A Middle Stone Age occupation site at Porc Epic Cave, Dire Dawa (east-central Ethiopia)

Clark, Junebug; Williamson, K.D.; Michels, Joseph W.; Marean, Curtis A.

doi:10.1007/bf01117225

Cited by 68 publications

(40 citation statements)

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“…The Kapthurin Formation example (from site GnJh-15) is the earliest reported occurrence of grindstones and ochre from eastern Africa, dated to ∼284-500 ka and associated with a lithic assemblage that cannot be confidently attributed to the Acheulian or MSA. Otherwise, grindstones and ochre are found at the LMSA sites (table 1) of Aduma (Yellen et al 2005) and Porc Epic (Clark et al 1984) in Ethiopia; Mumba and Nasera rockshelters in Tanzania (Mehlman 1989); and Enkapune ya Muto in Kenya (Ambrose 1998).…”

Section: Ochre and Grindstonesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In eastern Africa, backed pieces first appear ∼120-130 ka at the site of Deighton's Cliff, Kenya (Ambrose and Deino 2010) but are a more regular feature at LMSA sites ≤80 ka ( fig. 3j-3m; table 1), including Porc Epic (Clark et al 1984;Pleurdeau 2004), Mochena Borago (Brandt et al 2012), and Mumba and Nasera rockshelters (Mehlman 1989(Mehlman , 1991. Backed pieces are also present in small quantities from the !55 ka basal layers at Enkapune ya Muto (Ambrose 1998), with undated examples from probable MSA strata at Mtongwe, Kenya (Omi 1984(Omi , 1986(Omi , 1988, and Kisese II Rockshelter, Tanzania (Inskeep 1962;Mehlman 1989:365), although published details from the latter site are scant.…”

Section: Other Shaped Toolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Herto Member of the Bouri Formation White et al 2003), Aduma (Haile-Selassie, Asfaw, and White 2004; Yellen et al 2005), and Porc Epic (Assefa 2006;Clark et al 1984;Pleurdeau 2004;Vallois 1951) in Ethiopia and from the Upper Ngaloba Beds at Laetoli (Day, Leakey, and Magori 1980), Mumba Rockshelter (Bräuer and Mehlman 1988;Mehlman 1989), and perhaps the Lake Eyasi Beds (cf. Domínguez-Rodrigo et al 2007Mehlman 1987) in Tanzania.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variability in the Middle Stone Age of Eastern Africa

Tryon¹,

Faith²

2013

Current Anthropology

174

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Section: Ochre and Grindstonesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Other Shaped Toolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variability in the Middle Stone Age of Eastern Africa

Tryon¹,

Faith²

2013

Current Anthropology

174

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“…These age estimates have to be taken cautiously because of post-depositional physical and chemical processes. According to Clark and Williamson (1984) they are not contemporary with the MSA occupation.…”

Section: Datingmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The most complete stratigraphic section ( Fig. 2) was exposed by Clark and Williamson (1984), and was completed during the 1998 mission. Correlation of the stratigraphic sections using a Harris Matrix (Fig.…”

Section: Stratigraphymentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Technical Behavior in the African Middle Stone Age: The Lithic Assemblage of Porc-Epic Cave (Dire Dawa, Ethiopia)

Pleurdeau

2006

Afr Archaeol Rev

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The African origin of modern humans is the center of a large debate. Discoveries of anatomically modern human fossils in Sub-Saharan Africa correlated to lithic and faunal artifacts show that a "modern Behavior" is associated with the emergence of Homo sapiens. Even though the traits to define this modernity are sometimes difficult to apprehend, the study of the Middle Stone Age cultural phase is important for understanding the origin and evolution of the cognitive capacity of modern humans. Porc-Epic Cave in Ethiopia has a long sequence of Upper Pleistocene occupation. Several thousand bone and lithic artifacts were excavated during three major field excavations (1933, 1974,). The lithic assemblage reveals that the relationship between humans and their environment is well organized and that the African terminology is sometimes difficult to apply. This paper proposes a synthesis of all the data, studies and conclusions I have made from the analysis of lithic materials from the 1933 and 1975-76 excavations in order to integrate Porc-Epic into the current debate of MSA and modern human Behavior. L'origine de l'Homme moderne en Afrique fait l'objet actuellement d'un large débat. Les décourvertes de fossiles d'Homo sapiens en Afrique sub-saharienne associésà des industries lithiques montrent que, en parallèleà l'émergence de cette nouvelle espèce humaine, un comportement dit moderne s'est développé. Le Middle Stone Age est donc une période culturelle charnière dans l'évolution comportementale de l'homme. La grotte du Porc-Épic, enÉthiopie, est un témoignage de cetteère avec un remplissage pléistocène supérieur contenant des dizaines de milliers de restes fauniques et lithiques. L'étude de son important assemblage lithique révèle que le rapport de l'hommeà la matière età son environnement 178 Pleurdeau est très organisé et que le terminologie culturelle africaine est parfois difficileà utiliser.

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Shadows on a changing landscape: Comparing nesting patterns of hominids and chimpanzees since their last common ancestor

Sept

1998

Am. J. Primatol.

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Studying the evolution of nesting behavior within the human–chimpanzee clade is problematic because evidence is sparse and difficult to interpret. Lacking a fossil or archaeological record for proto‐chimpanzees, reconstructions of the antecedents of modern chimp nesting patterns can be reconstructed only from careful studies of variation in current chimpanzee and bonobo nesting patterns within the context of spatial and temporal landscape parameters. The ethology of nesting also provides an important frame of reference for reconstructions of early hominid nesting behavior. If the contemporary contrast between human and chimpanzee nesting patterns is seen as an evolutionary dichotomy, then African prehistoric landmarks that mark the origin of this split might include bipedalism and the origins of the hominidae, the first stone tools and the origins of Homo, the developmental and behavioral adaptations of Homo ergaster, shifts in Late Acheulian settlement patterns, and the origins of anatomically modern humans and the Middle Stone Age. The issue of whether Early Stone Age archaeological sites were used for nesting is unresolved because potential markers of such behavior, such as hearths, structures, or bedding, are not unambiguously recognizable in the archaeological record until the Middle Stone Age. Am. J. Primatol. 46:85–101, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

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A Middle Stone Age occupation site at Porc Epic Cave, Dire Dawa (east-central Ethiopia)

Cited by 68 publications

References 10 publications

Variability in the Middle Stone Age of Eastern Africa

Variability in the Middle Stone Age of Eastern Africa

Human Technical Behavior in the African Middle Stone Age: The Lithic Assemblage of Porc-Epic Cave (Dire Dawa, Ethiopia)

Shadows on a changing landscape: Comparing nesting patterns of hominids and chimpanzees since their last common ancestor

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