. No Association between 2D:4D Ratio and Hunting Success among Hadza Hunters. HUMAN NATURE (HAWTHORNE, N.Y.) 2020; 31:22-42. [PMID: 31838723 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-019-09359-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The ratio of index- and ring-finger lengths (2D:4D ratio) is thought to be related to prenatal androgen exposure, and in many, though not all, populations, men have a lower average digit ratio than do women. In many studies an inverse relationship has been observed, among both men and women, between 2D:4D ratio and measures of athletic ability. It has been further suggested that, in hunter-gatherer populations, 2D:4D ratio might also be negatively correlated with hunting ability, itself assumed to be contingent on athleticism. This hypothesis has been tested using endurance running performance among runners from a Western, educated, and industrialized population as a proximate measure of hunting ability. However, it has not previously been tested among actual hunter-gatherers using more ecologically valid measures of hunting ability and success. The current study addresses this question among Tanzanian Hadza hunter-gatherers. I employ a novel method of assessing hunting reputation that, unlike previous methods, allows granular distinctions to be made between hunters at all levels of perceived ability. I find no statistically significant relationship between digit ratio and either hunting reputation or two important hunting skills. I confirm that Hadza men have higher mean 2D:4D ratios than men in many Western populations. I discuss the notion that 2D:4D ratio may be the consequence of an allometric scaling relationship between relative and absolute finger lengths. Although it is difficult to draw clear conclusions from these results, the current study provides no support for the theorized relationship between 2D:4D ratio and hunting skill.
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19
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Inbreeding, Allee effects and stochasticity might be sufficient to account for Neanderthal extinction. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0225117. [PMID: 31774843 PMCID: PMC6880983 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2019] [Accepted: 10/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The replacement of Neanderthals by Anatomically Modern Humans has typically been attributed to environmental pressure or a superiority of modern humans with respect to competition for resources. Here we present two independent models that suggest that no such heatedly debated factors might be needed to account for the demise of Neanderthals. Starting from the observation that Neanderthal populations already were small before the arrival of modern humans, the models implement three factors that conservation biology identifies as critical for a small population's persistence, namely inbreeding, Allee effects and stochasticity. Our results indicate that the disappearance of Neanderthals might have resided in the smallness of their population(s) alone: even if they had been identical to modern humans in their cognitive, social and cultural traits, and even in the absence of inter-specific competition, Neanderthals faced a considerable risk of extinction. Furthermore, we suggest that if modern humans contributed to the demise of Neanderthals, that contribution might have had nothing to do with resource competition, but rather with how the incoming populations geographically restructured the resident populations, in a way that reinforced Allee effects, and the effects of inbreeding and stochasticity.
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20
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Wedage O, Picin A, Blinkhorn J, Douka K, Deraniyagala S, Kourampas N, Perera N, Simpson I, Boivin N, Petraglia M, Roberts P. Microliths in the South Asian rainforest ~45-4 ka: New insights from Fa-Hien Lena Cave, Sri Lanka. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0222606. [PMID: 31577796 PMCID: PMC6774521 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2019] [Accepted: 09/03/2019] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Microliths–small, retouched, often-backed stone tools–are often interpreted to be the product of composite tools, including projectile weapons, and efficient hunting strategies by modern humans. In Europe and Africa these lithic toolkits are linked to hunting of medium- and large-sized game found in grassland or woodland settings, or as adaptations to risky environments during periods of climatic change. Here, we report on a recently excavated lithic assemblage from the Late Pleistocene cave site of Fa-Hien Lena in the tropical evergreen rainforest of Sri Lanka. Our analyses demonstrate that Fa-Hien Lena represents the earliest microlith assemblage in South Asia (c. 48,000–45,000 cal. years BP) in firm association with evidence for the procurement of small to medium size arboreal prey and rainforest plants. Moreover, our data highlight that the lithic technology of Fa-Hien Lena changed little over the long span of human occupation (c. 48,000–45,000 cal. years BP to c. 4,000 cal. years BP) indicating a successful, stable technological adaptation to the tropics. We argue that microlith assemblages were an important part of the environmental plasticity that enabled Homo sapiens to colonise and specialise in a diversity of ecological settings during its expansion within and beyond Africa. The proliferation of diverse microlithic technologies across Eurasia c. 48–45 ka was part of a flexible human ‘toolkit’ that assisted our species’ spread into all of the world’s environments, and the development of specialised technological and cultural approaches to novel ecological situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oshan Wedage
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Department of History and Archaeology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka
- * E-mail: (OW); (AP); (MP); (PR)
| | - Andrea Picin
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- * E-mail: (OW); (AP); (MP); (PR)
| | - James Blinkhorn
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, England, United Kingdom
| | - Katerina Douka
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, United Kingdom
| | | | - Nikos Kourampas
- Biological and Environmental Science, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom
- Centre for Open Learning, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Nimal Perera
- Department of Archaeology, Government of Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka
| | - Ian Simpson
- Biological and Environmental Science, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - 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 and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., United States of America
| | - Michael 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, D.C., United States of America
- * E-mail: (OW); (AP); (MP); (PR)
| | - Patrick Roberts
- 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
- * E-mail: (OW); (AP); (MP); (PR)
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21
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Fellow travellers in cognitive evolution: Co-evolution of working memory and mental time travel? Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 105:94-105. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.07.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2019] [Revised: 06/24/2019] [Accepted: 07/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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22
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Cultural bistability and connectedness in a subdivided population. Theor Popul Biol 2019; 129:103-117. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2019.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2018] [Revised: 02/06/2019] [Accepted: 03/19/2019] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
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23
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Klein RG. Population structure and the evolution of
Homo sapiens
