The Middle to Later Stone Age transition at Panga ya Saidi, in the tropical coastal forest of eastern Africa

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dc.citation.articleNumber102954en_US
dc.citation.journalTitleJournal of Human Evolutionen_US
dc.citation.volumeNumber153en_US
dc.contributor.authorShipton, Cerien_US
dc.contributor.authorBlinkhorn, Jamesen_US
dc.contributor.authorArcher, Willen_US
dc.contributor.authorKourampas, Nikolaosen_US
dc.contributor.authorRoberts, Patricken_US
dc.contributor.authorPrendergast, Mary E.en_US
dc.contributor.authorCurtis, Richarden_US
dc.contributor.authorHerries, Andy I.R.en_US
dc.contributor.authorNdiema, Emmanuelen_US
dc.contributor.authorBoivin, Nicoleen_US
dc.contributor.authorPetraglia, Michael D.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2021-05-12T18:16:06Zen_US
dc.date.available2021-05-12T18:16:06Zen_US
dc.date.issued2021en_US
dc.description.abstractThe Middle to Later Stone Age transition is a critical period of human behavioral change that has been variously argued to pertain to the emergence of modern cognition, substantial population growth, and major dispersals of Homo sapiens within and beyond Africa. However, there is little consensus about when the transition occurred, the geographic patterning of its emergence, or even how it is manifested in the stone tool technology that is used to define it. Here, we examine a long sequence of lithic technological change at the cave site of Panga ya Saidi, Kenya, that spans the Middle and Later Stone Age and includes human occupations in each of the last five Marine Isotope Stages. In addition to the stone artifact technology, Panga ya Saidi preserves osseous and shell artifacts, enabling broader considerations of the covariation between different spheres of material culture. Several environmental proxies contextualize the artifactual record of human behavior at Panga ya Saidi. We compare technological change between the Middle and Later Stone Age with on-site paleoenvironmental manifestations of wider climatic fluctuations in the Late Pleistocene. The principal distinguishing feature of Middle from Later Stone Age technology at Panga ya Saidi is the preference for fine-grained stone, coupled with the creation of small flakes (miniaturization). Our review of the Middle to Later Stone Age transition elsewhere in eastern Africa and across the continent suggests that this broader distinction between the two periods is in fact widespread. We suggest that the Later Stone Age represents new short use-life and multicomponent ways of using stone tools, in which edge sharpness was prioritized over durability.en_US
dc.identifier.citationShipton, Ceri, Blinkhorn, James, Archer, Will, et al.. "The Middle to Later Stone Age transition at Panga ya Saidi, in the tropical coastal forest of eastern Africa." <i>Journal of Human Evolution,</i> 153, (2021) Elsevier: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.102954.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.102954en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/110511en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherElsevieren_US
dc.rightsThis is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by Elsevier.en_US
dc.subject.keywordBehavioral evolutionen_US
dc.subject.keywordLithic technologyen_US
dc.subject.keywordLate Pleistoceneen_US
dc.subject.keywordEarly Homo sapiensen_US
dc.titleThe Middle to Later Stone Age transition at Panga ya Saidi, in the tropical coastal forest of eastern Africaen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.type.dcmiTexten_US
dc.type.publicationpost-printen_US
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