Environmental dynamics during the onset of the Middle Stone Age in eastern Africa-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Environmental dynamics during the onset of the Middle Stone Age in eastern Africa

Published:2018-04-06 Issue:6384 Volume:360 Page:86-90
ISSN:0036-8075
Container-title:Science
language:en
Short-container-title:Science

Author:

Potts Richard¹²^ORCID,Behrensmeyer Anna K.¹³^ORCID,Faith J. Tyler⁴,Tryon Christian A.⁵^ORCID,Brooks Alison S.¹⁶^ORCID,Yellen John E.¹⁷^ORCID,Deino Alan L.⁸^ORCID,Kinyanjui Rahab²^ORCID,Clark Jennifer B.¹^ORCID,Haradon Catherine M.⁹^ORCID,Levin Naomi E.¹⁰^ORCID,Meijer Hanneke J. M.¹¹¹^ORCID,Veatch Elizabeth G.¹²^ORCID,Owen R. Bernhart¹³^ORCID,Renaut Robin W.¹⁴^ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA.

2. Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box 40658-00100, Nairobi, Kenya.

3. Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA.

4. Natural History Museum of Utah and Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA.

5. Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

6. Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.

7. Archaeology Program, National Science Foundation, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA.

8. Berkeley Geochronology Center, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA.

9. Department of Earth Science, Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, CA 90405, USA.

10. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.

11. University Museum, Department of Natural History, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.

12. Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.

13. Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong.

14. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada.

Abstract

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

Funder

Peter Buck Fund for Human Origins Research

NSF HOMINID Program

NSF Archaeometry Program

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Subject

Multidisciplinary

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