Download or read book Methods for Determining Differential Behaviors in Stone Tool Production and Application to the Oldowan of Olduvai Gorge Tanzania and Koobi Fora Kenya written by Joseph S. Reti and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traditional lithic artifact analyses have provided information regarding hominin ranging behaviors, raw material preferences, and the potential for functionality. However, there is currently no standard method for determining how hominins produced lithic artifacts. This dissertation research provides the first quantitative measure of flake production techniques and applies these measures to the Oldowan of Koobi Fora, Kenya and Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Four Oldowan production behaviors are identified and are used to define what has been called the "least effort approach" to flake production in the Oldowan. Behaviorally informative measurements are taken on whole flakes and size standardized using their geometric mean. In order to attribute each archaeological flake to a production behavior, large experimental assemblages are created using native raw materials from Koobi Fora and Olduvai Gorge (n = 3,651 flakes and 443 cores). Each experimentally produced flake has empirically known production behaviors associated with it. A multivariate classification algorithm is constructed to determine a classification tree of best fit for the experimental flakes such that each flake is assigned a particular production behavior. Archaeological flakes are assessed via this classification algorithm and then compared to the experimental expectations for distribution of production behaviors. The application of Oldowan archaeological assemblages to this process demonstrates that the null hypothesis that a least effort manufacturing strategy was employed at Koobi Fora cannot be rejected, but this null hypothesis can be rejected for subsets of quartzite and basalt flakes at Olduvai Gorge. Hominins at both localities demonstrate an understanding of raw material economics, but at Olduvai Gorge these hominins demonstrate a consistent ability to produce flakes in a more efficient way than a least effort approach predicts. Hominins at Olduvai Gorge consistently transport quartzite flakes to the site locations, while they consistently transport basalt cores to the sites. Koobi Fora hominins also demonstrate the ability to transport raw materials, but do not produce flakes outside of least effort expectations. Due to these differences in stone tool production strategies and lithic transport behaviors, this research argues that distinct cultural differences between hominin populations are quantifiably evident as early as the Oldowan.
Download or read book Stone Tools and Fossil Bones written by Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-03-26 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: International archaeologists examine early Stone Age tools and bones to present the most holistic view to date of the archaeology of human origins.
Download or read book The Oldowan written by Kathy Diane Schick and published by Stone Age Institute Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The earliest traces of proto-human technology emerged over 2.5 million years ago on the African continent. Called the Oldowan after the famous site of Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, these technologies herald a major evolutionary shift in the human lineage. The Oldowan: Case Studies into the Earliest Stone Age provides a critical look at early archaeological sites and their evidence. This volume also shows how a range of probing, multidisciplinary, experimental investigations - including experimental tool-making, comparative studies of ape technologies, biomechanical analysis, and PET studies of brain activity - help us evaluate this tantalizing prehistoric evidence and appreciate its relevance to human evolution.
Download or read book Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Oldowan written by Erella Hovers and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-03-08 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An understanding of the uniquely human behavior of stone tool making tackles questions about hominins’ ability to culturally transmit and expand their base of social and practical knowledge and their cognitive capacities for advanced planning. The appearance of stone tools has often been viewed as a threshold event, impacting directly and profoundly the later course of cultural and social evolution. Alternatively, it has been understood as a prelude to significant succeeding changes in behavioral, social and biological evolution of hominins. This book presents a series of recent enquiries into the technological and adaptive significance of Oldowan stone tools. While anchored in a long research tradition, these studies rely on recent discoveries and innovative analyses of the archaeological record of ca. 2.6–1.0 million years ago in Africa and Eurasia, dealing with the earliest lithic industries as manifestations of hominin adaptations and as expressions of hominin cognitive abilities.
Download or read book Bones Stones and Molecules written by David W. Cameron and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2004-06-03 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bones, Stones and Molecules provides some of the best evidence for resolving the debate between the two hypotheses of human origins. The debate between the 'Out of Africa' model and the 'Multiregional' hypothesis is examined through the functional and developmental processes associated with the evolution of the human skull and face and focuses on the significance of the Australian record. The book analyzes important new discoveries that have occurred recently and examines evidence that is not available elsewhere. Cameron and Groves argue that the existing evidence supports a recent origin for modern humans from Africa. They also specifically relate these two theories to interpretations of the origins of the first Australians. The book provides an up-to-date interpretation of the fossil, archaeological and the molecular evidence, specifically as it relates to Asia, and Australia in particular. Readily accessible to the layperson and professional Provides concise coverage of current scientific evidence Presents a robust computer-generated model of human speciation over the last 7 million years Well illustrated with figures and photographs of important fossil specimens Presents a synthesis of great ape and human evolution
Download or read book Breathing Life Into Fossils written by Travis Rayne Pickering and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taphonomy, the study of the processes leading to the fossilization of organic remains, is one of the most important avenues of inquiry in human origins research. Breathing Life into Fossils is a major contribution to taphonomic studies in paleoanthropology and natural history. This book emanates from a Stone Age Institute conference celebrating the life and career of naturalist Bob Brain, a pioneer in bringing taphonomic perspectives to human evolutionary studies. Contributions by leading researchers provide a state-of-the art look at the maturing field of taphonomy and the unique perspectives it provides to research into human origins. This important volume reveals approaches taken to the study of bone accumulations at prehistoric sites in Africa, Eurasia, and America, and provides fascinating insights into patterns produced by carnivores, by hunter-gatherers, and by our human ancestors.
Download or read book Megaherbivores written by R. Norman Owen-Smith and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1988 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An account of the limitations and advantages conferred by large body size.
