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Caruana MV, Wilson CG, Arnold LJ, Blackwood AF, Demuro M, Herries AIR. A marine isotope stage 13 Acheulian sequence from the Amanzi Springs Area 2 Deep Sounding excavation, Eastern Cape, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2023; 176:103324. [PMID: 36812778 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
Renewed research at Amanzi Springs has increased resolution on the timing and technology of the Acheulian industry in South Africa. The archeology from the Area 1 spring eye has recently been dated to MIS 11 (∼404-390 ka), and analyses revealed significant technological variability when compared to other southern African Acheulian assemblages. We expand on these results in presenting new luminescence dating and technological analyses of Acheulian stone tools from three artifact-bearing surfaces exposed within the White Sands unit of the Deep Sounding excavation in the Area 2 spring eye. The two lowest surfaces (Surfaces 3 and 2) are sealed within the White Sands and dated between ∼534 to 496 ka and ∼496 to 481 ka (MIS 13), respectively. Surface 1 represents materials deflated onto an erosional surface that cut the upper part of the White Sands (∼481 ka; late MIS 13), which occurred before the deposition of younger Cutting 5 sediments (<408-<290 ka; MIS 11-8). Archaeological comparisons reveal that the older Surface 3 and 2 assemblages are predominated by unifacial and bifacial core reduction and relatively thick, cobble-reduced large cutting tools. In contrast, the younger Surface 1 assemblage is characterized by discoidal core reduction and thinner large cutting tools, mostly made from flake blanks. Typological similarities between the older Area 2 White Sands and younger Area 1 (404-390 ka; MIS 11) assemblages further suggest long-term continuity in site function. We hypothesize Amanzi Springs represent a workshop locality that Acheulian hominins repeatedly visited to access unique floral, faunal, and raw material resources from at least ∼534 to 390 ka.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew V Caruana
- The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa.
| | - Coen G Wilson
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, 3086, VIC, Australia
| | - Lee J Arnold
- Environment Institute, and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia
| | - Alexander F Blackwood
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, 3086, VIC, Australia; Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI), University of Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Martina Demuro
- Environment Institute, and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia
| | - Andy I R Herries
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, 3086, VIC, Australia; The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa
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Herries AIR, Arnold LJ, Boschian G, Blackwood AF, Wilson C, Mallett T, Armstrong B, Demuro M, Petchey F, Meredith-Williams M, Penzo-Kajewski P, Caruana MV. A marine isotope stage 11 coastal Acheulian workshop with associated wood at Amanzi Springs Area 1, South Africa. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0273714. [PMID: 36264956 PMCID: PMC9584507 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Amanzi Springs is a series of inactive thermal springs located near Kariega in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Excavations in the 1960s exposed rare, stratified Acheulian-bearing deposits that were not further investigated over the next 50 years. Reanalysis of the site and its legacy collection has led to a redefined stratigraphic context for the archaeology, a confirmed direct association between Acheulian artefacts and wood, as well as the first reliable age estimates for the site. Thermally transferred optically stimulated luminescence and post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence dating indicates that the Acheulian deposits from the Amanzi Springs Area 1 spring eye formed during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 at ~ 404–390 ka. At this time, higher sea levels of ~13-14m would have placed Amanzi Springs around 7 km from a ria that would have formed along what is today the Swartkops River, and which likely led to spring reactivation. This makes the Amanzi Springs Area 1 assemblage an unusual occurrence of a verified late occurring, seaward, open-air Acheulian occupation. The Acheulian levels do not contain any Middle Stone Age (MSA) elements such as blades and points that have been documented in the interior of South Africa at this time. However, a small number of stone tools from the upper layers of the artefact zone, and originally thought of as intrusive, have been dated to ~190 ka, at the transition between MIS 7 to 6, and represent the first potential MSA identified at the site.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andy I. R. Herries
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
- The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa
- * E-mail:
| | - Lee J. Arnold
- Environment Institute and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Giovanni Boschian
- The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Pisa. 1, Pisa, Italy
| | - Alexander F. Blackwood
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
| | - Coen Wilson
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Tom Mallett
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Brian Armstrong
- The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa
| | - Martina Demuro
- Environment Institute and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Fiona Petchey
- Environmental Research Institute, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Matthew Meredith-Williams
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Paul Penzo-Kajewski
- Palaeoscience, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Matthew V. Caruana
- The Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa
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Kot M, Berto C, Krajcarz MT, Moskal-Del Hoyo M, Gryczewska N, Szymanek M, Marciszak A, Stefaniak K, Zarzecka-Szubińska K, Lipecki G, Wertz K, Madeyska T. Frontiers of the Lower Palaeolithic expansion in Europe: Tunel Wielki Cave (Poland). Sci Rep 2022; 12:16355. [PMID: 36175468 PMCID: PMC9523034 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-20582-0] [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: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Peopling of Central Europe by Middle Pleistocene hominids is highly debatable, mainly due to the relatively harsh climatic and environmental conditions that require cultural and anatomical adjustments. At least several archaeological sites certify human occupation in the region dated back to MIS 13-11, but they represent open-air settlements. Based on the new fieldwork conducted in Tunel Wielki Cave, we can date the human occupation traces in the cave to MIS 14-12. Bipolar-on-anvil knapping technique prevails in the lithic assemblage, made exclusively in flint. The obtained results have given ground for studying the frontiers of human oikumene and the required cultural adaptive abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Małgorzata Kot
- Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, 00-927, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Claudio Berto
- Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, 00-927, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Maciej T Krajcarz
- Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Natalia Gryczewska
- Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, 00-927, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Marcin Szymanek
- Faculty of Geology, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 93, 02-089, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Adrian Marciszak
- Department of Palaeozoology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Wrocław, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Krzysztof Stefaniak
- Department of Palaeozoology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Wrocław, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Zarzecka-Szubińska
- Department of Palaeozoology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Wrocław, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Grzegorz Lipecki
- Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sławkowska 17, 31-016, Kraków, Poland
| | - Krzysztof Wertz
- Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sławkowska 17, 31-016, Kraków, Poland
| | - Teresa Madeyska
- Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818, Warsaw, Poland
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First high resolution chronostratigraphy for the early North African Acheulean at Casablanca (Morocco). Sci Rep 2021; 11:15340. [PMID: 34321552 PMCID: PMC8319413 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-94695-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The onset of the Acheulean, marked by the emergence of large cutting tools (LCTs), is considered a major technological advance in the Early Stone Age and a key turning point in human evolution. The Acheulean originated in East Africa at ~ 1.8–1.6 Ma and is reported in South Africa between ~ 1.6 and > 1.0 Ma. The timing of its appearance and development in North Africa have been poorly known due to the near-absence of well-dated sites in reliable contexts. The ~ 1 Ma stone artefacts of Tighennif (Algeria) and Thomas Quarry I-Unit L (ThI-L) at Casablanca (Morocco) are thus far regarded as documenting the oldest Acheulean in North Africa but whatever the precision of their stratigraphical position, both deserve a better chronology. Here we provide a chronology for ThI-L, based on new magnetostratigraphic and geochemical data. Added to the existing lithostratigraphy of the Casablanca sequence, these results provide the first robust chronostratigraphic framework for the early North African Acheulean and firmly establish its emergence in this part of the continent back at least to ~ 1.3 Ma.
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