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The earliest South African hominids (humans and their ancestral kin) belong to the genera Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and Homo, with the oldest being a ca. 3.67 million-year-old nearly complete skeleton of Australopithecus (StW 573) from Sterkfontein Caves. This skeleton has provided, for the first time in almost a century of research, the full anatomy of an Australopithecus individual with indisputably associated skull and postcranial bones that give complete limb lengths. The three genera are also found in East Africa, but scholars have disagreed on the taxonomic assignment for some fossils owing to historical preconceptions. Here we focus on the South African representatives to help clarify these debates. The uncovering of the StW 573 skeleton in situ revealed significant clues concerning events that had affected it over time and demonstrated that the associated stalagmite flowstones cannot provide direct dating of the fossil, as they are infillings of voids caused by postdepositional collapse.

Sterkfontein is the most prolific single source of

The StW 573 skeleton of Australopithecus prometheus from Sterkfontein Member 2 is some 93% complete and thus by far the most complete member of that genus yet found. Firmly dated at 3.67 Ma, it is one of the earliest specimens of its genus. A crucial aspect of interpretation of locomotor behaviour from fossil remains is an understanding of the palaeoenvironment in which the individual lived and the manner in which it would have used it. While the value of this ecomorphological approach is largely accepted, it has not been widely used as a stable framework on which to build evolutionary biomechanical interpretations. Here, we collate the available evidence on StW 573’s anatomy in order, as far as currently possible, to reconstruct what might have been this individual’s realized and potential niche. We explore the concept of a common Australopithecus “bauplan” by comparing the morphology and ecological context of StW 573 to that of paenocontemporaneous australopiths including Australopithecus anamensis and KSD-VP-1/1 Australopithecus afarensis. Each was probably substantially arboreal and woodland-dwelling, relying substantially on arboreal resources. We use a hypothesis-driven approach, tested by: virtual experiments, in the case of extinct species; biomechanical analyses of the locomotor behaviour of living great ape species; and analogical experiments with human subjects. From these, we conclude that the habitual locomotor mode of all australopiths was upright bipedalism, whether on the ground or on branches. Some later australopiths such as Australopithecus sediba undoubtedly became more terrestrial, allowing sacrifice of arboreal stability in favour of manual dexterity. Indeed, modern humans retain arboreal climbing skills but have further sacrificed arboreal effectiveness for enhanced ability to sustain striding terrestrial bipedalism over much greater distances. We compare StW 573’s locomotor adaptations to those of living great apes and protohominins, and agree with those earlier observers who suggest that the common panin-hominin last common ancestor was postcranially more like Gorilla than Pan.

Ever since the first discovery of handaxes in the 1970s in the Baise (Bose) Basin in South China, this region has been providing important data that have improved our understanding of Large Cutting...

Functional morphology of the atlas reflects multiple aspects of an organism’s biology. More specifically, its shape indicates patterns of head mobility, while the size of its vascular foramina reflects blood flow to the brain. Anatomy and function of the early hominin atlas, and thus, its evolutionary history, are poorly documented because of a paucity of fossilized material. Meticulous excavation, cleaning and high-resolution micro-CT scanning of the StW 573 (‘Little Foot’) skull has revealed the most complete early hominin atlas yet found, having been cemented by breccia in its displaced and flipped over position on the cranial base anterolateral to the foramen magnum. Description and landmark-free morphometric analyses of the StW 573 atlas, along with other less complete hominin atlases from Sterkfontein (StW 679) and Hadar (AL 333-83), confirm the presence of an arboreal component in the positional repertoire of Australopithecus. Finally, assessment of the cross-sectional areas of the transverse foramina of the atlas and the left carotid canal in StW 573 further suggests there may have been lower metabolic costs for cerebral tissues in this hominin than have been attributed to extant humans and may support the idea that blood perfusion of these tissues increased over the course of hominin evolution.

The ca. 3.67 Ma adult skeleton known as ‘Little Foot’ (StW 573), recovered from Sterkfontein Member 2 breccia in the Silberberg Grotto, is remarkable for its morphology and completeness. Preservation of clavicles and scapulae, including essentially complete right-side elements, offers opportunities to assess morphological and functional aspects of a nearly complete Australopithecus pectoral girdle. Here we describe the StW 573 pectoral girdle and offer quantitative comparisons to those of extant hominoids and selected homininans. The StW 573 pectoral girdle combines features intermediate between those of humans and other apes: a long and curved clavicle, suggesting a relatively dorsally positioned scapula; an enlarged and uniquely proportioned supraspinous fossa; a relatively cranially oriented glenoid fossa; and ape-like reinforcement of the axillary margin by a stout ventral bar. StW 573 scapulae are as follows: smaller than those of some homininans (i.e., KSD-VP-1/1 and KNM-ER 47000A), larger than others (i.e., A.L. 288-1, Sts 7, and MH2), and most similar in size to another australopith from Sterkfontein, StW 431. Moreover, StW 573 and StW 431 exhibit similar structural features along their axillary margins and inferior angles. As the StW 573 pectoral girdle (e.g., scapular configuration) has a greater affinity to that of apes—Gorilla in particular—rather than modern humans, we suggest that the StW 573 morphological pattern appears to reflect adaptations to arboreal behaviors, especially those with the hand positioned above the head, more than human-like manipulatory capabilities. When compared with less complete pectoral girdles from middle/late Miocene apes and that of the penecontemporaneous KSD-VP-1/1 (Australopithecus afarensis), and mindful of consensus views on the adaptiveness of arboreal positional behaviors soliciting abducted glenohumeral joints in early Pliocene taxa, we propose that the StW 573 pectoral girdle is a reasonable model for hypothesizing pectoral girdle configuration of the crown hominin last common ancestor.

