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Audax ZP Mabulla

Middle Pleistocene Lithic Industry and Hominin Behaviour at Laetoli,
northern Tanzania



Abstract

Traditionally, insights into hominin technology, behaviours and activities
are mostly inferred from the analysis of stone artifacts. Cognition, once
thought to be determined by brain size and complexity alone, can now also
be measured by examining the relationships between core reduction
strategies, tool types and lithic raw material utilizations and procurement
strategies. The objectives of this study are to define the lithic industry
and determine hominin behaviours, activities and cognition as reflected by
the stone artifacts collected from the Middle Pleistocene upper Ngaloba
Beds at Laetoli, Tanzania. The upper Ngaloba Beds, dated to about 200 kya
have also yielded a cranium of Early Homo sapiens (EHs: referred to as
Laetoli Hominin 18, LH18) or Homo heidelbergensis , in direct association
with stone artifacts. The study reveals that the upper Ngaloba Beds' stone
tools represent a predominantly (93.840%) light-duty toolkit (scrapers,
becs, burins and points) mixed with a lower percentage (6.16%) of heavy-
duty toolkit (core/large scrapers, bifaces/picks and core axes). This
combination of light-duty and heavy-duty toolkits is best described as
Early Middle Stone Age (EMSA) Ngaloban industry. Analysis of lithic raw
materials shows that EHs at Laetoli utilized both local and non-local
materials indicating wide ranging patterns. Therefore, during 200 kya, EHs
at Laetoli had a thorough knowledge of the landscape, using it to find and
transport lithic raw materials. Moreover, analyses of stone artifact size,
tool types and core utilizations versus lithic raw materials show that EHs
knew how to manipulate lithic materials to the best of their abilities.
The occurrences of retouched and Levallois points in general and some with
thinned bulbs signals that EHs at Laetoli had knowledge of projectile
weaponry and hafting systems. Moreover, the presence of red ochre
indicates procurement and use of pigments and therefore, evidence for
symbolic behaviour by EHs during EMSA at Laetoli, 200 kya.