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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 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, Tübingen 72070, Germany
- Applied Mineralogy, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72074, Germany
| | - Ioannis Pappas
- Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72070, Germany
| | - Guillaume Porraz
- Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Ministère de la Culture, UMR 7269 Lampea, Aix-en-Provence F-13094, France
- Faculty of Humanities, Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2017, South Africa
| | - Christoph Berthold
- Applied Mineralogy, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72074, Germany
- Department of Geosciences, Competence Center Archaeometry-Baden Wuerttemberg, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72074, Germany
| | - Klaus G Nickel
- Applied Mineralogy, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72074, Germany
- Department of Geosciences, Competence Center Archaeometry-Baden Wuerttemberg, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72074, Germany
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2
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Pain R. Gadgets Meet Artefacts: Aligning Heyes's Cultural Evolutionary Account With the Archaeological Record. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2024; 19:44-45. [PMID: 37530651 PMCID: PMC10790502 DOI: 10.1177/17456916231187405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ross Pain
- Department of Philosophy, University of Bristol
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3
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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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4
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Val A, Collins B. From Veld to Coast: Towards an Understanding of the Diverse Landscapes' Uses by Past Foragers in Southern Africa. JOURNAL OF PALEOLITHIC ARCHAEOLOGY 2022; 5:16. [PMID: 36406469 PMCID: PMC9660208 DOI: 10.1007/s41982-022-00124-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
In this brief contribution, we outline the aims of a collection entitled "From veld to coast: towards an understanding of the diverse landscapes' uses by past foragers in southern Africa," and we define its chronological, geographic and thematic framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aurore Val
- Abteilung Für Ältere Urgeschichte Und Quartärökologie, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behavior (ICArEHB), Universidade Do Algarve, Faro, Portugal
| | - Benjamin Collins
- Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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5
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Archaeological adhesives made from Podocarpus document innovative potential in the African Middle Stone Age. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2209592119. [PMID: 36161935 PMCID: PMC9546601 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2209592119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Studying the earliest archaeological adhesives has implications for our understanding of human cognition. In southern Africa, the oldest adhesives were made by Homo sapiens in the Middle Stone Age. Chemical studies have shown that these adhesives were made from a local conifer of the Podocarpaceae family. However, Podocarpus does not exude resin, nor any other substance that could have been recognized as having adhesive properties. Therefore, it remains unknown how these adhesives were made. This study investigates how Podocarpus adhesives can be made, comparing their mechanical properties with other naturally available adhesives. We found that Podocarpus tar can only be made by dry distillation of leaves, requiring innovative potential, skill, and knowledge. This contrasts with our finding that the Middle Stone Age environment was rich in substances that can be used as adhesives without such transformation. The apparent preference for Podocarpus tar may be explained by its mechanical properties. We found it to be superior to all other substances in terms of its adhesive properties. In addition, the condensation method that allows producing it can be recognized accidentally, as the processes take place above ground and can be triggered accidentally. Our findings have implications for establishing a link between technology and cognition in the Middle Stone Age.
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6
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Pedagogical Ecology for an Alternative Sustainability: With Insights from Francis of Assisi and Contemporary Life Sciences. SUSTAINABILITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/su14031395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Sustainability is a widely discussed issue nowadays. The “human factor” appears to be the key to a suitable theory of sustainable development and, even more, to understanding the real scope of the issue at stake. We begin by highlighting that the issue of sustainability and the related ecological crisis ultimately stem from the fundamental view of the human–environment relationships. We tackle such a fundamental view from two apparently distant but converging perspectives: the one of Francis of Assisi (the patron saint of ecologists) and the one of contemporary advancements in evolutionary biology known as the “extended evolutionary theory” (EES). This will allow us to highlight how current life sciences ground a strong form of organism–environment complementarity—a core point for any allegedly comprehensive approach to sustainability and ecology. After that, we focus on recent developments in cultural evolution studies that see culture both as the driving force of (recent) human evolution and as the general context where the human–environment relationships take place and develop. Therefore, we argue that the environment exerts a powerful pedagogical influence on the human being and on humanity as a whole. We conclude by proposing a pedagogical criterion for ecology and sustainable development, according to which the modifications caused by the human being to the environment must be assessed (also) for their pedagogical import.