The Early Pleistocene site of Swartkrans in South Africa's Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site has been significant for our understanding of the evolution of both early Homo and Paranthropus, as well as the earliest archaeology of southern Africa. Previous attempts to improve a faunal age estimate of the earliest deposit, Member 1, had produced results obtained with uranium-lead dating (U-Pb) on flowstones and cosmogenic burial dating of quartz, which placed the entire member in the range of1.7/1.8 Ma and2.3 Ma. In 2014, two simple burial dates for the Lower Bank, the earliest unit within Member 1, narrowed its age to between ca. 1.8 Ma and 2.2 Ma. A new dating program using the isochron method for burial dating has established an absolute age of 2.22 ± 0.09 Ma for a large portion of the Lower Bank, which can now be identified as containing the earliest Oldowan stone tools and fossils of Paranthropus robustus in South Africa. This date agrees within one sigma with the U-Pb age of 2.25 ± 0.08 Ma previously published for the flowstone underlying the Lower Bank and confirms a relatively rapid rate of accumulation for a large portion of the talus.

International audience; Because of its exceptional degree of preservation and its geological age of ∼3.67 Ma, StW 573 makes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of early hominin evolution and paleobiology. The morphology of the bony labyrinth has the potential to provide information about extinct primate taxonomic diversity, phylogenetic relationships and locomotor behaviour. In this context, we virtually reconstruct and comparatively assess the bony labyrinth morphology in StW 573. As comparative material, we investigate 17 southern African hominin specimens from Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Makapansgat (plus published data from two specimens from Kromdraai B), attributed to Australopithecus, early Homo or Paranthropus, as well as 10 extant human and 10 extant chimpanzee specimens. We apply a landmark-based geometric morphometric method for quantitatively assessing labyrinthine morphology. Morphology of the inner ear in StW 573 most closely resembles that of another Australopithecus individual from Sterkfontein, StW 578, recovered from the Jacovec Cavern. Within the limits of our sample, we observe a certain degree of morphological variation in the Australopithecus assemblage of Sterkfontein Member 4. Cochlear morphology in StW 573 is similar to that of other Australopithecus as well as to Paranthropus specimens included in this study, but it is substantially different from early Homo. Interestingly, the configuration of semicircular canals in Paranthropus specimens from Swartkrans differs from other fossil hominins, including StW 573. Given the role of the cochlea in the sensory-driven interactions with the surrounding environment, our results offer new perspectives for interpreting early hominin behaviour and ecology. Finally, our study provides additional evidence for discussing the phylogenetic polarity of labyrinthine traits in southern African hominins.

The period approximating 100 ka relates to Middle Paleolithic or Middle Stone Age technological behaviors that are generally characterized by prepared core technology, an expanding range of retouched tools, and the novel exploitation and sourcing of raw materials. As opposed to other regions of the world, the technological features of this period in China are deeply debated and remain unclear. Presently, it is suggested that Chinese lithic technology during this period is marked by the continuation of mode 1 artifacts that are characterized by simple cores, flakes, and tools that lack standardization. Here, we present a lithic assemblage associated with the discovery of two archaic human crania at the Lingjing site, securely dated to ~ 125–90 ka. A detailed analysis of stone artifacts shows increased technological advancement of the Lingjing humans during this period, including bi-conical discoidal core reduction strategies, discrete small-sized tool types, and refined retouch on blanks. Those features are also shared by the contemporaneous sites documented across the broader Eurasian and African continents. However, the rarity of prepared core technologies at Lingjing, such as Levallois or laminar flaking, likely indicates a unique technological trajectory compared to sites outside of China. It is due to this that we herein adopt the term Chinese Middle Paleolithic to more clearly refer to the variations we have identified at Lingjing. The Lingjing lithic assemblage, overall, could potentially represent a regional expression of the Middle Paleolithic technocomplex in China, although details about the processes behind its development are still unclear. The study contributes to a new understanding of the long-standing view of the simplified technological behaviors in China before ~ 40 ka and sheds light on the interpretations of the implied human behavioral transformations in the early Late Pleistocene of China.

The Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDA19050102), the Chinese Academy of Sciences Pioneer Hundred Talents Program, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Strategic Priority Research Program Grant (No. XDPB05), the Shandong University 111 Project (111-2-09), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41672020). MGL would like to acknowledge funding support provided by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa and the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) with its Scatterings of Africa programs. KK also acknowledges the NRF support (grant number 88480) for her collaborative work in China.

The Fauresmith was a term first coined by archaeologists in the 1920s to describe a cultural development intermediate between the Earlier and Middle Stone Ages. From the late 1960s, many researchers abandoned the term in favor of sinking the Fauresmith within the Later Acheulean. More recently, however, some have supported the idea of the Fauresmith as the earliest Middle Stone Age, whereas other researchers continue to use the term to refer to a transitional technological development. In this article, we evaluate the status of the Fauresmith. We do this by describing a newly excavated assemblage from Canteen Kopje in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa and by comparing it with other assemblages published as Fauresmith. Although there is substantial variability across these assemblages, we present data to show that the relevant assemblages show the consistency of a regional technology that is indeed transitional between the Earlier and Middle Stone Ages. It includes prepared cores, blades, and very reduced numbers of large cutting tools compared with the Acheulean, and it often includes convergent flakes and retouched points. We argue that the Fauresmith, along with parallel developments both within and beyond Africa, is a term worth retaining to identify the slow process of decline of Acheulean technology in favor of a lighter toolkit, which includes varying degrees of more advanced core reduction strategies, larger numbers of formal tools, and hafting. Such developments are associated with populations linked to the development of Homo sapiens in Africa from ca. 600 to 160 ka.

