Refined age estimates and Paleoanthropological investigation of the Manyara Beds, Tanzania.

Abstract

The Manyara Beds in the area of Makuyuni Village in the Lake Manyara Basin, Tanzania have been studied for nearly a century, but interpretations of their age have ranged from Middle Pleistocene to Late Pliocene. New geological, paleontological and archeological fieldwork was conducted at the site and has provided siginificant new evidence, including refined stratigraphy, radiometric age estimates, preliminary paleomagnetic analysis, significant new faunal collections, as well as stratigraphic context for some of the lithic artifacts in stratigraphic context. These efforts have succesfully constrained the geological age estimates for the Manyara Beds to between less than 0.63 to 1.3 Ma, and the age of the two hominin bearing localities to between 0.63 and 0.78 Ma. This new chronology may impact the taxonomic interpretation of the hominin remains recovered from the site. They also suggest that two mammalian taxa, Metridiochoerus compactus and Eurygnathohippus, may have some of their youngest known occurences in the Manyara Beds. Acheulean lithics were also found in stratigraphic context during this more narrow time interval. Furthermore, the presence of potential cut-marks on the surface of a bovid mandible may represent the first evidence for human modification of bones from the Manyara Beds.