in Africa. Evol Anthropol 2019; 28:179-188. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.21788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2018] [Revised: 05/27/2019] [Accepted: 06/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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24
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Shultz DR, Montrey M, Shultz TR. Comparing fitness and drift explanations of Neanderthal replacement. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20190907. [PMID: 31185865 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
There is a general consensus among archaeologists that replacement of Neanderthals by anatomically modern humans in Europe occurred around 40-35 ka. However, the causal mechanism for this replacement continues to be debated. Proposed models have featured either fitness advantages in favour of anatomically modern humans or invoked neutral drift under various preconditions. Searching for specific fitness advantages in the archaeological record has proven difficult, as these may be obscured, absent or subject to interpretation. To bridge this gap, we rigorously compare the system-level properties of fitness- and drift-based explanations of Neanderthal replacement. Our stochastic simulations and analytical predictions show that, although both fitness and drift can produce replacement, they present important differences in (i) required initial conditions, (ii) reliability, (iii) time to replacement, and (iv) path to replacement (population histories). These results present useful opportunities for comparison with archaeological and genetic data. We find greater agreement between the available empirical evidence and the system-level properties of replacement by differential fitness, rather than by neutral drift.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel R Shultz
- 1 Department of Anthropology, McGill University , Montreal, Quebec , Canada.,2 Department of History, McGill University , Montreal, Quebec , Canada
| | - Marcel Montrey
- 3 Department of Psychology, McGill University , Montreal, Quebec , Canada
| | - Thomas R Shultz
- 3 Department of Psychology, McGill University , Montreal, Quebec , Canada.,4 School of Computer Science, McGill University , Montreal, Quebec , Canada
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Assessment of complex projectiles in the early Late Pleistocene at Aduma, Ethiopia. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0216716. [PMID: 31071181 PMCID: PMC6508696 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2018] [Accepted: 04/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Complex projectiles—propulsion via mechanical aid—are considered an important technological innovation, with possible relevance for the successful Out-of-Africa dispersal of our species. Conclusive evidence for the beginning of this technology, however, is lacking from the early Late Pleistocene (ca. 130 to 70 thousand years ago; ka). Given the extremely limited applicability of relatively robust methods for validating stone-tipped projectile use, such as through fracture propagation velocity, converging lines of circumstantial evidence remain the best way to examine early complex projectiles. We assess here suggestions for an early Late Pleistocene origin of complex projectiles in Africa. Results from both previous and present independent approaches suggest a trajectory in which complex projectiles were likely adopted during the early Late Pleistocene in eastern Africa. At Aduma (Middle Awash, Ethiopia), morphometric, hafting, and impact damage patterns in several lithic point assemblages suggest a shift from simple spear technologies (thrusting and/or hand-cast) to complex projectiles. Broadly dated to 80–100 ka, lithic points from later phases of the Aduma succession represent a particularly strong candidate for projectile armatures most comparable to ethnographically known spearthrower darts, lending support for previous suggestions and warranting further investigations.
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26
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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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27
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A dispersal of Homo sapiens from southern to eastern Africa immediately preceded the out-of-Africa migration. Sci Rep 2019; 9:4728. [PMID: 30894612 PMCID: PMC6426877 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41176-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2018] [Accepted: 02/19/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Africa was the birth-place of Homo sapiens and has the earliest evidence for symbolic behaviour and complex technologies. The best-attested early flowering of these distinctive features was in a glacial refuge zone on the southern coast 100–70 ka, with fewer indications in eastern Africa until after 70 ka. Yet it was eastern Africa, not the south, that witnessed the first major demographic expansion, ~70–60 ka, which led to the peopling of the rest of the world. One possible explanation is that important cultural traits were transmitted from south to east at this time. Here we identify a mitochondrial signal of such a dispersal soon after ~70 ka – the only time in the last 200,000 years that humid climate conditions encompassed southern and tropical Africa. This dispersal immediately preceded the out-of-Africa expansions, potentially providing the trigger for these expansions by transmitting significant cultural elements from the southern African refuge.
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28
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Loftus E, Lee-Thorp J, Leng M, Marean C, Sealy J. Seasonal scheduling of shellfish collection in the Middle and Later Stone Ages of southern Africa. J Hum Evol 2019; 128:1-16. [PMID: 30825979 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2018] [Revised: 12/06/2018] [Accepted: 12/14/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
This study assesses the seasonal scheduling of shellfish harvesting among hunter-gatherer populations along the southernmost coast of South Africa, based on a large number of serial oxygen isotope analyses of marine mollusk shells from four archaeological sites. The south coast of South Africa boasts an exceptional record of coastal hunter-gatherer occupation spanning the Holocene, the last glacial cycle and beyond. The significance of coastal adaptations, in this region in particular, for later modern human evolution has been prominently debated. Shellfishing behaviors are an important focus for investigation given the dietary and scheduling implications and the abundant archaeological shell remains in numerous sites. Key to better understanding coastal foraging is whether it was limited to one particular season, or year-round. Yet, this has proven very difficult to establish by conventional archaeological methods. This study reconstructs seasonal harvesting patterns by calculating water temperatures from the final growth increment of shells. Results from two Later Stone Age sites, Nelson Bay Cave (together with the nearby Hoffman's Robberg Cave) and Byneskranskop 1, show a pronounced cool season signal, which is unexpected given previous ethnographic documentation of summer as the optimal season for shellfishing activities and inferences about hunter-gatherer scheduling and mobility in the late Holocene. Results from two Middle Stone Age sites, Klasies River and Pinnacle Point 5-6, show distinct seasonal patterns that likely reflect the seasonal availability of resources in the two locations. The Pinnacle Point 5-6 assemblage, which spans the MIS5-4 transition, records a marked shift in shellfishing seasonality at c. 71 ka that aligns with other indications of archaeological and environmental change at this time. We conclude that the scheduling and intensity of shellfishing in this region is affected by a suite of factors, including environmental and cultural drivers, rather than a single variable, such as population growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Loftus
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 1-2 South Parks Road, OX1 3TG, UK; Merton College, University of Oxford, Merton Street, OX1 4JD, UK.
