Paixão Eduardo, Gossa Tegenu, Gneisinger Walter, Marreiros João, Tholen Sören, Calandra Ivan, Hovers Erella
ICArEHB-Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal.
Laboratory for Traceology and Controlled Experiments (TraCEr), MONREPOS -Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution, LEIZA -Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie, Mainz, Germany.
PLoS One. 2025 Jan 9;20(1):e0314039. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0314039. eCollection 2025.
The evolution of human behaviour is marked by key decision-making processes reflected in technological variability in the early archaeological record. As part of the technological system, differences in raw material quality directly affect the way that humans produce, design and use stone tools. The selection, procurement and use of various raw materials requires decision-making to evaluate multiple factors such as suitability to produce and design tools, but also the materials' efficiency and durability in performing a given task. Therefore, characterizing the physical properties of various lithic raw materials is crucial for exploring changes in human interactions with their natural environment through time and space and for understanding their technological behaviour. In this paper, we present the first step in an ongoing program designed to understand the decision-making criteria involved in the use of raw materials by the early Acheulian tool-makers at the Melka Wakena (MW) site-complex, located on the Ethiopian highlands. We present the results of the first experimental step, in which we identified and measured the engineering properties of raw materials in the lithic assemblages. These data serve as an objective, quantifiable baseline for natural experiments as well as archaeological inquiries into the technological decision-making processes of early Pleistocene hominins in Africa.
人类行为的演变以关键决策过程为标志，这些过程反映在早期考古记录中的技术变异性上。作为技术系统的一部分，原材料质量的差异直接影响人类生产、设计和使用石器的方式。选择、获取和使用各种原材料需要进行决策，以评估多个因素，如生产和设计工具的适用性，以及材料在执行给定任务时的效率和耐用性。因此，表征各种石质原材料的物理特性对于探索人类与自然环境在时空上的相互作用变化以及理解他们的技术行为至关重要。在本文中，我们展示了一个正在进行的项目的第一步，该项目旨在了解位于埃塞俄比亚高地的梅尔卡·瓦克纳（MW）遗址群中阿舍利早期工具制造者使用原材料时所涉及的决策标准。我们展示了第一个实验步骤的结果，在该步骤中，我们识别并测量了石器组合中原材料的工程特性。这些数据为自然实验以及对非洲早更新世人类技术决策过程的考古研究提供了一个客观、可量化的基线。
