Expanded geographic distribution and dietary strategies of the earliest Oldowan hominins and Paranthropus

Thomas W Plummer^{1

2

3

4}, James S Oliver⁵, Emma M Finestone^{6

7}, Peter W Ditchfield⁸, Laura C Bishop^{9

10}, Scott A Blumenthal^{4

11

12}, Cristina Lemorini¹³, Isabella Caricola^{13

14}, Shara E Bailey^{3

15}, Andy I R Herries^{16

17}, Jennifer A Parkinson^{4

18}, Elizabeth Whitfield⁹, Fritz Hertel¹⁹, Rahab N Kinyanjui^{4

20

21}, Thomas H Vincent⁹, Youjuan Li^{22

23}, Julien Louys²⁴, Stephen R Frost¹¹, David R Braun^{25

26}, Jonathan S Reeves²⁶, Emily D G Early^{4

27}, Blasto Onyango²⁰, Raquel Lamela-Lopez^{2

3}, Frances L Forrest^{28

29}, Huaiyu He³⁰, Timothy P Lane⁹, Marine Frouin³¹, Sébastien Nomade^{32

33}, Evan P Wilson^{2

3}, Simion K Bartilol³⁴, Nelson Kiprono Rotich³⁵, Richard Potts^{4

20}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anthropology, Queens College, Flushing, NY, USA.
² The CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY, USA.
³ New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA.
⁴ Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
⁵ Anthropology Section, Illinois State Museum Springfield, IL, USA.
⁶ The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH, USA.
⁷ Department of Archeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.
⁸ School of Archeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
⁹ Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Paleoecology, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.
¹⁰ The Sino-British College, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China.
¹¹ Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA.
¹² University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
¹³ LTFAPA Laboratory, Department of Classics, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
¹⁴ School of History, Classics and Archeology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
¹⁵ Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁶ The Australian Archaeomagnetism Laboratory, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, 3086 Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.
¹⁷ Paleo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.
¹⁸ Department of Anthropology, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Biology, California State University, Northridge, CA, USA.
²⁰ National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.
²¹ Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany.
²² Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
²³ Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, China.
²⁴ Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.
²⁵ Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
²⁶ Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
²⁷ Arizona Museum of Natural History, Mesa, AZ, USA.
²⁸ Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT, USA.
²⁹ American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA.
³⁰ Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
³¹ Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.
³² Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin and Paris Saclay, Gif Sur Yvette, France.
³³ Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Guyancourt, France.
³⁴ Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
³⁵ Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, Warsaw, Poland.

PMID: 36758076
DOI: 10.1126/science.abo7452

Expanded geographic distribution and dietary strategies of the earliest Oldowan hominins and Paranthropus

Thomas W Plummer et al. Science. 2023.

. 2023 Feb 10;379(6632):561-566.

doi: 10.1126/science.abo7452. Epub 2023 Feb 9.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anthropology, Queens College, Flushing, NY, USA.
² The CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY, USA.
³ New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA.
⁴ Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
⁵ Anthropology Section, Illinois State Museum Springfield, IL, USA.
⁶ The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH, USA.
⁷ Department of Archeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.
⁸ School of Archeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
⁹ Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Paleoecology, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.
¹⁰ The Sino-British College, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China.
¹¹ Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA.
¹² University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
¹³ LTFAPA Laboratory, Department of Classics, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
¹⁴ School of History, Classics and Archeology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
¹⁵ Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁶ The Australian Archaeomagnetism Laboratory, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, 3086 Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.
¹⁷ Paleo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.
¹⁸ Department of Anthropology, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Biology, California State University, Northridge, CA, USA.
²⁰ National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.
²¹ Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany.
²² Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
²³ Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, China.
²⁴ Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.
²⁵ Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
²⁶ Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
²⁷ Arizona Museum of Natural History, Mesa, AZ, USA.
²⁸ Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT, USA.
²⁹ American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA.
³⁰ Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
³¹ Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.
³² Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin and Paris Saclay, Gif Sur Yvette, France.
³³ Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Guyancourt, France.
³⁴ Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
³⁵ Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, Warsaw, Poland.

PMID: 36758076
DOI: 10.1126/science.abo7452

Abstract

The oldest Oldowan tool sites, from around 2.6 million years ago, have previously been confined to Ethiopia's Afar Triangle. We describe sites at Nyayanga, Kenya, dated to 3.032 to 2.581 million years ago and expand this distribution by over 1300 kilometers. Furthermore, we found two hippopotamid butchery sites associated with mosaic vegetation and a C₄ grazer-dominated fauna. Tool flaking proficiency was comparable with that of younger Oldowan assemblages, but pounding activities were more common. Tool use-wear and bone damage indicate plant and animal tissue processing. Paranthropus sp. teeth, the first from southwestern Kenya, possessed carbon isotopic values indicative of a diet rich in C₄ foods. We argue that the earliest Oldowan was more widespread than previously known, used to process diverse foods including megafauna, and associated with Paranthropus from its onset.

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Expanded geographic distribution and dietary strategies of the earliest Oldowan hominins and Paranthropus

Affiliations

Expanded geographic distribution and dietary strategies of the earliest Oldowan hominins and Paranthropus

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Miscellaneous