The Middle Stone Age in Africa The Olorgesailie basin in the southern Kenya rift valley contains sediments dating back to 1.2 million years ago, preserving a long archaeological record of human activity and environmental conditions. Three papers present the oldest East African evidence of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) and elucidate the system of technology and behavior associated with the origin of Homo sapiens. Potts et al. present evidence for the demise of Acheulean technology that preceded the MSA and describe variations in late Acheulean hominin behavior that anticipate MSA characteristics. The transition to the MSA was accompanied by turnover of large mammals and large-scale landscape change. Brooks et al. establish that ∼320,000 to 305,000 years ago, the populations in eastern Africa underwent a technological shift upon procurement of distantly sourced obsidian for toolmaking, indicating the early development of social exchange. Deino et al. provide the chronological underpinning for these discoveries. Science, this issue p. 86, p. 90, p. 95 Changes in fauna, landscapes, and climate were associated with novel adaptive behaviors in the earliest Homo sapiens. Development of the African Middle Stone Age (MSA) before 300,000 years ago raises the question of how environmental change influenced the evolution of behaviors characteristic of early Homo sapiens. We used temporally well-constrained sedimentological and paleoenvironmental data to investigate environmental dynamics before and after the appearance of the early MSA in the Olorgesailie basin, Kenya. In contrast to the Acheulean archeological record in the same basin, MSA sites are associated with a markedly different faunal community, more pronounced erosion-deposition cycles, tectonic activity, and enhanced wet-dry variability. Aspects of Acheulean technology in this region imply that, as early as 615,000 years ago, greater stone material selectivity and wider resource procurement coincided with an increased pace of land-lake fluctuation, potentially anticipating the adaptability of MSA hominins.

中文翻译：

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东非中石器时代开始期间的环境动态

非洲的中石器时代 肯尼亚南部裂谷的奥洛格赛利盆地包含可追溯到 120 万年前的沉积物，保留了人类活动和环境条件的长期考古记录。三篇论文展示了中石器时代 (MSA) 最古老的东非证据，并阐明了与智人起源相关的技术和行为系统。波茨等人。提出了 MSA 之前的 Acheulean 技术消亡的证据，并描述了预期 MSA 特征的晚期 Acheulean 人类行为的变化。向 MSA 的过渡伴随着大型哺乳动物的更替和大规模的景观变化。布鲁克斯等人。确定大约 320,000 到 305,000 年前，东部非洲的人口在采购远距离来源的黑曜石用于工具制造后经历了技术转变，这表明社会交流的早期发展。迪诺等人。为这些发现提供按时间顺序排列的基础。科学，这个问题 p。86 页。90，第。95 动物群、景观和气候的变化与最早的智人的新适应行为有关。30 万年前非洲中石器时代 (MSA) 的发展提出了这样一个问题：环境变化如何影响早期智人行为特征的进化。我们使用时间受限的沉积学和古环境数据来研究肯尼亚 Olorgesailie 盆地早期 MSA 出现前后的环境动态。与同一盆地的 Acheulean 考古记录相比，MSA 遗址与明显不同的动物群落、更明显的侵蚀沉积循环、构造活动和增强的干湿变异性有关。该地区的 Acheulean 技术方面意味着，早在 615,000 年前，更大的石材选择性和更广泛的资源采购与陆地湖泊波动的步伐加快相吻合，这可能预示着 MSA 人类的适应性。