| | - Julia Lee-Thorp
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 1-2 South Parks Road, OX1 3TG, UK
| | - Melanie Leng
- NERC Isotope Geoscience Laboratory Facilities, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK; Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Curtis Marean
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, PO Box 874101, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4101, USA; African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa
| | - Judith Sealy
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
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Anderson PSL. Making a point: shared mechanics underlying the diversity of biological puncture. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018; 221:221/22/jeb187294. [PMID: 30446527 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.187294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
A viper injecting venom into a target, a mantis shrimp harpooning a fish, a cactus dispersing itself via spines attaching to passing mammals; all these are examples of biological puncture. Although disparate in terms of materials, kinematics and phylogeny, all three examples must adhere to the same set of fundamental physical laws that govern puncture mechanics. The diversity of biological puncture systems is a good case study for how physical laws can be used as a baseline for comparing disparate biological systems. In this Review, I explore the diversity of biological puncture and identify key variables that influence these systems. First, I explore recent work on biological puncture in a diversity of organisms, based on their hypothesized objectives: gripping, injection, damage and defence. Variation within each category is discussed, such as the differences between gripping for prey capture, gripping for dispersal of materials or gripping during reproduction. The second half of the Review is focused on specific physical parameters that influence puncture mechanics, such as material properties, stress, energy, speed and the medium within which puncture occurs. I focus on how these parameters have been examined in biology, and how they influence the evolution of biological systems. The ultimate objective of this Review is to outline an initial framework for examining the mechanics and evolution of puncture systems across biology. This framework will not only allow for broad biological comparisons, but also create a baseline for bioinspired design of both tools that puncture efficiently and materials that can resist puncture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip S L Anderson
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
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Douze K, Delagnes A, Wurz S, Henshilwood CS. The Howiesons Poort lithic sequence of Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0206238. [PMID: 30403722 PMCID: PMC6221302 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2018] [Accepted: 10/09/2018] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Howiesons Poort (HP) sites, over the past decades, have provided exceptional access to anthropogenic remains that are enhancing our understanding of early modern human behaviour during the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa. Here, we analyse the technological and typological trends in the lithic record that form part of these behaviours, based on the HP sequence recently excavated at Klipdrift Shelter, located on the southern Cape coast of South Africa. This study contributes to enhance knowledge on the mechanisms of changes that occurred during the transition to the post-HP. Despite patterns of continuity observed, notably for core reduction methods, the seven successive lithic assemblages show significant changes in the typological characteristics and raw material selection but also in the relative importance of blade production over time. However, these changes are not necessarily synchronic and occur either as gradual processes or as abrupt technological shifts. Consequently, we cross-examine the association between the lithic phasing and other anthropogenic remains within the HP sequence at Klipdrift Shelter. We explore the implications of these patterns of changes in terms of cultural behaviours and population dynamics during the HP and we highlight the relationship between the different phases of the HP sequence at Klipdrift Shelter and those from other South African HP sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katja Douze
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, Anthropology Unit, Archaeology and Population in Africa, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5199, De la Préhistoire à l’Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie, University of Bordeaux, Pessac, France
- * E-mail:
| | - Anne Delagnes
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5199, De la Préhistoire à l’Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie, University of Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | - Sarah Wurz
- School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion, Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Christopher Stuart Henshilwood
- Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion, Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Porraz G, Val A, Tribolo C, Mercier N, de la Peña P, Haaland MM, Igreja M, Miller CE, Schmid VC. The MIS5 Pietersburg at '28' Bushman Rock Shelter, Limpopo Province, South Africa. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0202853. [PMID: 30303992 PMCID: PMC6179383 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2018] [Accepted: 08/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
In the past few decades, a diverse array of research has emphasized the precocity of technically advanced and symbolic practices occurring during the southern African Middle Stone Age. However, uncertainties regarding the regional chrono-cultural framework constrain models and identification of the cultural and ecological mechanisms triggering the development of such early innovative behaviours. Here, we present new results and a refined chronology for the Pietersburg, a techno-complex initially defined in the late 1920's, which has disappeared from the literature since the 1980's. We base our revision of this techno-complex on ongoing excavations at Bushman Rock Shelter (BRS) in Limpopo Province, South Africa, where two Pietersburg phases (an upper phase called '21' and a lower phase called '28') are recognized. Our analysis focuses on the '28' phase, characterized by a knapping strategy based on Levallois and semi-prismatic laminar reduction systems and typified by the presence of end-scrapers. Luminescence chronology provides two sets of ages for the upper and lower Pietersburg of BRS, dated respectively to 73±6ka and 75±6ka on quartz and to 91±10ka and 97±10ka on feldspar, firmly positioning this industry within MIS5. Comparisons with other published lithic assemblages show technological differences between the Pietersburg from BRS and other southern African MIS5 traditions, especially those from the Western and Eastern Cape. We argue that, at least for part of MIS5, human populations in South Africa were regionally differentiated, a process that most likely impacted the way groups were territorially and socially organized. Nonetheless, comparisons between MIS5 assemblages also indicate some typological similarities, suggesting some degree of connection between human groups, which shared similar innovations but manipulated them in different ways. We pay particular attention to the end-scrapers from BRS, which represent thus far the earliest documented wide adoption of such tool-type and provide further evidence for the innovative processes characterizing southern Africa from the MIS5 onwards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Porraz
