Department of Geosciences, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 3209 N. Maryland Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA.
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY, London, United Kingdom.
J Hum Evol. 2018 Jul;120:378-401. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.11.010. Epub 2018 Jan 10.
The lithic assemblages at the Oldowan-Acheulean transition in Bed II of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, represent a wide variety of raw materials reflecting both the diversity of volcanic, metamorphic, and sedimentary source materials available in the Olduvai basin and surroundings and the preferences of the tool-makers. A geochemical and petrographic systematic analysis of lava-derived archaeological stone tools, combined with textural and mineralogical characterization of quartzite, chert, and other metamorphic and sedimentary raw materials from two Middle and Upper Bed II sites, has enabled us to produce a comprehensive dataset and characterization of the rocks employed by Olduvai hominins, which is used here to establish a referential framework for future studies on Early Stone Age raw material provenancing. The use of rounded blanks for most lava-derived artifacts demonstrates that hominins were accessing lava in local stream channels. Most quartzite artifacts appear to derive from angular blocks, likely acquired at the source (predominantly Naibor Soit hill), though some do appear to be manufactured from stream-transported quartzite blanks. Raw material composition of the EF-HR assemblage indicates that Acheulean hominins selected high-quality lavas for the production of Large Cutting Tools. On the other hand, the HWK EE lithic assemblage suggests that raw material selectivity was not entirely based on rock texture, and other factors, such as blank shape and availability of natural angles suitable for flaking, played a major role in Oldowan reduction sequences.
坦桑尼亚奥杜威峡谷 Bed II 层旧石器时代早期-阿舍利过渡时期的石器组合代表了各种各样的原材料，反映了奥杜威盆地及其周边地区可用的火山岩、变质岩和沉积岩源材料的多样性，以及工具制造者的偏好。对熔岩衍生的考古石器进行了地球化学和岩相系统分析，并对来自两个中上层 Bed II 地点的石英岩、燧石和其他变质及沉积性原材料进行了质地和矿物学特征描述，使我们能够全面生成奥杜威古人类使用的岩石数据集和特征描述，并在此基础上建立了早期石器时代原材料产地研究的参考框架。大多数熔岩衍生制品使用圆形石片，这表明古人类是在当地溪流中获取熔岩的。大多数石英岩制品似乎源自角砾块，可能是在源头（主要是 Naibor Soit 山）获取的，尽管有些似乎是由溪流搬运的石英岩石片制成的。EF-HR 组合的原材料组成表明，阿舍利古人类选择了高质量的熔岩来制作大型切割工具。另一方面，HWK EE 石器组合表明，原材料的选择性并非完全基于岩石质地，其他因素，如石片形状和适合剥落的天然角度的可用性，在奥杜威石器的制作过程中起着重要作用。
