Use-wear analysis of obsidian artifacts from Later Stone Age shell midden sites on the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea,with experimental results

This paper presents results of use-wear study on lithic artifacts from two Later Stone Age sites (Gelalo and Misse) on the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea. The sites produced large quantities of lithic artifacts in association with mollusk shells and ostrich eggshell beads, but it is unclear if all the stone tools were required for bead and mollusk shell processing. The study involved recording of microfracture damage traces in order to infer the use-material and the manner in which the artifacts were used. A large percentage of the analyzed samples from Gelalo and Misse preserve wear patterns suggestive of human use. The diagnostic wear types include: (1) dense step, snap (crushing) and hinge fractures typically confined on the working edges, and (2) feather scars organized in a scalar manner visible on the ventral and dorsal surfaces of the active parts. The observed damage patterns suggest cutting and engraving medium to hard materials. The evidence is incomplete for more generalization about the specific activities carried out at the sites. A brief experimental study involving ostrich eggshell drilling, oak twig sawing and bark scraping, meat slicing, and mollusk shell sawing and drilling was carried out to aid interpretation of wear features observed on the archaeological specimens. Wear traces produced by sawing mollusk shell and oak wood showed close affinity to those observed on the archaeological specimens. The study contributes important information about early Holocene site use on the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea. The close association of used lithic artifacts, symbolic objects (beads) and broken shell remains indicates that the sites were habitation areas.     

The Bab al Mandab vs the Nile-Levant: An Appraisal of the Two Dispersal Routes for Early Modern Humans Out of Africa

There is a growing convergence of paleontological, archaeological and genetic evidence for the African origin of modern humans and their successive dispersals. However, there is disagreement about the route or routes taken by early humans during their migration out of Africa. This article examines the Middle Paleolithic/Middle Stone Age archaeological evidence from the Horn of Africa, the Nile Valley/eastern Sahara, the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant, and assesses their relevance to this question. Specific reduction techniques and typological variables are used to compare industries across these regions. This study shows that there are more evident technological and typological similarities among assemblages from the Horn, the Nile Valley and Arabia than between any of these regions and the Levant. Il y a plusieurs preuves paléontologiques, archéologiques et génétiques qui supportes une origine Africaine pour l’Homme moderne, et qui indiques les migrations de l’Homme hors de ce continent. Cependant, les parcours précis suivis par ces anciennes populations en route pour l’Europe et l’Asie ne sont pas évidents. Cette étude a comme but d’examiner les preuves archéologiques du Paléolithique moyen et de l’Âge de la Pierre moyen (MSA) de la corne de l’Afrique, la vallée du Nile, le desert Sahara de l’est, la péninsule Arabe, et du Moyen Orient pour déterminer les contributions de ces régions à la migration de l’Homme modern hors de l’Afrique. Les techniques de réduction de pierre et quelques données typologiques sont utilisées pour comparer les ensembles lithiques des régions traversés par la Route du Nord et la Route du Sud. Si les résultats de ces comparaisons démontrent que les données typologiques et les techniques de réduction sont semblables entre les régions d’un des parcours, nous pourrons inférer qu’il existait dans le passé soit un lien culturel entre ces régions, ou des parallèles dans le comportement de ces peuples anciens. Les résultats de cette étude démontrent qu’il y a plus de resemblances avec les techniques de réduction et les données typologiques dans les ensembles lithiques de la corne de l’Afrique, la vallée du Nile, et la pénisule Arabe comparés aux ensembles du Moyen Orient, ce qui soutien l’hypothèse d’une migration par la Route du Sud.     

Reconnaissance of Prehistoric Sites in the Red Sea Coastal Region of the Sudan,NE Africa

This paper reports results of a recent Stone Age-focused archaeological survey in the Red Sea coastal region of the Republic of Sudan, northeast Africa. Bifaces (handaxes) are the most conspicuous artifact class encountered during the survey and are characteristic of the Acheulean technocomplex. Other recorded artifact types include points, scrapers, and prepared core products referable to the Nubian and recurrent Levallois methods. Most of the artifact-bearing localities lie landward—outside of the coastal margin—thus, the evidence does not signify direct coastal adaptation per se. Our preliminary findings suggest that multiple Pleistocene-age hominin settlements tied to a terrestrial niche existed in the region. The western margin of the Red Sea occupies a pivotal location, linking the Horn of Africa and the Levant, two vital regions in human evolutionary research. Thus, the Stone Age data from the Sudan region has direct relevance for assessing hominin dispersal routes out of Africa.