Melka Kunture (alto Awash, Etiopía) entre 2.000.000 y 5.000 años

Melka Kunture es un clúster de yacimientos prehistóricos situados en el altiplano etíope, a 2.000-2.200 m sobre el nivel del mar, en la cuenca alta del río Awash. El clima es más bien fresco (temperatura media anual de 17° C) y lluvioso. Los resultados palinológicos demuestran que la vegetación durante el Pleistoceno era de tipo afromontano y, por lo tanto, diferente a la de sabana que se desarrolla en cotas más bajas. Tras casi 60 años de excavaciones en 20 yacimientos y en unos 60 niveles arqueológicos distintos, la secuencia arqueológica identificada incluye el Olduvayense, Achelense, Middle Stone Age y Late Stone Age. También se han descubierto fósiles de homininos en asociación directa con industrias líticas de diferentes tecnocomplejos. Además, se conocen niveles icnológicos, que proporcionan información sobre la vida y el comportamiento de homininos y fauna. La investigación sobre la adaptación de los homininos al clima y al entorno de las tierras altas es relevante para entender cómo y cuándo se produjo el primer poblamiento de Europa

Contribution à l’évaluation de la variation interne des industries acheuléennes : le cas de Garba I (Melka Kunture, Ethiopie)

This research focuses on the analysis of Acheulean lithic material from the site of Garba I (Melka Kunture, Ethiopia). Specifically, this study explores internal variability in the technical repertoires that underlie the production of lithic artefacts at the site, by considering the technical stages involved in their manufacture and the knappers’ technological savoir-faire (know-how). Through this qualitative approach it becomes possible to assess the influence of individual factors on the morphology of the tools, and their relative importance for understanding the intentions that underlie the knapping. This study integrates these concepts based on the characteristics of the assemblage; the ultimate goal being to understand the behaviour of the hominins that occupied Melka Kunture at the time of Garba I, both in terms of the techniques employed and the organisation of the activites. The results highlight the highly standardised nature of bifacial artefacts at the site, and the knappers’ remarkable control over conchoïdal percussion using two particular techniques, applied during their façonnage, which cannot be explained as simple reduction processes that create unintended forms through stereotypical knapping gestures. The identification in the assemblage of a specific technical procedure (the coup de tranchet) that has value as a cultural marker, as well as an important component of small retouched tools and percussive implements, suggests potential links between the Acheulean and Middle Stone Age industries.This work is divided into three parts: 1) current issues about the African Acheulean and the approaches previously employed to study it; 2) the regional context; 3) the depositional context of the archaeological materials at Garba I, their chronology and state of preservation; 4) methodology employed in this study, and; 5) discussion of the results and their significance in the context of the African Acheulean.Ce travail de recherche, axé sur le matériel du site de Garba I (Melka Kunture, Ethiopie), explore la variation interne des productions lithiques de la période Acheuléenne, en tenant compte de l’état technique des pièces et du niveau de savoir-faire des tailleurs. À partir d’une analyse qualitative des pièces, elle montre l’impact que ces facteurs individuels peuvent avoir dans l’apparence des pièces, et leur importance pour une bonne compréhension des intentions sous-jacentes à la taille. En conséquence, ce travail a été structuré pour intégrer aux mieux ce concepts en fonction des caractéristiques du matériel, le but ultime étant de saisir les comportements des hominiens qui ont occupé le territoire de Melka Kunture, à l’époque de Garba I, tant aux niveau des techniques employées que de l’organisation des activités. Les résultats de l’étude mettent en évidence une forte standardisation dans la production des pièces bifaciales, et une maîtrise remarquable de la percussion conchoïdale, selon deux techniques, appliquées au façonnage, qui dépassent l’explication d’un simple processus de réduction, amenant à une forme non intentionnelle, par gestes stéréotypés. Ce travail nous a également permis d’identifier un procédé technique particulier (le coup du tranchet), à valeur de marqueur culturel, et de relever l’importance du petit outillage retouché et des outils de percussion, et encore d’entrevoir de possibles liens entre les industries acheuléennes et le Middle Stone Age. Ce travail se décline en trois parties : 1) état de la question sur l’Acheuléen africain et les différentes approches employées pour son étude ; 2) contexte régional et macro-régional ; 3) contexte de déposition des vestiges, chronologie, et état de conservation ; 4) méthodologie utilisée pour l’étude ; 5) discussion des résultats et remise en contexte

Bulb retouchers half a million years ago: New evidence from late Acheulean Jaljulia, Israel

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Age and formation processes of an Acheulean site with extensive accumulation of large cutting tools: Garba I (Melka Kunture, Upper Awash, Ethiopia)

