The Early to Middle Stone Age Transition and the Emergence of Modern Human Behaviour at site 8-B-11, Sai Island, Sudan

Peer, Philip Van; Fullagar, Richard; Stokes, Steven; Bailey, Richard M.; Moeyersons, J; Steenhoudt, Frans; Geerts, Aurora; Vanderbeken, T.; Dapper, Morgan De; Geus, Francis

doi:10.1016/s0047-2484(03)00103-9

Cited by 220 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The record of plant foods eaten by early modern humans prior to about 20 thousand years ago (ka) is only marginally better, with a few studies suggesting the use of starchy plants in the Middle Stone Age (>50 ka) at Ngalue, Mozambique (Mercader, 2009) and in the Sai Island, Sudan (Van Peer et al, 2003). In Europe, starchy plants, and particularly the roots of cattails (Typha spp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant foods and the dietary ecology of Neanderthals and early modern humans

Henry

Brooks

Piperno

2014

Journal of Human Evolution

200

135

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant foods and the dietary ecology of Neanderthals and early modern humans

Henry

Brooks

Piperno

2014

Journal of Human Evolution

200

135

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“…African archaeological assemblages attest to the importance of grinding-stones for pounding vegetative matter and other materials since the first appearance of anatomically modern humans and continuing into current times (e.g., Ambrose 1998;Clark and Kleindienst 2001;De Beaune 1993;Leakey 1971;Maguire 1965;Rosso et al 2016;Van Peer et al 2003;Yellen et al 1995). There are, of course, differences between the grinding-stone tool repertoires used by foragers during the Middle Stone Age and those used more recently in Africa.…”

Section: Grinding-stones In the African Archaeological Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

Back to the Grindstone? The Archaeological Potential of Grinding-Stone Studies in Africa with Reference to Contemporary Grinding Practices in Marakwet, Northwest Kenya

2017

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This article presents observations on grinding-stone implements and their uses in ElgeyoMarakwet County, northwest Kenya. Tool use in Marakwet is contextualized with a select overview of literature on grinding-stones in Africa. Grinding-stones in Marakwet are incorporated not only into quotidian but also into more performative and ritual aspects of life. These tools have distinct local traditions laden with social as well as functional importance. It is argued that regionally and temporally specific studies of grindingstone tool assemblages can be informative on the processing of various substances. Despite being common occurrences, grinding-stone tools are an underdiscussed component of many African archaeological assemblages. Yet the significance of grinding-stones must be reevaluated, as they hold the potential to inform on landscapes of past food and material processing.Résumé Cet article présente des observations ethnoarchéologiques sur les outils de pierre meulière et leur utilisation dans le comté d'Elgeyo-Marakwet, au nordouest du Kenya. En s'appuyant notamment sur des exemples issus de la période néolithique pastorale en Afrique de l'Est, il contextualise l'utilisation d'outils à Marakwet en termes d'études sélectionnées portent sur les pierres de meulage en Afrique. Nous soutenons que les études spécifiques à la région portent sur les assemblages d'outils de pierre meulière peuvent aider à avancer nos connaissances sur le traitement de diverses substances. Par ailleurs nous constatons que la pierre meulière fait partie non seulement de la vie quotidienne, mais aussi des aspects performatifs et rituels de la vie à Marakwet. Les outils de pierre meulière font partie des traditions locales distinctes, chargées d'importance sociale et fonctionnelle. Malgré le fait qu'ils soient banals, les outils de pierre meulière sont des composants significatif et pourtant peu discutés de nombreux assemblages archéologiques africains. Nous avançons que la signification de la pierre meulière doive-t-être réévaluée, car elle est essentielle pour mieux comprendre les circonstances de l'alimentation et du traitement des matériaux dans le passé.

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“…This pattern has been repeated in other parts of Africa. Sites in the Kapthurin Formation in Kenya, dated to >285 kya (Tryon & McBrearty 2002), and in the Sudan (Van Peer et al 2003), dated at about 200 kya, show the inter-stratification of MSA and Acheulean assemblages, indicating the broad contemporaneity of Levallois with older ESA technologies. Canteen is similar in this respect.…”

Section: Simple Prepared Coresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The significance of the debate has broadened because Levallois has been linked to the migration of a putative modern human ancestor out of Africa (Foley & Lahr 1997). Levallois is also linked to possible developments in cognitive or physical evolution (McBrearty & Brooks 2000;Tryon & McBrearty 2002) accompanying major behavioural changes in hominin lifestyles (Van Peer et al 2003;Barham 2010). Victoria West has been seen as the beginning of unilinear technological evolution toward the Levallois of the MSA (Van Riet Lowe 1945;Rolland 1986).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Victoria West has been seen as the beginning of unilinear technological evolution toward the Levallois of the MSA (Van Riet Lowe 1945;Rolland 1986). But positive proof of these claims remains to be found, and simple unilinear evolutionary schemes for material culture can be disputed (Tryon & McBrearty 2002;Van Peer et al 2003). Whether the Levallois is polygenetic (multiple chrono-spatially distinct origin points), or monogenetic (one single origin followed by continuous or punctuated dispersal) remains equally unclear (Rolland 1995).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Excavations in the Acheulean Levels at the Earlier Stone Age Site of Canteen Koppie, Northern Province, South Africa

McNabb

Beaumont

2012

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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The fluvial gravels of the river Vaal in South Africa have long been known as a source for Earlier Stone Age (ESA) artefacts. Most were discovered through the open cast mining for diamonds that has left very little in situ fluvial sediment remaining today. The site of Canteen Koppie is an internationally famous location with a reputation for prolific Acheulean artefacts, especially handaxes and the enigmatic prepared core and Levallois-like technology known as Victoria West. Our understanding of this site, and most other Vaal locations, is almost solely based on highly selected artefact collections. Here, we report on the first controlled excavations ever to be conducted at Canteen Koppie. The deposits are likely to date to the Early and Middle Pleistocene, and our excavations sample the full depth of the stratigraphic sequence. The lower units, first identified in these excavations, add a considerable time depth to the Acheulean occupation of the site, making this the longest chrono-stratigraphic sequence in South Africa to our knowledge. Given the current international interest in the origins of Levallois/prepared core technology (PCT), its occurrence in Unit 2b Upper, and its presence alongside Victoria West technology in Unit 2a has significant implications for debates on the role of Victoria West in the origins of PCT. From the Canteen Koppie evidence, Levallois and Victoria West are clearly rooted in the Acheulean.

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The Early to Middle Stone Age Transition and the Emergence of Modern Human Behaviour at site 8-B-11, Sai Island, Sudan

Cited by 220 publications

References 5 publications

Plant foods and the dietary ecology of Neanderthals and early modern humans

Plant foods and the dietary ecology of Neanderthals and early modern humans

Back to the Grindstone? The Archaeological Potential of Grinding-Stone Studies in Africa with Reference to Contemporary Grinding Practices in Marakwet, Northwest Kenya

Excavations in the Acheulean Levels at the Earlier Stone Age Site of Canteen Koppie, Northern Province, South Africa

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