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Reconstructing Olduvai
The Behavior of Early Humans at David's Site
- 1st Edition - May 30, 2024
- Authors: Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo, Lucía Cobo-Sánchez, Enrique Baquedano, Audax Mabulla, Agness Gidna, Fernando Diez-Martin
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 2 7 3 8 2 - 7
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 2 7 3 8 3 - 4
Reconstructing Olduvai: The Behavior of Early Humans at David's Site provides the necessary information for future generations of archaeologists to peer into the lifestyle of ear… Read more
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Request a sales quoteReconstructing Olduvai: The Behavior of Early Humans at David's Site provides the necessary information for future generations of archaeologists to peer into the lifestyle of early humans. Much of what is known about these hominins originates from the detailed excavations that Mary Leakey carried out at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. Since then, work at Olduvai has produced a wealth of new fossils, resulting in the discovery of David's Site, the biggest early Pleistocene site in the world. This will be an indispensable resource for students, academics, and researchers who share an interest in the evolution of early human behavior.
Written by leaders of present-day excavations at Olduvai Gorge, this book is systematically divided into three parts to deliver a clear account of the research advancements at David's Site. Part I focuses on the presentation of the site and the description of its geological and palaeoecological reconstruction. Part II examines hominin feeding habits, including how they brought, processed, and consumed animals at the site. Part III explores hominin technologies, including reconstruction of the stone-tool activities carried out at the site.
Written by leaders of present-day excavations at Olduvai Gorge, this book is systematically divided into three parts to deliver a clear account of the research advancements at David's Site. Part I focuses on the presentation of the site and the description of its geological and palaeoecological reconstruction. Part II examines hominin feeding habits, including how they brought, processed, and consumed animals at the site. Part III explores hominin technologies, including reconstruction of the stone-tool activities carried out at the site.
- Describes the discovery and excavation of David’s Site (DS) at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
- Details the geological and palaeoecological reconstruction of all Olduvai Gorge Bed I sites
- Summarizes the impact of taphonomic analyses at Bed I sites on our understanding of early human behaviors
- Explores the dietary habits and technologies of early Pleistocene hominins
Academic researchers studying evolution of human behavior, archaeology, taphonomy, geology, paleobotany, paleontology, and anthropology
- Cover image
- Title page
- Table of Contents
- Copyright
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Chapter 1. Introduction): The discovery and excavation of David’s site (DS) (Bed I, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania)
- 1.1. Introduction
- 1.2. The DS site
- 1.3. History of the excavation
- 1.4. Goals of this book
- Chapter 2. A brief summary of the history of the research of the Olduvai Bed I archeological sites and their impact on the reconstruction of early hominin lifeways
- 2.1. The early archeological record from Africa
- 2.2. Socioeconomic models of the function of early archeological sites
- 2.3. The hunting and scavenging debate revisited and updated to the present
- 2.4. The relevance of the newly discovered anthropogenic sites from Bed I
- 2.5. Application of a scientific theory on the emergence of human behavior to the fossil record: Our testing hypotheses
- Chapter 3. The geological reconstruction of DS
- 3.1. The geological setting
- 3.2. Bed I and the Zinj palaeolandscape
- 3.3. The Zinj palaeolandscape: FLK-Zinj, FLK-N, AMK, PTK, DS and AGS
- 3.4. The Zinj palaeolandscape reconstruction
- 3.5. The Zinj palaeolandscape description
- 3.6. The evolution of the Zinj palaeolandscape
- 3.7. DS (David's site)
- 3.8. DS stratigraphy
- 3.9. The DS stratigraphic succession
- 3.10. The Zinj clay (level 22) mineralogy at DS
- Chapter 4. Reconstructing early human behavior through the taphonomic analysis of DS
- 4.1. Introduction
- 4.2. Methods
- 4.3. Results
