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Africa and Asia: Comparisons of the Earliest Archaeological Evidence

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Asian Paleoanthropology

Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology ((VERT))

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Abstract

The earliest archaeological sites in East Asia ­suggest that making and using stone artifacts was a consistent part of the subsistence strategy of these earliest immigrants to East Asia. Although there are many differences between the earliest archaeological record in Africa and Asia, a few aspects of these industries allow formal comparisons. Here we review aspects of the African Oldowan archaeological record and compare it to the large and well-studied archaeological record from the Nihewan Basin. We suggest that the technological strategies shown in these East Asian Early Paleolithic assemblages are consistent with a subsistence pattern where stone tool mediated resources played a very different role than that found in East Africa. We suggest that the poor quality of available materials were not conducive to the maintenance of complex toolkits. Early Pleistocene hominins in East Asia may have exploited a series of diverse resources that had distinct technological requirements. In this sense the ecology of these hominins may have been very different from their African counterparts.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Professors Gao Xing, Wei Qi, Jin Changzhu, and other members of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology staff that provided us with an enlightening tour of the archaeological sites in China in the summer of 2006. We thank Alison Brooks for imparting some of her expansive understanding of the East Asian archaeological record. We also thank the helpful suggestions of three anonymous reviewers. David R. Braun would like to thank the support of the University of Cape Town Emerging Researchers Program and constant careful assistance of Kathryn Underwood.

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  1. Archaeology Department, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, Cape Town, South Africa

    David R. Braun

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  1. , Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Maile Way 346 Saunders Hall 2424, Honolulu, 96822-2223, Hawaii, USA

    Christopher J. Norton

  2. , Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa

    David R. Braun

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Braun, D.R., Norton, C.J., Harris, J.W.K. (2011). Africa and Asia: Comparisons of the Earliest Archaeological Evidence. In: Norton, C., Braun, D. (eds) Asian Paleoanthropology. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9094-2_4

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