Transitions: Homo erectus and the Acheulian: the Ethiopian sites of Gadeb and the Middle Awash

Significant differences in activity-site patterning and artifact composition at Middle Pleistocene localities in Ethiopia's high plains and Afar Rift are indications of both single-episode, small-site residues from small groups and multi-purpose, multiple occupation sites from which larger, temporary groupings might be inferred. Reconstructions of palaeo-environments and geography show that large assemblages relate to relatively stable topography, such as stream channels or lake margins, while small assemblages are more common in deltaic situations of rapid sedimentation and burial in the Rift that preclude possibility of reoccupation. A model for Acheulian socio-economic behaviour within the drier African savanna, based (in part) on chimpanzee behaviour in open savanna habitats, is proposed. This takes the form of organization into relatively extensive territories, each with several more closed-vegetation core areas, of limited extent close to permanent water, surrounded by more extensive areas of drier, open savanna, regularly exploited and patrolled by small groups. Movement from one core area to another was rapid and made together as a group, to minimize danger from large predators and competition from other hominid groups.     

Cultural conservatism and variability in the Acheulian sequence of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov

The Acheulian Technocomplex exhibits two phenomena: variability and conservatism. Variability is expressed in the composition and frequencies of tool types, particularly in the varying frequencies of bifaces (handaxes and cleavers). Conservatism is expressed in the continuous presence of bifaces along an immense time trajectory. The site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov (GBY) offers a unique opportunity to study aspects of variability and conservatism as a result of its long cultural-stratigraphic sequence containing superimposed lithic assemblages. This study explores aspects of variability and conservatism within the Acheulian lithic assemblages of GBY, with emphasis placed on the bifacial tools. While variability has been studied through a comparison of typological frequencies in a series of assemblages from the site, evidence for conservatism was examined in the production modes expressed by the reduction sequence of the bifaces. We demonstrate that while pronounced typological variability is observed among the GBY assemblages, they were all manufactured by the same technology. The technology, size, and morphology of the bifaces throughout the entire stratigraphic sequence of GBY reflect the strong conservatism of their makers. We conclude that the biface frequency cannot be considered as a chrono/cultural marker that might otherwise allow us to distinguish between different phases within the Acheulian. The variability observed within the assemblages is explained as a result of different activities, tasks, and functions, which were carried out at specific localities along the shores of the paleo-Hula Lake in the early Middle Pleistocene.     

The birth of the Acheulian techno-complex in the Caucasus region

The lithic industries of the sites Kermek, Ciscaucasia (2.1–2.0 Ma) and Karakhach, South Caucasus (1.85–1.78 Ma) contain almost all the components of the Acheulian, indicating that this techno-complex appeared in the different areas of the Caucasus region not later than at the end of the Gelasian. Such extremely old ages of these industries as well as a number of their features due to the influence of the local raw material (tabular clasts) suggest that they were formed independently of the Early Acheulian industries known in Africa and the Near East. The very early appearance and further dispersal of Early Acheulian in the Caucasus can be explained by the presence there of raw materials with qualities supporting the production of large tools inherent of Acheulian, and by the very favorable natural conditions of the region in the final Gelazian-initial Calabrian (low or medium altitude terrain with subtropical climate and savanna-like landscape).     

Diversity and multiplicity in the Asian Acheulian

The emergence of the Acheulian Techno-Complex in Asia appears to have occurred quasi-concurrently in the Levant, South Asia, East and South Africa. Throughout many parts of the huge geographical expanse of Asia, as elsewhere, this genesis was followed by the rapid diffusion of Acheulian techno-behaviors. This phenomenon of cultural radiation is attested in the archeological record throughout the Old World by an increased number of occurrences documenting growing demographic trends of Acheulian peoples, into the latter phases of the Middle Pleistocene. The “Homogeneity to Multiplicity Model” (HMM) is used here to provide a window for understanding the mechanisms behind the evolutionary changes observed throughout the very long duration and extensive geographical context of the Asian Acheulian. Since the beginning of the 19th century, Asia has continuously provided archeological evidence that is vital to our understanding of the “Acheulian revolution” and the plausible links it may have had with the appearance and evolution of Homo erectus s. l. The emphasis traditionally put on handaxes as hallmarks of Acheulian culture has falsely led many archeologists to propose models of cultural diffusion that have masked the true nature of the Acheulian as a worldwide phenomenon in which Asia has always played a key role.     