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7
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Bacon AM, Bourgon N, Welker F, Cappellini E, Fiorillo D, Tombret O, Thi Mai Huong N, Anh Tuan N, Sayavonkhamdy T, Souksavatdy V, Sichanthongtip P, Antoine PO, Duringer P, Ponche JL, Westaway K, Joannes-Boyau R, Boesch Q, Suzzoni E, Frangeul S, Patole-Edoumba E, Zachwieja A, Shackelford L, Demeter F, Hublin JJ, Dufour É. A multi-proxy approach to exploring Homo sapiens' arrival, environments and adaptations in Southeast Asia. Sci Rep 2021; 11:21080. [PMID: 34702921 PMCID: PMC8548499 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-99931-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The capability of Pleistocene hominins to successfully adapt to different types of tropical forested environments has long been debated. In order to investigate environmental changes in Southeast Asia during a critical period for the turnover of hominin species, we analysed palaeoenvironmental proxies from five late Middle to Late Pleistocene faunas. Human teeth discoveries have been reported at Duoi U'Oi, Vietnam (70-60 ka) and Nam Lot, Laos (86-72 ka). However, the use of palaeoproteomics allowed us to discard the latter, and, to date, no human remains older than ~ 70 ka are documented in the area. Our findings indicate that tropical rainforests were highly sensitive to climatic changes over that period, with significant fluctuations of the canopy forests. Locally, large-bodied faunas were resilient to these fluctuations until the cooling period of the Marine Isotope Stage 4 (MIS 4; 74-59 ka) that transformed the overall biotope. Then, under strong selective pressures, populations with new phenotypic characteristics emerged while some other species disappeared. We argue that this climate-driven shift offered new foraging opportunities for hominins in a novel rainforest environment and was most likely a key factor in the settlement and dispersal of our species during MIS 4 in SE Asia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne-Marie Bacon
- grid.508487.60000 0004 7885 7602UMR 8045 BABEL, CNRS, Université de Paris, Faculté de Chirurgie dentaire, 1 rue Maurice Arnoux, 92120 Montrouge, France
| | - Nicolas Bourgon
- grid.419518.00000 0001 2159 1813Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany ,grid.5802.f0000 0001 1941 7111Applied and Analytical Palaeontology, Institute of Geosciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Frido Welker
- grid.5254.60000 0001 0674 042XSection for Evolutionary Genomics, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Enrico Cappellini
- grid.5254.60000 0001 0674 042XSection for Evolutionary Genomics, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Denis Fiorillo
- UMR 7209 Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques, Environnements, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Olivier Tombret
- UMR 7209 Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques, Environnements, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Nguyen Thi Mai Huong
- Anthropological and Palaeoenvironmental Department, Institute of Archaeology, Hoan Kiem District, Ha Noi, Vietnam
| | - Nguyen Anh Tuan
- Anthropological and Palaeoenvironmental Department, Institute of Archaeology, Hoan Kiem District, Ha Noi, Vietnam
| | - Thongsa Sayavonkhamdy
- Department of Heritage, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Vientiane, Laos
| | - Viengkeo Souksavatdy
- Department of Heritage, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Vientiane, Laos
| | | | - Pierre-Olivier Antoine
- grid.121334.60000 0001 2097 0141Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Montpellier, France
| | - Philippe Duringer
- grid.11843.3f0000 0001 2157 9291Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre (EOST Géologie), Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg (IPGS) (CNRS/UMR 7516), Institut de Géologie, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Jean-Luc Ponche
- grid.463965.b0000 0004 0452 6077UMR 7362 Laboratoire Image Ville et Environnement, Institut de Géologie, Strasbourg, France
| | - Kira Westaway
- grid.1004.50000 0001 2158 5405Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Traps’ MQ Luminescence Dating Facility, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Renaud Joannes-Boyau
- grid.1031.30000000121532610Geoarchaeology & Archaeometry Research Group, Southern Cross University, Lismore, Australia ,grid.458456.e0000 0000 9404 3263Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Quentin Boesch
- grid.11843.3f0000 0001 2157 9291Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre (EOST Géologie), Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg (IPGS) (CNRS/UMR 7516), Institut de Géologie, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Eric Suzzoni
- Spitteurs Pan, Technical Cave Supervision and Exploration, La Chapelle-en-Vercors, France
| | - Sébastien Frangeul
- Spitteurs Pan, Technical Cave Supervision and Exploration, La Chapelle-en-Vercors, France
| | - Elise Patole-Edoumba
- grid.410350.30000 0001 2174 9334Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, La Rochelle, France
| | - Alexandra Zachwieja
- grid.17635.360000000419368657Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth, MN USA
| | - Laura Shackelford
- grid.35403.310000 0004 1936 9991Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL USA
| | - Fabrice Demeter
- grid.452548.a0000 0000 9817 5300Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, GLOBE Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark ,UMR 7206 Eco-Anthropologie, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- grid.419518.00000 0001 2159 1813Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany ,grid.410533.00000 0001 2179 2236Collège de France, Chaire de Paléoanthropologie, Paris, France
| | - Élise Dufour
- UMR 7209 Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques, Environnements, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Paris, France
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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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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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11
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Kissel M, Fuentes A. The ripples of modernity: How we can extend paleoanthropology with the extended evolutionary synthesis. Evol Anthropol 2021; 30:84-98. [PMID: 33547734 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21883] [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: 11/09/2019] [Revised: 09/05/2020] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Contemporary understandings of paleoanthropological data illustrate that the search for a line defining, or a specific point designating, "modern human" is problematic. Here we lend support to the argument for the need to look for patterns in the paleoanthropological record that indicate how multiple evolutionary processes intersected to form the human niche, a concept critical to assessing the development and processes involved in the emergence of a contemporary human phenotype. We suggest that incorporating key elements of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) into our endeavors offers a better and more integrative toolkit for modeling and assessing the evolution of the genus Homo. To illustrate our points, we highlight how aspects of the genetic exchanges, morphology, and material culture of the later Pleistocene complicate the concept of "modern" human behavior and suggest that multiple evolutionary patterns, processes, and pathways intersected to form the human niche.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc Kissel
- Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, USA
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12
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Breyl M. Triangulating Neanderthal cognition: A tale of not seeing the forest for the trees. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2020; 12:e1545. [PMID: 32918796 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Revised: 08/09/2020] [Accepted: 08/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
The inference of Neanderthal cognition, including their cultural and linguistic capabilities, has persisted as a fiercely debated research topic for decades. This lack of consensus is substantially based on inherent uncertainties in reconstructing prehistory out of indirect evidence as well as other methodological limitations. Further factors include systemic difficulties within interdisciplinary discourse, data artifacts, historic research biases, and the sheer scope of the relevant research. Given the degrees of freedom in interpretation ensuing from these complications, any attempt to find approximate answers to the yet unsettled pertinent discourse may not rest on single studies, but instead a careful and comprehensive interdisciplinary synthesis of findings. Triangulating Neanderthals' cognition by considering the plethora of data, diverse perspectives and aforementioned complexities present within the literature constitutes the currently most reliable pathway to tentative conclusions. While some uncertainties remain, such an approach paints the picture of an extensive shared humanity between anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals. This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Evolutionary Roots of Cognition Linguistics > Evolution of Language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Breyl
