TY - JOUR
T1 - The expansion of the Acheulian to the Southeastern Ethiopian Highlands
T2 - Insights from the new early Pleistocene site-complex of Melka Wakena
AU - Hovers, Erella
AU - Gossa, Tegenu
AU - Asrat, Asfawossen
AU - Niespolo, Elizabeth M.
AU - Resom, Angesom
AU - Renne, Paul R.
AU - Ekshtain, Ravid
AU - Herzlinger, Gadi
AU - Ketema, Natnael
AU - Martínez-Navarro, Bienvenido
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021/2/1
Y1 - 2021/2/1
N2 - Current models of early hominin biological and cultural evolution are shaped almost entirely by the data accumulated from the East African Rift System (EARS) over the last decades. In contrast, little is known about the archaeological record from the high-elevation regions on either side of the Rift. Melka Wakena is a newly discovered site-complex on the Southeastern Ethiopian Highlands (SEH) (>2300 m above mean sea level) just east of the central sector of the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), where eight archaeological and two paleontological localities were discovered to date. Nine archaeological horizons from three localities were tested so far, all dated to the second half of the early Pleistocene (∼1.6 to >0.7 Ma). All the lithic assemblages belong to the Acheulian technocomplex. Here we report on geochronological, stratigraphic, paleontological and lithic technological aspects of the tested localities and contextualize them in the broader framework of hominin cultural evolution in eastern Africa. Findings from Melka Wakena, assessed against the backdrop of the few other highland sites (Melka Kunture and Gadeb), support a scenario of expansion rather than dispersal from the Rift to the highlands. When considered in the context of the Rift-highlands interface, results of the first-phase research at Melka Wakena help to parse existing general models into archaeologically testable hypotheses and demonstrate the site's potential to contribute to research of early prehistory and to understanding the dynamics of early Pleistocene hominin populations in eastern Africa.
AB - Current models of early hominin biological and cultural evolution are shaped almost entirely by the data accumulated from the East African Rift System (EARS) over the last decades. In contrast, little is known about the archaeological record from the high-elevation regions on either side of the Rift. Melka Wakena is a newly discovered site-complex on the Southeastern Ethiopian Highlands (SEH) (>2300 m above mean sea level) just east of the central sector of the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), where eight archaeological and two paleontological localities were discovered to date. Nine archaeological horizons from three localities were tested so far, all dated to the second half of the early Pleistocene (∼1.6 to >0.7 Ma). All the lithic assemblages belong to the Acheulian technocomplex. Here we report on geochronological, stratigraphic, paleontological and lithic technological aspects of the tested localities and contextualize them in the broader framework of hominin cultural evolution in eastern Africa. Findings from Melka Wakena, assessed against the backdrop of the few other highland sites (Melka Kunture and Gadeb), support a scenario of expansion rather than dispersal from the Rift to the highlands. When considered in the context of the Rift-highlands interface, results of the first-phase research at Melka Wakena help to parse existing general models into archaeologically testable hypotheses and demonstrate the site's potential to contribute to research of early prehistory and to understanding the dynamics of early Pleistocene hominin populations in eastern Africa.
KW - Acheulian
KW - Dino formation
KW - Early stone age
KW - Eastern africa
KW - Geographic expansion
KW - Highlands occupation
KW - Lithic technology
KW - Melka wakena site-complex
KW - Site formation processes
KW - early Pleistocene
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U2 - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106763
DO - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106763
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85098549066
SN - 0277-3791
VL - 253
JO - Quaternary Science Reviews
JF - Quaternary Science Reviews
M1 - 106763
ER -