Long-distance stone transport and pigment use in the earliest Middle Stone Age

TLDR

The Olorgesailie basin in southern Kenya preserves a 1.2‑million‑year record of Middle Stone Age human activity and environmental change. The study reviews three papers that provide the earliest East African evidence of the MSA and clarify its technology and behavior linked to Homo sapiens origins. The papers show that the MSA began around 320,000–305,000 years ago, marked by the decline of Acheulean technology, behavioral shifts, faunal turnover, landscape change, and the early use of distant obsidian for toolmaking, establishing a technological shift and social exchange. References: Potts et al., Brooks et al., Deino et al., Science, this issue,.

Abstract

The Middle Stone Age in Africa The Olorgesailie basin in the southern Kenya rift valley contains sediments dating back to 1.2 million years ago, preserving a long archaeological record of human activity and environmental conditions. Three papers present the oldest East African evidence of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) and elucidate the system of technology and behavior associated with the origin of Homo sapiens . Potts et al. present evidence for the demise of Acheulean technology that preceded the MSA and describe variations in late Acheulean hominin behavior that anticipate MSA characteristics. The transition to the MSA was accompanied by turnover of large mammals and large-scale landscape change. Brooks et al. establish that ∼320,000 to 305,000 years ago, the populations in eastern Africa underwent a technological shift upon procurement of distantly sourced obsidian for toolmaking, indicating the early development of social exchange. Deino et al. provide the chronological underpinning for these discoveries. Science , this issue p. 86 , p. 90 , p. 95