- Germanistik, Komparatistik, Nordistik, Deutsch als Fremdsprache, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany
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13
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Timbrell L. How to read stone tools: A new mode system for describing variation in the Eastern African lithic record? Evol Anthropol 2020. [PMCID: PMC7756466 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lucy Timbrell
- Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology University of Liverpool Liverpool UK
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14
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Grove M, Blinkhorn J. Neural networks differentiate between Middle and Later Stone Age lithic assemblages in eastern Africa. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0237528. [PMID: 32845899 PMCID: PMC7449415 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2020] [Accepted: 07/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The Middle to Later Stone Age transition marks a major change in how Late Pleistocene African populations produced and used stone tool kits, but is manifest in various ways, places and times across the continent. Alongside changing patterns of raw material use and decreasing artefact sizes, changes in artefact types are commonly employed to differentiate Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA) assemblages. The current paper employs a quantitative analytical framework based upon the use of neural networks to examine changing constellations of technologies between MSA and LSA assemblages from eastern Africa. Network ensembles were trained to differentiate LSA assemblages from Marine Isotope Stage 3&4 MSA and Marine Isotope Stage 5 MSA assemblages based upon the presence or absence of 16 technologies. Simulations were used to extract significant indicator and contra-indicator technologies for each assemblage class. The trained network ensembles classified over 94% of assemblages correctly, and identified 7 key technologies that significantly distinguish between assemblage classes. These results clarify both temporal changes within the MSA and differences between MSA and LSA assemblages in eastern Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matt Grove
- Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - James Blinkhorn
- Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, United Kingdom
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15
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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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16
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Langley MC, Amano N, Wedage O, Deraniyagala S, Pathmalal M, Perera N, Boivin N, Petraglia MD, Roberts P. Bows and arrows and complex symbolic displays 48,000 years ago in the South Asian tropics. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:eaba3831. [PMID: 32582854 PMCID: PMC7292635 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba3831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2019] [Accepted: 04/21/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Archaeologists contend that it was our aptitude for symbolic, technological, and social behaviors that was central to Homo sapiens rapidly expanding across the majority of Earth's continents during the Late Pleistocene. This expansion included movement into extreme environments and appears to have resulted in the displacement of numerous archaic human populations across the Old World. Tropical rainforests are thought to have been particularly challenging and, until recently, impenetrable by early H. sapiens. Here, we describe evidence for bow-and-arrow hunting toolkits alongside a complex symbolic repertoire from 48,000 years before present at the Sri Lankan site of Fa-Hien Lena-the earliest bow-and-arrow technology outside of Africa. As one of the oldest H. sapiens rainforest sites outside of Africa, this exceptional assemblage provides the first detailed insights into how our species met the extreme adaptive challenges that were encountered in Asia during global expansion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle C. Langley
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Noel Amano
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - 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
| | | | - M.M Pathmalal
- Department of Zoology, Centre for Water Quality and Algae Research, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka
| | - Nimal Perera
- Department of Archaeology, Government of Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka
| | - Nicole Boivin
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Sciences, 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, DC, USA
| | - Michael D. Petraglia
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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17
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Abstract
The ability to produce recognizable depictions of objects from the natural world-known as figurative art-is unique to Homo sapiens and may be one of the cognitive traits that separates our species from extinct hominin relatives. Surviving examples of Pleistocene figurative art are generally confined to rock art or portable three-dimensional works (such as figurines) and images engraved into the surfaces of small mobile objects. These portable communicative technologies first appear in Europe some 40 thousand years ago (ka) with the arrival of H. sapiens. Conversely, despite H. sapiens having moved into Southeast Asia-Australasia by at least 65 ka, very little evidence for Pleistocene-aged portable art has been identified, leading to uncertainties regarding the cultural behaviour of the earliest H. sapiens in this region. Here, we report the discovery of two small stone 'plaquettes' incised with figurative imagery dating to 26-14 ka from Leang Bulu Bettue, Sulawesi. These new findings, together with the recent discovery of rock art dating to at least 40 ka in this same region, overturns the long-held belief that the first H. sapiens of Southeast Asia-Australasia did not create sophisticated art and further cements the importance of this behaviour for our species' ability to overcome environmental and social challenges.
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18
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d'Errico F, Pitarch Martí A, Shipton C, Le Vraux E, Ndiema E, Goldstein S, Petraglia MD, Boivin N. Trajectories of cultural innovation from the Middle to Later Stone Age in Eastern Africa: Personal ornaments, bone artifacts, and ocher from Panga ya Saidi, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2020; 141:102737. [PMID: 32163764 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2019] [Revised: 12/10/2019] [Accepted: 12/10/2019] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
African Middle Stone Age (MSA) populations used pigments, manufactured and wore personal ornaments, made abstract engravings, and produced fully shaped bone tools. However, ongoing research across Africa reveals variability in the emergence of cultural innovations in the MSA and their subsequent development through the Later Stone Age (LSA). When present, it appears that cultural innovations manifest regional variability, suggestive of distinct cultural traditions. In eastern Africa, several Late Pleistocene sites have produced evidence for novel activities, but the chronologies of key behavioral innovations remain unclear. The 3 m deep, well-dated, Panga ya Saidi sequence in eastern Kenya, encompassing 19 layers covering a time span of 78 kyr beginning in late Marine Isotope Stage 5, is the only known African site recording the interplay between cultural and ecological diversity in a coastal forested environment. Excavations have yielded worked and incised bones, ostrich eggshell beads (OES), beads made from seashells, worked and engraved ocher pieces, fragments of coral, and a belemnite fossil. Here, we provide, for the first time, a detailed analysis of this material. This includes a taphonomic, archeozoological, technological, and functional study of bone artifacts; a technological and morphometric analysis of personal ornaments; and a technological and geochemical analysis of ocher pieces. The interpretation of the results stemming from the analysis of OES beads is guided by an ethnoarcheological perspective and field observations. We demonstrate that key cultural innovations on the eastern African coast are evident by 67 ka and exhibit remarkable diversity through the LSA and Iron Age. We suggest the cultural trajectories evident at Panga ya Saidi were shaped by both regional traditions and cultural/demic diffusion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco d'Errico
- UMR 5199 CNRS De La Préhistoire à L'Actuel: Culture, Environnement, et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université Bordeaux, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, CS 50023 F - 33615 Pessac CEDEX, Talence, France; Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour, Øysteinsgate 3, Postboks 7805, 5020 University of Bergen, Norway.
