Showing papers on "Oldowan published in 2007"

Economic behaviors and cognitive capacities of early hominins between 2.34 Ma and 0.70 Ma in West Turkana, Kenya

Abstract: In the past few years, an increasing number of discoveries of Early Stone Age sites in East Africa revealed a more complex picture of early hominins behaviors than had been documented before. However, evidence of technological elaboration and abilities among our early ancestors remains limited, and the nature of the technical change during African Lower Paleolithic is still poorly documented. This paper presents the results of a comparative techno-economic study of four rich and well-preserved Early Oldowan, Oldowan, Early Acheulean, and Acheulean lithic assemblages from a recently investigated region of East Africa, the Nachukui Formation west of Lake Turkana, Kenya. This study, spanning a wide chronological period ranging from 2.34 to 0.70 Ma, documents the antiquity of raw material provisioning strategies in very early chronological contexts in highlighting the existence for raw material selectivity and technological planning as early as 2.34 Ma. The comparative analysis demonstrates diachronic differences in patterns of resource use between the sites from the Late Pliocene, the Early Pleistocene, and the very beginning of the Middle Pleistocene. These differences are related to an improvement in technical skills throughout the Plio-Pleistocene rather than to variations in resource availability.

A revision of the Carnivora from Member 5, Sterkfontein, South Africa, based on a reassessment of published material and site stratigraphy

Abstract: The published carnivore species list from Sterkfontein Member 5 is very diverse with 16 identified taxa. However, there are several subdivisions within the deposit and some squares have been reassigned. When the carnivore faunal list is similarly divided the number of species in any one deposit decreases, and several species no longer lie within the recognized boundaries of Member 5, including the extinct genera Pachycrocuta, Megantereon and Homotherium. This means that all archaic taxa have been lost from Member 5, with the exception of one Chasmaporthetes specimen from the StW53 breccia. However, it is clear that these species were present at Sterkfontein, but that the areas from which they were recovered are currently of uncertain provenance. Therefore the presence of these extinct species in Member 5 should not be used to help date other sites within the Sterkfontein area. There are also implications for hominin scavenging opportunities if the numbers of carnivore taxa were fewer than has previously been thought, which is particularly relevant for Sterkfontein Member 5 as it contains both Oldowan and Acheulean archaeology. This work also highlights the importance of integrating new studies with older collections and publications.

Synopsis of the paleolithic

Abstract: Pre-Oldowan >2.0 MYA (Africa) General: bipolar technique; cores (‘choppers’), discoids, flakes used as cutting tools, cores multipurpose for hammerstones, pounding activities; not yet standardized tool forms, absent retouch on flakes (SS1997, KM1994) Yiron, northern rift, Israel (K/Ar on overlying basalt) 2.39 MYA (RA2006, 1991) Flint, few cores, mostly flakes, 2 retouched, (1 scraper, 1 blade fragment) (RA2006, 1991) [radial discoid?, regular retouch in Africa = classic Oldowan; awl and Karari –like core = Developed Oldowan A]? ‘Classic’ Oldowan ~1.7-2.0 MYA (Africa) General: hammerstone/anvil bipolar continues adding direct percussion in hand; cores: choppers, polyhedrons, discoids, spheroids and subspheroids. Standardized small tools appear: ‘light and heavy-duty’ scrapers on flakes or fragments, rare burins and protobifaces; utilized unmodified flakes; rare worked bone (LM 1971) Dmanisi , Kura River Basin, Georgia Level V-IV fauna, tools, all hominid remains (fauna and normal mag. Olduvai = 1.77-1.95 MYA (K/Ar on lava underlying) 1.8±0.1 MYA (Ar/Ar on lava underlying) 2.0±0.1 MYA (BO1994, 1998) (Ar/Ar) 1.85±0.01 MYA more precise, and fossil and artifacts Unit B Matayama and fauna suggest age slightly 90% artifacts Throughout all levels: ‘Pre-Oldowan’, corechoppers, primarily unmodified flakes, rare retouched flakes, cores, 1 burin, few worked bones (Dzaparidze et al 1989) absence of small retouched tools hence ‘pre-Oldowan’ // East Africa 2.55 MYA, Barranco Leon 1.3 MYA , Fuente Nueva 3 1.2 MYA (LH2005) 1 skull, 1 braincase, 1cranium, 775 and 600 cc, Homo ergaster (// Koobi Fora) (GL2000) closer to H. rudolfensis than ergaster, ergo H. georgicus (LM2006, LH2005) or ‘close to stem of H. erectus’ (RG2006) ‘Argues for an early preAcheulean migration outof-Africa and into Asia’ (LG2000); variant of H. erectus (GD2006) Ursus etruscus, Canis sp., Pachycrocuta sp., Homotherium (scimtartoothed cat),Meganetereon whitei (sabre-toothed cat), Panthera, Mammuthus meridionalis, Equus stenonis, Dicerorhinus etruscus, Sus sp.,Gazella borbonica, Dama nestii, Cervus sp. Dmanisibos georgicuss, Caprin gen., Ovis sp., Leporinae, gen, Cricetuls, sp. Marmota sp., Sturthio dmanisensis (Dzaparidze et al 1989) (BO1994, 1998; GL2000)

