Conversations in Human Evolution is an ongoing science communication initiative seeking to explor... more Conversations in Human Evolution is an ongoing science communication initiative seeking to explore the breadth and interdisciplinarity of human evolution studies. This volume reports another twenty interviews (referred to as ‘conversations’ as they are informal in style) with scholars at the forefront of human evolution research, covering the broad scientific themes of Palaeolithic archaeology, palaeoanthropology and biological anthropology, earth science and palaeoclimatic change, evolutionary anthropology and primatology, and human disease co-evolution. This project features academics at various different stages in their careers and from all over the world; in this volume alone, researchers are based at institutions in eleven different countries (namely Iran, India, the United Kingdom, Greece, Australia, South Africa, the United States of America, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Israel), covering five continents. Having arisen at the start of the COVID19 pandemic, Conversations in Human Evolution aims to encourage engagement with both human evolutionary studies and the broader socio-political issues that persist within academia, the latter of which is particularly pertinent during this time of global uncertainty. The conversations delve deeply into the study of our species’ evolutionary history through the lens of each sub-discipline, as well as detailing some of the most current advances in research, theory and methods. Overall, Conversations in Human Evolution seeks to bridge the gap between the research and researcher through contextualisation of the science with personal experience and historical reflection.
The origin of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) denotes the transition from a highly persistent mode of ... more The origin of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) denotes the transition from a highly persistent mode of stone toolmaking, the Acheulean, to a period of increasing technological innovation and cultural indicators associated with the evolution ofHere we useAr/Ar and U-series dating to calibrate the chronology of Acheulean- and early MSA-rich sedimentary deposits in the Olorgesailie Basin, South Kenya Rift. We establish the age of late Acheulean tool assemblages from 615 to 499 ka, after which a large technological and faunal transition occurred, with definitive MSA lacking Acheulean elements beginning most likely by ~320 ka, but at least by 305 ka. These results establish the currently oldest repository of MSA in eastern Africa.
Analysis of a large sample of well-dated fossil mammals from localities in the Turkana Basin of K... more Analysis of a large sample of well-dated fossil mammals from localities in the Turkana Basin of Kenya and Ethiopia revealed sampling biases that affect patterns of faunal turnover during the late Pliocene. When these biases were accounted for, results indicated that 58 to 77 percent of the mammal species were replaced between 3.0 and 1.8 million years ago (Ma). Overall diversity increased from 3.0 to 2.0 Ma but then declined. No distinct turnover pulse is seen between 2.8 and 2.5 Ma; instead, the most significant period of faunal change began after 2.5 Ma and continued through 1.8 Ma.
China is a key area for research into human occupation in the Old World after the initial expansi... more China is a key area for research into human occupation in the Old World after the initial expansion of early humans out of Africa. Reliable age determinations are pivotal for assessing the patterns of human evolution and dispersal in this region. This paper reviews magnetostratigraphic studies of some early Pleistocene strata bearing hominin remains and/or artifact stone tools from northern
... Author: Vandiver, Pamela B.;Petraglia, Michael D.;Potts, Richard B. Title Article/Chapter: &a... more ... Author: Vandiver, Pamela B.;Petraglia, Michael D.;Potts, Richard B. Title Article/Chapter: "Analyses techniques de ... Summaries: French;English References: Includes bibliographical references Subject Keywords English: mortar;madeleine;dordogne;archaeology Abstract: Two ...
Development of the African Middle Stone Age (MSA) before 300 thousand years ago (ka) raises the q... more 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 earlyWe 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.
Previous research suggests that the complex symbolic, technological, and socio-economic behaviors... more Previous research suggests that the complex symbolic, technological, and socio-economic behaviors that typifyhad roots in the middle Pleistocene <200 ka, but data bearing on human behavioral origins are limited. We present a series of excavated Middle Stone Age sites from the Olorgesailie Basin, southern Kenya, dated ≥295 to ~320 ka byAr/Ar and U-Series methods. Hominins at these sites made prepared cores and points, exploited iron-rich rocks to obtain red pigment, and procured stone tool materials from ≥25-50 km distance. Associated fauna suggests a broad resource strategy that included large and small prey. These practices imply significant changes in how individuals and groups related to the landscape and one another, and provide documentation relevant to human social and cognitive evolution.
