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78,000-year-old record of Middle and Later Stone Age innovation in an East African tropical forest

Author

Listed:
  • Ceri Shipton

    (University of Cambridge
    British Institute in Eastern Africa
    Australian National University)

  • Patrick Roberts

    (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History)

  • Will Archer

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
    University of Cape Town)

  • Simon J. Armitage

    (University of London
    University of Bergen)

  • Caesar Bita

    (Malindi Museum, National Museums of Kenya)

  • James Blinkhorn

    (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
    University of Liverpool)

  • Colin Courtney-Mustaphi

    (University of York, Heslington)

  • Alison Crowther

    (British Institute in Eastern Africa
    The University of Queensland)

  • Richard Curtis

    (La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus)

  • Francesco d’ Errico

    (University of Bergen
    UMR 5199 PACEA, CNRS/Université de Bordeaux)

  • Katerina Douka

    (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
    Dyson Perrins Building)

  • Patrick Faulkner

    (The University of Sydney)

  • Huw S. Groucutt

    (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
    University of Oxford)

  • Richard Helm

    (Canterbury Archaeological Trust)

  • Andy I. R Herries

    (La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus)

  • Severinus Jembe

    (National Museums of Kenya)

  • Nikos Kourampas

    (University of Edinburgh
    University of Stirling)

  • Julia Lee-Thorp

    (University of Oxford)

  • Rob Marchant

    (University of Liverpool)

  • Julio Mercader

    (University of Calgary)

  • Africa Pitarch Marti

    (UMR 5199 PACEA, CNRS/Université de Bordeaux
    Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Campus Bellaterra)

  • Mary E. Prendergast

    (Saint Louis University)

  • Ben Rowson

    (National Museum Wales, Cathays Park)

  • Amini Tengeza

    (National Museums of Kenya)

  • Ruth Tibesasa

    (University of Pretoria)

  • Tom S. White

    (University Museum of Zoology
    The Natural History Museum)

  • Michael D. Petraglia

    (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
    Smithsonian Institution)

  • Nicole Boivin

    (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History)

Abstract

The Middle to Later Stone Age transition in Africa has been debated as a significant shift in human technological, cultural, and cognitive evolution. However, the majority of research on this transition is currently focused on southern Africa due to a lack of long-term, stratified sites across much of the African continent. Here, we report a 78,000-year-long archeological record from Panga ya Saidi, a cave in the humid coastal forest of Kenya. Following a shift in toolkits ~67,000 years ago, novel symbolic and technological behaviors assemble in a non-unilinear manner. Against a backdrop of a persistent tropical forest-grassland ecotone, localized innovations better characterize the Late Pleistocene of this part of East Africa than alternative emphases on dramatic revolutions or migrations.

Suggested Citation

  • Ceri Shipton & Patrick Roberts & Will Archer & Simon J. Armitage & Caesar Bita & James Blinkhorn & Colin Courtney-Mustaphi & Alison Crowther & Richard Curtis & Francesco d’ Errico & Katerina Douka & P, 2018. "78,000-year-old record of Middle and Later Stone Age innovation in an East African tropical forest," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-04057-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04057-3
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    Cited by:

    1. Seiji Kadowaki & Joe Yuichiro Wakano & Toru Tamura & Ayami Watanabe & Masato Hirose & Eiki Suga & Kazuhiro Tsukada & Oday Tarawneh & Sate Massadeh, 2024. "Delayed increase in stone tool cutting-edge productivity at the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in southern Jordan," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.

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