Acheulean variability and hominin dispersals: a model-bound approach

Lycett, Stephen J.; Cramon‐Taubadel, Noreen von

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2007.05.003

Cited by 160 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…This transference of information and experience is akin to genetic inheritance (with some important differences acknowledged). Handaxe symmetry was integrated into this by Lycett (2008) and Lycett and Von Cramon-Taubadel (2008). They suggested that as geographical distance from Africa increased, handaxe assemblages in India, the Near East and the UK showed a loss of diversity in shape similar to a loss of genetic variability experienced by populations as they suffered repeated bottlenecking along migration routes (Lycett and Von Cramon-Taubadel, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From side to side: Symmetry in handaxes in the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic

McNabb

Cole

Hoggard

2018

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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The Acheulean is defined by its iconic tool type, the handaxe, and a suite of other large cutting tools (LCTs). These tools retain information on technical and procedural practices concerned with the manufacture of these butchery tools and carcass processing knives. The Acheulean straddles the period in which more ancient hominin species (H. erectus and H. heidelbergensis) give way to archaic H. sapiens (sensu lato) amongst whom the ancestor of modern humans may be found. The roots of modern behaviour may be present in these handaxe making hominin species, and the handaxes themselves, through proxy data such as bilateral symmetry, may chart hominin cognitive evolution as researchers such as T. Wynn and F. Coolidge (2016), amongst others, have argued. But the search for the earliest consistent application of symmetry, and its persistence thereafter has been hampered by the lack of large datasets, spanning the temporal extent of the Acheulean, and analysed through a single consistent methodology.Our paper has two aims. The first, and in the absence of a large comparative data set of earlier Acheulean handaxes, is to assess the degree to which symmetry is consistently applied to the making of handaxes in the later Acheulean (=<0.5 mya), a time when bilateral planform symmetry should already be an integral component in handaxe making. The dataset we select is the British Acheulean from MIS 13 -MIS 3/4. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time handaxe symmetry has been assessed on a large body of British Acheulean handaxes. Our second aim is to present a relatively simple and low tech methodology for the analysis of handaxes

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From side to side: Symmetry in handaxes in the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic

McNabb

Cole

Hoggard

2018

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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“…Indeed, the role that they play in highlighting the "stabilizing" effect of imitative learning mechanisms in the face of a steady mutation rate caused by inevitable copying errors, emphasizes the importance of skilled knappers being present within "Acheulean" hominin communities in terms of continuity of tradition. In a situation where mutation leads to a tendency toward disintegration, expansions into new areas would have implications for "cultural bottlenecks" resulting from founder effects, such as may occur at the limits of Acheulean expansion, for instance in Britain and East Asia (Lycett and von Cramon-Taubadel, 2008). Indeed, the role of founder effects resulting from dispersal, topographical barriers, and/or ecological factors (Lycett and von Cramon-Taubadel, 2008;Smith et al, 2009;Lycett and Norton, 2010) is re-emphasized in the light of our experiments on imitation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Factors affecting Acheulean handaxe variation: Experimental insights, microevolutionary processes, and macroevolutionary outcomes

Lycett

Schillinger

Eren

et al. 2016

Quaternary International

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The so-called "Acheulean" is comprised of individual knapping events undertaken by individual hominins. In other words, it is a particular component of hominin behavior that we draw out and amalgamate into a wider "pattern." The resultant phenomenon (i.e., "the Acheulean") is an entity that stretches over the space of three continents and spans a time period in excess of one million years. If such an exercise has any merit, it is because it provides a means of comparative (behavioral) analysis over these swathes of time and space. Comparative research can document, measure, and statistically assess temporo-spatial patterns of artifactual variation, and so test hypotheses regarding the character of that variation. However, comparative research alone is not sufficient to fully understand this archaeological legacy. Here, we review and synthesize recent experimental work that we have undertaken, which has specifically investigated some of the factors potentially responsible for the generation and constraining of variation within the Acheulean techno-complex. We examine issues of raw material, copying errors, and their relationship to mechanisms of social learning. Understanding these microevolutionary factors via experiments, we contend, is essential in order to reach a secure understanding of the macroscale phenomenon typically referred to as the "Acheulean."

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“…It is worth adding that these sides form an angle of 18 degrees -once again, an expression of Phi. Lycett & von Cramon-Taubadel (2008) propose the hypothesis that: "Acheulean handaxe technologies evolved in Africa and dispersed with migrating hominin populations into northern and western Eurasia, under the assumptions of an iterative founder effect (repeated bottlenecking) model." An engineering model of bifaces as hunting tools (Cannell 2014) also…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pattern Recognition of Universal Mathematical Constants in Acheulean Biface Formats

Cannell

2015

JLS

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Abstract:The similar design formats of many Acheulean bifaces has prompted several studies into the use of 'mental templates', leading to controversial claims that there may be a relation between length and width equal to the Golden Ratio. To avoid subjectivity, these studies have used aggregate data from assemblages that, by definition, mask the individuality of each tool, its material, any retouching and the original imposed design. Visual pattern recognition is widely used in psychological research and some branches of engineering and a similar technique is presented to highlight the formats of two samples of the Boxgrove assemblage (one random) and examine the presence of universal mathematical constants. A probabilistic analysis suggests that the repeated use of the numbers 2, Pi and Phi and the relationship between them could not have been produced by chance. These relationships appear to be constant over very long time periods and are still used today in modern gemstone design.

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Acheulean variability and hominin dispersals: a model-bound approach

Cited by 160 publications

References 69 publications

From side to side: Symmetry in handaxes in the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic

From side to side: Symmetry in handaxes in the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic

Factors affecting Acheulean handaxe variation: Experimental insights, microevolutionary processes, and macroevolutionary outcomes

Pattern Recognition of Universal Mathematical Constants in Acheulean Biface Formats

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