Oldowan Tradition - Humankinds First Stone Tools

The Oldowan Tradition (also called Oldowan Industrial Tradition or Mode 1 as described by Grahame Clarke) is the name given to a pattern of stone-tool making by our hominid ancestors, developed in Africa by about 2.6 million years ago (mya) by our hominin ancestor Homo habilis (probably), and used there until 1.5 mya (mya). First defined by Louis and Mary Leakey at Olduvai Gorge in the Great Rift Valley of Africa, the Oldowan tradition is to date the earliest manifestation of stone tool making on our planet. Further, it is global in scope, a toolkit thought to have been carried out of Africa by our hominin ancestors as they left to colonize the rest of the world. To date, the oldest known Oldowan tools were found at Gona (Ethiopia) at 2.6 ma; the latest in Africa is 1.5 mya at Konso and Kokiselei 5. The end of the Oldowan is defined as the appearance of Mode 2 tools or Acheulean handaxes. The earliest Oldowan sites in Eurasia are 2.0 mya at Renzidong (Anhui Province China), Longgupo (Sichuan Province) and Riwat (on the Potwar Plateau in Pakistan), and the latest so far is at Isampur, 1 mya in the Hungsi valley of India. Some discussion of the stone tools found at Liang Bua Cave in Indonesia suggests that they are Oldowan; which either lends support to the notion that the Flores hominin is a devolved Homo erectus or that the Oldowan tools were not specific to species. What Is an Oldowan Assemblage? The Leakeys described the stone tools at Olduvai as cores in the shapes of polyhedrons, discoids, and spheroids; as heavy and light duty scrapers (sometimes called nuclà ©us racloirs or rostro carà ©nà ©s in the scientific literature); and as choppers and retouched flakes. Selection for raw material sources  can be seen in Oldowan by about 2 mya, at sites like Lokalalei and Melka Kunture in Africa and Gran Dolina in Spain. Some of that is surely related to characteristics of the stone and what the hominid planned to use it for: if you have a choice between basalt and obsidian, youd select basalt as a percussion tool, but obsidian to break down into sharp-edged flakes. Why Did They Make Tools at All? The purpose of the tools is somewhat in controversy. Some scholars are inclined to think that most of the tools are simply steps in manufacturing sharp-edged flakes for cutting. The stone-tool making process  is known as chaà ®ne opà ©ratoire in archaeological circles. Others are less convinced. There is no evidence that our hominid ancestors were eating meat before about 2 mya, so these scholars suggest that the stone tools must have been for use with plants, and the percussion tools and scrapers may have been tools for plant processing. Admittedly, however, its hard to make assumptions on negative evidence: the oldest Homo remains we have only date to 2.33 mya in the Nachukui Formation of West Turkana in Kenya, and we dont know if there are earlier fossils we havent found yet that will be associated with Oldowan, and it may be that Oldowan tools were invented and used by another non-Homo species. History The Leakeys  work in Olduvai Gorge in the 1970s was quite revolutionary by any standards. They defined the original chronology of the Oldowan assemblage in the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa including the following periods; the stratigraphy within the region; and the material culture, the characteristics of the stone tools themselves. The Leakeys also focused on geological studies of the paleo-landscape of the Olduvai Gorge and its changes over time. In the 1980s, Glynn Isaac and his team worked at the more-or-less contemporaneous deposits at Koobi Fora, where they used experimental archaeology, ethnographic analogy, and primatology to explain the Oldowan archaeological record. They developed testable hypotheses about ecological and economic conditions that might have triggered stone tool making—hunting, food sharing, and occupying a home base, all of which is also done by primates, with the exception of the production of sharp-edged tools. Recent Investigations Recent expansions to the interpretations built by the Leakeys and Isaac have involved adjustments to the time span of use: discoveries at sites such as Gona have pushed the date of the first tools a half-million years earlier from what the Leakeys found at Olduvai. Also, scholars have recognized a considerable variability within the assemblages; and the extent of the Oldowan tool use throughout the globe has become recognized. Some scholars have looked at the variation in stone tools and argued that there must have been a Mode 0, that Oldowan is the result of a gradual evolution from a common tool-making ancestor of both humans and chimps, and that phase is missing in the archaeological record. That has some merit, because Mode 0 tools may have been made of bone or wood. Not everyone agrees with this, and, currently, it seems that the 2.6 mya assemblage at Gona still represents the earliest stages of lithic production. Sources I highly recommended Braun and Hovers 2009 (and the rest of the articles in their book Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Oldowan) for a good overview of current thinking about Oldowan. Barsky, Deborah. An Overview of Some African and Eurasian Oldowan Sites: Evaluation of Hominin Cognition Levels, Technological Advancement and Adaptive Skills. Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Oldowan, SpringerLink, 2018. Braun, David R. Introduction: Current Issues in Oldowan Research. Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Oldowan, Erella Hovers, SpringerLink, 2018. Braun DR, Tactikos JC, Ferraro JV, and Harris JWK. 2006. Archaeological inference and Oldowan behavior. Journal of Human Evolution 51:106-108. Carbonell, Eudald. From Homogeneity to Multiplicity: A New Approach to the Study of Archaic Stone Tools. Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Oldowan, Robert SalaDeborah Barsky, et al., SpringerLink, 2018. Harmand, Sonia. Variability in Raw Material Selectivity at the Late Pliocene sites of Lokalalei, West Turkana, Kenya. Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Oldowan, SpringerLink, 2018. Harmand S. 2009. Raw Materials and Techno-Economic Behaviors at Oldowan and Acheulean Sites in the West Turkana Region, Kenya. Lithic Materials and Paleolithic Societies: Wiley-Blackwell. p 1-14. McHenry LJ, Njau JK, de la Torre I, and Pante MC. 2016. Geochemical â€Å"fingerprints† for Olduvai Gorge Bed II tuffs and implications for the Oldowan–Acheulean transition. Quaternary Research 85(1):147-158. Petraglia MD, LaPorta P, and Paddayya K. 1999. The first Acheulian quarry in India: Stone tool manufacture, biface morphology, and behaviors. Journal of Anthropological Research 55:39-70. Semaw, Sileshi. The Oldowan-Acheulian Transition: Is there a Developed Oldowan Artifact Tradition? Sourcebook of Paleolithic Transitions, Michael RogersDietrich Stout,  SpringerLink,, June 16, 2009.

