Prepared core technology from the Early Pleistocene site of Nyabusosi 18, Uganda - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports Année : 2022

Prepared core technology from the Early Pleistocene site of Nyabusosi 18, Uganda

Résumé

The site of Nyabusosi 18 (NY18), Uganda, is among the westernmost Early Pleistocene archaeological occurrences in the Rift Valley. The site is dated by tephrochronology to c. 1.5 Ma and was initially attributed to the Oldowan techno-complex. The lithic assemblage is mainly composed of small flakes and cores with very few retouched pieces and vein quartz is the dominant raw material. However, it is accepted that NY18 displayed an important quantity of “prepared cores”. After providing the current definition of Prepared Core Technology (PCT), we present a detailed methodology combining qualitative and quantitative analyses. Qualitative technology is based on diacritical sketches and knappers’ gesture analysis whereas quantitative approach relies on the univariate and multivariate analyses of morphometrical patterns of the PCT remains. The results show that several concepts such as bifaciality, surface hierarchy and recurrence characterize the PCT at NY18. However, the intensity of the core blank preparation is highly variable and the “guiding-arrises” from the flaking surfaces are poorly used. This appears to impact on the PCT flakes morphology. The PCT flakes are particularly thin in profile view when compared with other flakes from NY18. However, we argue that their outline and elongation is uncontrolled. We revise the previous affiliation of NY18 to the Oldowan and we discuss PCT in the context of the Early Pleistocene, a threshold period for the evolution of human technologies. We suggest that PCTs are Early Pleistocene technical inventions sub-contemporaneous with other major technical changes in Africa, such as large flake production and bifacial shaping that mark the emergence and development of the Acheulean from 1.7 Ma.
Fichier non déposé

Dates et versions

hal-03840172 , version 1 (04-11-2022)

Licence

Paternité - Pas d'utilisation commerciale - Pas de modification

Identifiants

Citer

Isis Mesfin, Pierre-Jean Texier. Prepared core technology from the Early Pleistocene site of Nyabusosi 18, Uganda. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2022, 46, pp.103695. ⟨10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103695⟩. ⟨hal-03840172⟩
25 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More