Directional changes in Levallois core technologies between Eastern Africa, Arabia, and the Levant during MIS 5

James Blinkhorn,Michael D Petraglia,Eleanor M L Scerri,Simon Blockley,Huw S Groucutt

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-90744-z

Abstract

Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, ~ 130 to 71 thousand years ago, was a key period for the geographic expansion of Homo sapiens, including engagement with new landscapes within Africa and dispersal into Asia. Occupation of the Levant by Homo sapiens in MIS 5 is well established, while recent research has documented complementary evidence in Arabia. Here, we undertake the first detailed comparison of Levallois core technology from eastern Africa, Arabia, and the Levant during MIS 5, including multiple sites associated with Homo sapiens fossils. We employ quantitative comparisons of individual artefacts that provides a detailed appraisal of Levallois reduction activity in MIS 5, thereby enabling assessment of intra- and inter-assemblage variability for the first time. Our results demonstrate a pattern of geographically structured variability embedded within a shared focus on centripetal Levallois reduction schemes and overlapping core morphologies. We reveal directional changes in core shaping and flake production from eastern Africa to Arabia and the Levant that are independent of differences in geographic or environmental parameters. These results are consistent with a common cultural inheritance between these regions, potentially stemming from a shared late Middle Pleistocene source in eastern Africa.

Highlights

Homo sapiens are first identified in Africa ca. 300 thousand years ago[1], emerging in a mosaic of sub-structured populations across the c ontinent[2]
We studied a total of 297 Levallois cores dating from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 from six sites, including those in eastern African (Aduma A5 [A5]; Omo Kibish Birds Nest Site [BNS]), Arabia (Al Wusta and Mundafan [MDF61]) and the Levant (Qafzeh; Skhul) (Table 1; Fig. 2)
This study provides a quantified appraisal of Levallois core variability between eastern Africa, Arabia, and the Levant in MIS 5, demonstrating the near ubiquitous focus on centripetal reduction schemes with considerable overlaps in core morphology

Summary

Introduction

Homo sapiens are first identified in Africa ca. 300 thousand years ago (ka)[1], emerging in a mosaic of sub-structured populations across the c ontinent[2]. Centripetal Levallois reduction schemes are directly associated with Homo sapiens fossils at the sites of S khul[21,22] and Q afzeh[8] in the central Levant, as well as at Al Wusta in northern A rabia[12] This contrasts with the focus on unidirectional and convergent reduction schemes that predominate in later Middle Palaeolithic Levantine assemblages dating from MIS 4 (71–59 ka) onwards, frequently associated with Neanderthal fossils such as at K ebara[23]. This division in the dominant Levallois approach in assemblages is widely observed in the archaeological record in the Levant and is hinted at by the emerging Arabian record[24]. The current study is in accordance with research that examines variability in lithic attribute datasets across different domains of reduction activity within a quantitative framework, demonstrably resolving patterns of reduction behaviour at scales ranging from individual reduction sequences[31] to inter-regional assemblage comparisons[32]

Methods

Results

Conclusion