The Oldowan industry of Peninj and its bearing on the reconstruction of the technological skills of Lower Pleistocene hominids

The Oldowan technology has traditionally been assumed to reflect technical simplicity and limited planning by Plio-Pleistocene hominids. The analysis of the Oldowan technology from a set of 1.6-1.4 Ma sites (ST Site Complex) in Peninj adds new information regarding the curated behavior of early hominids. The present work introduces new data to the few published monographic works on East African Oldowan technology. Its relevance lies in its conclusions, since the Peninj Oldowan assemblages show complex technological skills for Lower Pleistocene hominids, which are more complex than has been previously inferred for the Oldowan stone tool industry. Reduced variability of tool types and complex use of cores for flaking are some of the most remarkable features that identify the Oldowan assemblages from Peninj. Hominids during this period seem to have already been experimenting with pre-determination of the flaked products from cores, a feature presently assumed to appear later in time. Planning and template structuring of flaked products are integral parts of the Oldowan at Peninj.     

奥杜威工业石制品分类综述

石制品是旧石器时代考古的主要研究对象,其分类是旧石器生产技术和文化研究的基础与前提,然而,中国旧石器时代考古有关石制品分类目前尚无一致标准,这对开展旧石器时代考古学术研究的国际交流产生了负面影响。鉴于似奥杜威(Oldowan-like)或模式I工业在我国古人类石器工业面貌占有非常特殊的地位,因此,本文对以非洲为代表的奥杜威(Oldowan)工业(模式I)石器技术研究中有关石制品的分类体系进行整合和梳理,同时借鉴Mary Leakey、Glynn Isaac和Nicholas Toth等为代表的不同分类系统,并对中国境内有关石制品分类的现状进行讨论。     

Landscape-scale variation in hominin tool use: Evidence from the Developed Oldowan

The relationship between artifact manufacture, use, and discard in the Developed Oldowan is complex. Here we use digital-image-analysis techniques to investigate the intensity of reduction in single-platform cores of the Developed Oldowan of the Okote Member, Koobi Fora Formation. Data suggest that this method provides a more accurate measure of reduction intensity than previous applications of a unifacial-scraper model. Assemblages of single-platform cores excavated from extensive lateral exposures of the Okote Member provide insights into the relationship between raw-material availability and discard patterns. Variation in reduction intensity suggests that tools are not always discarded in patterns that would be predicted by the availability of raw material. Further, it appears that hominin transport decisions involved an assessment of the potential use-life of certain forms. Many aspects of Developed Oldowan technology conform to previously developed models of curated technologies.     

Further research at the Oldowan site of Ain Hanech,North-eastern Algeria

Further investigations were carried out at Ain Hanech, Algeria in 1998 and 1999 to explore its potential for investigating early hominid behavioral patterns and adaptation. Research concentrated on the stratigraphy and dating, identifying new archaeological deposits, and excavating the Ain Hanech and El-Kherba localities. To enhance the chronological control within a biostratigraphic framework, the Ain Boucherit fossil-bearing stratum, yielding a Plio-Pleistocene fauna, is correlated with the regional stratigraphy. In the stratigraphic sequence, the Ain Boucherit stratum, located 13m below the Ain Hanech Oldowan occurrences, is found in Unit Q of the Ain Hanech Formation. Unit Q shows a paleomagnetically reversed polarity, which may be correlated with an age earlier than the Olduvai normal subchron (1.95-1.77Ma). Based on test trenches and stratigraphic analyses, additional Oldowan deposits A, B, and C are identified at Ain Hanech. All three deposits and the El-Kherba site contain Mode I technology artefacts associated with an Early Pleistocene fauna. El-Kherba is stratigraphically equivalent to Ain Hanech. These two archaeological sites are estimated to be dated to about 1.8Ma.     

Early Humans at the eastern gate of Europe: The discovery and investigation of Oldowan sites in northern Caucasus

This article presents the results of excavations and multidisciplinary investigations of the extraordinary Oldowan site of Muhkai II in the northern Caucasus (Republic of Dagestan, Russia) from 2008 to 2012. Archaeological and palaeontological materials are summarized together with data from palaeomagnetic and palynological analyses, obtained from 34 cultural layers at the site. This gives an opportunity for a new approach to the question of the timing and route of the first human settlement of the middle latitudes of western Eurasian, including south-eastern Europe. Judging by the data obtained, this occurred around 2 million years BP and a route of migration was located along the western shore of the Caspian Sea.     

