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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Old stones' song: Use-wear experiments and analysis of the Oldowan quartz and quartzite assemblage from Kanjera South (Kenya)
Journal of Human Evolution, Volume 72, Year 2014
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Description
Evidence of Oldowan tools by ~2.6 million years ago (Ma) may signal a major adaptive shift in hominin evolution. While tool-dependent butchery of large mammals was important by at least 2.0Ma, the use of artifacts for tasks other than faunal processing has been difficult to diagnose. Here we report on use-wear analysis of ~2.0Ma quartz and quartzite artifacts from Kanjera South, Kenya. A use-wear framework that links processing of specific materials and tool motions to their resultant use-wear patterns was developed. A blind test was then carried out to assess and improve the efficacy of this experimental use-wear framework, which was then applied to the analysis of 62 Oldowan artifacts from Kanjera South. Use-wear on a total of 23 artifact edges was attributed to the processing of specific materials. Use-wear on seven edges (30%) was attributed to animal tissue processing, corroborating zooarchaeological evidence for butchery at the site. Use-wear on 16 edges (70%) was attributed to the processing of plant tissues, including wood, grit-covered plant tissues that we interpret as underground storage organs (USOs), and stems of grass or sedges. These results expand our knowledge of the suite of behaviours carried out in the vicinity of Kanjera South to include the processing of materials that would be 'invisible' using standard archaeological methods. Wood cutting and scraping may represent the production and/or maintenance of wooden tools. Use-wear related to USO processing extends the archaeological evidence for hominin acquisition and consumption of this resource by over 1.5Ma. Cutting of grasses, sedges or reeds may be related to a subsistence task (e.g., grass seed harvesting, cutting out papyrus culm for consumption) and/or a non-subsistence related task (e.g., production of 'twine,' simple carrying devices, or bedding). These results highlight the adaptive significance of lithic technology for hominins at Kanjera. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
Authors & Co-Authors
Lemorini, Cristina
Italy, Rome
Sapienza Università Di Roma
Plummer, Thomas W.
United States, Flushing
Queens College, City University of new York
Braun, David R.
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
United States, Washington, D.c.
Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology
Germany, Leipzig
Max-planck-institut Für Evolutionäre Anthropologie
Crittenden, Alyssa N.
United States, Las Vegas
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Ditchfield, Peter W.
United Kingdom, Oxford
Oxford Social Sciences Division
Bishop, Laura C.
United Kingdom, Liverpool
Liverpool John Moores University
Hertel, Fritz
United States, Northridge
California State University, Northridge
Oliver, James S.
United Kingdom, Liverpool
Liverpool John Moores University
United States, Springfield
Illinois State Museum
Marlowe, Frank W.
United Kingdom, Cambridge
University of Cambridge
Schoeninger, Margaret J.
United States, La Jolla
University of California, San Diego
Potts, Richard
United States, Washington, D.c.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Kenya, Nairobi
National Museums of Kenya
Statistics
Citations: 11
Authors: 11
Affiliations: 14
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.03.002
ISSN:
00472484
Research Areas
Disability
Study Locations
Kenya