The earliest archaeology Early Stone Tools The earliest archaeology www.shadowspastaf.com

Artifacts Any object that owes any of its attributes to human activity—usually a discrete object. Stone tools are the earliest artifacts, why? How might the preservation equation matter here? P = MCDST.

The basics: how are stone tools made? All stone tools come from a source rock known as a core. Flint knapping is the process of making stone tools from cores. Cores are of particular kinds of rock. Fine grained Few inclusions Hard, but not brittle Chert, obsidian, quartz homepage.ntlworld.com

Percussion Flakes are generally removed from cores via percussion (hitting) the core with a hammer. Hard-hammer percussion produces large flakes. Soft-hammer percussion produces finer, smaller flakes. Indirect percussion produces long-thin flakes called blades. Blades are flakes that are twice as long as they are wide.

images.encarta.msn.com Hard Hammer large cones of force www.geocities.com Principle of conchoidal fracture: A cone of force is propelled from the hammer through the rock causing it to fracture in predictable ways: requires fined-grained rock w/ few inclusions. www.cwct.co.uk

Soft Hammers medium cone of force

Lithic Reduction Strategy: Indirect percussion small cone of force Lithic Reduction Strategy: Flakes of all sizes & shapes can be removed from the core. Flakes = thin, sharp slivers of stone removed from a core during the knapping process. The smaller the cone of force, the smaller the flakes & the more controlled the knapping. Scarre 2005:162

Archaeological Chronology We now begin to divide prehistory by cultural period. The periods are chunks of time that correspond to different kinds of tool technology. Previously the entire focus was on fossils; now it is on tools & fossils.

Technology changes through time

An Outline of Chronology Basal Paleolithic: 2.5 – 1.8 mya Lower Paleolithic: 1.8 m – 250 kya Middle Paleolithic: 250 – 40 kya Upper Paleolithic: 40 – +/- 10 kya Mesolithic: starts & ends at different times in different places. Neolithic: starts & ends at different times in different places.

The Basal Paleolithic Period 2.5 – 1.8 mya Oldowan tools Olduvai Gorge Stone tools: cores & flakes Faunal remains Giraffes, hippos, antelopes, elephants Cutmarks: at least 1 elephant was butchered Hunters or scavengers? www.liv.ac.uk

www.amonline.net.au www.ucm.es

www.amnh.org www.erin.utoronto.ca Microscopically, cutmarks from sharp stone flakes are V-shaped in profile. The key is to find several parallel marks with V-shaped profiles in areas where limbs or flesh would have been removed from skeletons.

Basal Paleolithic Fossils Homo habilis The tool maker & user? Brain size 600 to 800 cc Robust australopithecines Still around during the Basal Paleolithic Could they have made the tools? claudiogutierrez.com

Lower Paleolithic Period 1.8 m – 250 kya Acheulean handaxe tools “the Swiss army knife of the Lower Paleolithic More refined than previous tools Peninj (Tanzania), Ubeidiya (Israel), 1.4 mya Outside of Africa Zhoukoudian (China), Schoningen (Germany)

Acheulean Handaxe “An icon of the Lower Paleolithic period [1.8 million to 250,000 years ago], the distinctive tear-drop shaped Acheulean handaxe (pronounced ash-oo-lee`an) has been called the Swiss Army knife of the era. The handaxe was an all-purpose tool that was used for a multitude of tasks that included cutting meat, sawing, drilling holes, digging, and other tasks. Acheulean handaxes have been found over much of Europe, Africa, and Asia; from the British Isles to southern Africa, and from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain/Portugal) to China.“ Science Museum of Minnesota www.smm.org www.smm.org Object: Acheulean Handaxe Accession: A70:11:11 Dimensions: 12.9 cm long x 7.4 cm wide x 2.9 cm thick Collected: Southwestern France, Dordogne region Materials: Flint Period: Lower Paleolithic Age: approximately 500,000 - 200,000 years old

anthro.palomar.edu

Lower Paleolithic Fossils Homo ergaster 1.8 m – 600 kya East African Rift Valley 600 – 910 cc brain size Tools = late Olduwan & early Acheulean Homo ergaster is restricted primarily (??) to Africa www.vobs.at

Lower Paleolithic Fossils Homo erectus 1.0 m – 100 kya Asia & Southeast Asia 810 – 1250 cc brain size Tools = Acheulean Homo erectus is outside of Africa. H. erectus evolved out of H. ergaster & became extinct by 100 kya. Peking Man: Zhoukoudian 500 – 300 kya www.evolutionnyc.com

Lower Paleolithic Fossils Homo heidelbergensis 600 – 300 kya Africa & Europe 1225 – 1300 cc brain size Tools: Late Acheulean Evolved out of H. ergaster & led to H. sapiens & Neanderthals. Rhodesian Man: Broken Hill 300 kya

Summary of Lower Paleolithic H. ergaster is hypothesized to have evolved from H. habilis between 1.8 & 1.6 mya. H. erectus evolved out of H. ergaster in Asia around 1 mya. H. heidelbergensis evolved from H. ergaster in Africa by 600 kya. H. heidelbergensis evolved into H. sapiens & Neanderthals between 400 & 250 kya.

Two Important Concepts Anagenesis: evolution of a new species in the same place without branching. Non-branching evolution. H. ergaster (Africa) into H. heidelbergensis (Africa) Cladogenesis: evolution of a new species resulting from a population splitting into a new area. Branching evolution. H. ergaster (Africa) into H. erectus (Asia)

H. heidelbergensis 600 - 300 kya H. habilis 2.5 – 1.8 mya H. ergaster 1.8 m – 600 kya H. heidelbergensis 600 - 300 kya H. erectus 1 m – 100 kya H. sapiens H. neanderthalensis www.evolutionnyc.com www.vobs.at claudiogutierrez.com

Important questions When did humans move outside of Africa? What evidence do we have for movement outside of Africa? Which species moved outside of Africa, H. habilis, H ergaster, H. erectus?