New Oldowan localities at high level within Kilombe Caldera,Kenya

New occurrences of early artefacts ascribed to the Oldowan tradition come from localities at high level within the caldera of the extinct Kilombe volcano, located in the central rift valley of Kenya. The trachyte cone and caldera of Kilombe volcano formed at ca. 2.5 Ma, and the record of >130 m of sediment-fill indicates that the caldera subsequently held a lake for long periods during the Early Pleistocene. The Oldowan artefact localities, dated by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and palaeomagnetism to ～1.78 Ma, lie east of the centre of the caldera, on the west side of an ancient small lake, which later drained away as a gorge formed on the east side of the mountain. The artefacts are dominantly made of Kilombe trachyte, and are associated with a fauna of large animals including Hippopotamus gorgops. These are the first Oldowan localities to be discovered in a new area of the Kenyan rift valley in the last thirty years, and their presence at high level in rugged landscape indicates that the associated hominins were exploiting a full range of environments.     

The Early Stone Age lithic assemblages of Gadeb (Ethiopia) and the Developed Oldowan/early Acheulean in East Africa

The Early Stone Age sites of Gadeb (Ethiopian South-East Plateau) were excavated under the direction of Desmond Clark in the 1970s. Dated to between 1.45 and 0.7 Ma, Gadeb proved that humans had already occupied high altitude areas in the Lower Pleistocene. Despite the importance of the Gadeb sites, their lithic assemblages were never published in detail, and no review of the stone tools has ever been reported since the original 1970s study. This paper updates the information available on Gadeb by presenting a systematic review of the lithic technology of several assemblages. The objectives are to evaluate the technological skills of Gadeb knappers and to contextualize them into the current discussion of the origins of the Acheulean and its possible coexistence with the so-called Developed Oldowan in East Africa.     

Raw material selectivity in Late Pliocene Oldowan sites in the Makaamitalu Basin, Hadar, Ethiopia

We report the results of an analysis of raw material selection patterns in the assemblages from two Late Pliocene in situ archaeological localities in the Makaamitalu Basin (Hadar, Ethiopia). While the same local conglomerate was used as a raw material source for both archaeological occurrences, different selection criteria are identified. At A.L. 894, selection for quality is subtle and the clearest selection is against non-homogeneous raw materials. In the A.L. 666 assemblage, higher-quality raw materials were selected and some rare raw materials reached the locality from unknown sources. A comparison between the Makaamitalu and other Oldowan assemblages reveals an overall shift toward higher complexity of both selectivity and transport behaviors from ca. 2.0 Ma onward, contrasting a typo-technological conservatism that pertains until ∼1.6 Ma. It is hypothesized that an increase in complexity of behaviors related to raw material selection and acquisition involved changes in the intensity and fidelity of technological knowledge transmission.     

The Oldowan site Aïn al Fil (El Kowm,Syria) and the first humans of the Syrian Desert

At present, the oldest traces of human cultures are found in Eastern Africa. New discoveries set anew the questions about human and animal dispersal into Eurasia. For over 1.8 million years, humans have been present in the Levant. An extensive program of surveys and excavations in the Syrian Desert showed that this part of the world was a very ancient land of settlement. In Central Syria, the oldest site, Aïn al Fil in the region of El Kowm, was excavated in 2008 and 2010. The lithic industry in the lowest layer can be characterized by numerous unretouched flakes, pebble-tools and core-like artefacts. This assemblage is typical in a broad sense of archaic Palaeolithic the debitage of which corresponds to mode 1. From a techno-typological point of view, this industry tallies quite well with the so-called Oldowan stage. It shows remarkable similarities with the oldest African assemblages. From a chronologic point of view, these levels occur before three positive events in the Matuyama paleomagnetic sequence. It seems consistent to place the Oldowan sequence around 1.8 Ma BP within the Olduvai subchron or just before Olduvai/Matuyama reversal limit. Together with those of the neighbouring site Hummal, these levels would be the oldest traces of human presence ever found in Syria. In the Levant, the first humans not only occupied favourable zones but regularly ventured deep into less welcoming environments suggesting an astonishing flexibility in their behavioural and survival skills.     