South Africa has a rich record of Acheulean sites, but the Early Acheulean is thus far limited to a handful of secondary context sites. These are in the Cradle of Humankind (ca 1.7 to 1.0 Ma) in Gauteng Province in the northeast and in two site complexes in the Northern Cape Province in the interior of the country. This paper describes the typology and technology of an assemblage from Rietputs 15, Northern Cape Province, where burial dating with cosmogenic nuclides has demonstrated the first Early Acheulean assemblages beyond Gauteng Province (Gibbon et al., 2009). The assemblage is named ACP after its location (Artefact Collection Pit) near Rietputs Pit 1, which has an age of ca 1.7 Ma and is at the western side of the Rietputs farm. Organized core reduction strategies are absent from ACP, but they are present in a second assemblage collected from Rietputs Pit 5 over 2 km to the east in the same site complex, where dates from five gravels, all of which contain stone tools, range from ca 1.2 to 1.6 Ma. The Pit 5 assemblage with organized core flaking strategies is directly dated to ca 1.3 Ma (Leader et al., in press). Also at the nearby site of Canteen Kopje, an assemblage excavated from a layer dated to 1.51 Ma contains organized core reduction strategies (Leader 2014). Based on these technological comparisons and on the comparable nature of the large cutting tools (LCTs) with those from the Cradle of Humankind, we interpret the ACP site at Rietputs 15 to be older than 1.3–1.5 Ma. This assemblage adds to our understanding of the Early Acheulean in South Africa. Large cutting tools in the two regions were made both on flakes and cobbles and show much variability in plan form. Pick-like forms are common but not exclusive. The LCTs from both regions are described to provide a picture of Early Acheulean adaptations in South Africa.

The Rietputs 15 site near Windsorton (Northern Cape, South Africa) has recently gained attention as the first Early Acheulean site in South Africa to be dated with an absolute rather than relative method (Gibbon et al., 2009). A large assemblage from Pit 5 has a cosmogenic nuclide burial age of 1.31 ± 0.21 Ma. In addition to the Early Acheulean handaxes, cleavers and picks retrieved from this pit, a notable feature is the presence of an organised core flaking strategy, which contrasts with the simpler reduction methods that dominate the assemblage. Just over 17% of the cores display features that demonstrate hominids were able to control core working in order to exploit the largest surface, occasionally for a preferential removal. The most common form of organised core has an asymmetrical shape, in which the underside is worked pyramidally to produce a larger upper surface suitable for yielding sizeable flakes, and in the most developed form flakes are removed perpendicular to the surface. Limited platform working of these cores suggests that raw materials were intentionally selected for large surfaces and shapes appropriate for organised flaking. Hornfels comprises over 64% of the raw materials, which is unusual in the African earlier Acheulean. Rietputs 15 provides strong supporting evidence for the origins of organised flaking strategies during the course of the Early Acheulean.

Qiliting is an Early to Middle Pleistocene open-air site sealed within Vermiculated Laterite and Xiashu Loess in Zhejiang Province, southeast China. Based on palaeomagnetic work at this site and stratigraphic comparisons, the position of the artifacts in the Xiashu Loess indicates that human activities occurred in an upper cultural layer ca 0.30–0.12 Ma. A lower cultural layer in the Vermiculated Laterite is dated palaeomagentically by the Kamikatsura Event above this horizon in comparative section and the Santa Rosa Event below it, which estimated its age to 0.94–0.886 Ma BP. The flaking and tool modification strategies in the Qiliting assemblages are those of a typical Mode 1 industry, which includes simple flakes and cores, with limited modification of the modified tools, scrapers and picks. These features are also characteristic of the other regional sites, as well as of many other early sites in south China. No core preparation occurs, nor any extensively retouched specimens. The stone working is represented by a system of debitage sensu stricto and not by a compound system of debitage and shaping as occurs in Mode 2 industry.

The East Asian Acheulean is often considered distinct from African and European Acheulean technologies as large cutting tools (LCTs) are thicker and heavier on average. This distinction is generally true, but exceptions occur, particularly in thickness, as more Chinese sites are reported. It has been suggested that the raw materials available in East Asia have played a part in determining this dissimilarity. Extensive raw material studies on East Asian technologies have not yet been done to determine if this is indeed the case. It is thus important to investigate the impact of raw materials quality on the East Asian Acheulean. This paper focuses on raw material attributes for LCTs from the Danjiangkou Reservoir Region, central China (DRR), with specific focus on Middle Pleistocene artefacts from Terrace 3 of the Han River. Extensive experimental studies were done to determine raw material attributes and how those attributes affect the knapping process in the creation of LCTs. A set of variables was recorded for the experimental tools and compared with a sample of archaeological LCTs. The variables recorded included: the impurity encounter rates of various raw materials, their weathering states, grain sizes and shapes. The results indicated that hominids occupying the DRR exhibited selective behaviours for the raw materials they used to make LCTs, despite not having a wide variety of materials from which to select. It is also evident that they showed adaptability and made strategic decisions with regards to the selected raw materials for manufacture of LCTs to meet their needs.

