Browsing by Author "Key, Alastair"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Hominin glacial-stage occupation 712,000 to 424,000 years ago at Fordwich Pit, Old Park (Canterbury, UK)Publication . Key, Alastair; Clark, James; Lauer, Tobias; Bates, Jennifer; Sier, Mark-Jan; Nichols, Claire; Martín-Ramos, Carmen; Cebeiro, Adela; Williams, Eleanor; Kim, Sunghui; Stileman, Finn; Mika, Anna; Pope, Matthew; Bridgland, David; Redhouse, David; Leonardi, Michela; Smith, Geoff M.; Proffitt, TomosFew high-latitude archaeological contexts are older than marine isotope stage (MIS) 15 and even fewer provide evidence of early human occupation during a glacial period. New discoveries at Old Park, Canterbury (UK), provide evidence of both the oldest accessible artefact-bearing sediment in northern Europe and cold-stage adaptation. Radiometric and palaeomagnetic dating places the earliest suggested occupation of this site between 773 thousand years ago (ka) and 607 ka, with hominin presence inferred during MIS 17–16. Two additional artefact-bearing stratigraphic units, dated to around 542 ka and 437 ka, strongly align with the MIS 14 and 12 cold stages, respectively. The latter unit contains convincing evidence of glacial-stage occupation by Acheulean hominins; fresh, unabraded flakes (including biface-thinning) between clearly defined glacial-aged sediments displaying mixed grassland palaeoenvironmental evidence. An historically collected assemblage of more than 330 handaxes is argued to be derived from both the MIS 17–16 and MIS 12 sediments, providing evidence of the earliest known Acheulean bifaces in northern Europe, and re-occupation by Acheulean populations 200,000 years later. Together, Old Park provides evidence for Lower Palaeolithic hominins reoccupying a location over several mid-Pleistocene MIS cycles, early human presence above 51° latitude during a glacial stage and handaxe production in northern Europe from MIS 17 to 16.
- Revising the oldest oldowan: updated optimal linear estimation models and the impact of Nyayanga (Kenya)Publication . Key, Alastair; Proffitt, TomosThe Oldowan lithic industry represents the earliest known evidence of efficiently and expeditiously produced flake stone tools (Toth, 1985; Braun et al., 2019; Reti, 2016; Stout et al., 2019). Complex technological strategies were employed to produce these artefacts compared to earlier hominin stone tools, and potential organic tool-use behaviors inferred via parsimony with non-human primates (Braun et al., 2019; Boesch et al., 2020; Delagnes and Roche, 2005; Gürbüz and Lycett, 2021; Harmand et al., 2015; Lombard et al., 2018; Plummer et al., 2023; Proffitt et al., 2023a, 2023b; Stout et al., 2010; Toth and Schick, 2009). Consequently, the emergence of the Oldowan can still (cf. Leakey, 1971) be argued to reflect a behavioral and evolutionary shift within the hominin lineage, although the nature and species-associations of any changes have become less clear in recent years (Bobe and Wood, 2021; Braun et al., 2019; Hovers, 2012; Lewis and Harmand, 2016; Plummer et al., 2023). Nyayanga, located in the Homa Peninsula of Kenya, has recently emerged as an important archaeological and paleontological site yielding evidence of Oldowan stone tools and butchered fauna dating to between 2.595 and 3.032 Ma (Plummer et al., 2023). These findings not only represent the earliest currently known occurrences of the Oldowan but also greatly expand our understanding of its early geographic distribution. Further, some lithics at Nyayanga were found alongside Paranthropus molars, challenging prevailing assumptions regarding Oldowan species-associations and providing a rare instance of Early Stone Age (ESA) hominin fossil and lithic remains in close association. The co-occurrence of cut marked fauna and flakes, including those excavated in direct contact with hippopotamid remains, further distin guishes Nyayanga as an exceptional ESA occurrence extending hominin dietary and technological behaviors “similar to other Oldowan assem blages” into the Pliocene (Plummer et al., 2023: 563).