L’étude des bifaces de la Hanshui River Valley,Chine

Hanshui River valley is a frequently human active region. Early human left rich stone artefacts in this region. A number of Palaeolithic sites are distributed in the upper reaches of Hanshui River valley. As yet, there are about 40 handaxes sites. The material of handaxes in. Hanshui River valley is mainly the siliceous lime stone, quartzite, sandstone, tuff, etc. Handaxes made on pebble are in a higher proportion than those made on flake. The shape of handaxes is mainly triangular and ovate. The retouch technique is direct hammer retouch, lacking soft hammer retouch. These handaxes are retouched according to function and the blank's shape. Most of the handaxes don’t retouch on the handle. This is the character of handaxes in China. The discovery of handaxe industry in China poses a question: the origin of this industry is from Africa or Asia? In our opinion, the handaxes discovered in China are very similar to the Acheulian handaxes in European and South Korea, but its different from that in Africa. The main reasons contributed to the difference are the environment, the stone material and technical method etc. So I think the handaxe industry in China was born locally. It is very important for us to study Palaeolithic culture in Asia and Europe.     

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。     

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.     

Handaxe shape variation in a relative context

The nature, extent and causes of shape variation within and between Acheulean handaxe assemblages represent one of the most heavily theorised aspects of Lower Palaeolithic archaeology. To date, however, handaxe shape variation has only ever been studied within an artefact-based comparative context. Here, the 2D and 3D shape of 698 Acheulean handaxes, selected from ten assemblages, is contextualised within a theoretically possible range of forms defined by two intentionally highly diverse modern replica biface sets. Results demonstrate that handaxe artefacts are highly diverse in their 2D plan-view shape, displaying near complete overlap with the shape space of the intentionally diverse replica tools, along with similar levels of variation. The 3D shape of handaxe artefacts, however, displays much stronger form limitations, occupying under 50% of the shape space created by the replica bifaces. Principally, flat and more ‘tabular’ handaxe forms that display low thickness to width ratios were revealed as absent from the archaeological record. It is argued that while there is considerable diversity and variability in the shape of Acheulean handaxe artefacts, their form is nonetheless restricted by strong material volume and ‘refinement’ limits.     

Less of a bird's song than a hard rock ensemble

Corbey et al. (2016) propose that the Acheulean handaxe was, at least in part, under genetic control. An alternative perspective is offered here, focusing on the nature of the Acheulean handaxe and the archaeological record, and re‐emphasizing their status as cultural artefacts. This is based on four main arguments challenging the proposals of Corbey et al. Firstly, handaxes do not have to track environmental variation to be a cultural artefact, given their role as a hand‐held butchery knife or multi‐purpose tool. Secondly, while handaxe shapes do cluster around a basic bauplan, there is also significant variability in the Acheulean handaxe record, characterized by site‐specific modal forms and locally expressed, short‐lived, idiosyncratic traits. Critically, this variability occurs in both time and space, is multi‐scalar, and does not appear to be under genetic control. Thirdly, handaxes were produced in social contexts, within which their makers grew up exposed to the sights and sounds of artefact manufacture. Finally, the localized absences of handaxes at different times and places in the Lower Paleolithic world is suggestive of active behavioral choices and population dynamics rather than genetic controls.     

Comparison of handaxes from Bose Basin (China) and the western Acheulean indicates convergence of form, not cognitive differences

Alleged differences between Palaeolithic assemblages from eastern Asia and the west have been the focus of controversial discussion for over half a century, most famously in terms of the so-called 'Movius Line'. Recent discussion has centered on issues of comparability between handaxes from eastern Asian and 'Acheulean' examples from western portions of the Old World. Here, we present a multivariate morphometric analysis in order to more fully document how Mid-Pleistocene (i.e. ～803 Kyr) handaxes from Bose Basin, China compare to examples from the west, as well as with additional (Mode 1) cores from across the Old World. Results show that handaxes from both the western Old World and Bose are significantly different from the Mode 1 cores, suggesting a gross comparability with regard to functionally-related form. Results also demonstrate overlap between the ranges of shape variation in Acheulean handaxes and those from Bose, demonstrating that neither raw material nor cognitive factors were an absolute impediment to Bose hominins in making comparable handaxe forms to their hominin kin west of the Movius Line. However, the shapes of western handaxes are different from the Bose examples to a statistically significant degree. Moreover, the handaxe assemblages from the western Old World are all more similar to each other than any individual assemblage is to the Bose handaxes. Variation in handaxe form is also comparatively high for the Bose material, consistent with suggestions that they represent an emergent, convergent instance of handaxe technology authored by Pleistocene hominins with cognitive capacities directly comparable to those of 'Acheulean' hominins.     