Tool-using strategies by early hominids at bed II, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

This study examines the current prevailing model of Oldowan technology-the opportunistic, least-effort strategy of stone tool making and using by early hominids. The sample includes the MNK chert factory site and three contemporaneous assemblages from Olduvai Gorge, all dated between 1.65 and 1.53 m.y.a. The analysis suggests that early hominids at Olduvai may have been selective, applying distinctive strategies in making and using tools depending on the different types of raw materials available to them. The preponderance of lava cores and near absence of flakes associated with the cores suggest that lava cores at Olduvai did not provide a source of flakes. They were primarily heavy-duty core tools, despite the fact that the majority of Olduvai lava is of excellent quality for flaking. Contrary to this pattern, the abundance of chert flakes and the lack of large chert cores suggest that the production of flakes was the most important strategy applied to chert. Original forms and flaking mechanics of the raw materials may have been important factors in the simultaneous application of the different, complementary strategies. The Oldowan tool-using strategy was dynamic and flexible, in response to changes in raw material availability. The use of chert between 1.65 and 1.53 m.y.a. was apparently related to the drastic decrease in flake production in lava and quartz. Finally, lack of initial reduction episodes of lava material challenges the idea of the stone cache strategy at Olduvai between 1.65 to 1.53 m.y.a.     

The nature and evolution of intelligence in orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)

Orangutans share many intellectual qualities with African great apes and humans, likely because of their recent common ancestry. They may also show unique intellectual adaptations because of their long evolutionary divergence from the African lineage. This paper assesses orangutan intelligence in light of this evolutionary history. Evidence derives from observations of juvenile ex-captive orangutans reintroduced to free forest life by the Wanariset Orangutan Reintroduction Project, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The intellectual qualities shared by great apes and humans point to a distinct “great ape” intelligence with hierarchization as a pivotal cognitive mechanism. Evolutionary reconstructions jibe with this view and suggest that technically difficult foods may have been key selection pressures. Orangutans should then show hierarchical intelligence when obtaining difficult foods. Evidence on ex-captive orangutans' techniques for processing difficult foods concurs. Intellectual qualities distinct to orangutans may owe to arboreal travel pressures; in particular arboreality may aggravate foraging problems. Evidence confirms that ex-captive orangutans' techniques for accessing difficult foods located arboreally are intellectually complex—i.e. they show hierarchization. These findings suggest other factors probably important to understanding great ape and orangutan forms of intelligence and their evolutionary origins.     

Depositional environments, archeological occurrences and hominids from Members E and F of the Shungura Formation (Omo basin, Ethiopia)

The several known archeological occurrences from the Shungura Formation (Members E and F) are discussed within the context of their particular depositional and paleoenvironmental settings, and the broader context of the Pliocene of the Turkana Basin. These assemblages date from 2·3–2·4 Ma, and are among the oldest yet known in Africa. In situ archeological assemblages are restricted to the distal edge of fluviatile levees, behind gallery forests and at the edge of open savanna. Extensive and rather dense scatters of slightly disturbed quartz artifacts are linked to large expanses of braided stream situations. Lag components are derived from stream beds. There is no available evidence of occupation either under riverine or deltaic forest settings or on dryland. Hominid skeletal remains from this interval, none of which occur at or are directly associated with such archeological occurrences, are attributed to two hominid taxa. Most specimens represent a “robust” australopithecine and are attributed here to A. aethiopicus. A few hominid teeth are attributed to aff. Homo sp.     

The biological principles of swarm intelligence

The roots of swarm intelligence are deeply embedded in the biological study of self-organized behaviors in social insects. From the routing of traffic in telecommunication networks to the design of control algorithms for groups of autonomous robots, the collective behaviors of these animals have inspired many of the foundational works in this emerging research field. For the first issue of this journal dedicated to swarm intelligence, we review the main biological principles that underlie the organization of insects’ colonies. We begin with some reminders about the decentralized nature of such systems and we describe the underlying mechanisms of complex collective behaviors of social insects, from the concept of stigmergy to the theory of self-organization in biological systems. We emphasize in particular the role of interactions and the importance of bifurcations that appear in the collective output of the colony when some of the system’s parameters change. We then propose to categorize the collective behaviors displayed by insect colonies according to four functions that emerge at the level of the colony and that organize its global behavior. Finally, we address the role of modulations of individual behaviors by disturbances (either environmental or internal to the colony) in the overall flexibility of insect colonies. We conclude that future studies about self-organized biological behaviors should investigate such modulations to better understand how insect colonies adapt to uncertain worlds.     