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Age and formation processes of an Acheulean site with extensive accumulation of large cutting tools: Garba I (Melka Kunture, Upper Awash, Ethiopia)

The paper provides new data on the age and formation processes of Garba I (Melka Kunture, Upper Awash, Ethiopia). The site, one of the largest handaxe accumulations of the African Acheulean, was extensively excavated in the 1960s of the last century by J. Chavaillon but left largely unpublished. The chronology was also poorly constricted. Quartz grains dated through electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometry now provide a minimum age of 538 ka for the archaeological layer. In addition, we make available new data allowing an updated interpretation of the stratigraphic sequence and spatial distribution, as well as a detailed taphonomic study of the lithic assemblage. Additional information on the archaeozoological and palaeobotanical record are integrated in the discussion. We conclude that the extensive accumulation of large cuttings tools (LCTs) is not the result of major sedimentary disturbance processes but rather the outcome of a distinct hominin behaviour, which possibly was not focused on the processing and consumption of large mammals. New research at Garba I allows new insights on the Acheulean sites with similar large accumulations of handaxes. Additionally, it contributes to a better understanding of the early Middle Pleistocene in Africa, an under-researched period of the Early Stone Age

After the emergence of the Acheulean at Melka Kunture (Upper Awash, Ethiopia): From Gombore IB (1.6 Ma) to Gombore Iγ (1.4 Ma), Gombore Iδ (1.3 Ma) and Gombore II OAM Test Pit C (1.2 Ma)

International audienceWhile the emergence of the Acheulean is well documented in East Africa at ~1.7 Ma, subsequent developments are less well understood and to some extent controversial. Here, we provide robust evidence regarding the time period between 1.6 Ma and 1.2 Ma, based on an interdisciplinary approach to the stratigraphic sequences exposed in the Gombore gully of Melka Kunture, in the upper Awash Valley of Ethiopia. Throughout the Pleistocene, the environment differed significantly from elsewhere in Africa because of the elevation at 2000 m asl, the cooler and rainy climate, the Afromontane vegetation, the development of endemic animal species, and the recurrent impact of volcanic activity. At Gombore IB, dated ~1.6 Ma, remains of Homo erectus/ergaster have been discovered, associated with a rich early Acheulean assemblage. The techno-typological analysis of the lithic record from Gombore Iγ (~1.4 Ma) and Gombore Iδ (~1.3 Ma), where substantial areas have been excavated, and the contrasting evidence from Gombore OAM Test Pit C (~1.2 Ma), suggest that the scarcity or lack of large flakes and large cutting tools at the two earlier sites is possibly not just the outcome of sampling bias, but rather of the adaptation of H. erectus/ergaster to the local resources, in a relatively isolated environment. The sites of Gombore gully provide new evidence on the complex pattern of human evolution and adaptation in East Africa during the Lower Pleistocene

After the emergence of the Acheulean at Melka Kunture (Upper Awash, Ethiopia): From Gombore IB (1.6 Ma) to Gombore Iγ (1.4 Ma), Gombore Iδ (1.3 Ma) and Gombore II OAM Test Pit C (1.2 Ma)

While the emergence of the Acheulean is well documented in East Africa at ~1.7 Ma, subsequent developments are less well understood and to some extent controversial. Here, we provide robust evidence regarding the time period between 1.6 Ma and 1.2 Ma, based on an interdisciplinary approach to the stratigraphic sequences exposed in the Gombore gully of Melka Kunture, in the upper Awash Valley of Ethiopia. Throughout the Pleistocene, the environment differed significantly from elsewhere in Africa because of the elevation at 2000 m asl, the cooler and rainy climate, the Afromontane vegetation, the development of endemic animal species, and the recurrent impact of volcanic activity. At Gombore IB, dated ~1.6 Ma, remains of Homo erectus/ergaster have been discovered, associated with a rich early Acheulean assemblage. The techno-typological analysis of the lithic record from Gombore Iγ (~1.4 Ma) and Gombore Iδ (~1.3 Ma), where substantial areas have been excavated, and the contrasting evidence from Gombore OAM Test Pit C (~1.2 Ma), suggest that the scarcity or lack of large flakes and large cutting tools at the two earlier sites is possibly not just the outcome of sampling bias, but rather of the adaptation of H. erectus/ergaster to the local resources, in a relatively isolated environment. The sites of Gombore gully provide new evidence on the complex pattern of human evolution and adaptation in East Africa during the Lower Pleistocene

