Deconstructing Olduvai: A Taphonomic Study of the Bed I Sites

2007
ISBN: 978-94-007-8677-6
Verlag: Springer Netherlands

Buch, Englisch, 292 Seiten, Previously published in hardcover, Format (B × H): 210 mm x 280 mm, Gewicht: 871 g

Reihe: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology

The Olduvai Bed I archaeological sites have been at the epicenter of the debate on how early humans behaved. This book presents a new analytical approach that has produced unexpected results: the association of stone tools and faunal remains at most Olduvai Bed I sites is accidental and not related to hominid behavior. This revolutionary analysis shows that current models of reconstruction of human behavior are wrong.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Domínguez-Rodrigo, Manuel

Egeland, Charles P.

Barba, Rebeca

Fachgebiete

• Geowissenschaften Geologie Paläoökologie
• Geowissenschaften Geologie Paläobotanik
• Geowissenschaften Geologie Paläontologie, Taphonomie
• Geowissenschaften Geologie Geologie
• Geowissenschaften Geologie Paläozoologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Vor- und Frühgeschichte, prähistorische Archäologie
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Humanbiologie Frühmenschen, Hominiden
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Humanbiologie Physische Anthropologie, Paläoanthropologie, Evolutionäre Anthropologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

The “home base” debate.- The Hunting-versus-scavenging debate.- The “physical attribute” taphonomic approach.- Geological and paleoecological overview of Olduvai Gorge.- New estimates of tooth-mark and percussion-mark frequencies at the FLK Zinjanthropus level: the carn.- The behavioral meaning of cut marks at the FLK Zinj level: the carnivore-hominid-carnivore hypothesis falsified (II).- A cautionary tale about early archaeological sites: a reanalysis of FLK North 6.- A palimpsest at FLK North 1-2: independent carnivore- and hominid-made bone accumulations.- A taphonomic study of FLK North 3 and 4: a felid-hyaenid and hominid palimpsest.- Zooarchaeology and taphonomy of FLK North 5.- Natural background bone assemblages and their ravaging stages in Olduvai Bed I.- FLK North North 1: “living floor” or natural accumulation?.- Zooarchaeology and taphonomy of FLK North North 2.- Reanalysis of FLK North North 3: yet another case of a palimpsest?.- Zooarchaeology and taphonomy of the DK site.

Über Autor(innen)

Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo is a professor of Archaeology in the Department of Prehistory of the Complutense University, Madrid. He is co-editor of Journal of Taphonomy. He has been the head of research projects on human evolution conducted in Peninj, Eyasi and Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania), as well as having participated in research conducted in Gona (Ethiopia) and Swartkrans (South Africa). He is associate researcher of the National Museums of Kenya.

Rebeca Barba got her doctorate in Archaeology in the Complutense University under the supervision of MDR. She has conducted research in Peninj and Olduvai. He is associate researcher of the National Museums of Kenya.

Charles P. Egeland recently recieved his Ph.D. in Anthropology from Indiana University in Bloomington. In addition to his work in Tanzania, he has conducted field and lab research in South Africa, Kenya, Germany and several U.S. states.