The latest research shows that 2 million years ago, Homo erectus lived in the high-altitude Ethiopian plateau. Two million years ago, Homo erectus walked out of the lowland savannah of East Africa and entered the high-altitude areas of the Ethiopian plateau. Now, a new study shows they created Odowan and Acheulean tools in these regions. The study also revisits an early great ape fossil originally discovered in 1981, providing new insights into the evolution, migration patterns and adaptability of early human ancestors.
The limited number of human fossils found in Africa that are directly associated with stone tools has hampered attempts to link Homo habilis and Homo erectus to specific stone tool industries (i.e. Oduwan and Acheulean).
One area that is crucial to studying this question is the group of sites known as the Melka Kunture complex - a group of prehistoric sites on the Ethiopian plateau about 2,000 meters above sea level. In 1981, a fossilized infant mandible was discovered at the Garba IV site, which was directly related to the Odovan stone tools. However, the species of great ape represented by the fossil has been controversial.
In this study, Margherita Mussi and colleagues assessed the geochronological context of the Garba IV site and reassessed the taxonomic affinities of the mandibular fossils. Mussi et al. used synchrotron radiation imaging technology to examine the internal morphology of the unupturned teeth in the mandible of Garba IV and confirmed that it belonged to Homo erectus.
In addition, combined with preliminary argon-argon dating of the site's strata and recently published magnetostratigraphic analysis, the authors believe that the fossil is about 2 million years old, making it one of the earliest Homo erectus specimens ever discovered and the only fossil clearly linked to the rich Ordovician stone tool industry.
The overlying Achelian tool stratum dates back to about 1.95 million years ago and is the earliest known evidence of Achelian stone tool technology. According to Mussi et al., these findings indicate that Homo erectus quickly adapted to the high-altitude mountain environment 2 million years ago, first producing Oduvan technology and then Acheulean technology.
References Margherita Mussi, Matthew M. Skinner, Rita T. Melis, Joaquín Panera, Susana Rubio-Jara, Thomas W. Davies, Denis Geraads: "Early Homo erectus lived in high altitude areas and produced Odovan and Acheilevan tools at the same time." Davies, Denis Geraads, Hervé Bocherens, Giuseppe Briatico, Adeline Le Cabec, Jean-Jacques Hublin, Agnes Gidna, Raymonde Bonnefille, Luca Di Bianco and Eduardo Méndez-Quintas, 12 October 2023. Science.
DOI:10.1126/science.add9115
Compiled source: ScitechDaily