Understanding Ancient Hominin Dispersals Using Artefactual Data: A Phylogeographic Analysis of Acheulean Handaxes

Background

Reconstructing the dispersal patterns of extinct hominins remains a challenging but essential goal. One means of supplementing fossil evidence is to utilize archaeological evidence in the form of stone tools. Based on broad dating patterns, it has long been thought that the appearance of Acheulean handaxe technologies outside of Africa was the result of hominin dispersals, yet independent tests of this hypothesis remain rare. Cultural transmission theory leads to a prediction of a strong African versus non-African phylogeographic pattern in handaxe datasets, if the African Acheulean hypothesis is to be supported.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Here, this prediction is tested using an intercontinental dataset of Acheulean handaxes and a biological phylogenetic method (maximum parsimony). The analyses produce a tree consistent with the phylogeographic prediction. Moreover, a bootstrap analysis provides evidence that this pattern is robust, and the maximum parsimony tree is also shown to be statistically different from a tree constrained by stone raw materials.

Conclusions/Significance

These results demonstrate that nested analyses of behavioural data, utilizing methods drawn from biology, have the potential to shed light on ancient hominin dispersals. This is an encouraging prospect for human palaeobiology since sample sizes for lithic artefacts are many orders of magnitude higher than those of fossil data. These analyses also suggest that the sustained occurrence of Acheulean handaxe technologies in regions such as Europe and the Indian subcontinent resulted from dispersals by African hominin populations.     

The handaxe reconsidered

The Acheulean handaxe is one of the longest‐known and longest‐surviving artifacts of the Palaeolithic and, despite its experimentally tested functionality, is often regarded as puzzling. It is unnecessary to invoke a unique‐for‐mammals genetic mechanism to explain the handaxe phenomenon. Instead, we propose that two nongenetic processes are sufficient. The first is a set of ergonomic design principles linked to the production of sturdy, hand‐held cutting tools in the context of a knapped‐stone technology that lacked hafting. The second is an esthetic preference for regular forms with gradual curves and pleasing proportions. Neither process is a cultural meme but, operating together in a cultural context, they can account for all of the supposedly puzzling time‐space patterns presented by handaxes.     

关于百色手斧问题——兼论手斧的划分标准

本文从讨论手斧的定义出发 ,归纳出划分手斧的标准 ,并以此来衡量百色手斧 ,认为百色手斧是真正手斧。由于百色手斧的原料 (多为石英岩 )质地粗糙、结构面多、且有的在制作工具时已被风化 ,这在很大程度上影响手斧的制作质量 ,因此 ,百色手斧更多地显示出早期类型手斧的特点。百色手斧和印度、中东以及非洲的部分手斧有许多相同之处。这些相同之处主要是由于原料相同或相近的结果。文中论述的百色手斧 ,部分尚属首次报道。     

The acheulean handaxe: More like a bird's song than a beatles' tune?

The goal of this paper is to provoke debate about the nature of an iconic artifact—the Acheulean handaxe. Specifically, we want to initiate a conversation about whether or not they are cultural objects. The vast majority of archeologists assume that the behaviors involved in the production of handaxes were acquired by social learning and that handaxes are therefore cultural. We will argue that this assumption is not warranted on the basis of the available evidence and that an alternative hypothesis should be given serious consideration. This alternative hypothesis is that the form of Acheulean handaxes was at least partly under genetic control.     

