The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record.

The manufacture of flaked stone artifacts represents a major milestone in the technology of the human lineage. Although the earliest production of primitive stone tools, predating the genus Homo and emphasizing percussive activities, has been reported at 3.3 million years ago (Ma) from Lomekwi, Kenya, the systematic production of sharp-edged stone tools is unknown before the 2.58–2.55 Ma Oldowan assemblages from Gona, Ethiopia. The organized production of Oldowan stone artifacts is part of a suite of characteristics that is often associated with the adaptive grade shift linked to the genus Homo. Recent discoveries from Ledi-Geraru (LG), Ethiopia, place the first occurrence of Homo ∼250 thousand years earlier than the Oldowan at Gona. Here, we describe a substantial assemblage of systematically flaked stone tools excavated in situ from a stratigraphically constrained context [Bokol Dora 1, (BD 1) hereafter] at LG bracketed between 2.61 and 2.58 Ma. Although perhaps more primitive in some respects, quantitative analysis suggests the BD 1 assemblage fits more closely with the variability previously described for the Oldowan than with the earlier Lomekwian or with stone tools produced by modern nonhuman primates. These differences suggest that hominin technology is distinctly different from generalized tool use that may be a shared feature of much of the primate lineage. The BD 1 assemblage, near the origin of our genus, provides a link between behavioral adaptations—in the form of flaked stone artifacts—and the biological evolution of our ancestors.

The stratigraphy at Bacho Kiro Cave, Bulgaria, spans the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition, including an Initial Upper Palaeolithic (IUP) assemblage argued to represent the earliest arrival of Upper Palaeolithic Homo sapiens in Europe. We applied the latest techniques in 14 C dating to an extensive dataset of newly excavated animal and human bones to produce a robust, high-precision radiocarbon chronology for the site. At the base of the stratigraphy, the Middle Palaeolithic (MP) occupation dates to >51,000 yr bp. A chronological gap of over 3,000 years separates the MP occupation from the occupation of the cave by H. sapiens, which extends to 34,000 cal bp. The extensive IUP assemblage, now associated with directly dated H. sapiens fossils at this site, securely dates to 45,820-43,650 cal bp (95.4% probability), probably beginning from 46,940 cal bp (95.4% probability). The results provide chronological context for the early occupation of Europe by Upper Palaeolithic H. sapiens.

No abstract

No abstract

a b s t r a c tA new interdisciplinary project was initiated to excavate a portion of the Palaeolithic site of La Ferrassie left intact by earlier excavations. One of the aims of this project was to provide chronological information on the succession of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic layers, as well as on the skeletons unearthed by Capitan and Peyrony in the early 1900's. We report here preliminary results on the lithics, faunal remains, site formation processes, and on the stratigraphic context of the La Ferrassie 1 and 2 skeletons that were found adjacent to our excavations. Finally, results from luminescence dating of the sediments and a preliminary set of radiocarbon ages are presented. Quartz OSL, both at the multi-grain and single-grain levels of analysis, and post-IR IRSL of feldspar at various stimulation temperatures are compared. The quartz/feldspar comparison revealed a bleaching problem for the quartz OSL (and the feldspar pIRIR signals) from Layer 2; as a consequence, the age of this Layer was determined using a minimum age model.A Mousterian industry with bifaces, at the base of the sequence, has been dated between 91 ± 9 and 44 ± 3 ka. The Ferrassie Mousterian layers are attributed to MIS 3, between 54 ± 3 and 40 ± 2 ka, and thus appear very late in the final Middle Palaeolithic of the region; furthermore, these ages constrain the chronology of the La Ferrassie 1 and 2 skeletons, which have been attributed to one of these Ferrassie Mousterian layers. The Châtelperronian layer is dated to 42 ± 3 ka and the Aurignacian to 37 ± 2 ka. Implications of the ages for the La Ferrassie 1 and 2 skeletons, and for the variability of late Mousterian, are discussed.

No abstract

The East African Rift System (EARS) has played a central role in our understanding of human origins and vertebrate evolution in the late Cenozoic of Africa. However, the distribution of fossil sites along 3 the rift is highly biased toward its northern extent, and the types of paleoenvironments are primarily restricted to fluvial and lacustrine settings. Here we report the discovery of the first fossil sites from the Urema Rift at Gorongosa National Park (central Mozambique) at the southern end of the EARS, and reconstruct environmental contexts of the fossils. In situ and surface fossils from the lower member of the Mazamba Formation, estimated to be of Miocene age, comprise mammals, reptiles, fishes, invertebrates, palms, and dicot trees. Fossil and geological evidence indicates a coastal-plain paleoenvironmental mosaic of riverine forest/woodland and estuarine habitats that represent the first coastal biomes identified in the Neogene EARS context. Receiving continental sediment from source terranes west of today's Urema Graben, estuarine sequences accumulated prior to rifting as compound incised-valley fills on a low-gradient coastal plain following transgression. Modern environmental analogues are extremely productive habitats for marine and terrestrial fauna, including primates. Thus, our discoveries raise the possibility that the Miocene coastal landscapes of Gorongosa were ecologically-favorable habitats for primates, providing relatively stable maritime climate and ecosystem conditions, year-round freshwater availability, and food both from terrestrial and marine sources. The emerging fossil record from Gorongosa is beginning to fill an important gap in the paleobiogeography of Africa as no fossil sites of Neogene age have previously been reported from the southernmost part of the EARS. Furthermore, this unique window into past continentalmargin ecosystems of central Mozambique may allow us to test key paleobiogeographic hypotheses during critical periods of primate evolution.