As a characteristic component of the Acheulean Complex that is particularly significant in understanding the technological behaviour of early hominids, handaxes have been extensively discussed for a very long time. However, the fundamental question of temporal trends in handaxe technology is still debated in current research. To contribute to the further understanding of this question, we present a quantitative study of the technology and morphology of handaxes from two sites widely separated in time—the Rietputs 15 earlier Acheulean ca 1.3 Ma, and the Cave of Hearths later Acheulean ca 0.5 Ma. Results show that the technological practice of handaxe manufacture is consistent and conservative through time in these two sites, despite significant differences in raw materials. These commonalities include the ability to detach large flakes, to shape many handaxes with bifacial flaking, and to apply both primary and secondary flaking in shaping and edge refinement. However, there is an increased investment in the time and energy devoted to flaking of the younger Acheulean handaxe sample. Temporal differences in the morphology of handaxes between the two assemblages are not shown in most metrical attributes and indices used in this study. In contrast, extensive variability is observed at the intra-assemblage level in both samples, with Cave of Hearths showing relatively more variability. We argue that the conservatism and variability shown in the handaxes from these two sites widely separated in time are a reflection of the shared and long-lasting success of the Acheulean technological tradition and its flexibility of adaptation to different subsistence niches.

Comptes Rendus Palevol - In Press.Proof corrected by the author Available online since jeudi 21 janvier 2016

The ever-growing use of the landmarks-based 3D geometric morphometric approach in Paleolithic studies is providing researchers with robust datasets that facilitate the interpretation of new research questions that cannot be explored using traditional planform measurements. Here, we utilize this method to investigate the shape of the Large Cutting Tools (LCTs) from the Baise (or Bose) Basin in South China that are heavily debated as Acheulean or Acheulean-like. Our results show that the greatest variability in shape is primarily concentrated along the lateral edges of the mesial and basal parts of the LCTs, which is in contrast with the relative consistency in shape for the distal tips. This trend in shape variability is very likely related to certain functional needs driving the technological investment within different portions of the LCTs during the shaping process (i.e., more extensive shaping in the tips relative to the other remaining parts). Another key feature for LCT tip morphology is the general preference for arched or tongue-like shapes, although some variability still exists. We suggest that the consistency in these tip morphologies likely reflects an inherent mental template in the minds of the LCT makers, and is also probably a specific functional adaptation (e.g., wood working) within the local humid subtropical paleoenvironment. This study provides an important case study demonstrating the successful application of a landmarks-based 3D geometric approach to Asian LCTs, showcasing its innovative potential when investigating the evolution of Paleolithic assemblages.

The exploration of techniques used to produce large flakes has long been a focus in Acheulean studies, especially from an experimental perspective. In this study we develop an experimental methodology to analyze Acheulean materials from the Danjiangkou Reservoir Region (DRR) in central China. The results show that large flakes experimentally produced with the bipolar technique can be easily distinguished from flakes produced by the other techniques due to the compression fracture unique to this method of flaking. These bipolar flakes show features consistent with those observed on a portion of the DRR archaeological handaxes. We suggest that the internal flaws and foliated structure found in quartz phyllite can actually assist in splitting cobbles, and consequently, they make bipolar flaking easier and effective. The anvil and throwing techniques have the next most successful ratio in detaching large flakes. The freehand technique is the least successful. Overall, the experimental study reported in this paper clearly demonstrates that raw materials influence the choice of flaking techniques, and the bipolar technique is a unique characteristic of the DRR Acheulean.

International audience; The Sterkfontein Caves is currently the world's richest Australopithecus-bearing site. Included in Sterkfontein's hominin assemblage is StW 573 (‘Little Foot’), a near-complete Australopithecus skeleton discovered in Member 2 in the Silberberg Grotto. Because of its importance to the fossil hominin record, the geological age of StW 573 has been the subject of significant debate. Three main hypotheses have been proposed regarding the formation and age of Member 2 and by association StW 573. The first proposes that Member 2 (as originally defined in the type section in the Silberberg Grotto) started to accumulate at around 2.58 Ma and that the unit is contained within the Silberberg Grotto. The second proposes that Member 2 started forming before 3.67 ± 0.16 Ma and that the deposit extends into the Milner Hall and close to the base of the cave system. The third proposes a ‘two-stage burial scenario’, in which some sediments and StW 573 represent a secondary and mixed-age accumulation reworked from a higher cave. The stratigraphic and sedimentological implications of these hypotheses are tested here through the application of a multiscale investigation of Member 2, with reference to the taphonomy of the StW 573 skeleton. The complete infilling sequence of Member 2 is described across all exposures of the deposit in the Silberberg Grotto and into the Milner Hall. Sediments are generally stratified and conformably deposited in a sequence of silty sands eroded from well-developed lateritic soils on the landscape surface. Voids, clasts and bioclasts are organized consistently across and through Member 2 conforming with the underlying deposit geometry, indicating gradual deposit accretion with no distinct collapse facies evident and only localized intra-unit postdepositional modification. The stratigraphy and sedimentology of Member 2 support a simple single-stage accumulation process of Member 2 and a primary association between the sediments of Member 2 and the StW 573 ‘Little Foot’ skeleton.

