Department of Anthropology, Colorado State University, 1787 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY, London, UK.
J Hum Evol. 2018 Jul;120:114-139. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.06.006. Epub 2017 Jul 26.
HWK EE is a little-known archaeological site from the top of Lower Bed II and the basal part of Middle Bed II, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. The site was originally excavated in the early 1970s by Mary Leakey, but the excavations and resulting lithic and fossil assemblages were never described. Here we report for the first time on the lithic and fossil assemblages that were recovered by Mary Leakey from the site. The lithic assemblage is one of the largest of any Oldowan site and is characterized by a core-and-flake technology with simple flaking techniques and minimal reduction of cores. Retouched flake frequencies and battered tools are higher than those reported for Olduvai Bed I and Lower Bed II assemblages, but flaking schemes are poorly organized. The fossil assemblage is well-preserved, taxonomically-rich, but dominated by bovids, and includes abundant feeding traces of both hominins and carnivores. Hominins are inferred to have broken the majority of limb bones at the site for access to marrow, while both carnivores and hominins likely had access to at least some flesh. HWK EE may represent one of the last Homo habilis sites at Olduvai Gorge, and is important to understanding the behavioral and cultural mechanisms that led to the emergence of the Acheulean and Homo erectus in the region.
HWK EE 是位于坦桑尼亚奥杜瓦伊峡谷下二床和中二床底部的一个鲜为人知的考古遗址。该遗址最初由玛丽·利基（Mary Leakey）于 20 世纪 70 年代早期发掘，但挖掘工作以及由此产生的石器和化石组合从未被描述过。在这里，我们首次报告了玛丽·利基（Mary Leakey）从该遗址回收的石器和化石组合。石器组合是任何奥杜威遗址中最大的组合之一，其特点是采用了石核-石片技术，具有简单的剥片技术和最小的核心减损。有琢背痕迹的石片和石锤的频率高于奥杜威 I 层和下二床组合的报道，但剥片方案组织不佳。化石组合保存完好，分类丰富，但以牛科动物为主，包括大量人类和食肉动物的觅食痕迹。人类可能在该遗址折断了大多数四肢骨骼以获取骨髓，而食肉动物和人类都可能至少接触到一些肉。HWK EE 可能代表奥杜瓦伊峡谷最后一个能人遗址之一，对于理解导致该地区阿舍利和直立人出现的行为和文化机制具有重要意义。
