Complex T69, Bed II, Olduvai/I. de la Torre. Credit: CENIEH
Posted on 04/06/2022 7:42:39 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Toshiyuki Fujioka and Alfonso Benito-Calvo, researchers at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), have recently published a paper in the Journal of Human Evolution with the results of burial dating using the cosmogenic nuclide isochron method, applied for the first time directly to the lithic industry of the Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania).
The Olduvai Gorge is known worldwide for its rich Lower Pleistocene paleontological and archaeological record. This paper contributes to the challenge of building a robust geochronological framework on the archaeological sequences of the Olduvai sites through the application of cosmogenic nuclide dating.
The method has been applied to a new site called Complex T69, positioned stratigraphically in Bed II, whose chronology is not well constrained compared to the underlying Bed I, due to fewer volcanic ash layers suitable for conventional K-Ar and Ar-Ar dating.
The stratigraphic interval from middle to upper Bed II of the Olduvai Gorge is a key period for our understanding of the disappearance of Oldowan industry (typically associated with Homo habilis) and the emergence of the Acheulean (typically associated with Homo erectus).
"The novelty of our contribution is twofold. First, we have applied a radiometric method that is still relatively new in archaeology and had never been attempted at Olduvai. Second, its ability to be applied directly to lithic tools, rather than indirectly estimating the ages of underlying or overlying sediments, or of surrounding sediments by assuming an association that is not always guaranteed," explains Toshi Fujioka, first author of the paper.
The direct burial dating of stone tools using cosmogenic nuclide isochron data opens up new possibilities for future studies on human evolution, particularly on time scales of 500,000 years to several million years.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
A team of researchers at the University of Liverpool has tested the assumption that hafted tools (those with handles) provided early humans with enough benefit to warrant their construction and use. In their paper published in Journal of the Royal Society Interface, the group describes how they enlisted the assistance of several volunteers to help them learn more about the types of benefits to be gained from hafted tools.
For many years, the wheel has been named as the most important invention humans have ever come up with due to the major impact it had on the development of so many early activities such as industry, transport and agriculture. In this new effort, the researchers suggest the invention of hafted tools might have been equally important. By adding a handle to tools, humans stabilized their existence—handled tools made cutting down trees much easier, which led to the development of wooden structures. They also made hunting more efficient by making it a lot easier to sharpen spears. In this new effort, the researchers noted that little work has been done to learn more about the advantages given to early humans by hafted tools. And that led them to conduct tests of their own.Experiments show why early humans began adding handles to tools | by Bob Yirka | Phys.org
A first-of-its-kind study at Tel Aviv University asks what drove prehistoric humans to collect and recycle flint tools that had been made, used, and discarded by their predecessors. After examining flint tools from one layer at the 500,000-year-old prehistoric site of Revadim in the south of Israel's Coastal Plain, the researchers propose a novel explanation: prehistoric humans, just like us, were collectors by nature and culture. The study suggests that they had an emotional urge to collect old human-made artifacts, mostly as a means for preserving the memory of their ancestors and maintaining their connectedness with place and time.Collectors in the prehistoric world recycled old stone tools to preserve the memory of their ancestors | Tel-Aviv University | Phys.org
Well I, for one, am glad that direct cosmogenic nuclide is dating olduvai lithium industry.
I wish them much happiness.
They met on Tinder.
Not Grindr?....................
Oh, maybe, I dunno what the young kids do now.
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