Assessing the distribution of Asian Palaeolithic sites: a predictive model of collagen degradation

Holmes, Kathryn M.; Brown, Katharine A Robson; Oates, William P.; Collins, Matthew J.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2005.11.010

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Other studies that have sought patterning in large-scale distributions relating to early hominins have identified similar confounding problems (e.g. Wood and Strait, 2004;Holmes et al, 2006). The problem is further complicated by the effects of variable time averaging and palimpsest effects (Stern, 1994, Holdaway andWandsnider, 2008).…”

Section: Discovery Factormentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscapes of human evolution: models and methods of tectonic geomorphology and the reconstruction of hominin landscapes

Bailey

Reynolds

King

2011

Journal of Human Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper examines the relationship between complex and tectonically active landscapes and patterns of human evolution. We show how active tectonics can produce dynamic landscapes with geomorphological and topographic features that may be critical to long-term patterns of hominin land use, but which are not typically addressed in landscape reconstructions based on existing geological and paleoenvironmental principles. We describe methods of representing topography at a range of scales using measures of roughness based on digital elevation data, and combine the resulting maps with satellite imagery and ground observations to reconstruct features of the wider landscape as they existed at the time of hominin occupation and activity. We apply these methods to sites in South Africa, where relatively stable topography facilitates reconstruction. We demonstrate the presence of previously unrecognized tectonic effects and their implications for the interpretation of hominin habitats and land use. In parts of the East African Rift, reconstruction is more difficult because of dramatic changes since the time of hominin occupation, while fossils are often found in places where activity has now almost ceased. However, we show that original, dynamic landscape features can be assessed by analogy with parts of the Rift that are currently active and indicate how this approach can complement other sources of information to add new insights and pose new questions for future investigation of hominin land use and habitats.

show abstract

Section: Discovery Factormentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscapes of human evolution: models and methods of tectonic geomorphology and the reconstruction of hominin landscapes

Bailey

Reynolds

King

2011

Journal of Human Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Preservation of bone collagen is influenced principally by the environment within which the bone is deposited, and, specifically, by the interrelated influences of pH, microbial activity, temperature, and water. However, these diagenetic influences can be extremely variable between, and within, sites (von Endt and Ortner 1984;Hedges and Millard 1995;Holmes et al 2005). In general, there is a broad gradient in the preservation state of bones from those deposited in warmer, more humid environs to those recovered from archaeological contexts in colder, more temperate climes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

AMS Radiocarbon Dating of Ancient Bone Using Ultrafiltration

2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU) has used an ultrafiltration protocol to further purify gelatin from archaeological bone since 2000. In this paper, the methodology is described, and it is shown that, in many instances, ultrafiltration successfully removes low molecular weight contaminants that less rigorous methods may not. These contaminants can sometimes be of a different radiocarbon age and, unless removed, may produce erroneous determinations, particularly when one is dating bones greater than 2 to 3 half-lives of 14C and the contaminants are of modern age. Results of the redating of bone of Late Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic age from the British Isles and Europe suggest that we may need to look again at the traditional chronology for these periods.

show abstract

“…East Africa, of course, is the site of the Rift Valley—a major extensional feature—while South Africa is tectonically active on a smaller, but still noticeable, scale (King & Bailey, 2006; Bailey et al ., in press). Although the opposing opinion—that distributions of hominin finds merely reflect taphonomic patterning in the environment (Holmes et al ., 2005)—is also well known, the idea that fossil distributions might provide information about hominin ecology remains attractive to researchers.…”

Section: Prospecting For Problemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Looking for problems: A systems approach to hominin palaeocommunities from Plio‐Pleistocene Africa

Winder

2010

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper evaluates the potential contribution(s) of faunal analysis to hominin palaeoecology at regional and continental scales, through an explicit investigation of the values, methods and conceptual frameworks of palaeoanthropology and their compatibility with real data structures. It employs a problem-framing method developed in policy-relevant science to establish a suitable research design for 'large scale' faunal analysis, before testing the method in a pilot study of 48 faunal assemblages from the African Plio-Pleistocene. Hitherto, taphonomic bias has discouraged attempts to study faunal assemblages on large spatiotemporal scales, and most scientists have restricted their work to the smaller (site or local) scale and/or a subset of the total fauna. Furthermore, palaeoanthropological studies of fauna tend to address pre-determined questions through analysis of statistical outputs (patterns), rather than investigating the limitations and potential of the data through exploratory work. This paper, despite identifying a number of inherent constraints on palaeocommunity analysis at the large scale-including a clear tendency towards the segregation of faunal assemblages along taphonomic and geographic lines-successfully defines palaeocommunities and identifies systematic variation in their distribution in several regional datasets and at the continental scale. It suggests that the potential viability of faunal analyses for a given project could be made empirically testable, and further work on the lines defined here might provide insight into the impacts of taphonomy and ecology at the large scale. Although there are conceptual and methodological problems associated with large-scale faunal analyses, this paper suggests that they could provide some insight into hominin environments, evolutionary ecology and biogeography as part of a holistic, multi-scale approach to our lineages' history.

show abstract

Assessing the distribution of Asian Palaeolithic sites: a predictive model of collagen degradation

Cited by 13 publications

References 36 publications

Landscapes of human evolution: models and methods of tectonic geomorphology and the reconstruction of hominin landscapes

Landscapes of human evolution: models and methods of tectonic geomorphology and the reconstruction of hominin landscapes

AMS Radiocarbon Dating of Ancient Bone Using Ultrafiltration

Looking for problems: A systems approach to hominin palaeocommunities from Plio‐Pleistocene Africa

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About