Abstract
On the western side of the Turkana basin, the sedimentological members of the Nachukui Formation expose a unique succession of archaeological site complexes ranging from 0.7 to 3.3 Ma. Following the analysis of the oldest and most remarkable lithic assemblages, we propose a model clarifying the chronology and possible operative modes of the first stone knappers; the technological components which around 1.76 Ma led to a new method in stone working: shaping . It appears that they gradually substituted newly mastered technical advances for the initial selection of blocks or cobbles naturally displaying a suitable shape. The alternating of conceptual advances, first concretized in the appropriate selection of natural block shapes, then in major technical innovations , seems to have been the rhythm of a very slow and hesitant tempo, leading to the formalization of the oldest Acheulean lithic assemblages then to a new technological world from 1.0 Ma.
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Notes
- 1.
“Le premier objet vraiment façonné que l’on connaisse, la première forme totalement inventée par des hommes.”
- 2.
The West Turkana Archaeological Project (WTAP) is a joint program of the National Museums of Kenya (National Museums of Kenya) and of the Mission préhistorique au Kenya (MPK). Created and directed by H. Roche from 1994 to 2013, the WTAP is now directed by S. Harmand and J. Lewis. This program yearly benefits of the institutional (Commission consultative des recherches archéologiques à l’étranger) and financial support of the French “Ministère des Affaires étrangères et du Développement international.”
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My grateful thanks to Hélène Roche, head of the Mission Préhistorique au Kenya (MPK), and co-responsible of the West Turkana Archaeological Project (WTAP).
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Texier, PJ. (2018). Technological Assets for the Emergence of the Acheulean? Reflections on the Kokiselei 4 Lithic Assemblage and Its Place in the Archaeological Context of West Turkana, Kenya. In: Gallotti, R., Mussi, M. (eds) The Emergence of the Acheulean in East Africa and Beyond. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75985-2_3
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