| | - Africa Pitarch Martí
- UMR 5199 CNRS De La Préhistoire à L'Actuel: Culture, Environnement, et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université Bordeaux, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, CS 50023 F - 33615 Pessac CEDEX, Talence, France; Seminari d'Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques (SERP), Facultat de Geografia i Història, Departament d'Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Montalegre 6, 08001, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ceri Shipton
- Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, ACT 0200, Australia
| | - Emma Le Vraux
- UMR 5199 CNRS De La Préhistoire à L'Actuel: Culture, Environnement, et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université Bordeaux, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, CS 50023 F - 33615 Pessac CEDEX, Talence, France
| | - Emmanuel Ndiema
- National Museums of Kenya, Department of Earth Sciences, Box 40658 - 00100, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Steven Goldstein
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, D-07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Michael D Petraglia
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, D-07745 Jena, Germany; Human Origins Program, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 20560, USA; School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Nicole Boivin
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, D-07745 Jena, Germany; School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. N.W., Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada; Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 10th St. & Constitution Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 20560, USA
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19
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Pargeter J, Khreisheh N, Stout D. Understanding stone tool-making skill acquisition: Experimental methods and evolutionary implications. J Hum Evol 2019; 133:146-166. [PMID: 31358178 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2019] [Revised: 05/22/2019] [Accepted: 05/22/2019] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Despite its theoretical importance, the process of stone tool-making skill acquisition remains understudied and poorly understood. The challenges and costs of skill learning constitute an oft-neglected factor in the evaluation of alternative adaptive strategies and a potential source of bias in cultural transmission. Similarly, theory and data indicate that the most salient neural and cognitive demands of stone tool-making should occur during learning rather than expert performance. Unfortunately, the behavioral complexity and extensive learning requirements that make stone knapping skill acquisition an interesting object of study are the very features that make it so challenging to investigate experimentally. Here we present results from a multidisciplinary study of Late Acheulean handaxe-making skill acquisition involving twenty-six naïve participants and up to 90 hours training over several months, accompanied by a battery of psychometric, behavioral, and neuroimaging assessments. In this initial report, we derive a robust quantitative skill metric for the experimental handaxes using machine learning algorithms, reconstruct a group-level learning curve, and explore sources of individual variation in learning outcomes. Results identify particular cognitive targets of selection on the efficiency or reliability of tool-making skill acquisition, quantify learning costs, highlight the likely importance of social support, motivation, persistence, and self-control in knapping skill acquisition, and illustrate methods for reliably reconstructing ancient learning processes from archaeological evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin Pargeter
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Rock Art Research Institute, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
| | | | - Dietrich Stout
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
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20
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Sánchez‐Villagra MR, van Schaik CP. Evaluating the self‐domestication hypothesis of human evolution. Evol Anthropol 2019; 28:133-143. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.21777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2018] [Revised: 12/12/2018] [Accepted: 03/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
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21
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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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22
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Wedage O, Amano N, Langley MC, Douka K, Blinkhorn J, Crowther A, Deraniyagala S, Kourampas N, Simpson I, Perera N, Picin A, Boivin N, Petraglia M, Roberts P. Specialized rainforest hunting by Homo sapiens ~45,000 years ago. Nat Commun 2019; 10:739. [PMID: 30783099 PMCID: PMC6381157 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08623-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2018] [Accepted: 01/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Defining the distinctive capacities of Homo sapiens relative to other hominins is a major focus for human evolutionary studies. It has been argued that the procurement of small, difficult-to-catch, agile prey is a hallmark of complex behavior unique to our species; however, most research in this regard has been limited to the last 20,000 years in Europe and the Levant. Here, we present detailed faunal assemblage and taphonomic data from Fa-Hien Lena Cave in Sri Lanka that demonstrates specialized, sophisticated hunting of semi-arboreal and arboreal monkey and squirrel populations from ca. 45,000 years ago, in a tropical rainforest environment. Facilitated by complex osseous and microlithic technologies, we argue these data highlight that the early capture of small, elusive mammals was part of the plastic behavior of Homo sapiens that allowed it to rapidly colonize a series of extreme environments that were apparently untouched by its hominin relatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oshan Wedage
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745, Jena, Germany.
- Department of History and Archaeology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda, Colombo, 10250, Sri Lanka.
| | - Noel Amano
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745, Jena, Germany.
| | - Michelle C Langley
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Brisbane, QLD, 4111, Australia
| | - Katerina Douka
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745, Jena, Germany
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK
| | - James Blinkhorn
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745, Jena, Germany
- Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 OEX, UK
| | - Alison Crowther
- Department of Archaeology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Siran Deraniyagala
- Department of Archaeology, Government of Sri Lanka, Colombo, 00700, Sri Lanka
| | - Nikos Kourampas
- Biological & Environmental Science, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK
- Center for Open Learning, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 8AQ, UK
| | - Ian Simpson
- Biological & Environmental Science, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK
| | - Nimal Perera
- Department of Archaeology, Government of Sri Lanka, Colombo, 00700, Sri Lanka
| | - Andrea Picin
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745, Jena, Germany
| | - Nicole Boivin
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745, Jena, Germany
| | - Michael Petraglia
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745, Jena, Germany.