(300 words)StW 573, from Sterkfontein Member 2, dated ca 3.67 Ma, is by far the most complete skeleton of an australopith to date. Joint morphology is in many cases closely matched in available elements of Australopithecus anamensis (eg. proximal and distal tibial and humeral joint-surfaces) and there are also close similarities to features of the scapula, in particular, of KSD-VP-1/1 A. afarensis from Woranso-Mille. The closest similarities are, however, to the partial skeleton of StW 431 from Sterkfontein Member 4. When considered together, both StW 573 and StW 431 express an hip joint morphology quite distinct from that of A. africanus Sts14, and a proximal femur of a presumed A. africanus from Jacovec Cavern at Sterkfontein, StW 598. This, and other evidence presented herein, suggests there are two pelvic girdle morphs at Sterkfontein, supporting Clarke (2013) in his recognition of a second species, A. prometheus, containing StW 573 and StW 431. StW 573 is the first hominid skeleton where limb proportions are known unequivocally. It demonstrates that some early hominins, at the time of formation of the Laetoli footprints (3.6 Ma), were large-bodied. with hindlimbs longer than forelimbs. Modelling studies on extant primates indicate that the intermembral index (IMI) of StW 573, low for a non-human great ape, would have substantially enhanced economy of bipedal walking over medium-to-long distances, but that it was still too high for effective walking while load-carrying. It would, however, have somewhat reduced the economy of horizontal climbing, but made Gorilla-like embracing of large tree-trunks less possible. Consideration of both ethnographic evidence from modern indigenous arboreal foragers and modern degeneracy theory cautions against prescriptive interpretations of hand- and foot-function, by confirming that both human-like upright bipedalism and functional capabilities of the hand and foot can be effective in short-distance arboreal locomotion.

The Sterkfontein Caves has an 80 year history of yielding remarkable evidence of hominin evolution and is currently the world’s richestAustralopithecus-beafingsite. Included in Sterkfontein’s hominin assemblage is StW 573 (‘Little Foot’). Discovered in the Member 2 deposit in the Silberberg Grotto, StW 573 represents the most completeAustralopithecusskeleton yet found. Because of its importance to the fossil hominin record, the geological age of Little Foot has been the subject of significant debate. Two main hypotheses have been proposed regarding the formation and age of Member 2 and by association StW 573. The first, proposes that Member 2 formed relatively rapidly, starting to accumulate at around 2.8 million years ago and that the unit is isolated to the Silberberg Grotto - the underlying chambers and passages forming later. The second proposes that Member 2 formed slowly, its accumulation starting before 3.67 million years ago and that the deposit extends into the Milner Hall and close to the base of the cave system. Both assume a primary association between StW 573 and Member 2, although which sediments in the Silberberg Grotto are associated with Member 2 has also been questioned. Recently a third alternative hypothesis questioning the association of StW 573 to Member 2 sediments proposed a ‘two-stage burial scenario’ in which sediments associated with StW 573 represent a secondary and mixed-age deposit reworked from a higher cave. The stratigraphic and sedimentological implications of these hypotheses are tested here through the application of a multiscale investigation of Member 2, with reference to the taphonomy of the Little Foot skeleton. The complete infilling sequence of Member 2 is described and depositional units are tracked across all exposures of the deposit in the Silberberg Grotto and into the Milner Hall. Facies development follows patterns characteristic of colluvially accumulated taluses with 30-40° angles of repose developing coarser distal facies. Sediments are generally stratified and conformably deposited in a sequence of silty sands eroded from well-developed lateritic soils on the landscape surface. Voids, clasts and bioclasts are organized consistently across and through Member 2 according to the underlying deposit geometry, indicating a gradual deposit accretion with no distinct collapse facies evident, no successive debris flow accumulation, and only localized intra-unit post- depositional modification. The stratigraphy and sedimentology of Member 2 supports a simple single-stage accumulation process through which Member 2 partially fills the Silberberg Grotto and extends into the deeper chambers and passages of the Sterkfontein Caves. Through this work we demonstrate at multiple scales the primary association between the sediments of Member 2 and the StW 573 ‘Little Foot’ skeleton.

The mainstream school of human evolution posits that Homo erectus was the earliest species to leave Africa at ∼1.85 million years (Ma) ago. Recent discoveries from the Shangchen loess-palaeosol sequence near the Lantian hominid site in northern China, however, show lithic artifacts up to 2.12 Ma, pre-dating the fossil record of H. erectus. Here we apply the recently established isochron 26Al/10Be burial dating, whose reliability has been verified by intercomparison with 40Ar/39Ar dating, to two locations at the Palaeolithic site of Xihoudu ∼100 km east of Shangchen. The results show that the stone tools found within river gravels there are 2.43 ± 0.06 Ma (1σ) old, making them the earliest radio-isotopically dated evidence for human occupation in Eurasia. The new date is supported by relative dating of the associated fauna, by consistent simple burial ages of quartz sand from deep cores, and by agreement between the two isochrons. Although the validity of the Xihoudu artifacts has been previously debated because of marked fluvial abrasion, there is clear evidence of intentional flaking. In particular, in addition to two cores with small amounts of cortex, a number of flakes lack original rock cortex, which indicate multiple and sustained removals that do not occur naturally. The great antiquity of the Xihoudu artifacts renders firm support to an earlier “Out of Africa I” that approaches the emergence of the genus Homo and the Oldowan industry.

In this paper, we present a three-dimensional (3D) quantitative approach to measure the degree of symmetry of handaxes from the Danjiangkou Reservoir Region (DRR), central China. Our analysis provides not only information on the bilateral symmetry, as most previous studies have done, but also on the symmetry of the profile view. The results show that the overall degree of symmetry of handaxes in plan view is much higher than for profile views in the DRR assemblages. However, the range of values for deviation from absolute symmetry for each specimen indicates that both plan and profile views possess great variability in symmetry. Comparisons of handaxes from two terraces (the Middle Pleistocene Terrace 3 and the early Late Pleistocene Terrace 2) demonstrate that the degree of symmetry did not increase over time in these two samples. Both the type of blank and the type of shaping play roles in determining the final degree of symmetry of the DRR handaxes. According to these results, we argue that there is no strictly imposed final symmetrical shape for the DRR handaxes, and the degree of symmetry is most likely related to some basic factors (e.g., bilateral and bifacial shaping and blank types). However, although a mental template for a preferred end product is absent, a conceptual standardization did indeed exist.