中国的原手斧及其传统

中国的原手斧包括双面器、单面器和三稜器三类,分布于华北、华中和华南的几十处地点,以华中的发现最为丰富。它们属于旧石器初期的遗存,旧石器中期以后已大体绝迹。
中国的原手斧与砍砸器、石球等共存,不同于阿舍利文化传统的手斧。中国旧石器初期至少有两个文化传统,即以原手斧为代表的砾石工业和以周口店文化为代表的石片工业,但华北的原手斧传统后来已被石片工业所完全代替。     

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.     

Le contexte géologique des industries lithiques à bifaces en Chine

Until 1950, a few handaxe yielding sites were known in China. Since then, several sites were discovered, as for example Dingcun, Lantian and Bose. However, only after the publication of the discovery of handaxes at Bose in 2000, the theory of Movius, who rejected the evidence of proper handaxes in China, was really questioned. This bad understanding of the prehistory in China, would be bound to a misunderstanding of the geological Quaternary context. This article aims at improving the situation by presenting the stratigraphy of handaxe-yielding sites according to their geographical and environmental context, highly contrasted between north and south.     

Les industries paléolithiques du bassin de Bose (Chine du Sud)

About eighty Paleolithic sites are presently known in Bose basin (West of Guangxi autonomous region, South China). The sites are extensively spread on the fourth terrace of the Youjiang River. They are dated to 0.8 my, thanks to the presence in the archaeological layers of tektites, residues from a major meteoritic event, in association with the archeological materials. Only about twenty sites have been actually excavated and handaxes have been very recently discovered in stratigraphic context. The archeological material exclusively includes lithic industry which is mainly constituted by unifacial pebble tools made on coarse grain rocks: choppers, but also handaxes and picks. The technology used is very simple and there are no spheroids which usually characterize a lot of Chinese sites of this period. Bose handaxes, thought their number is quite low, remind of the western Acheulian.     

Les matières premières,la technologie lithique et les stratégies d’occupation dans le site du Pléistocène moyen de Covacha de los Zarpazos (gisement de Galería,Sierra de Atapuerca,Espagne)

Variability is one of the most debated topics in lithic technology studies. For the Middle Pleistocene period, this debate has specifically focused on the significance of large cutting tools such as handaxes and cleavers. This paper presents the stone tool assemblage from Covacha de los Zarpazos site, included in the Galería complex at Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain). We analyse the management of lithic raw materials, the reduction sequences identified, and the morphological variation in the shape of large cutting tools. The results show that raw materials play an important role in the final variability of tool shape, although they do not represent any real constraint. However, what determines the main variability of a whole lithic assemblage is the occupation strategy and the specific activities carried out in a given site.     

Woodworking activities by early humans: a plant residue analysis on Acheulian stone tools from Peninj (Tanzania)

The emergence of the Acheulian stone tool industry, between 1.7 and 1.5 m.y.a., constitutes one of the earliest evidences of complex behavior in the process of human evolution. The major technological breakthrough with the Acheulian industry was the beginning of the manufacture of bifacially shaped heavy-duty tools. Handaxes made with a predetermined form and a high degree of symmetry are the main characteristic of the Acheulian tradition. The tools are shaped through a long knapping sequence with a remarkable increase in the technical skills of the makers, compared with the older Oldowan tradition, implying a high degree of planning and foresight. Until recently, the function of these early bifacial tools remained unknown. A large number of these artefacts were found at Peninj in Tanzania, and phytolith analyses on handaxes have yielded for the first time unambiguous evidence of their function as woodworking tools.     

Generativity,hierarchical action and recursion in the technology of the Acheulean to Middle Palaeolithic transition: A perspective from Patpara,the Son Valley,India

The Acheulean to Middle Palaeolithic transition is one of the most important technological changes that occurs over the course of human evolution. Here we examine stone artefact assemblages from Patpara and two other excavated sites in the Middle Son Valley, India, which show a mosaic of attributes associated with Acheulean and Middle Palaeolithic industries. The bifaces from these sites are very refined and generally small, but also highly variable in size. A strong relationship between flake scar density and biface size indicates extensive differential resharpening. There are relatively low proportions of bifaces at these sites, with more emphasis on small flake tools struck from recurrent Levallois cores. The eventual demise of large bifaces may be attributed to the curation of small prepared cores from which sharper, or more task-specific flakes were struck. Levallois technology appears to have arisen out of adapting aspects of handaxe knapping, including shaping of surfaces, the utilization of two inter-dependent surfaces, and the striking of invasive thinning flakes. The generativity, hierarchical organization of action, and recursion evident in recurrent Levallois technology may be attributed to improvements in working memory.     