- CNRS, UMR 7041, ArScAn-AnTET, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Paris, France
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Aurore Val
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Chantal Tribolo
- CNRS, UMR 5060, IRAMAT-CRP2A, CNRS-Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Bordeaux, France
| | - Norbert Mercier
- CNRS, UMR 5060, IRAMAT-CRP2A, CNRS-Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Bordeaux, France
| | - Paloma de la Peña
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Magnus M. Haaland
- Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Centre for Early Sapience Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | | | - Christopher E. Miller
- Centre for Early Sapience Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Institute for Archaeological Sciences & Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Viola C. Schmid
- CNRS, UMR 7041, ArScAn-AnTET, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Paris, France
- Abteilung für Ältere Urgeschichte und Quartärökologie, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Esteban I, Marean CW, Fisher EC, Karkanas P, Cabanes D, Albert RM. Phytoliths as an indicator of early modern humans plant gathering strategies, fire fuel and site occupation intensity during the Middle Stone Age at Pinnacle Point 5-6 (south coast, South Africa). PLoS One 2018; 13:e0198558. [PMID: 29864147 PMCID: PMC5986156 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2018] [Accepted: 05/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The study of plant remains in archaeological sites, along with a better understanding of the use of plants by prehistoric populations, can help us shed light on changes in survival strategies of hunter-gatherers and consequent impacts on modern human cognition, social organization, and technology. The archaeological locality of Pinnacle Point (Mossel Bay, South Africa) includes a series of coastal caves, rock-shelters, and open-air sites with human occupations spanning the Acheulian through Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA). These sites have provided some of the earliest evidence for complex human behaviour and technology during the MSA. We used phytoliths-amorphous silica particles that are deposited in cells of plants-as a proxy for the reconstruction of past human plant foraging strategies on the south coast of South Africa during the Middle and Late Pleistocene, emphasizing the use and control of fire as well as other possible plant uses. We analysed sediment samples from the different occupation periods at the rock shelter Pinnacle Point 5-6 North (PP5-6N). We also present an overview of the taphonomic processes affecting phytolith preservation in this site that will be critical to conduct a more reliable interpretation of the original plant use in the rock shelter. Our study reports the first evidence of the intentional gathering and introduction into living areas of plants from the Restionaceae family by MSA hunter-gatherers inhabiting the south coast of South Africa. We suggest that humans inhabiting Pinnacle Point during short-term occupation events during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 built fast fires using mainly grasses with some wood from trees and/or shrubs for specific purposes, perhaps for shellfish cooking. With the onset of MIS 4 we observed a change in the plant gathering strategies towards the intentional and intensive exploitation of dry wood to improve, we hypothesise, combustion for heating silcrete. This human behaviour is associated with changes in stone tool technology, site occupation intensity and climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Esteban
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- ERAAUB. Dept. Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Curtis W. Marean
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, United States of America
| | - Erich C. Fisher
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, United States of America
| | - Panagiotis Karkanas
- The Malcolm H. Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Science, American School of Classical Studies, Athens, Greece
| | - Dan Cabanes
- Department of Anthropology, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Biological Sciences Building, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States of America
- Center for Human Evolutionary Studies. Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Biological Sciences Building, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States of America
| | - Rosa M. Albert
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- ERAAUB. Dept. Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- ICREA, Barcelona, Spain
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From Neandertals to modern humans: New data on the Uluzzian. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0196786. [PMID: 29742147 PMCID: PMC5942857 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2017] [Accepted: 04/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Having thrived in Eurasia for 350,000 years Neandertals disappeared from the record around 40,000-37,000 years ago, after modern humans entered Europe. It was a complex process of population interactions that included cultural exchanges and admixture between Neandertals and dispersing groups of modern humans. In Europe Neandertals are always associated with the Mousterian while the Aurignacian is associated with modern humans only. The onset of the Aurignacian is preceded by "transitional" industries which show some similarities with the Mousterian but also contain modern tool forms. Information on these industries is often incomplete or disputed and this is true of the Uluzzian. We present the results of taphonomic, typological and technological analyses of two Uluzzian sites, Grotta La Fabbrica (Tuscany) and the newly discovered site of Colle Rotondo (Latium). Comparisons with Castelcivita and Grotta del Cavallo show that the Uluzzian is a coherent cultural unit lasting about five millennia, replaced by the Protoaurignacian before the eruption of the Campanian Ignimbrite. The lack of skeletal remains at our two sites and the controversy surrounding the stratigraphic position of modern human teeth at Cavallo makes it difficult to reach agreement about authorship of the Uluzzian, for which alternative hypotheses have been proposed. Pending the discovery of DNA or further human remains, these hypotheses can only be evaluated by archaeological arguments, i.e. evidence of continuities and discontinuities between the Uluzzian and the preceding and succeeding culture units in Italy. However, in the context of "transitional" industries with disputed dates for the arrival of modern humans in Europe, and considering the case of the Châtelperronian, an Upper Paleolithic industry made by Neandertals, typo-technology used as an indicator of hominin authorship has limited predictive value. We corroborate previous suggestions that the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition occurred as steps of rapid changes and geographically uneven rates of spread.
