Early Archaeological Record Research Articles

Identifying intentional flake production at the dawn of technology: A technological and 3D geometric morphometric study

The production of sharp-edged stone flakes is often viewed as a unique adaptation specific to the hominin lineage. The discovery of large stone cores and flakes dated to 3.3 Ma has shown that the earliest evidence of hominin stone flake production differs from the later Oldowan (dated to 2.6 Ma) record. Recent discoveries have shown that capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) can unintentionally produce sharp-edged flake assemblages as a by-product of percussive behaviour. Capuchin monkeys are the only wild primate to intentionally strike two stones together (stone-on-stone percussion) to produce quartz powder. In doing so, they unintentionally produce high frequencies of sharp-edged flakes. It has been suggested that these possess the same technological attributes commonly used to describe intentional hominin stone flakes. Here we directly compare the basic morphometric descriptions, technological and 3D morphometric properties of unintentional capuchin flakes with experimentally produced flakes derived from two intentional flaking techniques employed during the Plio-Pleistocene, freehand and passive hammer knapping and a sample of Oldowan freehand flakes from Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania). Our results show that unintentional stone-on-stone flakes overlap in terms of their shape, size and technological attributes with those produced through intentional knapping techniques. We, however, identify attributes that may be critical for differentiating between intentional knapping techniques documented in the early archaeological record and unintentional flakes. Using these data we show that Oldowan flakes more closely resemble intentional freehand techniques.

Взгляд с Североамериканских равнин на ранний верхний палеолит Восточно-Европейской равнины

The East European Plain (EEP), which is the dominant landform on the continent of Europe, exhibits many parallels to the High Plains of North America with respect to landscape and biota. These parallels are reflected in the early prehistoric archaeological record of both regions and a “North American Plains (NAP) perspective” is applied here to the early Upper Paleolithic (EUP) between ~45 000 and ~30 000 cal BP of the EEP. As among First Peoples on the NAP, EUP groups on the EEP used the distribution of springs and the topography of an arid, open landscape to hunt large mammals individually and in small herds (especially horse and reindeer). Many sites contain features (e. g., carcass processing areas) analogous to those in archaeological sites on the NAP. EUP culture-stratigraphy for the EEP is reinterpreted from a “NAP perspective.”

Fire in the round: A holistic approach to the Lower Palaeolithic record

Whilst several explanations have been proposed for the absence of fire-related behaviours at well preserved Lower Palaeolithic sites, much of the emphasis of previous research has concentrated on our ability to find fire in the archaeological record. Furthermore, evolutionary models of early hominin fire engagement have often been developed and discussed in the context of early African hominins. Here we explore the role of fire in the behaviours, choices and lives of hominins during the earliest occupations of temperate regions, with a focus on Europe. We consider fire use in the context of Europe’s specific palaeoenvironmental conditions and discuss whether a long or short fire chronology model best fits the current evidence for the use of controlled fire in these regions during the Lower Palaeolithic.We propose two models for hominin fire behaviours in the temperate latitudes, using a heuristic ‘macroscale to microscale’ approach to understanding the needs for — and the use of — fire during this period. We argue that such holistic approaches must combine experimental work, experiential observations and cost-benefit approaches and should consider site context and function, fire function, social behaviour, and mobility, to evaluate the limited evidence for fire use in the Lower Palaeolithic. We highlight that, varying with seasonality, fire function (and the associated costs and benefits) was of particular importance and may explain the overall paucity of evidence for fire use in temperate regions prior to the Middle Palaeolithic. This has implications for other potential survival strategies that are invisible in the early archaeological record, such as shelter, clothing, and the putrefaction of meat for later consumption.

Landscapes variability and the early peopling of the inter-Andean Magdalena Valley, Colombia (South America)

The Magdalena River is the longest inter-Andean river in Northern South America. We focus on the middlesection calling attention to the implication of a geoarchaeological approach to understanding the role of depositional and erosional processes over time in the preservation and destruction of archaeological sites. Most likely the majority of the earliest Preceramic deposits - predating ca 12,900 BP - left in ancient shores and terraces, were erased or buried. Archaeological early remains are recorded on the alluvial paleo-terraces and piedmont hillslopes of the lowlands throughout the Pleistocene/Holocene Transition, during and after the El Abra Stadial - equivalent to the Younger Dryas period (ca. 12,900–11,700 cal BP). From the Terminal Pleistocene through the Middle Holocene specialized hunter-gatherers occupied floodplains and alluvial fan surfaces, as well as the relict high terraces remnants. The presence of industries with bifacial tools, - such as triangular stemmed points, and pressure retouched well finished tools (plano-convex scrapers) - occurred only throughout preceramic times. Climatic changes (above all precipitation variability), vegetation belt shifts and volcanism have affected geomorphic shifts in the lowlands of the Magdalena Valley. These changes are primarily responsible for the limited evidence of preceramic occupations. The early archaeological record is a dependent variable in the larger context of an evolving landscape. This relationship is critically important in evaluating the importance of the Magdalena Valley in the early settlement of the Northwest South American lowlands.

