ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain; Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain; Area de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain.
Division of Biology and Paleo Environment, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, 10964, USA.
J Hum Evol. 2018 Jul;120:203-214. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.08.011. Epub 2017 Sep 2.
The Oldowan site HWK EE (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania) has yielded a large fossil and stone tool assemblage at the transition from Lower to Middle Bed II, ∼1.7 Ma. Integrated tooth wear and stable isotope analyses were performed on the three most abundant ungulate taxa from HWK EE, namely Alcelaphini, cf. Antidorcas recki (Antilopini) and Equus oldowayensis (Equini), to infer dietary traits in each taxon. Some paleodietary changes were observed for cf. A. recki and E. oldowayensis based on tooth wear at the transition from the Lemuta to the Lower Augitic Sandstone (LAS) interval within the HWK EE sequence. Stable carbon and oxygen isotope data show no significant changes in bulk diet or hydroclimate between the Lemuta and LAS intervals. The combined tooth wear and stable isotope data suggest similar paleoecological conditions across the two HWK EE intervals, but that differences in vegetation consumed among ungulates may have resulted in changes in dietary niches. Integrating tooth wear and stable isotope analyses permits the characterization of ungulate diets and habitats at HWK EE where C dominated and minor mixed C and C habitats were present. Our results provide a better understanding of the paleoenvironmental conditions of the Lemuta and LAS intervals. The LAS assemblage was mostly accumulated during relatively dry periods at Olduvai Gorge when grasses were not as readily available and grazing animals may have been more nutritionally-stressed than during the formation of the Lemuta assemblage. This helps to contextualize variations in hominin and carnivore feeding behavior observed from the faunal assemblages produced during the two main occupations of the site.
奥杜威峡谷 HWK EE（坦桑尼亚）旧石器遗址在下部 II 层到中部 II 层过渡时期产出了大量化石和石器组合，时间约为 170 万年前。对来自 HWK EE 的三种最丰富的有蹄类动物（Alcelaphini、cf. Antidorcas recki（Antilopini）和 Equus oldowayensis（Equini））进行了综合牙齿磨损和稳定同位素分析，以推断每个分类群的饮食特征。根据 HWK EE 序列中从 Lemuta 到 Lower Augitic Sandstone（LAS）间隔的牙齿磨损情况，cf. A. recki 和 E. oldowayensis 的一些古饮食变化。稳定的碳和氧同位素数据表明，在 Lemuta 和 LAS 间隔之间，总体饮食或水气候没有明显变化。牙齿磨损和稳定同位素综合数据表明，HWK EE 两个间隔的古生态条件相似，但食草动物之间的植被消耗差异可能导致了饮食生态位的变化。整合牙齿磨损和稳定同位素分析可以对 HWK EE 的有蹄类动物饮食和栖息地进行特征描述，那里 C 占主导地位，存在少量混合 C 和 C 栖息地。我们的结果更好地理解了 Lemuta 和 LAS 间隔的古环境条件。LAS 组合主要是在奥杜威峡谷相对干燥的时期积累的，当时草不易获得，食草动物可能比在 Lemuta 组合形成时受到更大的营养压力。这有助于从该遗址两次主要居住期间产生的动物群中观察到的人类和食肉动物取食行为的变化进行上下文分析。