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Smith EI, Jacobs Z, Johnsen R, Ren M, Fisher EC, Oestmo S, Wilkins J, Harris JA, Karkanas P, Fitch S, Ciravolo A, Keenan D, Cleghorn N, Lane CS, Matthews T, Marean CW. Humans thrived in South Africa through the Toba eruption about 74,000 years ago. Nature 2018. [DOI: 10.1038/nature25967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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35
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Two million years of flaking stone and the evolutionary efficiency of stone tool technology. Nat Ecol Evol 2018; 2:628-633. [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0488-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2017] [Accepted: 01/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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36
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O'Driscoll CA, Thompson JC. The origins and early elaboration of projectile technology. Evol Anthropol 2018; 27:30-45. [PMID: 29446556 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
The ability of Homo sapiens to kill prey at a distance is arguably one of the catalysts for our current ecological dominance. Many researchers have suggested its origins lie in the African Middle Stone Age or the European Middle Palaeolithic (∼300-30 thousand years ago), but the perishable components of armatures rarely preserve. Most research on this subject therefore emphasises analysis of armature tip size, shape, and diagnostic impacts or residues. Other lines of evidence have included human skeletal anatomy or analyses of the species composition of faunal assemblages. Projectile Impact Marks (PIMs) on archaeofaunal remains offer an ideal complement to this work, but their potential has been restricted mainly to the later Eurasian zooarchaeological record. A review of current evidence and approaches shows that systematic PIM research could add much to our understanding of early projectile technology, especially in Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corey A O'Driscoll
- School of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
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A New Pleistocene Hominin Tracksite from the Cape South Coast, South Africa. Sci Rep 2018; 8:3772. [PMID: 29491482 PMCID: PMC5830700 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-22059-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2017] [Accepted: 02/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
A Late Pleistocene hominin tracksite has been identified in coastal aeolianite rocks on the Cape south coast of South Africa, an area of great significance for the emergence of modern humans. The tracks are in the form of natural casts and occur on the ceiling and side walls of a ten-metre long cave. Preservation of tracks is of variable quality. Up to forty hominin tracks are evident. Up to thirty-five hominin tracks occur on a single bedding plane, with potential for the exposure of further tracks. Five tracks are apparent on a second hominin track-bearing bedding plane. A number of individuals made the tracks while moving down a dune surface. A geological investigation at the site and stratigraphic comparison to published geochronological studies from this area suggest that the tracks are ~90 ka in age. If this is the case, the shoreline at the time would have been approximately 2 km distant. This is the first reported hominin tracksite from this time period. It adds to the relatively sparse global record of early hominin tracks, and represents the largest and best preserved archive of Late Pleistocene hominin tracks found to date. The tracks were probably made by Homo sapiens.
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38
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Gärdenfors P, Lombard M. Causal Cognition, Force Dynamics and Early Hunting Technologies. Front Psychol 2018; 9:87. [PMID: 29483885 PMCID: PMC5816055 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2017] [Accepted: 01/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
With this contribution we analyze ancient hunting technologies as one way to explore the development of causal cognition in the hominin lineage. Building on earlier work, we separate seven grades of causal thinking. By looking at variations in force dynamics as a central element in causal cognition, we analyze the thinking required for different hunting technologies such as stabbing spears, throwing spears, launching atlatl darts, shooting arrows with a bow, and the use of poisoned arrows. Our interpretation demonstrates that there is an interplay between the extension of human body through technology and expanding our cognitive abilities to reason about causes. It adds content and dimension to the trend of including embodied cognition in evolutionary studies and in the interpretation of the archeological record. Our method could explain variation in technology sets between archaic and modern human groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Gärdenfors
- Cognitive Science, Department of Philosophy, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, Wallenberg Research Centre, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Marlize Lombard
- Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, Wallenberg Research Centre, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
- Centre for Anthropological Research, Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
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39
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Hoffecker JF, Hoffecker IT. Technological complexity and the global dispersal of modern humans. Evol Anthropol 2017; 26:285-299. [PMID: 29265666 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) dispersed out of Africa roughly 120,000 years ago and again after 75,000 years ago. The early dispersal was geographically restricted to the Arabian Peninsula, Levant, and possibly parts of southern Asia. The later dispersal was ultimately global in scope, including areas not previously occupied by Homo. One explanation for the contrast between the two out-of-Africa dispersals is that the modern humans who expanded into Eurasia 120,000 years ago lacked the functionally and structurally complex technology of recent hunter-gatherers. This technology, which includes, for example, mechanical projectiles, snares and traps, and sewn clothing, provides not only expanded dietary breadth and increased rates of foraging efficiency and success in places where plant and animal productivity is low, but protection from cold weather in places where winter temperatures are low. The absence of complex technology before 75,000 years ago also may explain why modern humans in the Levant did not develop sedentary settlements and agriculture 120,000 years ago (i.e., during the Last Interglacial).
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Affiliation(s)
- John F Hoffecker
- Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309-0450
| | - Ian T Hoffecker
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden
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40
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A parsimonious neutral model suggests Neanderthal replacement was determined by migration and random species drift. Nat Commun 2017; 8:1040. [PMID: 29089499 PMCID: PMC5717005 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01043-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2017] [Accepted: 08/15/2017] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Most hypotheses in the heated debate about the Neanderthals’ replacement by modern humans highlight the role of environmental pressures or attribute the Neanderthals’ demise to competition with modern humans, who occupied the same ecological niche. The latter assume that modern humans benefited from some selective advantage over Neanderthals, which led to the their extinction. Here we show that a scenario of migration and selectively neutral species drift predicts the Neanderthals’ replacement. Our model offers a parsimonious alternative to those that invoke external factors or selective advantage, and represents a null hypothesis for assessing such alternatives. For a wide range of parameters, this hypothesis cannot be rejected. Moreover, we suggest that although selection and environmental factors may or may not have played a role in the inter-species dynamics of Neanderthals and modern humans, the eventual replacement of the Neanderthals was determined by the repeated migration of modern humans from Africa into Eurasia. The replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans is thought to have been due to environmental factors, a selective advantage of modern humans, or both. Here, Kolodny and Feldman develop a neutral model of species drift showing that rapid Neanderthal replacement can be explained parsimoniously by simple migration dynamics.
