Environmental dynamics during the onset of the Middle Stone Age in eastern Africa

Bibliographic Collection: 
APE
Publication Type: Journal Article
Authors: Potts, Richard; Behrensmeyer, Anna K.; Faith, J. Tyler; Tryon, Christian A.; Brooks, Alison S.; Yellen, John E.; Deino, Alan L.; Kinyanjui, Rahab; Clark, Jennifer B.; Haradon, Catherine; Levin, Naomi E.; Meijer, Hanneke J. M.; Veatch, Elizabeth G.; Owen, R. Bernhart; Renaut, Robin W.
Year of Publication: 2018
Journal: Science
Date Published: 2018/03/15
Publication Language: eng
Abstract:

Development of the African Middle Stone Age (MSA) before 300 thousand years ago (ka) raises the question of how environmental change influenced the evolution of behaviors characteristic of early Homo sapiens. We use temporally well-constrained sedimentological and paleoenvironmental data to investigate environmental dynamics before and after the appearance of the early MSA in the Olorgesailie Basin, Kenya. In contrast to the Acheulean archeological record in the same basin, MSA sites are associated with a dramatically different faunal community, more pronounced erosion-deposition cycles, tectonic activity, and enhanced wet-dry variability. As early as 615 ka, aspects of Acheulean technology in this region imply that greater stone material selectivity and wider resource procurement coincided with an increased pace of land-lake fluctuation, potentially anticipating the adaptability of MSA hominins.

Short Title: Science
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