The evolution of brain size and intelligence in man

The brain size of hominids has increased approximately threefold during the evolution of the hominids fromAustralopithecus toHomo sapiens. It is proposed that the principal reason for this increase is that larger brains conferred greater intelligence, and greater intelligence conferred a selection advantage. A number of anthropologists have difficulty accepting this thesis because they believe that brain size is not associated with intelligence in man. Evidence is reviewed, and new evidence from two studies is presented, to show that brain size as measured by head size is positively correlated with intelligence as measured by intelligence tests. On two recent samples statistically significant correlations of .21 and .30 were obtained between estimates of brain size and IQ. It is considered that brain size is positively associated with intelligence in man and that this is the major reason for the increase in brain size of the hominids during the last 3.2 million years.     

The evolution of animal 'cultures' and social intelligence

Decades-long field research has flowered into integrative studies that, together with experimental evidence for the requisite social learning capacities, have indicated a reliance on multiple traditions ('cultures') in a small number of species. It is increasingly evident that there is great variation in manifestations of social learning, tradition and culture among species, offering much scope for evolutionary analysis. Social learning has been identified in a range of vertebrate and invertebrate species, yet sustained traditions appear rarer, and the multiple traditions we call cultures are rarer still. Here, we examine relationships between this variation and both social intelligence--sophisticated information processing adapted to the social domain--and encephalization. First, we consider whether culture offers one particular confirmation of the social ('Machiavellian') intelligence hypothesis that certain kinds of social life (here, culture) select for intelligence: 'you need to be smart to sustain culture'. Phylogenetic comparisons, particularly focusing on our own study animals, the great apes, support this, but we also highlight some paradoxes in a broader taxonomic survey. Second, we use intraspecific variation to address the converse hypothesis that 'culture makes you smart', concluding that recent evidence for both chimpanzees and orangutans support this proposition.     

The Oldowan site of Muhkai II,layer 80 (northeastern Caucasus): Spatial structure and cultural and chronological attribution of the lithic assemblage

In 2004–2006 a group of Lower Palaeolithic sites was discovered in the northeastern Caucasus: Ainikab I–VI, Gegalashur I–III and Muhkai I–II. Since then, they have been the subject of comprehensive scientific investigations. One site which is undergoing active research is the multilayered site of Muhkai II. Multiple cultural layers at the site have been found in a 73 m thick sequence of Early Pleistocene sediments. The geological age of the layers encompasses the interval 2.1–0.8 million years ago, or the majority of the Early Pleistocene. Layer 80 of Muhkai II is located in the central part of the section at a depth of −33.6 to −34.0 m. Its significance lies in the fact that the site contains two cultural layers–the upper and the lower (main)–that are preserved in situ or have been subject to minimal fluvial processes. The finds consist of lithic artefacts and osseous faunal remains. According to field observations and microstratigraphic analyses, the cultural layers can be characterised as the ancient surfaces of an occupation area. Two stages of occupation can be defined in the lower cultural layer. Layer 80 of Muhkai II was a periodically visited location at the banks of a waterbody, where the acquisition and butchery of large mammals took place. The faunal collection contains 301 bones, deriving from four carnivorous and six herbivorous species of mammals. The total lithic collection contains 1094 finds. According to typological and technological criteria the lithic assemblage relates to the Oldowan and has analogies with Oldowan sites in Africa (particularly with sites of the Olduvai Gorge as well as others). At the same time, some specifics of the lithic assemblage reflect the uniqueness of the site and its functional type. Layer 80 of the Muhkai II site is estimated to date to within the chronological interval ∼2.1–1.7 mya.     

The cytopathologist's role in developing and evaluating artificial intelligence in cytopathology practice

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have the potential to transform cytopathology practice, and it is important for cytopathologists to embrace this and place themselves at the forefront of implementing these technologies in cytopathology. This review illustrates an archetypal AI workflow from project conception to implementation in a diagnostic setting and illustrates the cytopathologist's role and level of involvement at each stage of the process. Cytopathologists need to develop and maintain a basic understanding of AI, drive decisions regarding the development and implementation of AI in cytopathology, participate in the generation of datasets used to train and evaluate AI algorithms, understand how the performance of these algorithms is assessed, participate in the validation of these algorithms (either at a regulatory level or in the laboratory setting), and ensure continuous quality assurance of algorithms deployed in a diagnostic setting. In addition, cytopathologists should ensure that these algorithms are developed, trained, tested and deployed in an ethical manner. Cytopathologists need to become informed consumers of these AI algorithms by understanding their workings and limitations, how their performance is assessed and how to validate and verify their output in clinical practice.