A typical Oldowan simple stone chopper tool. Wikimedia Commons
Posted on 01/17/2015 4:06:22 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Oldowan stone-knapping dates back to the Lower Paleolithic period in eastern Africa, and remained largely unchanged for 700,000 years until more sophisticated Acheulean hand-axes and cleavers, which marked the next generation of stone tool technology, came on the scene. It was practiced by some of our earliest ancestors, such as Homo habilis and the even older Australopithecus garhi, who walked on two legs, but whose facial features and brain size were closer to those of apes.
In testing five different ways to convey Oldowan stone-knapping skills to more than 180 college students, the researchers found that the demonstration that used spoken communication - versus imitation, non-verbal presentations or gestures - yielded the highest volume and quality of flakes in the least amount of time and with the least waste.
To measure the rate of transmission of the ancient butchery technology, and establish whether more complex communication such as language would get the best results, study volunteers were divided into five- or 10-member "learning chains." The head of the chain received a knapping demonstration, the raw materials and five minutes to try their hand at it. That person then showed it to the next person in the chain, who in turn showed the next person, and so on. Their competence picked up significantly with verbal instruction...
Without language, one can assume that a hominin version of, say, Steve Jobs would have been hard-pressed to pass on visionary ideas. Still, the seeds of language, teaching and learning were planted due to the demand for Oldowan tools, the study suggests, and at some point hominins got better at communicating, hence the advent of Acheulean hand-axes and cleavers some 1.7 million years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at popular-archaeology.com ...
A typical Oldowan simple stone chopper tool. Wikimedia Commons
There are those dates again, how were they determined? Do the math on all the human bodies, all those animal skeletons. Where are they? Nonsense.
That was an incoherent response.
Since animals use language of some form or another depending on species.... from the flashing and color shifting of cuttlefish to the alarm calls of birds or the rumblings and yowls of cats, I don’t see the point in comparing language use vs non use of language here, as if there was ever a time when any primate could not make squeals and grunts meaningful to them.
Why of courseros!
This article does come form Berkley after all. There is a lot of theory that it seems to me to be impossible to prove but that does not stop them form accepting it as fact. Why do they never come up with things to back up their wild theories.
“Oldowan stone-knapping dates back to the Lower Paleolithic period in eastern Africa, and remained largely unchanged for 700,000 years...”
Imagine something, anything, nowadays going unchanged for 700,000 years.
#1 That is a Binford tool. Here is how you pronounce it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnsiZOJjfUg
Spoken language works better with most modern college students because they can’t read. ( note recent posted news article that average college undergraduate reads only at grade level 7)
Literally thousands of stone tools and implements have been found Kathu, South Africa. Here is a description of the tool making site: http://thenaturalhistorian.com/2014/12/18/how-rare-are-stone-age-artifacts-a-visit-to-a-stone-tool-making-center-at-kathu-south-africa/
Remote places in Indonesia, the Amazon jungle, and parts of Africa have stone age tribes.
Nope incorrect theory of politeness-
Earliest Known Stone Weapons Planted the Seeds of Communication and Language,
viz First words uttered were “Watch it, Buster!
Keep your filthy hands offa my woman, or I`ll crack your stupid head wide open with this here stone axe I don just made it!!”
By the same logic used in the article, it is obvious that they had printed manuals and that the only reason we don't see any printed manuals today is that they were made of flimsy materials that dissipated with time.
I listened to an audio course on ancient Egypt and was astonished to learn that things didn’t progress much over a couple thousand years. They liked the way things were and conserved them.
The 700,000 years jumped out at me, too. Can you imagine no progress at all over that period?!
We get impatient if a new phone model isn’t introduced every 7 months.
So “RTFM” is actually a million years old? Who knew?
I have found hundreds of stone tools in south Texas and northern Mexico. I have boxes of them, there is nothing I enjoy doing more than hunting arrowheads and stone tools. .
It does help if you can say "Yer not doin' it right!"
:’) That personalized Michigan plate at the end of the episodes? That was a real plate. Dunno where the car was, but that was actually issued.
Hey, it worked well enough. The finer work happened when different materials were discovered, meaning, the people wandered around and found it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