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41
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Chase BM, Faith JT, Mackay A, Chevalier M, Carr AS, Boom A, Lim S, Reimer PJ. Climatic controls on Later Stone Age human adaptation in Africa's southern Cape. J Hum Evol 2017; 114:35-44. [PMID: 29447760 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2016] [Revised: 09/12/2017] [Accepted: 09/13/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Africa's southern Cape is a key region for the evolution of our species, with early symbolic systems, marine faunal exploitation, and episodic production of microlithic stone tools taken as evidence for the appearance of distinctively complex human behavior. However, the temporally discontinuous nature of this evidence precludes ready assumptions of intrinsic adaptive benefit, and has encouraged diverse explanations for the occurrence of these behaviors, in terms of regional demographic, social and ecological conditions. Here, we present a new high-resolution multi-proxy record of environmental change that indicates that faunal exploitation patterns and lithic technologies track climatic variation across the last 22,300 years in the southern Cape. Conditions during the Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation were humid, and zooarchaeological data indicate high foraging returns. By contrast, the Holocene is characterized by much drier conditions and a degraded resource base. Critically, we demonstrate that systems for technological delivery - or provisioning - were responsive to changing humidity and environmental productivity. However, in contrast to prevailing models, bladelet-rich microlithic technologies were deployed under conditions of high foraging returns and abandoned in response to increased aridity and less productive subsistence environments. This suggests that posited links between microlithic technologies and subsistence risk are not universal, and the behavioral sophistication of human populations is reflected in their adaptive flexibility rather than in the use of specific technological systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian M Chase
- Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5554, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier, Université Montpellier, Bat. 22, CC061, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
| | - J Tyler Faith
- Natural History Museum of Utah & Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA
| | - Alex Mackay
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Building 41, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Manuel Chevalier
- Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, Geopolis, University of Lausanne, Quartier UNIL-Mouline, Batiment Géopolis, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Andrew S Carr
- School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Arnoud Boom
- School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Sophak Lim
- Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5554, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier, Université Montpellier, Bat. 22, CC061, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
| | - Paula J Reimer
- School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, UK
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Wakano JY, Gilpin W, Kadowaki S, Feldman MW, Aoki K. Ecocultural range-expansion scenarios for the replacement or assimilation of Neanderthals by modern humans. Theor Popul Biol 2017; 119:3-14. [PMID: 29032037 DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2017.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2017] [Accepted: 09/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Recent archaeological records no longer support a simple dichotomous characterization of the cultures/behaviors of Neanderthals and modern humans, but indicate much cultural/behavioral variability over time and space. Thus, in modeling the replacement or assimilation of Neanderthals by modern humans, it is of interest to consider cultural dynamics and their relation to demographic change. The ecocultural framework for the competition between hominid species allows their carrying capacities to depend on some measure of the levels of culture they possess. In the present study both population densities and the densities of skilled individuals in Neanderthals and modern humans are spatially distributed and subject to change by spatial diffusion, ecological competition, and cultural transmission within each species. We analyze the resulting range expansions in terms of the demographic, ecological and cultural parameters that determine how the carrying capacities relate to the local densities of skilled individuals in each species. Of special interest is the case of cognitive and intrinsic-demographic equivalence of the two species. The range expansion dynamics may consist of multiple wave fronts of different speeds, each of which originates from a traveling wave solution. Properties of these traveling wave solutions are mathematically derived. Depending on the parameters, these traveling waves can result in replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans, or assimilation of the former by the latter. In both the replacement and assimilation scenarios, the first wave of intrusive modern humans is characterized by a low population density and a low density of skilled individuals, with implications for archaeological visibility. The first invasion is due to weak interspecific competition. A second wave of invasion may be induced by cultural differences between moderns and Neanderthals. Spatially and temporally extended coexistence of the two species, which would have facilitated the transfer of genes from Neanderthal into modern humans and vice versa, is observed in the traveling waves, except when niche overlap between the two species is extremely high. Archaeological findings on the spatial and temporal distributions of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic and the Early Upper Palaeolithic and of the coexistence of Neanderthals and modern humans are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joe Yuichiro Wakano
- School of Interdisciplinary Mathematical Sciences, Meiji University, Nakano 4-21-1, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-8525, Japan
| | - William Gilpin
- Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford CA 94305-5020, USA
| | - Seiji Kadowaki
- Nagoya University Museum, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
| | - Marcus W Feldman
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford CA 94305-5020, USA.
