Two Acheuleans, two humankinds. From 1.5 to 0.85 Ma at Melka Kunture (Upper Awash, Ethiopian highlands)

The Acheulean is the longest-lasting human cultural record, spanning approximately 1.5 Ma and three continents. The most comprehensive sequences are found in East Africa, where, in large-scale syntheses, the Lower Pleistocene Acheulean (LPA) has often been considered a uniform cultural entity. Furthermore, the emergence and development of Acheulean technology are seen as linked to the emergence and evolution of Homo ergaster/erectus. The criterion for grouping together different lithic assemblages scattered over space and time is the presence of large cutting tools (LCTs), more than of any other component. Their degree of refinement has been used, in turn, as a parameter for evaluating Acheulean development and variability. But was the East African LPA really uniform as regards all components involved in lithic productions? The aim of this paper is to evaluate the techno-economic similarities and differences among LPA productions in a specific micro-regional and environmental context, i.e. at Melka Kunture, in the Ethiopian highlands, and in a specific period of time: between ~1.5 Ma, when some of the earliest Acheulean complexes appeared, and 1.0-0.85 Ma, when LCTs productions became intensive and widespread. Our detailed comparative analyses investigate all aspects and phases of the chaînes opératoires. Since hominin fossil remains were discovered at some of the analyzed sites, we also discuss differences among lithic productions in relation to the changing paleoanthropological record. Our studies show that at Melka Kunture the LPA techno-complexes cannot be grouped into a single uniform entity. The assembled evidence points instead to “two Acheuleans” well-defined by a strong discontinuity in various aspects of techno-economic behaviors. This discontinuity is related to a major step in human evolution: the transition from Homo ergaster/erectus to Homo heidelbergensis

The unknown Oldowan. ~1.7-million-year-old standardized obsidian small tools from Garba IV, Melka Kunture, Ethiopia

The Oldowan Industrial Complex has long been thought to have been static, with limited internal variability, embracing techno-complexes essentially focused on small-to-medium flake production. The flakes were rarely modified by retouch to produce small tools, which do not show any standardized pattern. Usually, the manufacture of small standardized tools has been interpreted as a more complex behavior emerging with the Acheulean technology. Here we report on the ~1.7 Ma Oldowan assemblages from Garba IVE-F at Melka Kunture in the Ethiopian highland. This industry is structured by technical criteria shared by the other East African Oldowan assemblages. However, there is also evidence of a specific technical process never recorded before, i.e. the systematic production of standardized small pointed tools strictly linked to the obsidian exploitation. Standardization and raw material selection in the manufacture of small tools disappear at Melka Kunture during the Lower Pleistocene Acheulean. This proves that 1) the emergence of a certain degree of standardization in toolkits does not reflect in itself a major step in cultural evolution; and that 2) the Oldowan knappers, when driven by functional needs and supported by a highly suitable raw material, were occasionally able to develop specific technical solutions. The small tool production at ~1.7 Ma, at a time when the Acheulean was already emerging elsewhere in East Africa, adds to the growing amount of evidence of Oldowan techno-economic variability and flexibility, further challenging the view that early stone knapping was static over hundreds of thousands of years

Lithic productions during the first half of the Middle Pleistocene (MIS 19-12) in the Italian peninsula: an overview

Archaeological record of the Italian peninsula during the first half of the Middle Pleistocene is characterised by a limited number of sites. In the last decade, new systematic research allowed to refine chronostratigraphies and to improve the contextual and technological information. Here, we report an overview of the Italian archaeological sites between MIS 19 and MIS 12 with the main aim to evaluate the current state of our knowledge on the technological behaviours from the earliest Middle Pleis- tocene sites where Homo heidelbergensis appears to the emergence of hominins with Neanderthal-like morphology

Pleistocene hominins as a resource for carnivores. A c. 500,000-year-old human femur bearing tooth-marks in North Africa (Thomas Quarry I, Morocco)

