Ethnoarchaeology and Plio-Pleistocene sites: Some lessons from the Hadza

Abstract

Exploration and analyses of early archaeological sites and their faunal assemblages have grown increasingly sophisticated since the sites were first proposed to be home bases where ancestral hunters brought meat to share with their mates and offspring. Debates about that proposition motivated quantitative attention to hunting, scavenging, butchery and transport of big game among modern Hadza and the faunal assemblage characteristics and archaeological sites they create. Findings prompted a hypothesis about competitive scavenging that might explain the character and ecological context of the early sites, a hypothesis since strengthened by consensus among archaeologists working at Olduvai that the sites are not home bases. Hadza carcass procurement rates calibrate estimates for ancestral populations without similar technology, underscoring the likelihood that other food resources were especially important in human evolution.