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'Staying Longer At Home' Was Key To Stone Age Technology Change 60,000 Years Ago (phys.org)
A new study by scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand suggests that at about 58,000 years ago, Stone Age humans began to settle down, staying in one area for longer periods. The research also provides a potential answer to a long-held mystery: why older, Howiesons Poort complex technological tradition in South Africa, suddenly disappear at that time. Phys.Org reports: The Howiesons Poort at Sibudu contains many finely-worked, crescent-shaped stone tools fashioned from long, thin blades made on dolerite, hornfels and, to a lesser extent, quartz. These "segments," as they are called, were hafted to shafts or handles at a variety of angles using compound adhesives that sometimes included red ochre (an iron oxide). A diverse bone tool kit in the Howiesons Poort includes what may be the world's oldest bone arrowhead. Certainly a variety of hunting techniques was used perhaps including the first use of snares for the capture of small creatures. The animal remains brought to Sibudu reflect this diversity for there are bones from large plains game like zebra, tiny blue duiker, and even pigeons and small carnivores. Soft, clayey ochre pieces were collected in the Howiesons Poort perhaps at a considerable distance From Sibudu. Clayey ochre is useful for applying as paint. The beautiful Howiesons Poort industry with its long, thin blades is replaced at 58,000 years ago by a simple technology that could be rapidly produced. Coarse rocks like quartzite and sandstone became popular. These could be collected close to Sibudu. Post-Howiesons Poort tools were part of an unstandardized toolkit with triangular or irregularly-shaped flakes. Tiny scaled pieces were also produced using a bipolar technique (in the simplest terms this involves smashing a small piece of rock with a hammerstone). The study has been published in the journal PlosOne.
I don't see how the parent comment is "anti-science", like you wrongly claim it is.
Science is all about asking questions. Science is all about scrutiny. Science is all about taking a critical look at evidence. Science is all about questioning the methodologies and discoveries of other scientists.
If anyone is anti-science, it is you and people like you who claim that asking questions is somehow "wrong" or should be discouraged.
Any researcher who is resistant to his work being questioned is not a scientist, either. Real scientists love to have their discoveries and their theories ripped apart by their colleagues. Why is that? Because this questioning and scrutiny is how we get to the truth, which is what science is all about.
People who ask questions and who look critically at the evidence, like the parent, are seeking the truth. They are real scientists.
People like you, who attack those who ask questions, are trying to push a narrative or a political agenda. You aren't a scientist. You're completely against the scientific method. You're the one who is anti-science.
This is a real issue that archaeologists are having.
I don't know what's being shown in the arrows in the picture you linked, but one if the hopes is that better 3D scanning/mapping will help differentiate accidental/natural and intentional marks.
I've seen the discussion most heated in trying to look at what other primates are up to, as there's some debate about their tool use, and tools to make tools use
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
Greed and efficiency are related, because one is simply a subjective judgement on the other.
If a craftsman can create a nice pretty and highly functional arrowhead in 18 hours, and an journeyman can make one every hour using simpler techniques, he can build 18 arrowheads in the same time as a craftsman can make in an hour, and that has its own advantages. You can call that "greed" all you want, but when trading time comes, the guy with 18 arrowheads is gonna get more in trade than the guy with only one, even if it is better constructed and prettier. Though the nice one will likely end up with the chief / prince / king as a ceremonial piece that is never actually used.
Greed (subjective interpretation) is, for lack of better understanding, how trade actually works. After all, what does Uggah need with 18 semi automatic arrowheads?
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
It's funny you think this. Simple societies actually have *more* free time, not less. You hunt, you get a big meal, it's like Thanksgiving, and you relax until you're hungry again. No lawn to maintain, no house to clean, no bills to pay, no 8 hours at a job. Eat and rest until you're hungry enough to go looking for more food.
I'm not saying it's a better life because of this. Death lurks around the corner with even slight interruption to the food supply. There is no warehousing and no reserve food. What there is though is plenty of free time.