In many Middle Pleistocene sites, the co-occurrence of hominins with carnivores, who both contributed to faunal accumulations, suggests competition for resources as well as for living spaces. Despite this, there is very little evidence of direct interaction between them to-date. Recently, a human femoral diaphysis has been recognized in South-West of Casablanca (Morocco), in the locality called Thomas Quarry I. This site is famous for its Middle Pleistocene fossil hominins considered representatives of Homo rhodesiensis. The bone was discovered in Unit 4 of the Grotte à Hominidés (GH), dated to c. 500 ky and was associated with Acheulean artefacts and a rich mammalian fauna. Anatomically, it fits well within the group of known early Middle Pleistocene Homo, but its chief point of interest is that the diaphyseal ends display numerous tooth marks showing that it had been consumed shortly after death by a large carnivore, probably a hyena. This bone represents the first evidence of consumption of human remains by carnivores in the cave. Whether predated or scavenged, this chewed femur indicates that humans were a resource for carnivores, underlining their close relationships during the Middle Pleistocene in Atlantic Morocco

L’Acheuléen africain vu de l’extrême Maghreb

Au nord-ouest de l’Afrique, dans la région de Casablanca, on relève un développement exceptionnel des dépôts littoraux et dunaires de la séquence « quaternaire », qui commence aux environs de six millions d’années et se constitue au cours du Pliocène et du Pléistocène. Cette succession de paléolittoraux a enregistré, en détail, les variations du niveau de l’océan mondial. Elle a également conservé une longue archéo-séquence, documentant l’apparition de l’Acheuléen dans la région à la fin du Pléistocène inférieur et son évolution au cours du Pléistocène moyen. Depuis 1978, un programme de recherches archéologiques maroco-français conduit ses recherches dans cette séquence ; il a permis la révision stratigraphique et culturelle des localités classiques et la découverte de nouveaux sites. Nous présentons ici l’état de l’art sur l’origine et l’évolution de l’Acheuléen africain au Maroc atlantique, dans la région de Casablanca

The East African origin of the Western European Acheulean technology : fact or paradigm ?

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An older origin for the Acheulean at Melka Kunture (Upper Awash, Ethiopia) : techno-economic behaviours at Garba IVD

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An older origin for the Acheulean at Melka Kunture (Upper Awash, Ethiopia) : techno-economic behaviours at Garba IVD

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An older origin for the Acheulean at Melka Kunture (Upper Awash, Ethiopia): Techno-economic behaviours at Garba IVD

In the 1970s and 1980s, the emergence of the Acheulean at Melka Kunture (Upper Awash, Ethiopia) was dated to 1 Ma (million years ago), based on the typo-metrical analysis of the lithic assemblage of Garba XIIJ. Older sites such as Gombore I, Karre I, and Garba IV (1.7e1.5 Ma) were classified as Oldowan/Developed Oldowan. Consequently, the Oldowan and the Acheulean at Melka Kunture were interpreted as two distinct technologies separated by a chronological gap of 0.5 Ma. The archaeostratigraphic unit D of Garba IV, dated to w1.5 Ma, yielded one of the richest Early Stone Age lithic series in East Africa. In this paper, a review traces methods of technological analysis, based on the concept of chaîne opératoire, to update our knowledge of the techno-economic behaviours at this site. The results show two major elements characteristic of cultural changes in the Melka Kunture sequence: (1) the emergence of a new chaîne opératoire focused on large flake/large cutting tool (LCT) production, and (2) a large variability of small débitage modalities with systematic preparation of the striking platform and the appearance of a certain degree of predetermination. These technological traits are shared by the contemporaneous sites in East Africa and are considered to be typical of the early Acheulean. This suggests an older origin for the Acheulean at Melka Kunture, 0.5 Ma than previously inferred

The East African origin of the Western European Acheulean technology : fact or paradigm ?

International audienc