Halibee member archaeology: Middle Stone Age environment, technology, and postmortem modifications
Abstract
The Middle Awash study area of Ethiopia’s Afar Rift features a composite stratigraphic thickness of >1 km. Near the top of this succession lie sediments of the lower Halibee member, comprising the Faro Daba and Chai Baro beds. The former are radioisotopically dated to ~100,000 y in age and contain abundant fossils and associated lithic artifacts representing the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Geological, paleontological, and archaeological datasets recovered from these sediments enlarge a sparse later Pleistocene record of African human evolution, a time before anatomically modern populations of our species expanded into Eurasia. The Faro Daba occurrences comprise the richest, least disturbed, and most spatially extensive of many open-air MSA-bearing localities in the study area and beyond. Protected atop a resistant underlying conglomerate, the largely horizontal outcrops of the soft, eroding fossiliferous Faro Daba sediments provide spatially extensive access to in situ assemblages of artifacts and fossils. Sedimentology, faunal composition, and combustion features are consistent with a wooded depositional environment with seasonal flooding distant from the main river channel. Archaeological and paleontological assemblages indicate minimal postdepositional disturbance of primary lithic tool manufacture and discard during ephemeral human occupations on this floodplain. Among the recovered fossils are three partial human skeletons with taphonomic evidence of different postmortem pathways.
Article Details
Journal Info
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Authors (25)
Yonas Beyene
French Center for Ethiopian Studies, CNRS and Ministry of Europe and foreign affairs
Berhane Asfaw
Rift Valley Research Service
Tim D. White
Human Evolution Research Center, University of California at Berkeley
Giday WoldeGabriel
6 Salako Way
Raymond Bernor
Department of Paleontology, Virginia Museum of Natural History
Faysal Bibi
Jean-Renaud Boisserie
French Center for Ethiopian Studies, CNRS and Ministry of Europe and foreign affairs
Marianne F. Brasil
Department of Anthropology, Western Washington University
Christopher A. Brochu
School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability, University of Iowa
Joshua P. Carlson
Human Evolution Research Center, University of California at Berkeley
Nuria G. García
Department of Geodynamics, Stratigraphy and Paleontology, Quaternary Ecosystems Group, University Complutense Madrid, Faculty of Geological Sciences, C/Antonio Novais, Ciudad Universitaria
Ioannis X. Giaourtsakis
Department of Geology and Geoenvironment, Museum of Geology and Paleontology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Haregewin Hailu
Laboratoire Paléontologie Evolution Paléoécosystèmes Paléoprimatologie, UMR 7262 CNRS, Université de Poitiers
William K. Hart
Department of Geology and Environmental Earth Science, Miami University
Jason J. Head
Leslea J. Hlusko
Paleobiology Program, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana
Ferhat Kaya
Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Oulu
Antoine Louchart
Univ Lyon 1, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS, Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon–Terre Planètes Environnement, Univ Lyon
Sahleselasie Melaku
Paleontology and Paleoanthropology Department, Ethiopian Heritage Authority
Johannes Müller
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung
Elizabeth M. Niespolo
Department of Geosciences, Princeton University
Cesur Pehlevan
Department of Philosophy, Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University
Paul R. Renne
Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California
Antoine Souron
Laura Sánchez-Romero
Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, University of Seville