Current models of early hominin biological and cultural evolution are shaped almost entirely by the data accumulated from the East African Rift System (EARS) over the last decades. In contrast, little is known about the archaeological record from the high-elevation regions on either side of the Rift. Melka Wakena is a newly discovered site-complex on the Southeastern Ethiopian Highlands (SEH) (>2300 m above mean sea level) just east of the central sector of the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), where eight archaeological and two paleontological localities were discovered to date. Nine archaeological horizons from three localities were tested so far, all dated to the second half of the early Pleistocene (∼1.6 to >0.7 Ma). All the lithic assemblages belong to the Acheulian technocomplex. Here we report on geochronological, stratigraphic, paleontological and lithic technological aspects of the tested localities and contextualize them in the broader framework of hominin cultural evolution in eastern Africa. Findings from Melka Wakena, assessed against the backdrop of the few other highland sites (Melka Kunture and Gadeb), support a scenario of expansion rather than dispersal from the Rift to the highlands. When considered in the context of the Rift-highlands interface, results of the first-phase research at Melka Wakena help to parse existing general models into archaeologically testable hypotheses and demonstrate the site’s potential to contribute to research of early prehistory and to understanding the dynamics of early Pleistocene hominin populations in eastern Africa.

当前的早期人类素生物和文化进化模型几乎完全由过去几十年来从东非裂谷系统（EARS）收集的数据形成。相反，从裂谷两侧的高海拔地区对考古记录知之甚少。梅尔卡·韦克纳（Melka Wakena）是位于埃塞俄比亚主要裂谷（MER）中部以东的埃塞俄比亚东南高地（SEH）（高于平均海平面> 2300 m）上的一个新发现的现场综合体，在那里发现了8个考古和2个古生物学地方至今。到目前为止，已经测试了来自三个地方的九个考古学视野，这些视野都可以追溯到早更新世的后半期（约1.6至> 0.7 Ma）。所有的石器组合都属于阿契尔（Acheulian）技术复合体。在这里，我们报告了年代学，地层学，受测地区的古生物学和石器技术方面，并在东部非洲人文文化进化的更广泛框架中将其背景化。梅尔卡·韦克纳（Melka Wakena）的发现是在其他一些高地遗址（梅尔卡·昆特（Melka Kunture）和加德布（Gadeb））的背景下进行评估的，它支持扩张的场景，而不是从裂谷扩散到高地。在裂谷-高地界面的背景下考虑时，梅尔卡·韦克纳（Melka Wakena）的第一阶段研究结果有助于将现有的一般模型解析为可在考古学上检验的假设，并证明该地点有潜力为早期史前研究和理解古生物学的动态做出贡献。东部非洲的更新世早期人种种群。