Elsevier

Quaternary International

Volume 393, 30 January 2016, Pages 6-18
Quaternary International

Structural continuity and technological change in Lower Pleistocene toolkits

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.04.008Get rights and content

Abstract

A structural foundation has recently been laid down to describe early stone industries using a four-phase evolutionary sequence: Homogeneity, Variability, Diversity, and Multiplicity. Homogeneity refers to a hypothetical phase predating the earliest recognizable industries (>2.6 Ma) during which stones could have been used for pounding or throwing but controlled knapping was not practiced. The Variability phase, already explored in previous publications, refers to a subsequent stage wherein simple knapping strategies were discovered and tested. It precedes the innovation of shaped tools in Africa and Eurasia within largely divergent timeframes. This paper explores the Diversity phase, during which standardized shaped tools and relatively complex flake production strategies occurred. Presently, flake-core assemblages lacking configured tools are referred to as ‘Oldowan’ or ‘Mode 1’ and those with handaxes and/or cleavers are named ‘Acheulian’ or ‘Mode 2’. The model described here does not propose to replace existing terminology, but presents an alternative approach to the ways in which we perceive of technological change and explores why analogous techno-typological changes occurred diachronically in different areas of the globe where contact between populations was unlikely. The Diversity phase, characterized by techno-typological expansion in stone toolkit components, translates improved hominin capacities to access resources, compete with other carnivores and widen their range of activities. This process intensified exchange between an increasingly complex lifestyles and growing cognitive capacities, leading to Multiplicity; the final phase of this conceptual model for understanding change in early human technologies.

Introduction

At the roots of technology and innovation, the first intentionally modified stones served as an extension of our biological selves that could be moulded to adapt to different situations according human will. They reflect expedient but relatively sophisticated knapping systems that were oriented towards the production of small, non-standardized flakes. The archeological record indicates that technical proficiency increased over time, leading to the production of standardized forms. These early artifacts are sometimes interpreted as first reflections of human tradition. This process, initiated in Africa, followed a complex diachronic and evolutionary trend that lead globally from simple flake production to preconceived, shaped tools (Stout, 2011). In all areas of the world where early human activity has been evidenced, a remarkably similar pathway seems to have led from one to another major technological achievement. Specific technological inventions are used to define the first two techno-complexes that are commonly referred to as ‘Oldowan’ and ‘Acheulian’ (de Mortillet, 1872, Leakey, 1951) or ‘Mode 1’ and ‘Mode 2’ (Clark, 1969, Clark, 1977). This paper explores the four-phase structural model of early human techno-adaptation systems introduced by Carbonell et al. (2009) (Fig. 1). This branching evolutionary model employs the concepts: Homogeneity, Variability, Diversity and Multiplicity to describe stone tool assemblages; from their appearance in Africa 2.6 Ma (Semaw et al., 1997, Semaw et al., 2009a, Semaw, 2000, Semaw, 2005) and, indirectly, perhaps even earlier (Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2010, McPherron et al., 2010), up to their diversification around 1.75 Ma (Asfaw et al., 1992, Lepre et al., 2011, Beyene et al., 2013). The first phases of this model – Homogeneity and Variability – already developed in Carbonell et al. (2009), are briefly reviewed in the introductory section of this paper, whose main aim is to discuss the emergence of Diversity in stone tool technologies, a phase which is roughly correspondent to the ‘Oldowan/Acheulian transition’. The final phase of this model: Multiplicity, will be described in future work.

From the beginning of the Pleistocene, hominins selected the capacity to make and use tools as a viable adaptive response to deal with environmental pressures and to access resources. This accomplishment has since increased exponentially and become an indispensable ‘human’ survival strategy. Since its earliest manifestations in Africa 2.6 Ma, stone tool technology expanded at an ever increasing rate, perhaps by way of cumulative cultural evolution (Tomasello, 1999). Although other species, including apes, birds and even fish have been observed to modify and/or use objects as tools (Whiten et al., 2011), no other species has developed technology on a comparatively wide scale as humans, nor reached such a high degree of reliance upon them for survival (Stout, 2011). While chimpanzees provide probing evidence of tool use and manufacture (Haslam et al., 2009), their percussion processes cannot be adequately compared to human tool production (de la Torre, 2010). Defining tool making as: intentionally shaping objects according to a preconceived plan for use in a future project, we may concur that pre-humans probably practiced tool-use over a long period of time before actually making recognizable tools (Panger et al., 2002).

Section snippets

First expressions of human technology

Less than half a century ago, little was known about the oldest stone tool technologies in Africa and only a handful of sites had yielded ‘pre-Acheulian’ industries from reliable stratigraphical sequences: Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, Members E and F of the Shungura Formation in the Lower Omo Valley in Ethiopia, the Lower Busidima Formation in Ethiopia, the Koobi Fora Formation east of Lake Turkana in Kenya (Leakey, 1971, Isaac, 1976, Roche and Tiercelin, 1977, Harris, 1983, Howell et al., 1987).

The emergence of technological diversity

Industries classified as ‘Acheulian’ or ‘Mode 2’ emerged in Africa around 1.75 Ma (Kenya, Kokiselei 4, Texier et al., 2006, Lepre et al., 2011; Ethiopia, Konso Gardula, Asfaw et al., 1992, Beyene et al., 2013) and also in India in a similar timeframe (Pappu et al., 2011). In Africa by around 1.5 Ma a number of sites attest to the proliferation of a widening range of techno-morphological features relative to earlier assemblages. This phase of advanced Diversity (… the condition of having or

Emerging techno-morphological diversity: the example of Ubeidiya

Some features of industries from the different levels of Ubeidiya illustrate how, on a structural level, techno-typological change could have emerged from potential within existing technical systems. Located in the Levant's northerly extension of the East African Rift Valley, Ubeidiya lies in the heart of the most probable migration route for African hominins entering Eurasia (Agustí and Lordkipanidze, 2011, Bar-Yosef and Belfer-Cohen, 2013). Following definitions outlined for the Olduvai Gorge

Discussion

The terms Developed Oldowan and Early Acheulian were created to define distinct industries or assemblages, but it has long been recognized that there is no clear evolutionary progression from one to another of these categories (Leakey, 1971, Semaw et al., 2009b). For example, the ‘Oldowan’ industry from the ST Site Complex of Peninj (Tanzania, 1.4–1.6 Ma) is described as showing advanced technical characteristics reflecting planning and determination of flake size and shape (de la Torre et al.,

Conclusions

The structural synthesis described in this paper refers to human technology as it materialized from its earliest expressions up to the systematic production of pre-conceived, standardized forms (∼2.5–1.75 Ma in Africa). This non-linear, procedural evolution spread diachronically throughout Eurasia after around 1.5 Ma through convergence, replacement, or both. In its emergent stage, technology produced by the genus Homo or by Australopiths was Homogenous: used or slightly modified stones were

Acknowledgements

The authors extend their gratitude to Professors Ofer Bar Yosef and Naama Goren-Inbar for giving permission to examine the Ubeidiya material and for the warm reception they provided at the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in December 2011. We are also most grateful for valuable aid provided by Gadi Herzlinger during our work with the archeological material. We sincerely thank Dr. Gonen Sharon from Tel Hai College who introduced us to some important Pleistocene

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