Expanded geographic distribution and dietary strategies of the earliest Oldowan hominins and Paranthropus

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Plummer, Thomas W.; Oliver, James S.; Finestone, Emma M.; Ditchfield, Peter W.; Bishop, Laura C.; Blumenthal, Scott A.; Lemorini, Cristina; Caricola, Isabella; Bailey, Shara E.; Herries, Andy I. R.; Parkinson, Jennifer A.; Whitfield, Elizabeth; Hertel, Fritz; Kinyanjui, Rahab N.; Vincent, Thomas H.; Li, Youjuan; Louys, Julien; Frost, Stephen R.; Braun, David R.; Reeves, Jonathan S.; Early, Emily D. G.; Onyango, Blasto; Lamela-Lopez, Raquel; Forrest, Frances L.; He, Huaiyu; Lane, Timothy P.; Frouin, Marine; Nomade, Sebastien; Wilson, Evan P.; Bartilol, Simion K.; Rotich, Nelson Kiprono; Potts, Richard
• 署名单位: City University of New York (CUNY) System; Queens College NY (CUNY); City University of New York (CUNY) System; Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History; Cleveland Museum of Natural History; University of Oxford; Liverpool John Moores University; University of Shanghai for Science & Technology; University of Oregon; University of British Columbia; Sapienza University Rome; Newcastle University - UK; New York University; La Trobe University; University of Johannesburg; University of San Diego; California State University System; California State University Northridge; Max Planck Society; University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Madison; China Earthquake Administration; Institute of Geology, CEA; Griffith University; George Washington University; Max Planck Society; Fairfield University; American Museum of Natural History (AMNH); Chinese Academy of Sciences; Institute of Geology & Geophysics, CAS; State University of New York (SUNY) System; Stony Brook University; Universite Paris Saclay; Universite Paris Saclay; University of Nairobi; Institute of Nuclear Chemistry Technology
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-8858
• DOI: 10.1126/science.abo7452
• 发表日期: 2023-02-10
• 页码: 561-566
• 关键词: late pliocene; isotopic evidence; early pleistocene; early homo; kanjera; boisei; kenya; afar; ma

摘要

The oldest Oldowan tool sites, from around 2.6 million years ago, have previously been confined to Ethiopia's Afar Triangle. We describe sites at Nyayanga, Kenya, dated to 3.032 to 2.581 million years ago and expand this distribution by over 1300 kilometers. Furthermore, we found two hippopotamid butchery sites associated with mosaic vegetation and a C4 grazer-dominated fauna. Tool flaking proficiency was comparable with that of younger Oldowan assemblages, but pounding activities were more common. Tool use-wear and bone damage indicate plant and animal tissue processing. Paranthropus sp. teeth, the first from southwestern Kenya, possessed carbon isotopic values indicative of a diet rich in C4 foods. We argue that the earliest Oldowan was more widespread than previously known, used to process diverse foods including megafauna, and associated with Paranthropus from its onset.