What is ‘in situ’? A reply to Harmand et al. (2015)

The production of sharp-edged stone flakes is often viewed as a unique adaptation specific to the hominin lineage. The discovery of large stone cores and flakes dated to 3.3 Ma has shown that the earliest evidence of hominin stone flake production differs from the later Oldowan (dated to 2.6 Ma) record. Recent discoveries have shown that capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) can unintentionally produce sharp-edged flake assemblages as a by-product of percussive behaviour. Capuchin monkeys are the only wild primate to intentionally strike two stones together (stone-on-stone percussion) to produce quartz powder. In doing so, they unintentionally produce high frequencies of sharp-edged flakes. It has been suggested that these possess the same technological attributes commonly used to describe intentional hominin stone flakes. Here we directly compare the basic morphometric descriptions, technological and 3D morphometric properties of unintentional capuchin flakes with experimentally produced flakes derived from two intentional flaking techniques employed during the Plio-Pleistocene, freehand and passive hammer knapping and a sample of Oldowan freehand flakes from Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania). Our results show that unintentional stone-on-stone flakes overlap in terms of their shape, size and technological attributes with those produced through intentional knapping techniques. We, however, identify attributes that may be critical for differentiating between intentional knapping techniques documented in the early archaeological record and unintentional flakes. Using these data we show that Oldowan flakes more closely resemble intentional freehand techniques.

A Cross-cultural Survey of On-site Fire Use by Recent Hunter-gatherers: Implications for Research on Palaeolithic Pyrotechnology

The ability to control fire clearly had a significant impact on human evolution, but when and how hominins developed this ability remains poorly understood. Improving our understanding of the history of hominin fire use will require not only additional fieldwork but also comparative analyses of fire use by ethnographically-documented hunter-gatherer groups. Here, we report a study that focused on the second of these tasks. In the study, we consulted ethnographic texts for a sample of 93 hunter-gatherer groups and collected data pertaining to fire use in settlements. We focused on the groups??? methods of making fire, the ways in which they used fire, and when and where they created fires. While many of the observations were in line with expectations, some were surprising. Perhaps most notably, we found that several groups did not know how to make fire and that even within some of the groups who were able to make fire, the relevant knowledge was restricted to a very small number of individuals. Another surprising finding was that many groups preferred to preserve fire rather than creating it anew, to the point that they would carry it between camps. In the final section of the paper, we discuss the implications of the survey???s findings for understanding the early archaeological record of fire use.

Recent excavations at Owl Ridge, interior Alaska: Site stratigraphy, chronology, and site formation and implications for late Pleistocene archaeology and peopling of eastern Beringia

AbstractThe early archaeological record of Beringia is complicated by the occurrence of several lithic industries. Site assemblages, dating from 14,000 to 12,800 years ago and located from the Yana‐Indigirka Lowlands of Siberia to the upper Tanana River basin, contain artifacts characteristic of the Nenana technological complex. After 12,800 years ago, site assemblages contain artifacts diagnostic of the Denali technocomplex. To explain the variation in lithic industries, we first and foremost need well‐stratified and well‐dated sites with multiple components so we securely know their ages and depositional relationships. We present excavation results of one such site located in interior Alaska, Owl Ridge, with the goal of assessing site stratigraphy, radiocarbon chronology, and natural site formation processes. Owl Ridge was visited three times during the Pleistocene‐Holocene transition with a Nenana‐complex occupation at 13,380–12,800 years ago followed by two Denali‐complex occupations at 12,540–11,430 years ago and 11,270–11,200 years ago. Assemblage change at Owl Ridge was diachronically patterned, as at the nearby Dry Creek archaeological site, and separated by two climatic events, a brief extremely windy Younger Dryas (lasting 300–250 years) and a very brief wetter period (lasting ~160 years). Our results indicate these climate and environmental conditions played a role in settlement of eastern Beringia.

