Additional evidence on the early hominid bone tools from Swartkrans with reference to spatial distribution of lithic and organic artefacts - HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article dans une revue South African Journal of Science Année : 2003

Additional evidence on the early hominid bone tools from Swartkrans with reference to spatial distribution of lithic and organic artefacts

Résumé

Previous research showed that 68 bone fragments from the early hominid site of Swartkrans (Members 1–3; c. 1.8–1.0 Myr), bearing a characteristic wear pattern not found in bone assemblages accumulated by non-human factors, could be interpreted as tools used by early hominids in digging activities to extract tubers or termites. Here we describe 16 additional bone tools from the same site and study the enlarged bone tool collection in search of patterns of variation among members. No significant differences were observed between Members 1–3 in the type and size of the bone fragments used as tools as well as in the length and type of the wear pattern, suggesting that no major changes occurred through time in the subsistence strategy for which the tools were used. The vertical distribution of the bone tools spans Members 1–3, indicating that early hominids maintained a behavioural pattern involving a bone tool material culture that may have persisted for nearly a million years. The fact that the proportion of bone versus stone tools remained roughly similar in the three members indicates stability in the artefact catchment basin. The different preservation of bone and stone tools indicates the former were incorporated in the deposit quickly while the latter remained exposed to alteration for longer in some instances. Bone and stone tools do not share the same spatial and vertical distribution which suggests that relatively long time intervals could separate early hominid incursions in the catchment basin to use the two tool types. The absence of Homo remains in Member 3 — where Paranthropus (Australopithecus) robustus fossils occur in association with relatively few stone and many bone tools, together with the presence of only two possible stone tools at Drimolen, the other southern African site to have yielded similar bone tools, points to the robust australopithecines as the more probable users of these tools.
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Dates et versions

halshs-00453456, version 1 (04-02-2010)

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  • HAL Id : halshs-00453456 , version 1

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Lucinda Backwell, Francesco d'Errico. Additional evidence on the early hominid bone tools from Swartkrans with reference to spatial distribution of lithic and organic artefacts. South African Journal of Science, 2003, 99 (5-6), pp.259-267. ⟨halshs-00453456⟩

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