The expansion of the Acheulian to the Southeastern Ethiopian Highlands: Insights from the new early Pleistocene site-complex of Melka Wakena

Erella Hovers; Tegenu Gossa; Asfawossen Asrat; Elizabeth M. Niespolo; Angesom Resom; Paul R. Renne; Ravid Ekshtain; Gadi Herzlinger; Natnael Ketema; Bienvenido Martínez-Navarro

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106763

The expansion of the Acheulian to the Southeastern Ethiopian Highlands: Insights from the new early Pleistocene site-complex of Melka Wakena

Erella Hovers^*, Tegenu Gossa^*, Asfawossen Asrat, Elizabeth M. Niespolo, Angesom Resom, Paul R. Renne, Ravid Ekshtain, Gadi Herzlinger, Natnael Ketema, Bienvenido Martínez-Navarro

^*Corresponding author for this work

Institute of Archaeology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.

Original language	American English
Article number	106763
Journal	Quaternary Science Reviews
Volume	253
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106763
State	Published - 1 Feb 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH) of Ethiopia for its encouragement and help during the field and post-excavation phases of the study. We are grateful to the people of Aluba village for their hospitality and help in the field and beyond. Work at Melka Wakena was supported by grants from the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) , National Geographic Society (Grant #9801–15 ), Gerda Henkel Foundation , and the Ruth Amiran Fund for Archaeological Research at the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem . TG’s doctoral studies were supported by a Wadsworth Fellowship from the Wenner-Gren Foundation and a Baldwin Fellowship from the Leakey Foundation . The field geological and stratigraphic work was supported by the School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University as part of AR’s Masters studies under the supervision of AA. EMN was supported by a U.C. Berkeley Fellowship. The geochronology work was supported by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation and by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation . BMN thanks the Spanish Ministry of Science (grant CGL-2016-80975-P ), Generalitat de Catalunya (grant GENCAT 2017SGR 859 ) and Palarq Foundation . Photographs of the fauna were prepared by Sergio Ros-Montoya. This paper was written when EH was a visiting researcher at the Dept. of Anthropology, NYU, in the academic year 2019/2020.

Funding Information:
We thank the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH) of Ethiopia for its encouragement and help during the field and post-excavation phases of the study. We are grateful to the people of Aluba village for their hospitality and help in the field and beyond. Work at Melka Wakena was supported by grants from the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST), National Geographic Society (Grant #9801?15), Gerda Henkel Foundation, and the Ruth Amiran Fund for Archaeological Research at the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. TG's doctoral studies were supported by a Wadsworth Fellowship from the Wenner-Gren Foundation and a Baldwin Fellowship from the Leakey Foundation. The field geological and stratigraphic work was supported by the School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University as part of AR's Masters studies under the supervision of AA. EMN was supported by a U.C. Berkeley Fellowship. The geochronology work was supported by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation and by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. BMN thanks the Spanish Ministry of Science (grant CGL-2016-80975-P), Generalitat de Catalunya (grant GENCAT 2017SGR 859) and Palarq Foundation. Photographs of the fauna were prepared by Sergio Ros-Montoya. This paper was written when EH was a visiting researcher at the Dept. of Anthropology, NYU, in the academic year 2019/2020.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

Acheulian
Dino formation
Early stone age
Eastern africa
Geographic expansion
Highlands occupation
Lithic technology
Melka wakena site-complex
Site formation processes
early Pleistocene

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10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106763

Cite this

Hovers, E., Gossa, T., Asrat, A., Niespolo, E. M., Resom, A., Renne, P. R., Ekshtain, R., Herzlinger, G., Ketema, N., & Martínez-Navarro, B. (2021). The expansion of the Acheulian to the Southeastern Ethiopian Highlands: Insights from the new early Pleistocene site-complex of Melka Wakena. Quaternary Science Reviews, 253, Article 106763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106763

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title = "The expansion of the Acheulian to the Southeastern Ethiopian Highlands: Insights from the new early Pleistocene site-complex of Melka Wakena",

abstract = "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.",

keywords = "Acheulian, Dino formation, Early stone age, Eastern africa, Geographic expansion, Highlands occupation, Lithic technology, Melka wakena site-complex, Site formation processes, early Pleistocene",

author = "Erella Hovers and Tegenu Gossa and Asfawossen Asrat and Niespolo, {Elizabeth M.} and Angesom Resom and Renne, {Paul R.} and Ravid Ekshtain and Gadi Herzlinger and Natnael Ketema and Bienvenido Mart{\'i}nez-Navarro",

