Tracing the spatial imprint of Oldowan technological behaviors: A view from DS (Bed I, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania)

DS (David’s site) is one of the new archaeological sites documented in the same paleolandscape in which FLK 22 was deposited at about 1.85 Ma in Olduvai Gorge. Fieldwork in DS has unearthed the largest vertically-discrete archaeological horizon in the African Pleistocene, where a multi-cluster anthr...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Díez Martín, Fernando, Cobo Sánchez, Lucía, Baddeley, Adrian, Uribelarrea Del Val, David, Mabulla, Audax, Baquedano, Enrique, Domínguez-Rodrigo, Manuel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/8637
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/8637
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:903.01(678)
Paleontología
Arqueología
2416 Paleontología
5505.01 Arqueología
Descripción
Sumario:DS (David’s site) is one of the new archaeological sites documented in the same paleolandscape in which FLK 22 was deposited at about 1.85 Ma in Olduvai Gorge. Fieldwork in DS has unearthed the largest vertically-discrete archaeological horizon in the African Pleistocene, where a multi-cluster anthropogenic accumulation of fossil bones and stone tools has been identified. In this work we present the results of the techno-economic study of the lithic assemblage recovered from DS. We also explore the spatial magnitude of the technological behaviors documented at this spot using powerful spatial statistical tools to unravel correlations between the spatial distributional patterns of lithic categories. At DS, lavas and quartzite were involved in different technological processes. Volcanic materials, probably transported to this spot from a close source, were introduced in large numbers, including unmodified materials, and used in percussion activities and in a wide variety of reduction strategies. A number of volcanic products were subject to outward fluxes to other parts of the paleolandscape. In contrast, quartzite rocks were introduced in smaller numbers and might have been subject to a significantly more intense exploitation. The intra-site spatial analysis has shown that specialized areas cannot be identified, unmodified materials are not randomly distributed, percussion and knapping categories do not spatially overlap, while bipolar specimens show some sort of spatial correlation with percussion activities.