Cultural Transmission and Lithic Technology in Middle Stone Age Eastern Africa
Open AccessThis dissertation sought to build a ground-up understanding of how cultural transmission can be studied in Paleolithic assemblages, with a focus on Middle Stone Age eastern Africa. Cultural transmission here refers to the process by which ideas, innovations, or technologies are transmitted across individuals. Similarities in technological patterns at Middle Stone Age (MSA) archaeological sites are thought to represent regional networks of such transmission. These patterns of technology have been interpreted as representing the earliest forms of regional identity, in which human social networks were territorial and hyper-prosocial. The overarching goal of this dissertation was to test to what extent regional patterns in MSA stone tool technology could be explained variously by cultural transmission or functional concerns (e.g. raw material constraints). In order to accomplish this, experimental proxies were developed to better understand how cultural transmission is embedded in stone tool technology, and these proxies were then studied at multiple MSA localities in Kenya and Tanzania.The first phase of this dissertation asked the question, “What aspects of Paleolithic assemblages do we measure to study cultural transmission?” Social learning flintknapping experiments were conducted to determine what, if any, empirical traces of cultural transmission can be detected in stone artifacts. Discerning which lithic signatures are related to transmission can shed light on the processes by which technological variability forms. To do this, flint knappers created stone tools under two controlled conditions of cultural transmission: emulation and imitation. Knappers also made stone tools without any cultural transmission, forming a control group. Following the experiments, the lithic assemblages were measured and analyzed; thus the question became: given a known state of cultural transmission (no transmission, imitation, or emulation), which measurements best predict the experimental condition? Standardized porcelain cobbles were created to control the effects of size and shape on lithic variability. It was demonstrated that variables associated with core reduction strategy are more strongly associated with cultural transmission than variables associated with flake morphology, which are highly susceptible to equifinality.The second phase of this dissertation asked the question, “How can core reduction strategy be measured?” Three-dimensional photogrammetry was used to develop new methods to quantify strategies of core reduction. To do this, technologically defined characteristics of core reduction strategies were converted into geometric variables that can be captured in 3D analysis. Expert flintknappers then created assemblages following different core reduction strategies. The resulting experimental assemblages were converted into 3D models and their geometric attributes measured. Given a core produced with known reduction strategy, it was then determined which variables could successfully predict core reduction strategy. The Levallois and discoidal reduction strategies were tested with this approach, due to their abundance in MSA assemblages. This research demonstrated that variables associated with core reduction, including the ratio between the volumes of two hemispheres, and the ratio of angles between flaking planes, can successfully differentiate Levallois from discoidal reduction. The final phase of this dissertation applied the proxies discovered in phase one and the methods developed in phase two to the MSA archaeological record. The study sites included Nasera, Kisese II, Koobi Fora, Lukenya Hill, Muguruk, and Prospect Farm. The broader comparative analyses demonstrated that raw material constraints may have been the primary driver of regional technological patterns. This study also focused on two individual sites, Nasera and Koobi Fora. Nasera was analyzed across the Middle to Late Stone Age transition to test the validity of three models of technological change. Koobi Fora was analyzed across space to examine how different site formation processes affect perceived patterns of cultural transmission across the landscape. At Nasera, results lend support to the environmental and demographic models. However, the analyses reveal that previously defined industrial designations do not align with new chronologies. At Koobi Fora, it was demonstrated that geomorphological processes have played a large role on the taphonomic preservation of MSA sites. However, when these processes are controlled for, as at GaJj17, results indicate that raw material was not the sole driver of technological variability, as similar technologies were created on different raw materials. This dissertation lays the foundation in understanding technological variability in the MSA based on middle-range theory. Further work is needed at all MSA sites in Eastern Africa in order to develop a higher-resolution chronological framework and to continue testing models of human behavioral change throughout the Late Pleistocene.
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