The Danjiangkou Reservoir Region (DRR) in central China has been studied since 1994 and is known for its Large Cutting Tools (LCTs), with similarities to both western and south Asian LCTs of the Acheulean industrial complex. However, the origins of LCT technology in China is a much debated topic. In this paper, we address several of the major arguments used to support an indigenous development for eastern LCTs—greater thickness, a poorer Refinement Index, greater weight, and a preference for cobbles over flakes for LCT blanks. In comparisons based on a large database of Acheulean LCTs, DRR examples are shown to compare well with Acheulean technology in terms of thickness and ‘refinement,’ traits which we here link to raw material shapes and flaking properties. A relatively more frequent use of cobbles for blanks, however, characterizes the DRR and other Chinese LCTs, but there is also regional variability in this feature. Weight, on the other hand, is consistently larger for all Chinese LCTs, including those from DRR, although these fall at the low end of the range. Nevertheless, there are important features in common between Acheulean and Chinese LCTs which indicate either a common origin or periods of admixture culturally and probably physically. These features include the use of large flake blanks, the presence of cleavers in some industries, and the shaping of handaxes by both primary and secondary flaking. The influence of regional cultural traditions on Chinese material, geographic distance and limited migration routes, cultural drift, differences in subsistence ecology, and the demographics of small population sizes seem ultimately to be responsible for the differences, and they should not be used to obscure the commonalities.

Canteen Kopje, situated in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, has two main archaeological deposits: alluvial gravels and a mantle of overlying fine sediments known locally as the “Hutton Sands.” This paper focuses on the fine sediments, the three industries contained within them, and the interface with the underlying gravels in an attempt to clarify their formation and transformation. A Fauresmith assemblage is found at this interface; it is thus crucial to understand the processes of deposition and modification at this poorly understood boundary. The methods used in this study involved the analysis of artifact depositional (dip and orientation) and spatial data, artifact condition, raw materials, and assemblage size profiles. Data presented document the mixing between the lowest levels of the fine sediments and the underlying alluvial gravels. This study thus provides important contextual information for the Fauresmith industry at Canteen Kopje.

Due to its completeness, the A.L. 288-1 (Lucy) skeleton has long served as the archetypal bipedal Australopithecus. However, there remains considerable debate about its limb proportions. There are three competing, but not necessarily mutually exclusive, explanations for the high humerofemoral index of A.L. 288-1: (1) a retention of proportions from an Ardipithecus-like most recent common ancestor (MRCA); (2) indication of some degree of climbing ability; (3) allometry. Recent discoveries of other partial skeletons of Australopithecus, such as those of A. sediba (MH1 and MH2) and A. afarensis (KSD-VP-1/1 and DIK-1/1), have provided new opportunities to test hypotheses of early hominin body size and limb proportions. Yet, no early hominin is as complete (>90%), as is the 3.67 Ma Little Foot (StW 573) specimen, from Sterkfontein Member 2. Here, we provide the first descriptions of its upper and lower long limb bones, as well as a comparative context of its limb proportions. As to the latter, we found that StW 573 possesses absolutely longer limb lengths than A.L. 288-1, but both skeletons show similar limb proportions. This finding seems to argue against an allometric explanation for the limb proportions of A.L. 288-1. In fact, our multivariate allometric analysis suggests that limb lengths of Australopithecus, as represented by StW 573 and A.L. 288-1, developed along a significantly different (p < 0.001) allometric scale than that which typifies modern humans and African apes. Our analyses also suggest, as have those of others, that hominin limb evolution occurred in two stages with: (1) a modest increase in lower limb length and a concurrent shortening of the antebrachium between Ardipithecus and Australopithecus, followed by (2) considerable lengthening of the lower limb along with a decrease of both upper limb elements occurring between Australopithecus and Homo sapiens.

Here we present the first full anatomical description of the 3.67 million-year-old Australopithecus skull StW 573 that was recovered with its skeleton from the Sterkfontein Member 2 breccia in the Silberberg Grotto. Analysis demonstrates that it is most similar in multiple key morphological characters to a group of fossils from Sterkfontein Member 4 and Makapansgat that are here distinguished taxonomically as Australopithecus prometheus. This taxon contrasts with another group of fossils from those sites assigned to Australopithecus africanus. The anatomical reasons for why these groupings should not be lumped together (as is frequently done for the South African fossils) are discussed in detail. In support of this taxonomy, we also present for the first time a newly reconstructed palate of A. africanus (StW 576 from Sterkfontein Member 4), which has a uniquely complete permanent dentition. The StW 573 skull also has certain similarities with other earlier Australopithecus fossils in East Africa, assigned to Australopithecus afarensis and Australopithecus anamensis, which are discussed. One of its most interesting features is a pattern of very heavy anterior dental wear unlike that found in A. africanus but resembling that found in A. anamensis at 4.17 Ma. Because the StW 573 skull is associated with a near-complete skeleton that is also described for the first time in this special issue, we are now able to use this individual to improve our understanding of more fragmentary finds in the South African fossil record of Australopithecus.