Download or read book The Pleistocene Old World written by Olga Soffer and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-11-11 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Regional approaches to past human adaptations have generated much new knowledge and understanding. Researchers working on problems of adaptations in the Holocene, from those of simple hunter-gatherers to those of complex sociopolitical entities like the state, have found this approach suitable for comprehension of both ecological and social aspects of human behavior. This research focus has, however, until recently left virtually un touched a major spatial and temporaI segment of prehistory-the Old World during the Pleistocene. Extant literature on this period, by and large, presents either detailed site speeific accounts or offers continental or even global syntheses that tend to compile site speeific information but do not integrate it into whole c~nstructs of funetioning so ciocuhural entities. This volume presents our current state of knowledge about a variety of regional adaptations that charaeterized prehistoric groups in the Old World before 10,000 B. P. The authors of the chapters consider the behavior of humans rather than that of objects or features and present data and models for variaus aspects of past cultures and for culture change. These presentations integrate findings and understandings derived from a number of related disciplines actively involved in researching the past. Data and interpretations are offered on a range of Old \yorld regions during the PaIeolithic, induding Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe, and chronological coverage spans from the Early to Late PIeisto cene.
Download or read book The Paleoanthropology and Archaeology of Big Game Hunting written by John D. Speth and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-09-08 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since its inception, paleoanthropology has been closely wedded to the idea that big-game hunting by our hominin ancestors arose, first and foremost, as a means for acquiring energy and vital nutrients. This assumption has rarely been questioned, and seems intuitively obvious—meat is a nutrient-rich food with the ideal array of amino acids, and big animals provide meat in large, convenient packages. Through new research, the author of this volume provides a strong argument that the primary goals of big-game hunting were actually social and political—increasing hunter’s prestige and standing—and that the nutritional component was just an added bonus. Through a comprehensive, interdisciplinary research approach, the author examines the historical and current perceptions of protein as an important nutrient source, the biological impact of a high-protein diet and the evidence of this in the archaeological record, and provides a compelling reexamination of this long-held conclusion. This volume will be of interest to researchers in Archaeology, Evolutionary Biology, and Paleoanthropology, particularly those studying diet and nutrition.
Download or read book Archaeology at the Millennium written by Gary M. Feinman and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-10-17 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book an internationally distinguished roster of contributors considers the state of the art of the discipline of archaeology at the turn of the 21st century and charts an ambitious agenda for the future. The chapters address a wide range of topics including, paradigms, practice, and relevance of the discipline; paleoanthropology; fully modern humans; holocene hunter-gatherers; the transition to food and craft production; social inequality; warfare; state and empire formation; and the uneasy relationship between classical and anthropological archaeology.
Download or read book The History of Our Tribe written by Barbara Welker and published by Open SUNY Textbooks. This book was released on 2017-01-31 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Where did we come from? What were our ancestors like? Why do we differ from other animals? How do scientists trace and construct our evolutionary history? The Evolution of Our Tribe: Hominini provides answers to these questions and more. The book explores the field of paleoanthropology past and present. Beginning over 65 million years ago, Welker traces the evolution of our species, the environments and selective forces that shaped our ancestors, their physical and cultural adaptations, and the people and places involved with their discovery and study. It is designed as a textbook for a course on Human Evolution but can also serve as an introductory text for relevant sections of courses in Biological or General Anthropology or general interest. It is both a comprehensive technical reference for relevant terms, theories, methods, and species and an overview of the people, places, and discoveries that have imbued paleoanthropology with such fascination, romance, and mystery.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Archaeology written by Deborah M. Pearsall and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 2382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Encyclopedia of Archaeology encompasses all aspects of archaeology, including the nature and diversity of archaeology as a scientific discipline, the practice of archaeology, archaeology in the everyday world, and the future of the discipline. Featured in the Encyclopedia of Archaeology are articles by leading authors that summarize archaeological knowledge at the beginning the 21st century, highlighting important sites and issues, and tracing the development of prehistoric cultures around the globe.
Download or read book The Archaeology of Human Origins written by Glynn Llywelyn Isaac and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1989 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of the most influential papers of the late Glynn Isaac.
Download or read book African Paleoecology and Human Evolution written by Sally C. Reynolds and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-06-09 with total page 597 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive account of hominin fossil sites across Africa, including the environmental and ecological evidence central to our understanding of human evolution.
Download or read book UNESCO General History of Africa Vol I Abridged Edition written by Jacqueline Ki-Zerbo and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1990 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This volume covers the period from the end of the Neolithic era to the beginning of the seventh century of our era. This lengthy period includes the civilization of Ancient Egypt, the history of Nubia, Ethiopia, North Africa and the Sahara, as well as of the other regions of the continent and its islands."--Publisher's description
Download or read book Out of Africa I written by John G Fleagle and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-08-20 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the first two thirds of our evolutionary history, we hominins were restricted to Africa. Dating from about two million years ago, hominin fossils first appear in Eurasia. This volume addresses many of the issues surrounding this initial hominin intercontinental dispersal. Why did hominins first leave Africa in the early Pleistocene and not earlier? What do we know about the adaptations of the hominins that dispersed - their diet, locomotor abilities, cultural abilities? Was there a single dispersal event or several? Was the hominin dispersal part of a broader faunal expansion of African mammals northward? What route or routes did dispersing populations take?
Download or read book Evolving Human Nutrition written by Stanley J. Ulijaszek and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-10-18 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploration of changing human nutrition from evolutionary and social perspectives and its influence on health and disease, past and present.