Correction: A reassessment of the early archaeological record at Leang Burung 2, a Late Pleistocene rock-shelter site on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193025.].

A reassessment of the early archaeological record at Leang Burung 2, a Late Pleistocene rock-shelter site on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

This paper presents a reassessment of the archaeological record at Leang Burung 2, a key early human occupation site in the Late Pleistocene of Southeast Asia. Excavated originally by Ian Glover in 1975, this limestone rock-shelter in the Maros karsts of Sulawesi, Indonesia, has long held significance in our understanding of early human dispersals into ‘Wallacea’, the vast zone of oceanic islands between continental Asia and Australia. We present new stratigraphic information and dating evidence from Leang Burung 2 collected during the course of our excavations at this site in 2007 and 2011–13. Our findings suggest that the classic Late Pleistocene modern human occupation sequence identified previously at Leang Burung 2, and proposed to span around 31,000 to 19,000 conventional 14C years BP (~35–24 ka cal BP), may actually represent an amalgam of reworked archaeological materials. Sources for cultural materials of mixed ages comprise breccias from the rear wall of the rock-shelter–remnants of older, eroded deposits dated to 35–23 ka cal BP–and cultural remains of early Holocene antiquity. Below the upper levels affected by the mass loss of Late Pleistocene deposits, our deep-trench excavations uncovered evidence for an earlier hominin presence at the site. These findings include fossils of now-extinct proboscideans and other ‘megafauna’ in stratified context, as well as a cobble-based stone artifact technology comparable to that produced by late Middle Pleistocene hominins elsewhere on Sulawesi.

Archaeological Survey of Dynamic Coastal Landscapes and Paleoshorelines: Locating Early Holocene Sites in the Prince Rupert Harbour Area, British Columbia, Canada

ABSTRACTWe present and test a predictive archaeological survey model that targets early Holocene paleoshorelines in the Prince Rupert Harbour area using LiDAR bare earth digital terrain models and a 15,000-year reconstructed history of relative sea level change. Despite a century of archaeological research in the study area, no sites dating earlier than 6000 cal b.p. had been identified prior to our research. Our field survey identified three early Holocene sites associated with paleoshorelines 7–10 m above current sea level (masl). These locations demonstrate repeated use through the Holocene even as shoreline position changes. We discuss these new data in relation to the early Holocene archaeological record from the rest of the northern Northwest Coast and suggest that the region was ubiquitously occupied by this time and that the lack of recorded early Holocene sites in some areas is likely a result of survey and preservation bias, rather than historical reality.

First GIS analysis of modern stone tools used by wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Bossou, Guinea, West Africa.

Stone tool use by wild chimpanzees of West Africa offers a unique opportunity to explore the evolutionary roots of technology during human evolution. However, detailed analyses of chimpanzee stone artifacts are still lacking, thus precluding a comparison with the earliest archaeological record. This paper presents the first systematic study of stone tools used by wild chimpanzees to crack open nuts in Bossou (Guinea-Conakry), and applies pioneering analytical techniques to such artifacts. Automatic morphometric GIS classification enabled to create maps of use wear over the stone tools (anvils, hammers, and hammers/ anvils), which were blind tested with GIS spatial analysis of damage patterns identified visually. Our analysis shows that chimpanzee stone tool use wear can be systematized and specific damage patterns discerned, allowing to discriminate between active and passive pounders in lithic assemblages. In summary, our results demonstrate the heuristic potential of combined suites of GIS techniques for the analysis of battered artifacts, and have enabled creating a referential framework of analysis in which wild chimpanzee battered tools can for the first time be directly compared to the early archaeological record.

John Lubbock's early contribution to the understanding of river terraces and their importance to Geography, Archaeology and Earth Science

In his writings John Lubbock expounded views on the understanding of past climates, prehistoric faunas, early humans, and the evolution of landscape and river systems. His contributions on some of these related topics are scarcely remembered, despite comparison with modern thinking showing them frequently to have been prescient. He visited the Somme valley, observing river terrace gravels and Palaeolithic artefacts in the company of the leading geologists and archaeologists of his day, visits that furnished knowledge of the early archaeological record and were also formative in terms of his understanding of river-valley and landscape evolution. He noted that terraces represented former valley-floor levels and that rivers had deepened their valleys in response to uplift of the land, something that is often not fully grasped at the present time. He was also an early believer in interglacial–glacial climatic fluctuation, an idea not widely accepted in Britain until after his death.