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 20013-7012, USA.
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745, Jena, Germany.
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23
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Smith GM, Ruebens K, Gaudzinski-Windheuser S, Steele TE. Subsistence strategies throughout the African Middle Pleistocene: Faunal evidence for behavioral change and continuity across the Earlier to Middle Stone Age transition. J Hum Evol 2019; 127:1-20. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.11.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2018] [Revised: 11/20/2018] [Accepted: 11/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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24
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Kissel M, Kim NC. The emergence of human warfare: Current perspectives. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 168 Suppl 67:141-163. [PMID: 30575025 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2018] [Revised: 10/08/2018] [Accepted: 10/21/2018] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
The origins of warfare have long been of interest for researchers across disciplines. Did our earliest ancestors engage in forms of organized violence that are appropriately viewed as approximations, forms of, or analogs for more recent forms of warfare? Assessed in this article are contrasting views that see warfare as being either a product of more recent human societies or a phenomenon with a much deeper chronology. The article provides an overview of current debates, theories, and methodological approaches, citing literature and data from archaeological, ethnographic, genetic, primatological, and paleoanthropological studies. Synthetic anthropological treatments are needed, especially in efforts to inform debates among nonacademic audiences, because the discipline's approaches are ideally suited to study the origins of warfare. Emphasized is the need to consider possible forms of violence and intergroup aggression within Pleistocene contexts, despite the methodological challenges associated with fragmentary, equivocal, or scarce data. Finally, the review concludes with an argument about the implications of the currently available data. We propose that socially cooperative violence, or "emergent warfare," became possible with the onset of symbolic thought and complex cognition. Viewing emergent warfare as a byproduct of the human capacity for symbolic thought explains how the same capacities for communication and sociality allowed for elaborate peacemaking, conflict resolution, and avoidance. Cultural institutions around war and peace are both made possible by these changes. Accordingly, we suggest that studies on warfare's origins should be tied to research on the advent of cooperation, sociality, and communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc Kissel
- Department of Anthropology, Appalachian State University College of Arts and Sciences, Boone, North Carolina
| | - Nam C Kim
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
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25
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Stolarczyk RE, Schmidt P. Is early silcrete heat treatment a new behavioural proxy in the Middle Stone Age? PLoS One 2018; 13:e0204705. [PMID: 30273411 PMCID: PMC6166942 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2018] [Accepted: 09/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The South African Middle Stone Age (MSA) has in recent years become increasingly important for our understanding of the emergence of ‘modern human behaviours’. Several key innovations appeared in this context for the first time, significantly pre-dating their re-invention in the European Upper Palaeolithic. One of these innovations was heat treatment of stone to improve its quality for the production of stone tools. Heat treatment may even be the oldest well-documented technique used to intentionally alter the properties of materials in general. It is commonly thought of as requiring the skilled use of fire, a high degree of planning depth and complex cognitive abilities. However, to work on these fundamental concepts we need to analyse the techniques and procedures used to heat-treat and we need to understand what they imply. In this paper, we present a direct and expedient comparison between the technical complexities of four alternative heat treatment procedures by coding the behaviours required for their set-up in so-called cognigrams, a relatively new method for understanding complexity based on the problem-solution distance. Our results show that although the techniques significantly differ in complexity, the techniques used in the MSA fall within the range of complexities known from other MSA techniques. Heat treatment in above-ground fires, as it was practised during this period in South Africa, was even one of the most complex techniques at the time of its invention. Early heat treatment can therefore be considered an important behavioural proxy that may shed light on the behaviour and socioeconomic structure of past groups. The implications of this are highlighted by the ongoing debate about ‘modernity’, ‘behavioural flexibility’ and ‘complex cognition’ of early anatomically modern humans in Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Regine E. Stolarczyk
- Department of Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- Research Center ‘The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans’, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities housed at the University of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Patrick Schmidt
- Department of Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- Department of Geosciences—Applied Mineralogy, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- * E-mail:
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26
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Colagè I, d'Errico F. Culture: The Driving Force of Human Cognition. Top Cogn Sci 2018; 12:654-672. [DOI: 10.1111/tops.12372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2018] [Revised: 06/20/2018] [Accepted: 06/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Colagè
- Faculty of Philosophy Pontifical Antonianum University
- DISF Centre Pontifical University of the Holy Cross
| | - Francesco d'Errico
- UMR‐CNRS 5199 de la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA) Université de Bordeaux
- SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE) University of Bergen
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27
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Bae CJ, Douka K, Petraglia MD. On the origin of modern humans: Asian perspectives. Science 2017; 358:358/6368/eaai9067. [DOI: 10.1126/science.aai9067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 208] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
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28
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The biocultural emergence of mindreading: integrating cognitive archaeology and human development. JOURNAL OF CULTURAL COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s41809-017-0008-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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29
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30
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Aubert M, Brumm A, Taçon PSC. The Timing and Nature of Human Colonization of Southeast Asia in the Late Pleistocene. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1086/694414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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31
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Vaesen K, Houkes W. Complexity and technological evolution: What everybody knows? BIOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY 2017; 32:1245-1268. [PMID: 29563656 PMCID: PMC5842246 DOI: 10.1007/s10539-017-9603-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2016] [Accepted: 10/28/2017] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The consensus among cultural evolutionists seems to be that human cultural evolution is cumulative, which is commonly understood in the specific sense that cultural traits, especially technological traits, increase in complexity over generations. Here we argue that there is insufficient credible evidence in favor of or against this technological complexity thesis. For one thing, the few datasets that are available hardly constitute a representative sample. For another, they substantiate very specific, and usually different versions of the complexity thesis or, even worse, do not point to complexity increases. We highlight the problems our findings raise for current work in cultural-evolutionary theory, and present various suggestions for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krist Vaesen
- Department Philosophy and Ethics, Eindhoven University of Technology, Postbox 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Wybo Houkes
- Department Philosophy and Ethics, Eindhoven University of Technology, Postbox 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
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32
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Shea JJ. Occasional, obligatory, and habitual stone tool use in hominin evolution. Evol Anthropol 2017; 26:200-217. [PMID: 29027335 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Archeologists have long assumed that earlier hominins were obligatory stone tool users. This assumption is deeply embedded in traditional ways of describing the lithic record. This paper argues that lithic evidence dating before 1.7 Ma reflects occasional stone tool use, much like that practiced by nonhuman primates except that it involved flaked-stone cutting tools. Evidence younger than 0.3 Ma is more congruent with obligatory stone tool use, like that among recent humans. The onset of habitual stone tool use at about 1.7 Ma appears correlated with increased hominin logistical mobility (carrying things). The onset of obligatory stone tool use after 0.3 Ma may be linked to the evolution of spoken language. Viewing the lithic evidence dating between 0.3-1.7 Ma as habitual stone tool use explains previously inexplicable aspects of the Early-Middle Pleistocene lithic record.
