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Our human ancestors roamed the Earth 6 million years ago, but what is the first site with archaeological evidence of their existence?
It turns out that there are two places – one in Kenya and the other in Ethiopia – that are considered the best candidates for the world’s oldest archaeological sites, according to a dozen researchers, all experts in prehistory. archeology and anthropology, who spoke with Live Science.
The question of which is the oldest archaeological site in the world is “a subject that has since recently divided the archaeological community,” Yonatan Sahle, senior lecturer in archeology at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, told Live Science. . .
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The first site, called Lomekwi 3, contains hominid bones as well as stone artifacts and is located on a low hill in West Turkana, Kenya. In a study published in 2015 in the journal Nature, the researchers reported that by dating the sediments where the artifacts were found, they estimated the age of the site to be around 3.3 million years old. The finds “mark a new start for known archaeological records,” a team of scientists wrote in the journal article. The tools were probably created by Australopithecus afarensis, a hominid (human ancestors and their parents) that thrived in the region at the time.
The site is located in a wooded area on a small hill not far from Lake Turkana. It is possible that Australopithecus afarensis was using the stone artifacts to crack the nuts that the team wrote in the journal. It is not clear how many people were living at the site at any given time.
“Lomekwi 3 is the oldest known archaeological site in the world,” Jason Lewis, deputy director of the Turkana Basin Institute and co-author of the article, told Live Science.
Jeremy DeSilva, an associate professor of anthropology at Dartmouth College who was not involved in the study, agreed that Lomekwi 3 is the oldest known archaeological site, but noted that not all researchers agree. “Lomekwi is controversial, and some of our colleagues are still not convinced how old these tools are,” DeSilva told Live Science.
Indeed, a number of recent articles “question the status of Lomekwi 3 artifacts, arguing that some of the artifacts were not found in a context where the age of the artifacts can be certain”, David Braun, anthropology professor at George Washington University, said Live Science. In other words, the artifacts may not date from the same time as the sediments in which they were found.
Sahle is one of these archaeologists. “For many of us – myself included – the unequivocal evidence of the oldest archaeological occurrences comes in the form of 2.6 million year old Gona stone tools,” Sahle said. The dating results for Lomekwi 3 are disputed, he noted, and he has serious doubts that the remains found at this site date back 3.3 million years.
The research at Lomekwi 3 was published relatively recently, while the research at Gona has been published over several decades and has withstood academic scrutiny, Sahle said. “Inferences made on the chronological and behavioral context of [the] Gona’s archaeological assemblages stem from decades of research and have therefore stood the test of time, ”Sahle said.
The Gona stone tools may have been made by Australopithecus garhi, a human ancestor who lived in East Africa around 2.5 million years ago. Fossils of the species have been found near stone tools, and they may have been one of the first human ancestors to make sophisticated stone tools.
“Lomekwi’s claims were not sufficiently demonstrated when they were announced, and there were [been] no new evidence provided, despite several thoughtful critiques of Nature’s original announcement, ”said Tim White, co-director of the Human Evolution Research Center at the University of California at Berkeley. White agrees that Gona has the best unequivocal evidence of being the oldest archaeological site.
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On the other hand, some researchers support the idea that Lomekwi is older than Gona. Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian’s human origins program, is convinced that Lomekwi 3 “is the oldest site with strong evidence of rock-to-rock percussion,” meaning it is the oldest site that has any artifacts in it. stone made by human ancestors. He noted that the stone artifacts at Lomekwi 3 appear to be different from those found at Gona; they are coarser and may not have been used as tools at all. Lomekwi 3 stone artifacts “show awkward fracturing of rocks, including large, thick, irregularly shaped flakes that could have been accidental byproducts of the pounding – for what purpose, no one currently knows,” wrote Potts in an email, noting that the folks at Lomekwi 3 may not have created tools but instead hammered stones together for unknown reasons. Even if Lomekwi 3’s artifacts weren’t used as tools, they would still be considered human-made artifacts.
Brian Villmoare, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Nevada, told Live Science: “I tend to think that Australopithecus afarensis could have made stone tools ”, but noted that he had not examined the artifacts from Lomekwi 3.
A third candidate?
Braun said if future fieldwork could not allay concerns about the dating of Lomekwi 3, his second choice for the oldest archaeological site would be Ledi-Geraru in Afar, Ethiopia, which dates back to around 2.8 million years ago.
In Ledi-Geraru, researchers found a partial hominin mandible with teeth, and they dated it by examining the age of surrounding sediment, they reported in the journal. Science in 2015.
Sahle has expressed doubts about the dating of this site, saying it could be considerably younger than 2.8 million years old and that Gona is the site with the best unequivocal evidence.
No matter which of these archaeological sites is the oldest, all of them make the Giza pyramids (which are approximately 4,500 years old) and Stonehenge (who is about 5,000 years old) relatively young in comparison.
Originally posted on Live Science.
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