Radiocarbon chronology of the early human occupation of Argentina

This paper reports the compilation and initial analysis of a database of 14C dates from archaeological sites in Argentina for the period 13,000 and 7000 14C BP. The spatial and temporal distribution of human occupation evidence during this period is surveyed, with discussion of potential sampling biases affecting the recognition of such sites in each region of Argentina. The archaeological signal of human occupation at the beginning of this period (13,000–11,000 14C BP) is suggestive but sparse, and weak. However, from about 11,000 14C BP there is a consistent archaeological signal. Most of the earliest occupation evidence comes from the eastern Pampas and from southern Patagonia. In the Chaco and Northeast regions, similarly early archaeological sites have not yet been detected. This contrast may reflect the actual distribution of early human occupation, but it may also reflect biased research effort and/or systemic factors affecting the visibility and level of preservation of the early archaeological record. In other regions such as the eastern slope of the Andes in Patagonia, the peri-Andean Central West, and the Northwest, where there has been intensive archaeological research for an extended period and there are fewer systematic factors which are likely to bias archaeological visibility, the absence of archaeological evidence of early occupation may indicate delayed colonization of these more marginal environments. The conclusion discusses the implications of 14C dates associated with Fishtail Projectile Points for the western hemisphere pre-Clovis debate, and the implications of terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene dated remains of extinct mammals for the megafaunal overkill hypothesis.

Functional mastery of percussive technology in nut-cracking and stone-flaking actions: experimental comparison and implications for the evolution of the human brain

Various authors have suggested behavioural similarities between tool use in early hominins and chimpanzee nut cracking, where nut cracking might be interpreted as a precursor of more complex stone flaking. In this paper, we bring together and review two separate strands of research on chimpanzee and human tool use and cognitive abilities. Firstly, and in the greatest detail, we review our recent experimental work on behavioural organization and skill acquisition in nut-cracking and stone-knapping tasks, highlighting similarities and differences between the two tasks that may be informative for the interpretation of stone tools in the early archaeological record. Secondly, and more briefly, we outline a model of the comparative neuropsychology of primate tool use and discuss recent descriptive anatomical and statistical analyses of anthropoid primate brain evolution, focusing on cortico-cerebellar systems. By juxtaposing these two strands of research, we are able to identify unsolved problems that can usefully be addressed by future research in each of these two research areas.

Younger Dryas environments and human adaptations on the West Coast of the United States and Baja California

On the Pacific Coast of the United States and Baja California, the Younger Dryas was one component of dynamic Late Pleistocene and Holocene environmental changes. Changing climate, sea level rise, and shifting shorelines created ecological challenges for ancient coastal peoples and daunting challenges for archaeologists searching for early coastal sites. This paper reviews the evidence for ecological change in this ‘West Coast’ region, including shoreline changes that may have submerged or destroyed archaeological sites from this time period. Examining the regional record of human occupation dating to the Younger Dryas, well-dated coastal sites are limited to California’s Northern Channel Islands and Isla Cedros off Baja California. A small number of fluted points found in coastal areas may also date to the Younger Dryas, but their context and chronology is not well defined. Review of the implications of these two data sets considers whether the early but discontinuous Younger Dryas archaeological record from the West Coast might result from a migration of maritime peoples from Northeast Asia into the Americas.

The Oldowan: The Tool Making of Early Hominins and Chimpanzees Compared

The Oldowan was the term first coined by Louis Leakey to describe the world's earliest stone industries, named after the famous site of Olduvai (formerly Oldoway) Gorge in Tanzania. The Oldowan Industrial Complex documents the first definitive evidence of early hominin culture as well as the earliest known archaeological record. This review examines our state of knowledge about the Oldowan and the hominin tool makers who produced this archaeological record and compares and contrasts these patterns with the technological and cultural patterns of modern apes, especially chimpanzees and bonobos. Of special interest are methodological approaches that can attempt to make direct comparisons between the early archaeological record and modern ape material culture, including a long-term collaborative experimental program in teaching modern apes to make and use stone tools.