| | - Kenichi Aoki
- Organization for the Strategic Coordination of Research and Intellectual Properties, Meiji University, Nakano 4-21-1, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-8525, Japan
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Schmidt P, Nash DJ, Coulson S, Göden MB, Awcock GJ. Heat treatment as a universal technical solution for silcrete use? A comparison between silcrete from the Western Cape (South Africa) and the Kalahari (Botswana). PLoS One 2017; 12:e0181586. [PMID: 28723941 PMCID: PMC5517054 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2017] [Accepted: 07/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Heat treatment was one of the first transformative technologies in the southern African Middle Stone Age (MSA), with many studies in the Cape coastal zone of South Africa identifying it as an essential step in the preparation of silcrete prior to its use in stone tool manufacture. To date, however, no studies have investigated whether heat treatment is necessary for all silcrete types, and how geographically widespread heat treatment was in the subcontinent. The aim of this study is to investigate experimentally whether heat treatment continued further north into the Kalahari Desert of Botswana and northernmost South Africa, the closest area with major silcrete outcrops to the Cape. For this we analyse the thermal transformations of silcrete from both regions, proposing a comprehensive model of the chemical, crystallographic and ‘water’-related processes taking place upon heat treatment. For the first time, we also explore the mobility of minor and trace elements during heat treatment and introduce a previously undescribed mechanism—steam leaching—causing depletion of a limited number of elements. The results of this comparative study reveal the Cape and Kalahari silcrete to respond fundamentally differently to heat treatment. While the former can be significantly improved by heat, the latter is deteriorated in terms of knapping quality. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the role of fire as a technical solution in MSA stone tool knapping, and for the extension of its use in southern Africa. Silcrete heat treatment—at least in the form we understand it today—may have been a strictly regional phenomenon, confined to a narrow zone along the west and south coast of the Cape. On the basis of our findings, silcrete heat treatment should not be added as a new trait on the list of behaviours that characterise the MSA of the southern African subcontinent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Schmidt
- Department of Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Geosciences, Applied Mineralogy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - David J. Nash
- School of Environment and Technology, University of Brighton, Brighton, United Kingdom
- School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Sheila Coulson
- Department of Archaeology, Institute of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Matthias B. Göden
- Department of Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Graeme J. Awcock
- School of Environment and Technology, University of Brighton, Brighton, United Kingdom
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Rots V, Lentfer C, Schmid VC, Porraz G, Conard NJ. Pressure flaking to serrate bifacial points for the hunt during the MIS5 at Sibudu Cave (South Africa). PLoS One 2017; 12:e0175151. [PMID: 28445544 PMCID: PMC5405927 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2017] [Accepted: 03/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Projectile technology is considered to appear early in the southern African Middle Stone Age (MSA) and the rich and high resolution MSA sequence of Sibudu Cave in KwaZulu-Natal has provided many new insights about the use and hafting of various projectile forms. We present the results of a functional and technological analysis on a series of unpublished serrated bifacial points recently recovered from the basal deposits of Sibudu Cave. These serrated tools, which only find equivalents in the neighbouring site of Umhlatuzana, precede the Still Bay techno-complex and are older than 77 ka BP. Independent residue and use-wear analyses were performed in a phased procedure involving two separate analysts, which allowed the engagement between two separate lines of functional evidence. Thanks to the excellent preservation at Sibudu Cave, a wide range of animal, plant and mineral residues were observed in direct relation with diagnostic wear patterns. The combination of technological, wear and residue evidence allowed us to confirm that the serration was manufactured with bone compressors and that the serrated points were mounted with a composite adhesive as the tips of projectiles used in hunting activities. The suite of technological and functional data pushes back the evidence for the use of pressure flaking during the MSA and highlights the diversity of the technical innovations adopted by southern African MSA populations. We suggest the serrated points from the stratigraphic units Adam to Darya of Sibudu illustrate one important technological adaptation of the southern African MSA and provide another example of the variability of MSA bifacial technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veerle Rots
- Chercheur Qualifié du FNRS, TraceoLab / Prehistory, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
- * E-mail:
| | - Carol Lentfer
- TraceoLab / Prehistory, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Viola C. Schmid
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- UMR 7041, Equipe AnTET, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Nanterre Cedex, France
| | - Guillaume Porraz
- CNRS, UMR 7041, Equipe AnTET, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Nanterre, France
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Nicholas J. Conard
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg, Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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45
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Wilkins J, Brown KS, Oestmo S, Pereira T, Ranhorn KL, Schoville BJ, Marean CW. Lithic technological responses to Late Pleistocene glacial cycling at Pinnacle Point Site 5-6, South Africa. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0174051. [PMID: 28355257 PMCID: PMC5371328 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2016] [Accepted: 03/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
There are multiple hypotheses for human responses to glacial cycling in the Late Pleistocene, including changes in population size, interconnectedness, and mobility. Lithic technological analysis informs us of human responses to environmental change because lithic assemblage characteristics are a reflection of raw material transport, reduction, and discard behaviors that depend on hunter-gatherer social and economic decisions. Pinnacle Point Site 5-6 (PP5-6), Western Cape, South Africa is an ideal locality for examining the influence of glacial cycling on early modern human behaviors because it preserves a long sequence spanning marine isotope stages (MIS) 5, 4, and 3 and is associated with robust records of paleoenvironmental change. The analysis presented here addresses the question, what, if any, lithic assemblage traits at PP5-6 represent changing behavioral responses to the MIS 5-4-3 interglacial-glacial cycle? It statistically evaluates changes in 93 traits with no a priori assumptions about which traits may significantly associate with MIS. In contrast to other studies that claim that there is little relationship between broad-scale patterns of climate change and lithic technology, we identified the following characteristics that are associated with MIS 4: increased use of quartz, increased evidence for outcrop sources of quartzite and silcrete, increased evidence for earlier stages of reduction in silcrete, evidence for increased flaking efficiency in all raw material types, and changes in tool types and function for silcrete. Based on these results, we suggest that foragers responded to MIS 4 glacial environmental conditions at PP5-6 with increased population or group sizes, 'place provisioning', longer and/or more intense site occupations, and decreased residential mobility. Several other traits, including silcrete frequency, do not exhibit an association with MIS. Backed pieces, once they appear in the PP5-6 record during MIS 4, persist through MIS 3. Changing paleoenvironments explain some, but not all temporal technological variability at PP5-6.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Wilkins
- Human Evolution Research Institute, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Private Bag, South Africa.,Centre for Coastal Paleoscience, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa
| | - Kyle S Brown
- Human Evolution Research Institute, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Private Bag, South Africa