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORDS | 2.7 Myr–300 000 Years Ago in Africa

Abstract: The archaeological record of the African continent preserves the longest record of human behavior anywhere in the world This article discusses behavioral evolution from the Oldowan through the Acheulean Industry We review the implications for dietary, cultural, and anatomical changes over the course of 25 Myr We focus particularly on inferences from technological adaptations that may affect the evolutionary history of our lineage

21 Overview of Paleolithic

Abstract: The Paleolithic, or Old Stone Age, comprises over 99% of human technological history and spans a time range from 2.6 Ma (the earliest recognizable stone tools and archeological record) to 10,000 years ago (the end of the last ice age). There are three major stages of the Paleolithic: (1) The Early Paleolithic which includes: (a) The Oldowan, from 2.6 to about 1.0 Ma, characterized by simple core forms on cobbles and chunks (choppers, discoids, polyhedrons), battered percussors (hammerstones and spheroids), flakes and fragments, and retouched forms such as flake scrapers. Cut marks and fracture patterns on animal bones indicate meat and marrow processing, with the use of simple stone knives and hammers. This stage is associated with the later australopithecines and the earliest forms of the larger‐brained genus Homo and documents the first hominid dispersal out of Africa and into Eurasia and (b) The Acheulean, which lasted from approximately 1.7 Ma to 250,000 years ago, and was characterized by large bifaces such as hand axes, cleavers, and picks. The early Acheulean is associated with Homo erectus/ ergaster, while the later Acheulean (by ca. 500,000 years ago) is associated with the even larger‐brained Homo heidelbergensis. (2) The Middle Paleolithic/Middle Stone Age, from about 250,000 to 30,000 years ago, characterized by a focus on retouched flake tools, such as scrapers, points, and backed knives, and prepared core technologies such as the Levallois method. The controlled production and use of fire appears to be widespread for the first time. This stage is especially associated with archaic forms of Homo sapiens (having modern‐size brains but more robust faces and postcranial skeletons), including the Neandertals and the earliest anatomically modern humans. (3) The Late Paleolithic, from 40,000 until 10,000 years ago, characterized by blade tool industries, a proliferation of artifacts in bone, antler, and ivory, and the emergence of rich symbolic art in the form of paintings, engravings, sculpture, and personal body adornment. Early examples of clear architectural structures, musical instruments, and mechanical devices (spear‐throwers and bows and arrows) emerge during this time.

24 Modeling the Past: The Paleoethnological

Abstract: This chapter considers the earliest Paleolithic, Oldowan (Mode 1), and Acheulean (Mode 2) Cultures of the Old Continent and the traces left by the earliest hominids since their departure from Africa. According to the more recent archeological data, they seem to have followed two main dispersal routes across the Arabian Peninsula toward the Levant, to the north, and the Indian subcontinent, to the east. According to the discoveries currently underway at Dmanisi in the Caucasus, the first Paleolithic settlement of Europe is dated to some 1.75 Myr, which indicates that the first ‘‘out of Africa’’ took place at least slightly before this date. The data available for Western Europe show that the first Paleolithic sites can be attributed to a period around 1.0 Myr. The first well‐defined ‘‘structural remains’’ so far discovered in Europe are those of Isernia La Pineta in southern Italy, where a semicircular artificial platform made of stone boulders and animal bones has been excavated. The first hand‐thrown hunting weapons employed by Homo erectus come from the site of Schoeningen in north Germany, where the occurrence of wooden spears, more than 2‐m long, has been recorded for the first time from a site attributed to some 0.37 Myr. At roughly, the same time H. erectus is supposed to have begun the domestication of fire. Although most of the archeological finds of these ages consist of chipped stone artifacts, indications of art demonstrations seem to be already present in the Acheulean of Africa and the Indian subcontinent.