Early Acheulian stone assemblages ~ 1.7-1.6 Ma from Gona, Ethiopia

• Type of Material: Conference Paper
• Authors: S. Semaw, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana; Michael K Rogers, Emory University; Dietrich Stout, Southern Connecticut State University
• Language: English
• Date: 2013-09-12
• Publisher: Emory University Libraries
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: 2018 Springer Link
• Final Published Version (URL): https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-75985-2
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: The Emergence of the Acheulean in East Africa and Beyond
• Conference or Event Name: International Workshop
• Keywords: proximity; technology; Kenya; Konso; trachyte; cutting tools; basalt; handaxes; Gona; stone assemblages; Kekiselei; Ethiopia; cobbles; bifaces; rhyolite; flake blanks; Acheulian; East Africa; picks; raw materials
• Research Categories: History, African; Anthropology, Archaeology

Abstract

The earliest Acheulian in East Africa is dated to ~1.75 million years ago (Ma) and is well documented at Kokiselei in Kenya, and at Konso in Ethiopia. Archaeological investigations at Gona, in the Afar Depression of Ethiopia, have also produced early Acheulian stone assemblages dated to ~1.7-1.6 Ma. Several sites at Gona, including DAN-5, BSN-12, BSN-17 and OGS-12, have yielded archaeological materials comparable to Konso. The stone assemblages from the Gona sites consist of ‘large cutting tools’ including unifacially and bifacially shaped crude handaxes and picks, as well as Mode I (Oldowan) cores, and débitage. Although technologically similar, at Konso a majority of the bifaces were made on flake blanks, whereas at Gona they were made equally on cobbles as well as large flakes (>10 cm). A variety of raw materials were exploited at Gona, but trachyte and rhyolite were the most utilized for making the large cutting pieces, particularly at BSN-12, -17 and DAN-5, and basalt dominated at OGS-12. The differences could be related to proximity to raw material sources. At BSN-12, -17 and DAN-5 raw materials were locally available, whereas the source(s) for OGS-12 have yet to be identified.