Agricultural origins in North China pushed back to the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary

Two grains, common (proso or broomcorn) millet (Panicum miliaceum) (Fig. 1) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica), were fundamental to the development of agricultural societies that eventually evolved into the first urban societies of China between 4500 and 3800 calibrated years (cal.) B.P. (1). Today, these grains are important mainly in parts of Russia, South Asia, and East Asia. How, when, and in what settings these millets initially evolved is not well known (2). One hypothesis holds that common millet was domesticated rapidly in the central Wei river basin shortly after ca. 8000 cal. B.P. (3). Another hypothesis proposes that common millet was domesticated in the Northeast China Liao river basin around the same time (4). In reality, archaeological data have simply not been adequate to resolve the issues surrounding the domestication of millet and the development of the first agricultural communities in North China. Complicating the problem, common millet is also present in Europe ca. 8000–7500 cal. B.P. (2), so this timing opens the possibility that the crop was domesticated more than once. Otherwise, its origins must predate 8000 cal. B.P. The Early Holocene Cishan site in North China is one of several sites considered key to understanding millet domestication and the origin of dry-land agriculture in China, yet the dating and identity of the crops recovered there have never been adequately documented. The study published in this issue of PNAS (5) revisits Cishan, located on a terrace on the western edge of the North China Plain ≈9 km from where the Nanming river emerges from the Taihang mountains. Two outstanding issues regarding the early archaeological record of millet at Cishan first reported nearly 30 years ago (6, 7), their dating and identification, are resolved in the new study.

Withington (47Gt158): A Clovis/Gainey Campsite in Grant County, Wisconsin

Located within the driftless area of southwestern Wisconsin, the Withington site provides a unique opportunity to examine the adaptive responses of Early Paleoindians exploiting this region. With a lithic assemblage dominated by Hixton Silicified Sandstone from sources over 170km to the north, chipped stone technological attributes and raw material diversity suggest that the occupants of the site were highly mobile, employed a mixed organizational strategy of toolstone transport, and possessed a wide knowledge of the lithic and social landscape. While our recent understanding of the early archaeological record of this region has progressed, a lack of published reports continues to hinder the incorporation of data from this area into larger models of Early Paleoindian subsistence and settlement. As part of an on-going research effort to address this, I present here a report and analysis of lithic material recovered from the site.

California archaeological record consistent with Younger Dryas disruptive event

Buchanan et al. (1) assert that the radiocarbon record from the United States and Canada does not support the extraterrestrial impact hypothesis, but their claims do not hold true for the California archaeological record. Fluted projectile points marking Paleoindian occupations have been reported from no fewer than 51 locations in California (2), and no fewer than 38 sites have produced radiocarbon evidence for occupation between 10,500 and 9,000 calibrated yrs BP (3). Only two sites have produced fluted points and early Holocene occupational residues together in stratified context. At the same time, none of the sites that have produced radiocarbon evidence for occupation between 10,500 and 9,000 calibrated yrs BP have yielded fluted points. There are no archaeological sites in California that have reliable radiocarbon dates between 12,900 and 12,200 calibrated yrs BP and precious few that date between 12,000 and 10,500 calibrated yrs BP. The earliest archaeological record from California is therefore marked by a strong cultural unconformity between the late Pleistocene and the early Holocene that is consistent with a significant disruptive event of the type described by Firestone et al. (4) and Kennett et al. (5). A more careful evaluation of the full cultural and archaeological record from the regions discussed by Buchanan et al. (1) would likely show similar patterns.

The evolutionary neuroscience of tool making

The appearance of the first intentionally modified stone tools over 2.5 million years ago marked a watershed in human evolutionary history, expanding the human adaptive niche and initiating a trend of technological elaboration that continues to the present day. However, the cognitive foundations of this behavioral revolution remain controversial, as do its implications for the nature and evolution of modern human technological abilities. Here we shed new light on the neural and evolutionary foundations of human tool making skill by presenting functional brain imaging data from six inexperienced subjects learning to make stone tools of the kind found in the earliest archaeological record. Functional imaging of this complex, naturalistic task was accomplished through positron emission tomography with the slowly decaying radiological tracer 18flouro-2-deoxyglucose. Results show that simple stone tool making is supported by a mosaic of primitive and derived parietofrontal perceptual-motor systems, including recently identified human specializations for representation of the central visual field and perception of three-dimensional form from motion. In the naïve tool makers reported here, no activation was observed in prefrontal executive cortices associated with strategic action planning or in inferior parietal cortex thought to play a role in the representation of everyday tool use skills. We conclude that uniquely human capacities for sensorimotor adaptation and affordance perception, rather than abstract conceptualization and planning, were central factors in the initial stages of human technological evolution.