Bones of mammals exhibit progressive stages of weathering during their time of subaerial exposure... more Bones of mammals exhibit progressive stages of weathering during their time of subaerial exposure. Consequently, the study of bone weathering in fossil assemblages may help to assess the period represented by an accumulation of bones. Stages of bone decomposition due to subaerial weathering have been identified in assemblages of fossil macromammals from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. A modern bone assemblage collected by spotted hyenas is used to devise a method for recognizing attritional accumulations of bones from weathering characteristics. This method, which involves study of long bone diaphyses, is applied to Plio-Pleistocene faunal assemblages from Olduvai, 1.70–1.85 ma old. Previous work indicates that early hominids had an important role in the collection of fauna at five of the six sites studied. It is shown that animal bones were accumulated at each site over a period of probably 5–10 yr or more. The length of this period, along with other taphonomic evidence, suggests that the...
Conversations in Human Evolution is an ongoing science communication initiative seeking to explor... more Conversations in Human Evolution is an ongoing science communication initiative seeking to explore the breadth and interdisciplinarity of human evolution studies. This volume reports another twenty interviews (referred to as ‘conversations’ as they are informal in style) with scholars at the forefront of human evolution research, covering the broad scientific themes of Palaeolithic archaeology, palaeoanthropology and biological anthropology, earth science and palaeoclimatic change, evolutionary anthropology and primatology, and human disease co-evolution. This project features academics at various different stages in their careers and from all over the world; in this volume alone, researchers are based at institutions in eleven different countries (namely Iran, India, the United Kingdom, Greece, Australia, South Africa, the United States of America, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Israel), covering five continents. Having arisen at the start of the COVID19 pandemic, Conversations in Human Evolution aims to encourage engagement with both human evolutionary studies and the broader socio-political issues that persist within academia, the latter of which is particularly pertinent during this time of global uncertainty. The conversations delve deeply into the study of our species’ evolutionary history through the lens of each sub-discipline, as well as detailing some of the most current advances in research, theory and methods. Overall, Conversations in Human Evolution seeks to bridge the gap between the research and researcher through contextualisation of the science with personal experience and historical reflection.
The origin of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) denotes the transition from a highly persistent mode of ... more The origin of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) denotes the transition from a highly persistent mode of stone toolmaking, the Acheulean, to a period of increasing technological innovation and cultural indicators associated with the evolution ofHere we useAr/Ar and U-series dating to calibrate the chronology of Acheulean- and early MSA-rich sedimentary deposits in the Olorgesailie Basin, South Kenya Rift. We establish the age of late Acheulean tool assemblages from 615 to 499 ka, after which a large technological and faunal transition occurred, with definitive MSA lacking Acheulean elements beginning most likely by ~320 ka, but at least by 305 ka. These results establish the currently oldest repository of MSA in eastern Africa.
Analysis of a large sample of well-dated fossil mammals from localities in the Turkana Basin of K... more Analysis of a large sample of well-dated fossil mammals from localities in the Turkana Basin of Kenya and Ethiopia revealed sampling biases that affect patterns of faunal turnover during the late Pliocene. When these biases were accounted for, results indicated that 58 to 77 percent of the mammal species were replaced between 3.0 and 1.8 million years ago (Ma). Overall diversity increased from 3.0 to 2.0 Ma but then declined. No distinct turnover pulse is seen between 2.8 and 2.5 Ma; instead, the most significant period of faunal change began after 2.5 Ma and continued through 1.8 Ma.
China is a key area for research into human occupation in the Old World after the initial expansi... more China is a key area for research into human occupation in the Old World after the initial expansion of early humans out of Africa. Reliable age determinations are pivotal for assessing the patterns of human evolution and dispersal in this region. This paper reviews magnetostratigraphic studies of some early Pleistocene strata bearing hominin remains and/or artifact stone tools from northern
... Author: Vandiver, Pamela B.;Petraglia, Michael D.;Potts, Richard B. Title Article/Chapter: &a... more ... Author: Vandiver, Pamela B.;Petraglia, Michael D.;Potts, Richard B. Title Article/Chapter: &quot;Analyses techniques de ... Summaries: French;English References: Includes bibliographical references Subject Keywords English: mortar;madeleine;dordogne;archaeology Abstract: Two ...