| | - Simen Oestmo
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States of America
| | - Telmo Pereira
- Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behavior, Faculdade das Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Universidade do Algarve, Campus Gambelas, Faro, Portugal
| | - Kathryn L Ranhorn
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Benjamin J Schoville
- Human Evolution Research Institute, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Private Bag, South Africa.,Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States of America
| | - Curtis W Marean
- Centre for Coastal Paleoscience, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa.,Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States of America
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Jacobs Z, Roberts RG. Single-grain OSL chronologies for the Still Bay and Howieson's Poort industries and the transition between them: Further analyses and statistical modelling. J Hum Evol 2017; 107:1-13. [PMID: 28526285 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2016] [Revised: 02/15/2017] [Accepted: 02/16/2017] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The chronology of the Still Bay (SB) and Howieson's Poort (HP) lithic industries remains an issue of keen interest because of the central role of these two phases of technological and behavioural innovation within the Middle Stone Age of southern Africa. Several dating studies have been conducted on SB and HP sites, including a pair published by the present authors and our colleagues in 2008 and 2013. These reported the results of systematically applying single-grain optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating procedures to 10 sites in South Africa, Lesotho and Namibia to constrain the timing of the start and end of the SB and HP and reveal the existence of a gap of several millennia between them. Alternative ages for these two industries have since been proposed by others for one of these South African sites (Diepkloof Rockshelter) and some concerns have been raised about the procedures used in our earlier studies to estimate the beta dose rates for a small number of samples. Here, we provide an update on our chronology for the SB and HP and address the issues raised about the methods that we used previously to estimate the beta dose rates and their associated uncertainties. To test the sensitivity of our new SB and HP ages to different underlying assumptions, we have run the same statistical model as that used in our 2008 and 2013 studies under three different scenarios. We show that the ages for the different samples are insensitive to how we analytically process or statistically model our data, and that our earlier conclusions about timing of the start and end of the SB and the HP and the probability of a gap between them remain true for two of the three scenarios. We conclude by bringing our study into the context of additional chronometric, stratigraphic and lithic technology studies that have been conducted in the intervening decade.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zenobia Jacobs
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
| | - Richard G Roberts
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
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Uren C, Möller M, van Helden PD, Henn BM, Hoal EG. Population structure and infectious disease risk in southern Africa. Mol Genet Genomics 2017; 292:499-509. [PMID: 28229227 DOI: 10.1007/s00438-017-1296-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2016] [Accepted: 02/01/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The KhoeSan populations are the earliest known indigenous inhabitants of southern Africa. The relatively recent expansion of Bantu-speaking agropastoralists, as well as European colonial settlement along the south-west coast, dramatically changed patterns of genetic diversity in a region which had been largely isolated for thousands of years. Owing to this unique history, population structure in southern Africa reflects both the underlying KhoeSan genetic diversity as well as differential recent admixture. This population structure has a wide range of biomedical and sociocultural implications; such as changes in disease risk profiles. Here, we consolidate information from various population genetic studies that characterize admixture patterns in southern Africa with an aim to better understand differences in adverse disease phenotypes observed among groups. Our review confirms that ancestry has a direct impact on an individual's immune response to infectious diseases. In addition, we emphasize the importance of collaborative research, especially for populations in southern Africa that have a high incidence of potentially fatal infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin Uren
- SA MRC Centre for TB Research, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, Parow, 7500, South Africa
| | - Marlo Möller
- SA MRC Centre for TB Research, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, Parow, 7500, South Africa
| | - Paul D van Helden
- SA MRC Centre for TB Research, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, Parow, 7500, South Africa
| | - Brenna M Henn
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | - Eileen G Hoal
- SA MRC Centre for TB Research, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, Parow, 7500, South Africa.
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48
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Grund BS. Behavioral Ecology, Technology, and the Organization of Labor: How a Shift from Spear Thrower to Self Bow Exacerbates Social Disparities. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/aman.12820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Brigid Sky Grund
- Department of Anthropology University of Wyoming Laramie WY 82072
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49
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Muller A, Clarkson C. Identifying Major Transitions in the Evolution of Lithic Cutting Edge Production Rates. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0167244. [PMID: 27936135 PMCID: PMC5147885 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2016] [Accepted: 11/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The notion that the evolution of core reduction strategies involved increasing efficiency in cutting edge production is prevalent in narratives of hominin technological evolution. Yet a number of studies comparing two different knapping technologies have found no significant differences in edge production. Using digital analysis methods we present an investigation of raw material efficiency in eight core technologies broadly representative of the long-term evolution of lithic technology. These are bipolar, multiplatform, discoidal, biface, Levallois, prismatic blade, punch blade and pressure blade production. Raw material efficiency is assessed by the ratio of cutting edge length to original core mass. We also examine which flake attributes contribute to maximising raw material efficiency, as well as compare the difference between expert and intermediate knappers in terms of cutting edge produced per gram of core. We identify a gradual increase in raw material efficiency over the broad sweep of lithic technological evolution. The results indicate that the most significant transition in efficiency likely took place with the introduction of small foliate biface, Levallois and prismatic blade knapping, all introduced in the Middle Stone Age / Middle Palaeolithic among early Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. This suggests that no difference in raw material efficiency existed between these species. With prismatic blade technology securely dated to the Middle Palaeolithic, by including the more recent punch and pressure blade technology our results dispel the notion that the transition to the Upper Palaeolithic was accompanied by an increase in efficiency. However, further increases in cutting edge efficiency are evident, with pressure blades possessing the highest efficiency in this study, indicating that late/epi-Palaeolithic and Neolithic blade technologies further increased efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Muller
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
- * E-mail:
| | - Chris Clarkson
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
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50
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Armstrong A. Small mammal utilization by Middle Stone Age humans at Die Kelders Cave 1 and Pinnacle Point Site 5-6, Western Cape Province, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2016; 101:17-44. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2016] [Revised: 09/17/2016] [Accepted: 09/22/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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