Technologically mediated landscapes: Examining the adaptive benefit of the early Oldowan.

Introduction

Tool production is intrinsically tied to the evolution of our species as it allows us to occupy nearly every environment on the planet. The widespread production of sharp-edged tools known as the Oldowan, 2.6 million years ago, is regarded as a major adaptive leap as it may have fundamentally changed the ecology of our ancestors.

Major Adaptive Shift

This major adaptive shift resulted in:

• A change in diet
• Enhanced ecological versatility for a range of environments
• The proliferation of the human lineage across the globe

However, it remains unclear if the emergence of Oldowan technologies resulted from a watershed innovation or if it represents a technological continuity of the tool repertoire of apes.

Project Goals

The OLAF project aims to determine the adaptive significance of the appearance of the Oldowan by implementing a new set of theoretical tools while shifting the scale of archaeological analysis from the site to a broader landscape level.

Methodology

OLAF will use agent-based modeling to:

1. Directly investigate the relationship between stone tool use, environmental factors, and site formation processes at the landscape scale.
2. Generate concurrent expectations for how hominin-environment interactions produce patterns in the archaeological record.

In parallel, we will reconstruct the portions of the Ledi Geraru (Ethiopia) research area where sediments have preserved the 2.6-million-year-old artifact and fossil-rich paleolandscape, over an area of 33 square kilometers.

Validation of Predictions

Agent-based models that are tailored to local data will validate or reject predictions concerning:

• Mobility
• Diet
• Space use

Conclusion

OLAF will thus provide a comprehensive understanding of the tool-mediated foraging behaviors of the earliest Oldowan tool makers, allowing us to examine the adaptive benefits of tool use at the dawn of humanity.