|
Later Stone Age
The Later Stone Age (LSA) is a period in African prehistory that follows the Middle Stone Age. The Later Stone Age is associated with the advent of modern human behavior in Africa, although definitions of this concept and means of studying it are up for debate. The transition from the Middle Stone Age to the Late Stone Age is thought to have occurred first in eastern Africa between 50,000 and 39,000 years ago. It is also thought that Later Stone Age peoples and/or their technologies spread out of Africa over the next several thousand years. The terms "Early Stone Age", "Middle Stone Age" and "Later Stone Age" in the context of African archaeology are not to be confused with the terms Lower Paleolithic, Middle Paleolithic, and Upper Paleolithic. They were introduced in the 1920s, as it became clear that the existing chronological system of Upper, Middle, and Lower Paleolithic was not a suitable correlate to the prehistoric past in Africa. Some scholars, however, continue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pieza Foliácea Africana
''Pieza'' is a genus of flies in the family Mythicomyiidae. Its species are found in North America, South America, and the West Indies. The genus was named by Neal Evenhuis in 2002. Evenhuis included the following eleven species, transferring four from ''Mythicomyia'', in his initial circumscription (taxonomy), circumscription: * ''Pieza agnastis, P. agnastis'' — Chile (Maule Region, Maule, Santiago Province, Chile, Santiago) * ''Pieza angusta, P. angusta'' — United States (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas) and Mexico (Baja California, Jalisco, Sonora, Tamaulipas) * ''Pieza deresistans, P. deresistans'' — northern Venezuela * ''Pieza dominicana, P. dominicana'' — Dominican amber, Miocene * ''Pieza flavitibia, P. flavitibia'' — northern Venezuela * ''Pieza kake, P. kake'' — Brazil (Minas Gerais) * ''Pieza minuta, P. minuta'' — United States (Arizona, California, New Mexico) and Mexico (Baja California Sur, Sonora) * ''Pieza ostenta, P. ostenta'' — Unite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oldowan
The Oldowan (or Mode I) was a widespread stone tool archaeological industry during the early Lower Paleolithic spanning the late Pliocene and the first half of the Early Pleistocene. These early tools were simple, usually made by chipping one, or a few, flakes off a stone using another stone. Oldowan tools were used during over a period spanning from 2.9 million years ago up until at least 1.7 million years ago (Ma), by ancient hominins (early humans) across much of Africa. This technological industry was followed by the more sophisticated Acheulean industry (two sites associated with ''Homo erectus'' at Gona in the Afar Region of Ethiopia dating from 1.5 and 1.26 million years ago have both Oldowan and Acheulean tools). The term ''Oldowan'' is taken from the site of Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, where the first Oldowan stone tools were discovered by the archaeologist Louis Leakey in the 1930s. However, some contemporary archaeologists and palaeoanthropologists prefer to use th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prehistoric Africa
The prehistory of Africa spans from the earliest human presence in Africa until the ancient period in the history of Africa. Paleolithic Lower Paleolithic The first known hominids evolved in Africa. According to paleontology, the early hominids' skull anatomy was similar to that of the gorilla and the chimpanzee, great apes that also evolved in Africa, but the hominids had adopted a bipedal locomotion which freed their hands. This gave them a crucial advantage, enabling them to live in both forested areas and on the open savanna at a time when Africa was drying up and the savanna was encroaching on forested areas. By 4 million years ago, several australopithecine hominid species had developed throughout Southern, Eastern and Central Africa. They were tool users, and makers of tools. They scavenged for meat and were omnivores. By approximately 3.3 million years ago, primitive stone tools were first used to scavenge kills made by other predators and to harvest carrion and marr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Itaakpa Rock Shelter
The Itaakpa rock shelter is an archaeological site located in southwestern Nigeria. It is situated about half of a kilometer west of the village of Iffe-Ijumu, in the Kogi State of Nigeria. It is in a region with a number of similar rock formations that sheltered Late Stone Age peoples and that are of significant archeological interest. Excavations The site was excavated between 1985 and 1988 by a British and Nigerian team. The artifacts found at the shelter, particularly the pottery, suggest a long period of continuous occupation from the Late Stone Age to the Iron Age. The tools, particularly microlithic tools (small, sharp stone tools), indicate a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Excavations at Itaakpa have also revealed human remains – a partial human skull consisting of a partial right mandible and maxilla, 12 teeth ''in situ'' and nine other isolated teeth, apparently all belonging to a single adult male, probably in his twenties. The teeth appear to be healthy, with no visib ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panga Ya Saidi
Panga ya Saidi is an archaeological cave site located in Kilifi County, southeastern Kenya, about 15 km from the Indian Ocean in the Dzitsoni limestone hills. The cave site has rich archaeological deposits dating to the Middle Stone Age, Later Stone Age, and Iron Age#Sub-Saharan Africa, Iron Age. Excavated deposits preserve an unusually long record of human activities, from around 78,000 years ago until around 400 years ago, a chronology supported by radiocarbon dating and optically stimulated luminescence dating. This sequence puts Panga ya Saidi alongside other key sites such as Enkapune Ya Muto, Enkapune ya Muto, Mumba Cave, Mumba Rockshelter, and Nasera Rockshelter that are important for understanding the Late Pleistocene and the Middle to Later Stone Age transition in eastern Africa. The archaeological potential of Panga ya Saidi was first noted by Robert Soper and later by Richard Helm. Beginning in 2010, the cave site has been excavated by the Sealinks Project, headed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nasera Rockshelter