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Affiliation(s)
- John J Shea
- Anthropology Department, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-4364
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33
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Kissel M, Fuentes A. A database of archeological evidence of representational behavior. Evol Anthropol 2017; 26:149-150. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.21525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marc Kissel
- Department of Anthropology; Appalachian State University; Boone NC
| | - Agustin Fuentes
- Department of Anthropology; University of Notre Dame; Notre Dame IN
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34
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Language Evolution: A Changing Perspective. Trends Cogn Sci 2017; 21:229-236. [PMID: 28214132 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2017.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2016] [Revised: 01/23/2017] [Accepted: 01/26/2017] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
From ancient times, religion and philosophy have regarded language as a faculty bestowed uniquely and suddenly on our own species, primarily as a mode of thought with communication as a byproduct. This view persists among some scientists and linguists and is counter to the theory of evolution, which implies that the evolution of complex structures is incremental. I argue here that language derives from mental processes with gradual evolutionary trajectories, including the generative capacities to travel mentally in time and space and into the minds of others. What may be distinctive in humans is the means to communicate these mental experiences along with knowledge gained from them.
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35
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Winegard B, Winegard B, Boutwell B. Human Biological and Psychological Diversity. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s40806-016-0081-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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36
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Brother or Other: The Place of Neanderthals in Human Evolution. VERTEBRATE PALEOBIOLOGY AND PALEOANTHROPOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-46646-0_19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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37
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Still Bay Point-Production Strategies at Hollow Rock Shelter and Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter and Knowledge-Transfer Systems in Southern Africa at about 80-70 Thousand Years Ago. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0168012. [PMID: 27942012 PMCID: PMC5152908 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0168012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2016] [Accepted: 11/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
It has been suggested that technological variations associated with Still Bay assemblages of southern Africa have not been addressed adequately. Here we present a study developed to explore regional and temporal variations in Still Bay point-production strategies. We applied our approach in a regional context to compare the Still Bay point assemblages from Hollow Rock Shelter (Western Cape) and Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter (KwaZulu-Natal). Our interpretation of the point-production strategies implies inter-regional point-production conventions, but also highlights variability and intra-regional knapping strategies used for the production of Still Bay points. These strategies probably reflect flexibility in the organisation of knowledge-transfer systems at work during the later stages of the Middle Stone Age between about 80 ka and 70 ka in South Africa.
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Schoville BJ, Brown KS, Harris JA, Wilkins J. New Experiments and a Model-Driven Approach for Interpreting Middle Stone Age Lithic Point Function Using the Edge Damage Distribution Method. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0164088. [PMID: 27736886 PMCID: PMC5063385 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0164088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2016] [Accepted: 09/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The Middle Stone Age (MSA) is associated with early evidence for symbolic material culture and complex technological innovations. However, one of the most visible aspects of MSA technologies are unretouched triangular stone points that appear in the archaeological record as early as 500,000 years ago in Africa and persist throughout the MSA. How these tools were being used and discarded across a changing Pleistocene landscape can provide insight into how MSA populations prioritized technological and foraging decisions. Creating inferential links between experimental and archaeological tool use helps to establish prehistoric tool function, but is complicated by the overlaying of post-depositional damage onto behaviorally worn tools. Taphonomic damage patterning can provide insight into site formation history, but may preclude behavioral interpretations of tool function. Here, multiple experimental processes that form edge damage on unretouched lithic points from taphonomic and behavioral processes are presented. These provide experimental distributions of wear on tool edges from known processes that are then quantitatively compared to the archaeological patterning of stone point edge damage from three MSA lithic assemblages-Kathu Pan 1, Pinnacle Point Cave 13B, and Die Kelders Cave 1. By using a model-fitting approach, the results presented here provide evidence for variable MSA behavioral strategies of stone point utilization on the landscape consistent with armature tips at KP1, and cutting tools at PP13B and DK1, as well as damage contributions from post-depositional sources across assemblages. This study provides a method with which landscape-scale questions of early modern human tool-use and site-use can be addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin J. Schoville
- Centre for Excellence in Palaeosciences Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
- Human Evolution Research Institute, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
| | - Kyle S. Brown
- Human Evolution Research Institute, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
| | - Jacob A. Harris
- Institute for Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, 85287, United States of America
| | - Jayne Wilkins
- Human Evolution Research Institute, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
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Vocal fold control beyond the species-specific repertoire in an orang-utan. Sci Rep 2016; 6:30315. [PMID: 27461756 PMCID: PMC4962094 DOI: 10.1038/srep30315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2016] [Accepted: 06/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Vocal fold control was critical to the evolution of spoken language, much as it today allows us to learn vowel systems. It has, however, never been demonstrated directly in a non-human primate, leading to the suggestion that it evolved in the human lineage after divergence from great apes. Here, we provide the first evidence for real-time, dynamic and interactive vocal fold control in a great ape during an imitation “do-as-I-do” game with a human demonstrator. Notably, the orang-utan subject skilfully produced “wookies” – an idiosyncratic vocalization exhibiting a unique spectral profile among the orang-utan vocal repertoire. The subject instantaneously matched human-produced wookies as they were randomly modulated in pitch, adjusting his voice frequency up or down when the human demonstrator did so, readily generating distinct low vs. high frequency sub-variants. These sub-variants were significantly different from spontaneous ones (not produced in matching trials). Results indicate a latent capacity for vocal fold exercise in a great ape (i) in real-time, (ii) up and down the frequency spectrum, (iii) across a register range beyond the species-repertoire and, (iv) in a co-operative turn-taking social setup. Such ancestral capacity likely provided the neuro-behavioural basis of the more fine-tuned vocal fold control that is a human hallmark.