The Dualists Essay - 1846 Words

The infinite theoretical duel between the duality of our mind and body by philosophers has been one that has been replete with a magnitude of different philosophical theories that try to posit our existentiality. Consequently, these theorists try to find the answers to the causality of how the mind and the brain truly interact: Are we our synapses, or are we something more than that? However, one theory that has been of interest to many recent scientists and philosophers alike is one that has been around since its conception by a famous mathematician and philosopher named Rene Descartes. This theory is called substance dualism; and accordingly, this theory tries to solve the mystery of how these two complex disparate entities can†¦show more content†¦However, one theory that I find particularly helpful is one that is from the Cartesian dualistic mentality; however, it branches of into its own direction and creates a plausible theory that I hope will help open doors to many m ore answers to the mystery of our experiential existence. According to Dr. Jeffrey M. Schwartz, Henry P. Stapp, and Mario Beauregard, who are researchers in the field of neuroscience and quantum physics, the mind creates a causative effect through the brains’ neural-mechanism—thus through material matter—and this in turn creates an interaction. Consequently, these interactions—call it volition if you will—affect the atoms, matter and molecules of our material existence. Consequently, only through quantum physics can one know how these substances comingle with each other to create a seamless interaction that can either have positive or negative consequences to our existence. In philosophical terms, this theory also pertains to our experiential existence; thus, it has implications for our day-to-day life (2). Classical physics mainly deals with formulas and sets of equations that describe our world in macromolecular terms; however, quantum physics is concerned with the more intimate aspects of casualShow M oreRelatedComparing Physicalists with Dualists1264 Words   |  5 PagesPhysicalists, and there are the Dualists. To put their ideas in the most basic of terms is fairly easy. Physicalists believe that 1) there is one thing/substance that constitutes the entirety of the universe (namely matter) and 2) that is all there is and therefore, knowing the physical particles accounts for everything (Stoljar 2009, 2 3). 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Advantages and Disadvantages of Litigation free essay sample

Land and anything attached to it : Land, including anything attached to it : Person to whom the right to use property for a particular purpose is granted : Payment for performance of work or for loss sustained : Transfer of property rights in land from one person to another; instrument used to transfer title to property : A written instrument transferring ownership in property : Deposing of, parting with or otherwise giving up of property; transferring care or possession : Party who receives title to real property (e. g. the buyer) : Party who transfers (grants) title to real property (e. g. he seller) : Whole interest in a piece of real property; the broadest interest in property allowed by common law : Estate which lasts as long as the original grantee or any of his descendants live : Property whose duration of ownership or occupation is not determined : Estate granted only for the life of someone other than the grantee : Sole use and benefit of a property : Person who inherits or is entitled to inherit property on the death of another : Property which can be transferred upon death to a person designated as heir : Written formal legal document : Person who owns property and either rents or leases it to another for money 21. We will write a custom essay sample on Advantages and Disadvantages of Litigation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. : Contract for which the use and occupation of a property is conveyed to another, usually in exchange for a sum of money (rent) : Property whose duration of ownership or occupation is fixed or capable of being fixed : A right to use property for a purpose without conferring ownership or possession. Such right can be taken away at the will of the one granting the right : Estate granted only for the life of the grantee : Unlawful entry to someone’s property : Share, claim, title or rights in property : Right to specific use of property that is less than a full right of ownership : Person who has the right to hold or possess property usually in return for the payment of rent : Right to control or dispense of property or the right to ownership in property : Piece of legislation which declares that certain kinds of contract, for example those regarding land, pending marriage and the sale of goods worth over a certain amount of money, will be invalid unless put into writing and signed by both parties. The original statute was enacted in England in 1677 and serves as a basis for the US statutes Additional Text: ? Complete the passage with the words and expressions from the box 1. claim for compensation 5. issue the proceedings 9. reasonable care and skill 12. serves the claim 2 . claim form 6. make a claim 10. reasonable charge 13. Small Claims 3. County Court 7. poor workmanship 4. in your favour 8. preliminary hearing 11. received satisfaction 14. specified period Consumer Rights If a service is being provided (for example, a mobile phone contract), and there is a __________________ for the contract, this must be clearly stated by the provider. If you buy faulty goods with a credit card, and those goods cost over ? 100, you have an equal __________________ against the seller of the goods and the credit card company. Where a service such as the repair of a car is being provided, it should be done with ____________________ (an unsatisfactory standard of work or general ________________ should not be accepted by the customer) for a_______________________ (the customer should not have to pay an excessive amount of money) and within a reasonable time. If you need to ___________________ against a shop, company or other provider, because you have not ___________________ from that shop, company, etc, you can do so through the __________________. For claims of less than ? 5,000 the __________________ procedure should be useful. The process is very simple: after completing a ____________________, you ask the court to _________________. The court then __________________ on the company or other provider. Assuming the company responds within the specified time limit, there will be a _____________________. Later, there will be a main hearing where hopefully the judge will decide _________________________.