Showing papers on "Oldowan published in 1999"
TL;DR: The combined evidence suggests that behavioral changes associated with lithic technology and enhanced carnivory may have been coincident with the emergence of the Homo clade from Australopithecus afarensis in eastern Africa.
Abstract: The Hata Member of the Bouri Formation is defined for Pliocene sedimentary outcrops in the Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia The Hata Member is dated to 25 million years ago and has produced a new species of Australopithecus and hominid postcranial remains not currently assigned to species Spatially associated zooarchaeological remains show that hominids acquired meat and marrow by 25 million years ago and that they are the near contemporary of Oldowan artifacts at nearby Gona The combined evidence suggests that behavioral changes associated with lithic technology and enhanced carnivory may have been coincident with the emergence of the Homo clade from Australopithecus afarensis in eastern Africa
428 citations
TL;DR: A technological analysis of the core reduction sequences is described, based on these refits, which allows unprecedented accuracy in the understanding of flake production processes and can demonstrate greater cognitive capacity and motor skill than previously assumed for early hominids.
Abstract: Well-documented Pliocene archaeological sites are exceptional. At present they are known only in East Africa, in the Hadar1,2 and Shungura3 formations of Ethiopia and in the Nachukui formation of Kenya. Intensive archeological survey and a series of test excavations conducted in the Nachukui formation since 1987 have led to the discovery of more than 25 archaeological sites whose ages range from 2.34 to 0.7 million years before present (Myr)4,5, and to the extensive excavation of two 2.34-Myr sites, Lokalalei 1 in 1991 (refs 6, 7) and Lokalalei 2C in 1997. Lokalalei 2C yielded nearly 3,000 archaeological finds from a context of such good preservation that it was possible to reconstitute more than 60 sets of complementary matching stone artefacts. These refits, predating the Koobi Fora refits by 500 Kyr (ref. 8), are the oldest ever studied. Here we describe a technological analysis of the core reduction sequences, based on these refits, which allows unprecedented accuracy in the understanding of flake production processes. We can thus demonstrate greater cognitive capacity and motor skill than previously assumed for early hominids, and highlight the diversity of Pliocene technical behaviour.
317 citations
TL;DR: Diachronic comparison of the different levels of Gran Dolina allows us to conclude that this particular form of early European technology lacks the production of big flakes to manufacture large tools such as bifaces and cleavers, and is characterized by the presence of small artefacts, including flakes, denticulates, notches, and side-scrapers.
184 citations
TL;DR: The systematic revision of European assemblages of large mammals has shown a faunal break at the Plio–Pleistocene boundary, marked by the arrival of African and Asian species, which allows the tracing of the ecological and biogeographical scenario in which the first dispersal of hominids out of Africa took place.
180 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the preliminary results of their investigation of Oldowan occurrences at Kanjera South, which preserve the oldest known traces of hominid activity in southwestern Kenya, and unlike most of the Oldowan sites in a relatively open (>75% C4 grass) habitat.
114 citations
TL;DR: The analysis suggests that early hominids at Olduvai may have been selective, applying distinctive strategies in making and using tools depending on the different types of raw materials available to them, in response to changes in raw material availability.
79 citations
TL;DR: This project has conclusively demonstrated that fossils occur in good stratigraphic context at all of the study localities and that claims of sediment slumping have been greatly overstated.
61 citations
TL;DR: Hominid species living in East Africa over two million years ago were skilful tool makers, as a new reconstruction of their stone-working techniques shows.
Abstract: Hominid species living in East Africa over two million years ago were skilful tool makers, as a new reconstruction of their stone-working techniques shows. Who made the tools, and what they used them for, is more of a mystery.
15 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The authors examined the little known archaeological record of Southern Arabia, reports on the results of fieldwork there, and documents that the earliest hominid occupation there dates to at least the lower Pleistocene.
Abstract: This chapter examines the little known archaeological record of Southern Arabia, reports on the results of fieldwork there, and documents that the earliest hominid occupation there dates to at least the lower Pleistocene. The documentation of Developed Oldowan industries there, found in clear archaeological contexts, not only indicates hominid presence but also reveals another route used by hominids to colonize Eurasia.
4 citations