Nasera Rockshelter is an archaeological site located in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area within Ngorongoro District of Arusha Region in northern Tanzania, and it has evidence of Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age occupations in the Late Pleistocene to early Holocene, and ceramic-bearing Holocene occupations attributed to Kansyore, Nderit, and Savanna Pastoral Neolithic traditions. The site was first excavated by Louis Leakey in 1932. A second series of excavations by Michael Mehlman in 1975 and 1976 led to the first comprehensive published study of the shelter, its stratigraphy and chronology (supported by radiocarbon dates), and its abundant material culture, including stone tools, faunal remains, and pottery. Recent work has sought to better understand chronology, lithic technology, mobility and demography, and site formation processes at Nasera Rockshelter. Nasera Rockshelter is considered a key site in eastern Africa for understanding the Middle Stone Age to Later Ston ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mumbwa Cave
The Mumbwa Caves are an archeological site in Zambia. The site has yielded artifacts that date from the Mesolithic, Neolithic and the Iron Age. The caves are a source of stratified, in situ deposits with faunal and human remains. Mumbwa, with its interior structures, demonstrates the complexity of the behavioral abilities of the people from the Mesolithic. Selection of raw materials along with features such as hearths suggests a population which was modern in its behaviors used to inhabit the Mumbwa Caves. Study and excavation of the Mumbwa Caves is helping to fill in the gaps in the late Pleistocene prehistory of south central Africa. Excavations Macrae 1926; Clark 1942; Savage 1983. In 1931, Dart and Del Grande excavated the caves and discovered intact basal deposits which were used to date the site. In 1993, Lawrence Barham gathered a team represented by the Zambian National Heritage Conservation Commission, the Livingstone Museum and the Universities of Bristol and Oxford to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mumba Cave
Mumba Cave, located near the highly alkaline Lake Eyasi in Karatu District, Arusha Region, Tanzania. The cave is a rich archaeological site noted for deposits spanning the transition between the Middle Stone Age and Late Stone Age in Eastern Africa. The transitional nature of the site has been attributed to the large presence of its large assemblage of ostrich eggshell beads and more importantly, the abundance of microlith technology. Because these type artifacts were found within the site it has led archaeologists to believe that the site could provide insight into the origins of modern human behavior. The cave was originally tested by Ludwig Kohl-Larsen and his wife Margit in their 1934 to 1936 expedition. They found abundant artifacts, rock art, and burials. However, only brief descriptions of these findings were ever published. That being said, work of the Kohl-Larsens has been seen as very accomplished due to their attention to detail, especially when one considers that neit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enkapune Ya Muto
Enkapune Ya Muto, also known as Twilight Cave, is a site spanning the late Middle Stone Age to the Late Stone Age on the Mau Escarpment of Kenya. This time span has allowed for further study of the transition from the Middle Stone Age to the Late Stone Age. In particular, the changes in lithic and pottery industries can be tracked over these time periods as well as transitions from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a herding lifestyle. Beads made of perforated ostrich egg shells found at the site have been dated to 40,000 years ago. The beads found at the site represent the early human use of personal ornaments. Inferences pertaining to climate and environment changes during the pre-Holocene and Holocene period have been made based from faunal remains based in this site. Location Enkapune Ya Muto is located on the Mau Escarpment above the Naivasha basin in the Central Rift Valley. Underneath the shelter is a steep 2400-meter drop into a gully located on the west side of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microlithic Industries
Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a craftsman called a flintknapper. Stone has been used to make a wide variety of tools throughout history, including arrowheads, spearheads, hand axes, and querns. Knapped stone tools are nearly ubiquitous in pre-metal-using societies because they are easily manufactured, the tool stone raw material is usually plentiful, and they are easy to transport and sharpen. The study of stone tools is a cornerstone of prehistoric archaeology because they are essentially indestructible and therefore a ubiquitous component of the archaeological record. Ethnoarchaeology is used to further the understanding and cultural implications of stone tool use and manufacture. Knapped stone tools are made from cryptocrystalline materials such as chert, flint, radi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microlith
A microlith is a small Rock (geology), stone tool usually made of flint or chert and typically a centimetre or so in length and half a centimetre wide. They were made by humans from around 60,000 years ago, across Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. The microliths were used in spear points and arrowheads. Microliths are produced from either a small blade (Microblade technology, microblade) or a larger blade-like piece of flint by abrupt or truncated retouch (lithics), retouching, which leaves a very typical piece of waste, called a microburin. The microliths themselves are sufficiently worked so as to be distinguishable from workshop waste or accidents. Two families of microliths are usually defined: laminar and geometric. An assemblage of microliths can be used to date an archeological site. Laminar microliths are slightly larger, and are associated with the end of the Upper Paleolithic and the beginning of the Epipaleolithic era; geometric microliths are characteristic of the M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Levallois Technique
The Levallois technique () is a name given by archaeologists to a distinctive type of stone knapping developed around 250,000 to 400,000Shipton, C. (2022). Predetermined Refinement: The Earliest Levallois of the Kapthurin Formation. *Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology*, 5, 4. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41982-021-00109-1 years ago during the Middle Palaeolithic period. It is part of the Mousterian stone tool industry, and was used by the Neanderthals in Europe and by modern humans in other regions such as the Levant. It is named after 19th-century finds of flint tools in the Levallois-Perret suburb of Paris, France. The technique was more sophisticated than earlier methods of lithic reduction, involving the striking of lithic flakes from a prepared lithic core. A striking platform is formed at one end and then the core's edges are trimmed by flaking off pieces around the outline of the intended lithic flake. This creates a domed shape on the side of the core, known as a tortoise c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