- 4.4. Discussion and conclusions
- Chapter 5. Reconstructing early human behavior through the in-site spatial statistical analysis of DS
- 5.1. Introduction
- 5.2. Methods
- 5.3. Results
- 5.4. Discussion and conclusions
- Chapter 6. Reconstructing early human behavior through the lithic technology of DS
- 6.1. Materials and methods
- 6.2. General aspects of the lithic collection
- 6.3. Technological behaviors and lithic categories
- 6.4. DS and FLK 22: A general technological comparison
- 6.5. Conclusions
- Chapter 7. Conclusions
- 7.1. Introduction
- 7.2. Hominin agency
- 7.3. Early and primary access to meat resources
- 7.4. Meat consumption and group size
- 7.5. Early human hunting and confrontational scavenging
- 7.6. The technological behaviors of early humans
- 7.7. The use of central places by hominins on the Zinj paleolandscape
- 7.8. Cooperation and food sharing as the basis of the social organization of early humans
- References
- Appendix A
- Appendix B
- Index
- No. of pages: 370
- Language: English
- Edition: 1
- Published: May 30, 2024
- Imprint: Academic Press
- Paperback ISBN: 9780443273827
- eBook ISBN: 9780443273834
MD
Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo
Dr. Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo is a Professor of Prehistory in the University of Alcalá’s Department of History and Philosophy. He is co-director of Institute of Evolution in Africa (IDEA) and of the Olduvai Palaeoanthropology and Palaeoecology Project (TOPPP). He has also co-directed paleoanthropological projects in Peninj, Eyasi, and Olduvai Gorge and has been guest professor at the Universities of Harvard, Rutgers, St. Louis, and Rice. His specialties are taphonomy and palaoanthropology.
Affiliations and expertise
Professor of Prehistory, Department of History and Philosophy, University of Alcala, Madrid, SpainLC
Lucía Cobo-Sánchez
Dr. Lucía Cobo-Sánchez is a Researcher with the Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behavior (ICArEHB) at the University of Algarve. She obtained her PhD in Archaeology from the University Complutense, and her research focuses on subsistence and socio-ecological adaptations of hominins. Dr. Cobo-Sánchez’s fieldwork spans South Africa, Namibia, Iberia, Germany, and Tanzania. She is a collaborator with IDEA in several studies of early Pleistocene sites in Olduvai Gorge.
Affiliations and expertise
Researcher, Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behavior (ICArEHB), University of Algarve, SpainEB
Enrique Baquedano
Dr. Enrique Baquedano is co-director of the Institute of Evolution in Africa (IDEA) and Visiting Professor at the University of Alcalá. He is director of the Regional Archaeological Museum and co-director of the Olduvai Palaeoanthropology and Palaeoecology Project (TOPPP). His research focuses on taphonomy and historiography.
Affiliations and expertise
University of AlcaláAM
Audax Mabulla
Dr. Audax Mabulla is Associate Professor of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam and Field Coordinator of the University’s Archaeology Unit. His research focuses on modern-day Hadza hunter-gatherers in Tanzania’s Lake Eyasi Basin, and he is an active champion of the land rights of the Hadza.
Affiliations and expertise
University of Dar Es Salaam, TanzaniaAG
Agness Gidna
Dr. Agness Gidna is principal conservator at the National Museum of Tanzania. She obtained her PhD from the University of Alcalá and is a founder of the largest Pastoral Neolithic site in sub-saharan Africa (Luxmanda Site). She is the first Tanzanian woman to hold a doctorate in Physical Anthropology and the first female research director at Olduvai Gorge, where she is a co-principal investigator of the Olduvai Palaeoanthropology and Palaeoecology Project (TOPPP).
Affiliations and expertise
Principal Conservator, Department of Cultural Heritage, Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority, Karatu, TanzaniaFD
Fernando Diez-Martin
Dr. Fernando Diez-Martin is Professor of Prehistory at the University of Valladolid. His research focuses on paleoanthropology, European and African Paleolithic archaeology, lithic technology, post-sedimentary processes of anthropic character, and the history of paleoanthropological thought. His fieldwork spans Spain, Portugal, Republic of Georgia, United States, and Tanzania, with a focus on Peninj, Kilwa, and Olduvai Gorge.
Affiliations and expertise
Professor of Prehistory, University of Valladolid, SpainRead Reconstructing Olduvai on ScienceDirect