Flake based assemblages (Mode 1) comprise the earliest stone technologies known, with well-dated Oldowan sites occurring in eastern Africa between ~2.6-1.7 Ma, and in less securely dated contexts in central, southern and northern Africa. Our understanding of the spread and local development of this technology outside East Africa remains hampered by the lack of reliable numerical dating techniques applicable to non-volcanic deposits. This study applied the still relatively new technique of cosmogenic nuclide burial dating ((10)Be/(26)Al) to calculate burial ages for fluvial gravels containing Mode 1 artefacts in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. The Manzi River, a tributary of the Luangwa River, has exposed a 4.7 m deep section of fluvial sands with discontinuous but stratified gravel layers bearing Mode 1, possibly Oldowan, artefacts in the basal layers. An unconformity divides the Manzi section, separating Mode 1 deposits from overlying gravels containing Mode 3 (Middle Stone Age) artefacts. No diagnostic Mode 2 (Acheulean) artefacts were found. Cosmogenic nuclide burial dating was attempted for the basal gravels as well as exposure ages for the upper Mode 3 gravels, but was unsuccessful. The complex depositional history of the site prevented the calculation of reliable age models. A relative chronology for the full Manzi sequence was constructed, however, from the magnetostratigraphy of the deposit (N>R>N sequence). Isothermal thermoluminescence (ITL) dating of the upper Mode 3 layers also provided consistent results (~78 ka). A coarse but chronologically coherent sequence now exists for the Manzi section with the unconformity separating probable mid- or early Pleistocene deposits below from late Pleistocene deposits above. The results suggest Mode 1 technology in the Luangwa Valley may post-date the Oldowan in eastern and southern Africa. The dating programme has contributed to a clearer understanding of the geomorphological processes that have shaped the valley and structured its archaeological record.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.12.003 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Persistent Illegal Hunting of Wildlife in an African Landscape: Insights from a Study in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia.
Animals (Basel)
August 2024
School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Lusaka, Lusaka P.O. Box 36711, Zambia.
Decades of illegal hunting (poaching) have adversely affected wildlife populations and thereby limited sustainable wildlife conservation in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. Despite intervention efforts to address the problem, the illegal hunting of wildlife has persisted. Therefore, this study was conducted to understand the persistence of illegal hunting by investigating the drivers of poaching and intervention measures using a mixed methods approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBaTwa populations from Zambia retain ancestry of past hunter-gatherer groups.
Nat Commun
August 2024
Department of Organismal Biology, Human Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Sub-equatorial Africa is today inhabited predominantly by Bantu-speaking groups of Western African descent who brought agriculture to the Luangwa valley in eastern Zambia ~2000 years ago. Before their arrival the area was inhabited by hunter-gatherers, who in many cases were subsequently replaced, displaced or assimilated. In Zambia, we know little about the genetic affinities of these hunter-gatherers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLong-term data reveal fitness costs of anthropogenic prey depletion for a subordinate competitor, the African wild dog ().
Ecol Evol
June 2024
Department of National Parks and Wildlife, South Luangwa Area Management Unit Mfuwe Eastern Province Zambia.
Within carnivore guilds, dominant competitors (e.g., lions, ) are limited primarily by the density of prey, while subordinate competitors (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn integrated population model reveals source-sink dynamics for competitively subordinate African wild dogs linked to anthropogenic prey depletion.
J Anim Ecol
April 2024
Department of Ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA.
Many African large carnivore populations are declining due to decline of the herbivore populations on which they depend. The densities of apex carnivores like the lion and spotted hyena correlate strongly with prey density, but competitively subordinate carnivores like the African wild dog benefit from competitive release when the density of apex carnivores is low, so the expected effect of a simultaneous decrease in resources and dominant competitors is not obvious. Wild dogs in Zambia's South Luangwa Valley Ecosystem occupy four ecologically similar areas with well-described differences in the densities of prey and dominant competitors due to spatial variation in illegal offtake.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMost African wild dog () populations are in decline and, due to habitat fragmentation and conflict rates in areas of higher anthropogenic land-use, are primarily restricted to protected areas. As a species that occurs at low densities, with a strict reproductive social structure, wild dogs rely on long-range dispersal to facilitate colonization, reproduction, and pack formation. In Malawi, large carnivores have been subject to widespread population decline and several protected areas have a reduced large carnivore guild, including the loss of resident wild dog populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!