note = "Funding Information: We thank the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH) of Ethiopia for its encouragement and help during the field and post-excavation phases of the study. We are grateful to the people of Aluba village for their hospitality and help in the field and beyond. Work at Melka Wakena was supported by grants from the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) , National Geographic Society (Grant #9801–15 ), Gerda Henkel Foundation , and the Ruth Amiran Fund for Archaeological Research at the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem . TG{\textquoteright}s doctoral studies were supported by a Wadsworth Fellowship from the Wenner-Gren Foundation and a Baldwin Fellowship from the Leakey Foundation . The field geological and stratigraphic work was supported by the School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University as part of AR{\textquoteright}s Masters studies under the supervision of AA. EMN was supported by a U.C. Berkeley Fellowship. The geochronology work was supported by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation and by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation . BMN thanks the Spanish Ministry of Science (grant CGL-2016-80975-P ), Generalitat de Catalunya (grant GENCAT 2017SGR 859 ) and Palarq Foundation . Photographs of the fauna were prepared by Sergio Ros-Montoya. This paper was written when EH was a visiting researcher at the Dept. of Anthropology, NYU, in the academic year 2019/2020. Funding Information: We thank the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH) of Ethiopia for its encouragement and help during the field and post-excavation phases of the study. We are grateful to the people of Aluba village for their hospitality and help in the field and beyond. Work at Melka Wakena was supported by grants from the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST), National Geographic Society (Grant #9801?15), Gerda Henkel Foundation, and the Ruth Amiran Fund for Archaeological Research at the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. TG's doctoral studies were supported by a Wadsworth Fellowship from the Wenner-Gren Foundation and a Baldwin Fellowship from the Leakey Foundation. The field geological and stratigraphic work was supported by the School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University as part of AR's Masters studies under the supervision of AA. EMN was supported by a U.C. Berkeley Fellowship. The geochronology work was supported by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation and by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. BMN thanks the Spanish Ministry of Science (grant CGL-2016-80975-P), Generalitat de Catalunya (grant GENCAT 2017SGR 859) and Palarq Foundation. Photographs of the fauna were prepared by Sergio Ros-Montoya. This paper was written when EH was a visiting researcher at the Dept. of Anthropology, NYU, in the academic year 2019/2020. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 Elsevier Ltd",

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doi = "10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106763",

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Hovers, E, Gossa, T, Asrat, A, Niespolo, EM, Resom, A, Renne, PR, Ekshtain, R , Herzlinger, G, Ketema, N & Martínez-Navarro, B 2021, 'The expansion of the Acheulian to the Southeastern Ethiopian Highlands: Insights from the new early Pleistocene site-complex of Melka Wakena', Quaternary Science Reviews, vol. 253, 106763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106763

TY - JOUR

T1 - The expansion of the Acheulian to the Southeastern Ethiopian Highlands

T2 - Insights from the new early Pleistocene site-complex of Melka Wakena

AU - Hovers, Erella

AU - Gossa, Tegenu

AU - Asrat, Asfawossen

AU - Niespolo, Elizabeth M.

AU - Resom, Angesom

AU - Renne, Paul R.

AU - Ekshtain, Ravid

AU - Herzlinger, Gadi

AU - Ketema, Natnael

AU - Martínez-Navarro, Bienvenido

N1 - Funding Information: We thank the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH) of Ethiopia for its encouragement and help during the field and post-excavation phases of the study. We are grateful to the people of Aluba village for their hospitality and help in the field and beyond. Work at Melka Wakena was supported by grants from the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) , National Geographic Society (Grant #9801–15 ), Gerda Henkel Foundation , and the Ruth Amiran Fund for Archaeological Research at the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem . TG’s doctoral studies were supported by a Wadsworth Fellowship from the Wenner-Gren Foundation and a Baldwin Fellowship from the Leakey Foundation . The field geological and stratigraphic work was supported by the School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University as part of AR’s Masters studies under the supervision of AA. EMN was supported by a U.C. Berkeley Fellowship. The geochronology work was supported by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation and by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation . BMN thanks the Spanish Ministry of Science (grant CGL-2016-80975-P ), Generalitat de Catalunya (grant GENCAT 2017SGR 859 ) and Palarq Foundation . Photographs of the fauna were prepared by Sergio Ros-Montoya. This paper was written when EH was a visiting researcher at the Dept. of Anthropology, NYU, in the academic year 2019/2020. Funding Information: We thank the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH) of Ethiopia for its encouragement and help during the field and post-excavation phases of the study. We are grateful to the people of Aluba village for their hospitality and help in the field and beyond. Work at Melka Wakena was supported by grants from the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST), National Geographic Society (Grant #9801?15), Gerda Henkel Foundation, and the Ruth Amiran Fund for Archaeological Research at the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. TG's doctoral studies were supported by a Wadsworth Fellowship from the Wenner-Gren Foundation and a Baldwin Fellowship from the Leakey Foundation. The field geological and stratigraphic work was supported by the School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University as part of AR's Masters studies under the supervision of AA. EMN was supported by a U.C. Berkeley Fellowship. The geochronology work was supported by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation and by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. BMN thanks the Spanish Ministry of Science (grant CGL-2016-80975-P), Generalitat de Catalunya (grant GENCAT 2017SGR 859) and Palarq Foundation. Photographs of the fauna were prepared by Sergio Ros-Montoya. This paper was written when EH was a visiting researcher at the Dept. of Anthropology, NYU, in the academic year 2019/2020. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

PY - 2021/2/1

Y1 - 2021/2/1

N2 - 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.

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KW - Dino formation

KW - Early stone age

KW - Eastern africa

KW - Geographic expansion

KW - Highlands occupation

KW - Lithic technology

KW - Melka wakena site-complex

KW - Site formation processes

KW - early Pleistocene

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VL - 253

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M1 - 106763

ER -

The expansion of the Acheulian to the Southeastern Ethiopian Highlands: Insights from the new early Pleistocene site-complex of Melka Wakena

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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