Lecture 9

Question 1

Oldowan- description, first appearance, associated with

Answer 1

Core and flake tools

~2.6mya (secondary evidence from 3.3mya)

H. habilis/rudolfensis;
Australopithecus afarensis/garhi
Paranthropus robustus

Question 2

Acheulean- description, first appearance, associated with

Answer 2

Bifacial retouch of large cutting
tools (LCTs), especially the
handaxe

~1.65mya

H. ergaster/erectus;
H. heidelbergensis; H.
neanderthalensis

Question 3

Prepared
Core
Technology
(PCT)- description, first appearance, associated with

Answer 3

Careful preparation of cores to pre-determine the shape of the flake to be removed.

~300,000yrs

H. heidelbergensis in the Middle Stone Age of Africa; Neanderthals in the Levant and Europe

Question 4

Blade
technology - description, first appearance, associated with

Answer 4

Series of long, narrow flakes
(‘blades’) removed from
‘prismatic’ cores

~70,000yrs (isolated
occurrences before this)

Homo sapiens after 70,000 years but occasionally from Middle Palaeolithic (H. heidelbergensis/ neanderthalensis)

Question 5

Microlithic
technology- description, first appearance, associated with

Answer 5

Blades produced as above
‘snapped’ into small,
standardised trapeze shapes for use in composite technologies

~18,000

Homo sapiens

Question 6

Ground stone- description, first appearance, associated with

Answer 6

Heavy stone pieces such as
axeheads laboriously ground
smooth

Neolithic

Homo sapiens

Question 7

The new oldest stone tools – welcome to
the Lomekwian!

Answer 7

• Until 2015, oldest stone tools known
  were from Gona, Ethiopia, and
  dated to 2.6mya. They belonged to
  the Oldowan culture
• Now artefacts from Lomekwe 3,
  Kenya are securely dated to 3.3mya
• Basalt and quartz raw material,
  found near sites: naturally suited to
  knapping but don’t naturally flake

Core and flake technology but pre-Oldowan!
* Single striking platform
* Mixture of hammer-and-anvil
technique (cf Kanzi) and freehand
percussion
* Lots of errors and failed strikes
apparent i.e. not very skilled?

Question 8

Lokalalei, Kenya, 2.3mya

Answer 8

• ~190 cobbles deliberately
  transported to the site: ~95 were
  flaked on the spot
• Long sequences of flake
  detachment reconstructed
  through refitting
• consistent maintenance of
  successful strike angles for up to 30 successive strikes
• No impact damage from failed strikes: skilled
• Could exploit but not create new striking angles?
• Raw material transport distances from 50m