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Crevecoeur I, Brooks A, Ribot I, Cornelissen E, Semal P. Late Stone Age human remains from Ishango (Democratic Republic of Congo): New insights on Late Pleistocene modern human diversity in Africa. J Hum Evol 2016; 96:35-57. [PMID: 27343771 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2015] [Revised: 04/08/2016] [Accepted: 04/19/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Although questions of modern human origins and dispersal are subject to intense research within and outside Africa, the processes of modern human diversification during the Late Pleistocene are most often discussed within the context of recent human genetic data. This situation is due largely to the dearth of human fossil remains dating to the final Pleistocene in Africa and their almost total absence from West and Central Africa, thus limiting our perception of modern human diversification within Africa before the Holocene. Here, we present a morphometric comparative analysis of the earliest Late Pleistocene modern human remains from the Central African site of Ishango in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The early Late Stone Age layer (eLSA) of this site, dated to the Last Glacial Maximum (25-20 Ky), contains more than one hundred fragmentary human remains. The exceptional associated archaeological context suggests these remains derived from a community of hunter-fisher-gatherers exhibiting complex social and cognitive behaviors including substantial reliance on aquatic resources, development of fishing technology, possible mathematical notations and repetitive use of space, likely on a seasonal basis. Comparisons with large samples of Late Pleistocene and early Holocene modern human fossils from Africa and Eurasia show that the Ishango human remains exhibit distinctive characteristics and a higher phenotypic diversity in contrast to recent African populations. In many aspects, as is true for the inner ear conformation, these eLSA human remains have more affinities with Middle to early Late Pleistocene fossils worldwide than with extant local African populations. In addition, cross-sectional geometric properties of the long bones are consistent with archaeological evidence suggesting reduced terrestrial mobility resulting from greater investment in and use of aquatic resources. Our results on the Ishango human remains provide insights into past African modern human diversity and adaptation that are consistent with genetic theories about the deep sub-structure of Late Pleistocene African populations and their complex evolutionary history of isolation and diversification.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Crevecoeur
- UMR 5199 PACEA, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France.
| | - A Brooks
- Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington DC, USA
| | - I Ribot
- Département d'Anthropologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
| | - E Cornelissen
- Culturele Antropologie/Prehistorie en Archeologie, Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika (KMMA), Tervuren, Belgium
| | - P Semal
- Scientific Service of Heritage, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), Brussels, Belgium
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Groucutt HS, Petraglia MD, Bailey G, Scerri EML, Parton A, Clark-Balzan L, Jennings RP, Lewis L, Blinkhorn J, Drake NA, Breeze PS, Inglis RH, Devès MH, Meredith-Williams M, Boivin N, Thomas MG, Scally A. Rethinking the dispersal of Homo sapiens out of Africa. Evol Anthropol 2016; 24:149-64. [PMID: 26267436 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 224] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Current fossil, genetic, and archeological data indicate that Homo sapiens originated in Africa in the late Middle Pleistocene. By the end of the Late Pleistocene, our species was distributed across every continent except Antarctica, setting the foundations for the subsequent demographic and cultural changes of the Holocene. The intervening processes remain intensely debated and a key theme in hominin evolutionary studies. We review archeological, fossil, environmental, and genetic data to evaluate the current state of knowledge on the dispersal of Homo sapiens out of Africa. The emerging picture of the dispersal process suggests dynamic behavioral variability, complex interactions between populations, and an intricate genetic and cultural legacy. This evolutionary and historical complexity challenges simple narratives and suggests that hybrid models and the testing of explicit hypotheses are required to understand the expansion of Homo sapiens into Eurasia.
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Abstract
Demography is increasingly being invoked to account for features of the archaeological record, such as the technological conservatism of the Lower and Middle Pleistocene, the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition, and cultural loss in Holocene Tasmania. Such explanations are commonly justified in relation to population dynamic models developed by Henrich [Henrich J (2004)Am Antiq69:197-214] and Powell et al. [Powell A, et al. (2009)Science324(5932):1298-1301], which appear to demonstrate that population size is the crucial determinant of cultural complexity. Here, we show that these models fail in two important respects. First, they only support a relationship between demography and culture in implausible conditions. Second, their predictions conflict with the available archaeological and ethnographic evidence. We conclude that new theoretical and empirical research is required to identify the factors that drove the changes in cultural complexity that are documented by the archaeological record.