The oldest recognized artifacts at the Swartkrans cave hominid-bearing site in South Africa have long been known to occur in the Lower Bank of Member 1, now dated with the cosmogenic nuclide burial method to ca. 1.8–2.19 Ma. However, the affinities of this industry have been debated due to small sample size. In this paper we present newly excavated material from the Lower Bank retrieved since 2005 in the Swartkrans Paleoanthropological Research Project. The sample is now large enough to confirm its affinity with the Oldowan industrial complex. The assemblage is highly expedient and core reduction strategies are largely casual. Although freehand flaking is present, the bipolar technique is most significant, even in non-quartz raw materials. The Swartkrans assemblage shows some significant contrasts with the Sterkfontein Oldowan, ca. 2.18 Ma, which can be explained by its closer proximity to raw material sources, its somewhat different geographic context, and its more expedient nature. The Swartkrans Oldowan now provides us with the first good indication of Oldowan variability in southern Africa, where only two sizeable assemblages have thus far been discovered. Comparisons are made with other sites across Africa that help to place this variability within our overall understanding of the Oldowan industrial complex.

The cave infills at Sterkfontein contain one of the richest assemblages of Australopithecus fossils in the world, including the nearly complete skeleton StW 573 ('Little Foot') in its lower section, as well as early stone tools in higher sections. However, the chronology of the site remains controversial owing to the complex history of cave infilling. Much of the existing chronology based on uranium-lead dating and palaeomagnetic stratigraphy has recently been called into question by the recognition that dated flowstones fill cavities formed within previously cemented breccias and therefore do not form a stratigraphic sequence. Earlier dating with cosmogenic nuclides suffered a high degree of uncertainty and has been questioned on grounds of sediment reworking. Here we use isochron burial dating with cosmogenic aluminium-26 and beryllium-10 to show that the breccia containing StW 573 did not undergo significant reworking, and that it was deposited 3.67 ± 0.16 million years ago, far earlier than the 2.2 million year flowstones found within it. The skeleton is thus coeval with early Australopithecus afarensis in eastern Africa. We also date the earliest stone tools at Sterkfontein to 2.18 ± 0.21 million years ago, placing them in the Oldowan at a time similar to that found elsewhere in South Africa at Swartkans and Wonderwerk.

Based on the cosmogenic nuclide burial dating technique, we present new radiometric age estimates of 2.19 ± 0.08 and 1.80 ± 0.09 million-years-old (Ma) for Member 1, and 0.96 ± 0.09 Ma for Member 3 of the Swartkrans Formation in South Africa. Our data are consistent with, and expand upon, results from previous radiometric dating techniques used at the site. The burial ages of Member 1 are consistent with the uranium–lead (U–Pb) age provided by bracketing flowstones (Pickering et al., 2011), while the age of Member 3 is significantly more precise than the large age bracket provided by U–Pb dating of tooth enamel (Balter et al., 2008) and recently re-evaluated electron spin resonance data (Herries and Adams, 2013). These new dates provide the complete age range for the extinct hominin, Paranthropus robustus , as well as indicate the first appearance of the genus Homo in southern Africa. Our results also indicate: the first, as well as the last, manufacture and use of bone digging tools in South Africa; some of the earliest evidence of stone tool use and large animal butchery in South Africa; and one of the earliest archaeological indications of the domestication of fire in the world.

The presence of Acheulean tool types (e.g. handaxes and cleavers) in East Asia has recently attracted considerable attention. They challenge the long lasting concept that the Early Palaeolithic in East Asia is characterized only by Mode 1 technology, and they reflect the diversity and complexity of Palaeolithic culture during hundreds of thousands of years. In this paper, we present a detailed technological analysis of the in situ artifact assemblage at the Shuangshu site (Danjiangkou Reservoir Region, central China), as well as intra- and inter-regional comparisons of some characteristic traits used to test the difference between handaxes in the East and the West. The results show that there are two reduction sequences taking place. One is expressed in the predominant use of quartz in the production the small-to-medium sized artifacts, which is an expedient technology that dominates the whole assemblage, and the other is represented by the predominant use of quartz phyllite and trachyte in the production of Large Cutting Tools (LCTs). The latter displays the technical criteria characteristic of Acheulean technology, although its origins are much debated. In addition, the number of LCTs and total artifacts is generally low for the size of the excavation area, which probably is a result of relatively small population size and the high mobility of hominids. The thickness of handaxes has been shown not to be a reliable variable in demonstrating the difference between the East and the West.

Shuidonggou (SDG) has long been recognized as the type site complex for the Chinese Late Paleolithic, as defined by the presence of blade technology and by its chronology. Recent field and laboratory research conducted in the past decade has revealed the presence of Paleolithic ornaments and two different technological components of an industry equivalent to the early Upper Paleolithic – Levallois-like blades and simple core and flakes which appear at SDG localities. Although clearly important for Paleolithic research in China and broader Old World prehistoric studies, relatively little is known about the SDG site formation processes and the specifics of site context. Here, we explore the various formation processes and sedimentary context associated with the stone artifact assemblage from one key site – Shuidonggou Locality 7 (SDG7). Contrary to earlier suggestions that the SDG7 lithic accumulations are the result of secondary deposition, our study indicates that SDG7 has been preserved in near-primary context. Features that were previously argued to reflect fluvial disturbance are in fact localized collapse features caused by saturated sediment load in loess deposits in a lakeshore context. Multiple lines of evidence support the argument that the site preserves the original foraging behavior of the SDG hunter–gatherers. This evidence consists of the sedimentary matrix and the distribution patterns of archaeological materials (particularly the artifact assemblage composition, debitage size distribution, artifact conditions, orientation analysis, inclination, and spatial patterning). The SDG7 archaeological deposits were buried rapidly in shallow lake margin deposits of fine sands, silts, and clays that were minimally disturbed and subjected only to relatively low energy hydraulic forces. This indicates that the SDG7 occurrences are suitable for early hominin behavioral studies in North China at the start of the Late Paleolithic.

