The Acheulean is the longest-lasting human cultural record, spanning approximately 1.5 Ma and three continents. The most comprehensive sequences are found in East Africa, where, in largescale syntheses, the Lower Pleistocene Acheulean (LPA) has often been considered a uniform cultural entity. Furthermore, the emergence and development of Acheulean technology are seen as linked to the emergence and evolution of Homo ergaster/erectus. The criterion for grouping together different lithic assemblages scattered over space and time is the presence of large cutting tools (LCTs), more than of any other component. Their degree of refinement has been used, in turn, as a parameter for evaluating Acheulean development and variability. But was the East African LPA really uniform as regards all components involved in lithic productions? The aim of this paper is to evaluate the techno-economic similarities and differences among LPA productions in a specific micro-regional and environmental context, i.e. at Melka Kunture, in the Ethiopian highlands, and in a specific period of time: between ≈1.5 Ma, when some of the earliest Acheulean complexes appeared, and 1.0-0.85 Ma, when LCTs productions became intensive and widespread. Our detailed comparative analyses investigate all aspects and phases of the chaînes opératoires. Since hominin fossil remains were discovered at some of the analyzed sites, we also discuss differences among lithic productions in relation to the changing paleoanthropological record. Our studies show that at Melka Kunture the LPA techno-complexes cannot be grouped into a single uniform entity. The assembled evidence points instead to "two Acheuleans" well-defined by a strong discontinuity in various aspects of techno-economic behaviors. This discontinuity is related to a major step in human evolution: the transition from Homo ergaster/ erectus to Homo heidelbergensis.

中文翻译：

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两只阿基勒人，两种人类：Melka Kunture（埃塞俄比亚高地上部灌浆区），从1.5到0.85 Ma。

Acheulean是人类寿命最长的文化记录，横跨约1.5 Ma和三大洲。在东非发现了最全面的序列，在东非，大规模合成中，下更新世阿彻兰（LPA）通常被认为是统一的文化实体。此外，Acheulean技术的出现和发展被认为与直角人/直立人的出现和演化有关。将散布在空间和时间上的不同石器组合在一起的标准是，存在大型切削工具（LCT），其数量超过任何其他组件。反过来，它们的精细度已用作评估Acheulean发育和变异性的参数。但是，东非LPA是否真正统一了石器生产中涉及的所有组件？本文的目的是评估在特定的微区域和环境背景下，即在埃塞俄比亚高地的梅尔卡·昆特以及特定时间段内，LPA产品之间的技术经济相似性和差异：≈1.5Ma ，当最早的一些Acheulean配合物出现时，以及1.0-0.85 Ma时，LCT的生产变得密集而广泛。我们详细的比较分析调查了歌剧院的各个方面和各个阶段。由于在某些分析地点发现了人化石化石残留物，因此，我们还讨论了与变化的古人类学记录有关的石器生产之间的差异。我们的研究表明，在Melka Kunture，LPA技术复合物不能分组为一个统一的实体。汇总的证据相反指向了“两个Acheuleans”，这在技术经济行为的各个方面都具有很强的不连续性，因此被很好地定义。这种不连续性与人类进化的一个重要步骤有关：从直角人/直立人过渡到海德堡人。