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Frahm E, Feinberg JM, Schmidt-Magee BA, Wilkinson KN, Gasparyan B, Yeritsyan B, Adler DS. Middle Palaeolithic toolstone procurement behaviors at Lusakert Cave 1, Hrazdan valley, Armenia. J Hum Evol 2016; 91:73-92. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.10.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2015] [Revised: 10/15/2015] [Accepted: 10/16/2015] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Backwell L, d’Errico F. Osseous Projectile Weaponry from Early to Late Middle Stone Age Africa. OSSEOUS PROJECTILE WEAPONRY 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/978-94-024-0899-7_2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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When Is a Point a Projectile? Morphology, Impact Fractures, Scientific Rigor, and the Limits of Inference. VERTEBRATE PALEOBIOLOGY AND PALEOANTHROPOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-7602-8_1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
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Affiliation(s)
- Curtis W. Marean
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-2402;
- Faculty of Science, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape 6031, South Africa
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Duller GAT, Tooth S, Barham L, Tsukamoto S. New investigations at Kalambo Falls, Zambia: Luminescence chronology, site formation, and archaeological significance. J Hum Evol 2015; 85:111-25. [PMID: 26073072 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2014] [Revised: 04/30/2015] [Accepted: 05/01/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Fluvial deposits can provide excellent archives of early hominin activity but may be complex to interpret, especially without extensive geochronology. The Stone Age site of Kalambo Falls, northern Zambia, has yielded a rich artefact record from dominantly fluvial deposits, but its significance has been restricted by uncertainties over site formation processes and a limited chronology. Our new investigations in the centre of the Kalambo Basin have used luminescence to provide a chronology and have provided key insights into the geomorphological and sedimentological processes involved in site formation. Excavations reveal a complex assemblage of channel and floodplain deposits. Single grain quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) measurements provide the most accurate age estimates for the youngest sediments, but in older deposits the OSL signal from some grains is saturated. A different luminescence signal from quartz, thermally transferred OSL (TT-OSL), can date these older deposits. OSL and TT-OSL results are combined to provide a chronology for the site. Ages indicate four phases of punctuated deposition by the dominantly laterally migrating and vertically aggrading Kalambo River (∼500-300 ka, ∼300-50 ka, ∼50-30 ka, ∼1.5-0.49 ka), followed by deep incision and renewed lateral migration at a lower topographic level. A conceptual model for site formation provides the basis for improved interpretation of the generation, preservation, and visibility of the Kalambo archaeological record. This model highlights the important role of intrinsic meander dynamics in site formation and does not necessarily require complex interpretations that invoke periodic blocking of the Kalambo River, as has previously been suggested. The oldest luminescence ages place the Mode 2/3 transition between ∼500 and 300 ka, consistent with other African and Asian sites where a similar transition can be found. The study approach adopted here can potentially be applied to other fluvial Stone Age sites throughout Africa and beyond.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geoff A T Duller
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, SY23 3DB, UK.
| | - Stephen Tooth
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, SY23 3DB, UK
| | - Lawrence Barham
- Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, L69 3GS, UK
| | - Sumiko Tsukamoto
- Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics, Geochronology and Isotope Hydrology, Stilleweg 2, Hannover D-30655, Germany
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49
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Fuentes A. Integrative Anthropology and the Human Niche: Toward a Contemporary Approach to Human Evolution. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/aman.12248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Agustín Fuentes
- Department of Anthropology; University of Notre Dame; Notre Dame IN 46556
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50
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Adler DS, Wilkinson KN, Blockley S, Mark DF, Pinhasi R, Schmidt-Magee BA, Nahapetyan S, Mallol C, Berna F, Glauberman PJ, Raczynski-Henk Y, Wales N, Frahm E, Jöris O, MacLeod A, Smith VC, Cullen VL, Gasparian B. Early Levallois technology and the Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition in the Southern Caucasus. Science 2014; 345:1609-13. [PMID: 25258079 DOI: 10.1126/science.1256484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 147] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
The Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition (~400,000 to 200,000 years ago) is marked by technical, behavioral, and anatomical changes among hominin populations throughout Africa and Eurasia. The replacement of bifacial stone tools, such as handaxes, by tools made on flakes detached from Levallois cores documents the most important conceptual shift in stone tool production strategies since the advent of bifacial technology more than one million years earlier and has been argued to result from the expansion of archaic Homo sapiens out of Africa. Our data from Nor Geghi 1, Armenia, record the earliest synchronic use of bifacial and Levallois technology outside Africa and are consistent with the hypothesis that this transition occurred independently within geographically dispersed, technologically precocious hominin populations with a shared technological ancestry.
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Affiliation(s)
- D S Adler
- Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road, Unit 1176, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
| | - K N Wilkinson
- Department of Archaeology, University of Winchester, Winchester, SO22 4NR, UK
| | - S Blockley
- Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK
| | - D F Mark
- Natural Environmental Research Council Argon Isotope Facility, Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Enterprise and Technology Park, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride, G75 0QF, UK
| | - R Pinhasi
- School of Archaeology, University College Dublin, Newman Building, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - B A Schmidt-Magee
- Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road, Unit 1176, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
| | - S Nahapetyan
- Department of Cartography and Geomorphology, Yerevan State University, Alek Manukyan 1, 0025 Yerevan, Armenia
| | - C Mallol
- Departamento de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
| | - F Berna
- Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada
| | - P J Glauberman
- Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road, Unit 1176, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
| | | | - N Wales
- Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road, Unit 1176, Storrs, CT 06269, USA. Centre for GeoGenetics, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, 1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
| | - E Frahm
- Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, Northgate House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 4ET, UK
| | - O Jöris
- MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution, Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz, Schloss Monrepos, D-56567 Neuwied, Germany
| | - A MacLeod
- Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK
| | - V C Smith
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK
| | - V L Cullen
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK
| | - B Gasparian
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Charents 15, 0025 Yerevan, Armenia
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