Chinese Government Graduate Student Overseas Study Program [[2013] 3009]; Chinese Natural Science Foundation [40972016]; Cultural Relics Protection Research Project of Hubei Reservoir Area of South-North Water Diversion Foundation [Nk02]; China-South Africa Bilateral Programme in Palaeosciences through Ministry of Science and Technology of China (IVPP-Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) [2007DFB20330]; National Research Foundation of South Africa (University of the Witwatersrand) [68625]

Prepared core technology illustrates in-depth planning and the presence of a mental template during the core reduction process. This technology is, therefore, a significant indicator in studying the evolution of abstract thought and the cognitive abilities of hominids. Here, we report on Victoria West cores excavated from the Canteen Kopje site in central South Africa, with a preliminary age estimate of approximately 1 Ma (million years ago) for these cores. Technological analysis shows that the Victoria West cores bear similarities to the ‘Volumetric Concept’ as defined for the Levallois, a popular and widely distributed prepared core technology from at least 200 ka (thousand years ago). Although these similarities are present, several notable differences also occur that make the Victoria West a unique and distinctive prepared core technology; these are: elongated and convergent core shapes, consistent blow directions for flake removal, a predominance of large side-struck flakes, and the use of these flakes to make Acheulean large cutting tools. This innovative core reduction strategy at Canteen Kopje extends the roots of prepared core technology to the latter part of the Early Acheulean and clearly demonstrates an increase in the cognitive abilities and complexities of hominids in this time period.

In this article, we report on a re-examination of the morphological variability of East Asian handaxes through study of handaxes from sites generally considered to be Middle Pleistocene in age and by carrying out detailed small-scale comparisons. In particular, we add data for a new handaxe assemblage found in the Danjiangkou Reservoir Region, central China. We begin with an analysis of the range of handaxe morphological variability in different regions (Africa, West Europe and East Asia) and conclude that the variability in the East Asian sites is not significantly different from that found in the western Acheulean. Moreover, the variability present in East Asian handaxes reflects the flexible adaptation strategies of Acheulean hominids. In explaining the morphological variability of East Asian handaxes, we adopt a stepwise approach for a comprehensive analysis, from the most fundamental level factors, such as raw material and reduction intensity, to higher-level factors like cultural tradition a...

Stone Age sites that demonstrate long sequences of occupation that span the Earlier through to the Later Stone Age are uncommon in southern Africa. The site of Kudu Koppie, in the Mapungubwe National Park of Limpopo Province, South Africa has evidence for extended and intense occupation by prehistoric populations in the context of a talus slope deposit adjacent to the Koppie itself. This paper describes the use of refitting of late Earlier Stone Age (ESA) and Middle Stone Age (MSA) lithics to address issues of stratigraphic integrity and taphonomy in a slope deposit context. Specifically, it is shown that approximately 80% of all refits fall with a vertical separation of between 0 and 10 cm. It is concluded that lithics associated with Kudu Koppie have not been greatly affected by post-depositional disturbances and therefore the material represents the general discard patterns of groups occupying the site between the late ESA and MSA periods. As such, this study provides additional evidence for earlier interpretations of the stratigraphic integrity of archaeological deposits at the site.

The initial Late Paleolithic, said to appear between 40 and 30 kya in eastern Asia, is defined by the appearance of many innovations. These archaeological indicators include the appearance of more refined stone tool making techniques (e.g., include the appearance of blade and microblade technology), complex hearth construction, use of pigments and personal ornamentation, as well as worked faunal implements such as bone and antler tools. We report here new findings from a multidisciplinary research project conducted at the Shuidonggou (Choei-tong-keou) site complex in northern China, a series of localities that date from the initial Late Paleolithic to the Neolithic. Six new localities (SDG7e12) were discovered and five localities [SDG2 (previously identified) and SDG7e9 and 12] were excavated, yielding more than 50,000 stone artifacts, fauna, ostrich eggshell beads, and hearths. Dating results suggest that human occupation of the Shuidonggou area occurred during the Late Pleistocene to Middle Holocene (w32,000e6000 BP). Some sites are characterized by small, irregular flakes, casually retouched tools [modified or informally retouched tools (i.e., non-standardized tools with sporadic retouch which was not well controlled)], and small numbers of blades or no blades. Others lithic assemblages are dominated by blades and microblades. At two sites, higher quality or exotic raw materials were exploited, but at the majority of sites locally-available river cobbles were used. In addition to blades, microblades and hearths, more than 80 finely-perforated and polished ostrich eggshell beads, mostly colored with red ochre, were recovered from three sites. Several worked bone needles and an awl were also uncovered from the youngest site, SDG12, in deposits dating to c. 13,000 cal BP. The implications for the initial appearance of the Late Paleolithic in China and movement of modern human populations into North China are discussed.

The Hoabinhian is the most representative technocomplex in Southeast Asian prehistory for the later hunter–gatherer period. As a mainland technology based exclusively on seasonal tropical environments, this core-tool culture was previously defined in northern Vietnam in 1932 and characterized originally by its large, flat and long, largely unifacial cobble tools associated with tropical forest fauna. The recent discoveries and dates obtained at Xiaodong rockshelter in Yunnan Province (southwest China) allow us to discuss the origin and the homeland of this singular Asian technocomplex which spread to Southeast Asia during the end of the Late Upper Pleistocene. Here we present the first Chinese Hoabinhian lithic implements in their stratigraphic and chronological context within a rockshelter site, and we address the question of the dispersal of modern humans from South China to Southeast Asia.