L’Afrique de l’Est dans la réflexion globale sur le Middle Stone Age

Abstract

Eastern Africa in the general reflection on the Middle Stone Age ; The main research topics on the Middle Stone Age are the discovery of the earliest known Homo sapiens in eastern Africa and the early occurrence of symbolic remains throughout the continent. This paper presents the theoretical controversies about the emergence of a behavioral modernity and the contribution of eastern Africa to this debate. A historical background on the construction of the Middle Stone Age as well as a summary of the archaeological data over the period in eastern Africa will come to back up these comments. More specifically, a review of the Ethiopian sites shows the state of the knowledge on the Middle Stone Age as well as the necessity of a better understanding of the regional and chronological characteristics of the period.