The Acheulean massive scrapers of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov-a product of the biface chaîne opératoire

The presence of large scrapers has been reported from Acheulean sites worldwide but they are rarely described in detail. At Gesher Benot Ya'aqov (GBY), a similar group of artifacts, named here "massive scrapers," was identified as a significant component of the lithic assemblage. In this paper, we define and describe this Acheulean tool type and discuss its size, morphology, and technology. We demonstrate that at GBY these tools were shaped on flakes that were side-products of the reduction sequence to produce bifaces (handaxes and cleavers). We hypothesize that these blanks were rejected as potential bifaces during the knapping sequence but considered suitable for the retouching of massive scrapers, and were set aside for future work. We support our view with data from archaeological finds younger than those of GBY, as well as with evidence from controlled experimental knapping and ethnoarchaeological observations. We then discuss the contribution of this elaborate knapping strategy to our understanding of Lower Paleolithic hominin behavior, particularly in the domains of multifaceted planning and foresight.     

An Experimental Test of the Accumulated Copying Error Model of Cultural Mutation for Acheulean Handaxe Size

Archaeologists interested in explaining changes in artifact morphology over long time periods have found it useful to create models in which the only source of change is random and unintentional copying error, or ‘cultural mutation’. These models can be used as null hypotheses against which to detect non-random processes such as cultural selection or biased transmission. One proposed cultural mutation model is the accumulated copying error model, where individuals attempt to copy the size of another individual''s artifact exactly but make small random errors due to physiological limits on the accuracy of their perception. Here, we first derive the model within an explicit mathematical framework, generating the predictions that multiple independently-evolving artifact chains should diverge over time such that their between-chain variance increases while the mean artifact size remains constant. We then present the first experimental test of this model in which 200 participants, split into 20 transmission chains, were asked to faithfully copy the size of the previous participant''s handaxe image on an iPad. The experimental findings supported the model''s prediction that between-chain variance should increase over time and did so in a manner quantitatively in line with the model. However, when the initial size of the image that the participants resized was larger than the size of the image they were copying, subjects tended to increase the size of the image, resulting in the mean size increasing rather than staying constant. This suggests that items of material culture formed by reductive vs. additive processes may mutate differently when individuals attempt to replicate faithfully the size of previously-produced artifacts. Finally, we show that a dataset of 2601 Acheulean handaxes shows less variation than predicted given our empirically measured copying error variance, suggesting that other processes counteracted the variation in handaxe size generated by perceptual cultural mutation.     

Rates of cultural change and patterns of cultural accumulation in stochastic models of social transmission

Cultural variation in a population is affected by the rate of occurrence of cultural innovations, whether such innovations are preferred or eschewed, how they are transmitted between individuals in the population, and the size of the population. An innovation, such as a modification in an attribute of a handaxe, may be lost or may become a property of all handaxes, which we call “fixation of the innovation.” Alternatively, several innovations may attain appreciable frequencies, in which case properties of the frequency distribution—for example, of handaxe measurements—is important. Here we apply the Moran model from the stochastic theory of population genetics to study the evolution of cultural innovations. We obtain the probability that an initially rare innovation becomes fixed, and the expected time this takes. When variation in cultural traits is due to recurrent innovation, copy error, and sampling from generation to generation, we describe properties of this variation, such as the level of heterogeneity expected in the population. For all of these, we determine the effect of the mode of social transmission: conformist, where there is a tendency for each naïve newborn to copy the most popular variant; pro-novelty bias, where the newborn prefers a specific variant if it exists among those it samples; one-to-many transmission, where the variant one individual carries is copied by all newborns while that individual remains alive. We compare our findings with those predicted by prevailing theories for rates of cultural change and the distribution of cultural variation.