Oldowan Technology Amid Shifting Environments ∼2.03–1.83 Million Years Ago

Arturo Cueva-Temprana,María Soto,Makarius Itambu,Julio Mercader,Michael Petraglia,Pastory Bushozi,Diego Lombao,Nicole Boivin

doi:10.3389/fevo.2022.788101

Abstract

The Oldowan represents the earliest recurrent evidence of human material culture and one of the longest-lasting forms of technology. Its appearance across the African continent amid the Plio-Pleistocene profound ecological transformations, and posterior dispersal throughout the Old World is at the foundation of hominin technological dependence. However, uncertainties exist concerning the degree to which the Oldowan constitutes an environment-driven behavioral adaptation. Moreover, it is necessary to understand how Oldowan technology varied through time in response to hominin ecological demands. In this study, we present the stone tool assemblage from Ewass Oldupa, a recently discovered archeological site that signals the earliest hominin occupation of Oldupai Gorge (formerly Olduvai) ∼2.03 Ma. At Ewass Oldupa, hominins underwent marked environmental shifts over the course of a ∼200 kyr period. In this article, we deployed an analysis that combines technological and typological descriptions with an innovative quantitative approach, the Volumetric Reconstruction Method. Our results indicate that hominins overcame major ecological challenges while relying on technological strategies that remained essentially unchanged. This highlights the Oldowan efficiency, as its basic set of technological traits was able to sustain hominins throughout multiple environments.

Highlights

The long-lasting Oldowan tradition signals the onset of technological dependence among hominins
Stone tool technologies comparable to the African Oldowan are found across Eurasia (Baena et al, 2010; Ferring et al, 2011; Mgeladze et al, 2011; Moyano et al, 2011; de Lombera-Hermida et al, 2015; Mosquera et al, 2018; Zhu et al, 2018) from ∼2.0 Ma onward, pointing to the Oldowan as the first widespread technological system in the Old World
Archeological assemblage raw material was compared with the reference collection created and curated by the Stone Tools, Diet, and Sociality project in the Tropical Archeology Lab (TAL; Earth Sciences 811, University of Calgary)

Summary

Introduction

The long-lasting Oldowan tradition signals the onset of technological dependence among hominins. Oldowan Technology Amid Shifting Environments (Kuman and Clarke, 2000; Figure 1A), galvanizing in contexts occupied by diverse hominin genera such as Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and Homo (Leakey et al, 1964; Leakey, 1971; Wood, 1997; Blumenschine et al, 2003). We still do not know which species is responsible for the development of this technology, or if it appeared simultaneously in different territories and among different hominin groups (Wood, 1997; Tennie et al, 2017). Stone tool technologies comparable to the African Oldowan are found across Eurasia (Baena et al, 2010; Ferring et al, 2011; Mgeladze et al, 2011; Moyano et al, 2011; de Lombera-Hermida et al, 2015; Mosquera et al, 2018; Zhu et al, 2018) from ∼2.0 Ma onward, pointing to the Oldowan as the first widespread technological system in the Old World

Methods

Results

Conclusion