Studying post depositional damage on Acheulian bifaces using 3-D scanning

In this study, we explore post-depositional damage observed on Acheulian bifacial tools by comparing two assemblages: a collection of archaeological handaxes which shows pronounced damage marks associated with high energy water accumulation system, and an experimental assemblage that was rolled and battered in a controlled simulation experiment. Scanning the two assemblages with a precise 3-D optical scanner and subjecting the measured surfaces to the same mathematical analysis enabled the development of quantitative measures assessing and comparing the degree of damage observed on archaeological and experimental tools. The method presented here enables the definition of morphological patterns typically resulting from battering and different from intentional controlled knapping. The most important kinds of damage included the formation of deep, random ‘notch-like’ scars on the lateral edges and substantial degrees of damage to the tip of the tools, but minimal damage to the artifact's butt. Quantifying the degree of damage and its location and morphological characters allows us to present a method by which post depositional damage on archaeological tools can be measured.     

关于中西方旧石器文化中的软锤技术

关于中西方旧石器文化中的软锤技术林圣龙（中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所．北京１０００４４）软锤技术是旧石器时代早期石器打制技术进步的主要标志之一．在西方,从阿舍利文化开始,软锤技术即已逐渐得到较普遍的使用,而在中国旧石器文化中,是否广泛使用过软锤...     

伊朗旧石器考古简史及早期文化的发现与研究

伊朗作为亚洲大陆腹地沟通东西方的大国,对探究旧石器时代早期东亚和西方石器工业面貌的差异,是重要的地理节点。然而伊朗旧石器的材料相对匮乏,外人知之甚少。为方便理解,本文首先介绍了伊朗的自然与政区地理概况,梳理了伊朗一百多年旧石器考察、发掘和研究的时间脉络,在此基础上,对其旧石器时代早期文化的发现与研究现状予以整理。伊朗旧石器的研究程度目前尚低,不宜过早做出结论;从现有证据看,伊朗西部受一定程度的阿舍利传统影响,而东部几乎不见;最后从传播路径的角度,推测了伊朗及周边地区在旧石器时代早期可能的文化图景。     

The handaxe reloaded: a morphometric reassessment of Acheulian and Middle Paleolithic handaxes

This paper examines shape and size variability in Mousterian of Acheulian Tradition (MTA) handaxes and compares the observed patterns to those in the Lower Paleolithic Acheulian, both to better understand variability in MTA handaxes and to test whether or not this variability, particularly as it relates to resharpening and reduction, is structured similarly to that in the Acheulian. The Acheulian data set is based on previously published data with the addition here of a study of the handaxes from the site of Boxgrove, England. The MTA data set is based on four classic sites from southwest France with large handaxe collections. Both standard caliper-based morphometrics and Elliptical Fourier Analysis applied to coordinate data taken from digitized images of handaxes are used to assess shape. The result is that, contrary to expectations based on assumptions of evolving technological skill, handaxes in the MTA are as or more variable in shape than Acheulian ones. This variation is allometric in Acheulian handaxes, and is linked to resharpening from the tip down to the base, but is not related to size in the MTA samples. These results suggest that the goals and constraints of handaxe manufacture, but particularly handaxe reduction as a result of reworking during use, were quite different in the MTA and Acheulian, implying that conclusions about hominin cognition drawn from patterns in shape variability in handaxes must be understood in the context of artifact life histories.     

中国旧石器时代手斧的特点与意义

手斧的存在与否及其意义是我国史前考古学界长期争论的问题。中国旧石器时代遗存中存在着手斧这一类器物,但它们在形态、技术、组合关系、丰度上与旧大陆西侧有很大区别; 大多数手斧与手镐应属同质异型, 是中国乃至东南亚砾石石器文化中居于从属地位的特定成员, 是更新世生活在热带-亚热带的先民开发利用植物根茎食材的大型挖掘工具。他们在渊源上有本土砾石文化的根基, 可能受到小规模人群迁徙和文化交流的影响, 体现着"本土起源+外来影响"的融合发展过程。中国的手斧存在着材料的不完备性和研究的肤浅性, 体现在绝大多数标本的地层和时代归属不明, 研究多停留在对少数"典型标本"主观定性的层面, 缺乏全面客观的材料分析和详实的观测、统计数据, 很多争论缘于缺乏共同遵循的类型学标准, 陷入表层的术语纷争。未来的研究必须加强地层、年代和形态、技术分析的基础性工作, 充分运用现代科技手段提取信息和数据, 并从理论层面深入揭示手斧这类遗存所蕴含的先民生存与演化的意义。