Development of the African Middle Stone Age (MSA) before 300 thousand years ago (ka) raises the q... more 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 earlyWe 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.
Previous research suggests that the complex symbolic, technological, and socio-economic behaviors... more Previous research suggests that the complex symbolic, technological, and socio-economic behaviors that typifyhad roots in the middle Pleistocene <200 ka, but data bearing on human behavioral origins are limited. We present a series of excavated Middle Stone Age sites from the Olorgesailie Basin, southern Kenya, dated ≥295 to ~320 ka byAr/Ar and U-Series methods. Hominins at these sites made prepared cores and points, exploited iron-rich rocks to obtain red pigment, and procured stone tool materials from ≥25-50 km distance. Associated fauna suggests a broad resource strategy that included large and small prey. These practices imply significant changes in how individuals and groups related to the landscape and one another, and provide documentation relevant to human social and cognitive evolution.
Bones of mammals exhibit progressive stages of weathering during their time of subaerial exposure... more Bones of mammals exhibit progressive stages of weathering during their time of subaerial exposure. Consequently, the study of bone weathering in fossil assemblages may help to assess the period represented by an accumulation of bones. Stages of bone decomposition due to subaerial weathering have been identified in assemblages of fossil macromammals from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. A modern bone assemblage collected by spotted hyenas is used to devise a method for recognizing attritional accumulations of bones from weathering characteristics. This method, which involves study of long bone diaphyses, is applied to Plio-Pleistocene faunal assemblages from Olduvai, 1.70–1.85 ma old. Previous work indicates that early hominids had an important role in the collection of fauna at five of the six sites studied. It is shown that animal bones were accumulated at each site over a period of probably 5–10 yr or more. The length of this period, along with other taphonomic evidence, suggests that the...
Beginning with the first accession of Paleolithic collections in 1869,
the Smithsonian Institutio... more Beginning with the first accession of Paleolithic collections in 1869, the Smithsonian Institution and its scientific staff have shown great interest in pursuing research, education, and exhibition of early human lifeways. During the more than 130-year history of acquiring objects from the Old World, a total of 22,000 objects has been amassed from some 332 Lower to Upper Paleolithic localities. Certain objects are rare pieces from classic Paleolithic localities, although many others were obtained as representative pieces for comparative purposes and exhibition. Documents and letters of correspondence between Old and New World investigators provide the historical context of collection acquisition and the motivations of those involved in the international transfer and exchange of artifacts. Synthesis of the documentation shows variability in the tempo of collection acquisition and biases in geographic interests that are tied to patterns of scientific inquiry, world wars, and later, adherence to antiquity laws and reorientation of modern paleoanthropological methods and approaches. Because we refer extensively to archived letters and memoranda in the text, Appendix 1 provides a chronological list of these materials and the specific Smithsonian Institution archive where they are located.
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the Smithsonian Institution and its scientific staff have shown great interest in pursuing research, education, and exhibition of early human lifeways. During the more than 130-year history of acquiring objects from the Old World, a total of 22,000 objects has been amassed from some 332 Lower to Upper Paleolithic localities. Certain objects are rare pieces from classic Paleolithic localities, although many others were obtained as representative pieces for comparative purposes and exhibition. Documents and letters of correspondence between Old and New World investigators provide the historical context of collection acquisition and the motivations
of those involved in the international transfer and exchange of artifacts. Synthesis of the documentation shows variability in the tempo of collection acquisition and biases in geographic interests that are tied to patterns of scientific inquiry, world wars, and later, adherence to antiquity laws and reorientation of modern paleoanthropological methods and approaches.
Because we refer extensively to archived letters and memoranda in the text, Appendix 1 provides a chronological list of these materials and the specific Smithsonian Institution archive where they are located.