Kanyimangin: a new 1 million years old sit in West-Turkana, Kenya

The Early to Middle Pleistocene Transition (EMPT 1250-750 ka) is a period characterised by major environmental changes. These changes are reflected in the archaeological and faunal records which are marked by behavioural, cognitive (Acheulean specialisation/expansion) and morphological (encephalisation) innovations within the genus Homo. Unfortunately, the EMPT African hominin fossil record is scarce and poorly correlated with the archaeological record. Here we present faunal and chronometric data of a newly discovered EMPT site in West Turkana: Kanyimangin.In August 2017, the Trans-Evol Project started fieldwork in the floodplain of the Kerio River (Turkana Basin, Kenya), identifying a new palaeontological and archaeological locality. Kanyimangin is located within the Kalabata river (a tributary of the Kerio river) circular anomaly, where ca. 15-meter-deep sediments are preserved from erosion by a series of five sandstones. Although there has been almost no focussed local palaeontological and geochronological study, sediments in that area were believed to be older than 3.7 Ma. However, using combined palaeomagnetism and bio-chronological approaches, we obtain an age estimate between 0.90 and 1.19 Ma. Kanyimangin has yielded substantial lithic (n=344) and faunal (n=2155) assemblages originating partly from buried contexts. The latter comprises 212 individual specimens (NISP) distributed across 20 taxa. The faunal spectrum is composed of both aquatic and terrestrial taxa, including: Palaeoloxodon (Elephas) recki cf. recki, Panthera sp., Hyaena hyaena, Equus grevyi, Rhinocerotidae, Kolpochoerus (limnetes) heseloni, Phacocoerus sp., Hippopotamus amphibius, Syncerus caffer, Aepyceros melampus, Alcephalus buselaphus, cf. Nanger granti and a Renducini as well as the narrow-snouted Euthecodon brumpti, a broad-snouted crocodile, turtles/tortoises, snakes, fish and amphibians. Palaeomagnetic results reveal a normal polarity for the archaeology-bearing sandstone and evidence for a subsequent period of reverse polarity. Together with the presence of Palaeoloxodon recki cf. recki recovered from the same sandstone, this suggests a Matuyama age for the site after the Olduvai subchron. To date, most faunal remains were recovered from survey, which limits their biostratigraphic potential; however, the presence of well-fossilised Phacochoerus sp. and Alcephalus buselaphus specimens recovered on the surface of the archaeology-bearing sandstone equally suggests a Jaramillo (1.06–0.90 Ma) or Cobb Mountain (1.19 Ma) age for the site

Une vue d’ensemble sur Melka Kunture, grand complexe de sites pléistocènes dans la vallée supérieure de l’Awash (Éthiopie)

International audienceMelka Kunture is a cluster of Pleistocene sites, extending over Σ100 km2 between 2000 and 2200 m asl, in the upper Awash Valley of Ethiopia. Starting around 2 million-years ago, the archaeological sequence includes sites with lithic productions of the Oldowan, Early Acheulean, middle Acheulean, final Acheulean, Early Middle Stone Age, Middle Stone Age and Late Stone Age. All over the Pleistocene, the climate was rainy and cooler than at the lower elevations of the Rift Valley, allowing the development of Afromontane vegetation. Hippopotamuses are ubiquitous and dominant in terms of biomass, but Alcelaphini are well represented, notably with genus Connochaetes and genus Damaliscus. Hominin fossils have been discovered in association with the Oldowan, the Early Acheulean, the middle Acheulean and the Early Middle Stone Age. Animal tracks and hominin footprints have also been documented, the latter ones in layers dated between 1.2 and 0.7 million-years.Melka Kunture est un complexe de sites paléolithiques qui s’étend sur une centaine de km2 dans la vallée supérieure de l’Awash (Éthiopie), entre 2000 et 2200 m d’altitude. À partir d’il y a 2 millions d’années, il y a de nombreux sites avec productions lithiques de l’Oldowayen, de l’Acheuléen inférieur (Early Acheulean), de l’Acheuléen moyen et de l’Acheuléen final, et enfin du Middle Stone Age initial (Early Middle Stone Age) et du Middle Stone Age, suivis par le Late Stone Age. Le climat, frais et pluvieux a permis le développement d’une riche végétation de type afromontagnard. Les restes d’hippopotames sont omniprésents et dominent en termes de biomasse, mais les Alcelaphini sont bien représentés, notamment avec les genres Connochaetes et Damaliscus. Des restes fossiles d’homininés ont été découverts en association directe avec l’Oldowayen, l’Acheuléen inférieur, l’Acheuléen moyen et le Middle Stone Age initial. Des empreintes d’animaux et d’homininés ont également été trouvées, cesdernières dans des niveaux datés entre 1,2 et 0,7 millions d’années