Chronology of the Acheulean to Middle Stone Age transition in eastern Africa
Autor: | Richard Potts, Alison S. Brooks, John E. Yellen, Anna K. Behrensmeyer, Warren D. Sharp, Alan L. Deino |
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Rok vydání: | 2018 |
Předmět: |
010506 paleontology
060101 anthropology Multidisciplinary Rift 06 humanities and the arts Structural basin 01 natural sciences Archaeology Geography Homo sapiens Period (geology) 0601 history and archaeology Sedimentary rock Middle Stone Age Acheulean 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Chronology |
Zdroj: | Science. 360:95-98 |
ISSN: | 1095-9203 0036-8075 |
Popis: | The Middle Stone Age in Africa The Olorgesailie basin in the southern Kenya rift valley contains sediments dating back to 1.2 million years ago, preserving a long archaeological record of human activity and environmental conditions. Three papers present the oldest East African evidence of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) and elucidate the system of technology and behavior associated with the origin of Homo sapiens . Potts et al. present evidence for the demise of Acheulean technology that preceded the MSA and describe variations in late Acheulean hominin behavior that anticipate MSA characteristics. The transition to the MSA was accompanied by turnover of large mammals and large-scale landscape change. Brooks et al. establish that ∼320,000 to 305,000 years ago, the populations in eastern Africa underwent a technological shift upon procurement of distantly sourced obsidian for toolmaking, indicating the early development of social exchange. Deino et al. provide the chronological underpinning for these discoveries. Science , this issue p. 86 , p. 90 , p. 95 |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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