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The Emergence of the Acheulean in East Africa: Historical Perspectives and Current Issues Read chapter Read first chapter

2018 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

9. Faunal Change in Eastern Africa at the Oldowan – Acheulean Transition

Author : Denis Geraads

Published in: The Emergence of the Acheulean in East Africa and Beyond

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

The Early Pleistocene Transition from the Oldowan to the Acheulean in eastern Africa was roughly contemporaneous with a number of other events commonly assumed to be connected with hominin evolution. I review here the large mammal evidence, well documented in several major eastern African sites. Definite conclusions are hard to reach because of temporal gaps in the fossil record, and very patchy history of many lineages, but I conclude that, although some groups do show some turnover during this period, most of them did not change more than before or after it. We may conclude that this cultural change did not seriously impact the faunal assemblage. In addition, we may surmise that, since climate change at this period, if any, did not seriously impact the fauna, it is unlikely to have played a major role in human evolution at that time.

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previous chapter Bifacial Shaping at the TK Acheulean Site (Bed II, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania): New Excavations 50 Years After Mary Leakey
next chapter The Acheulean Assemblages of Asia: A Review
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Metadata
Title
Faunal Change in Eastern Africa at the Oldowan – Acheulean Transition
Author
Denis Geraads
Copyright Year
2018
Book
The Emergence of the Acheulean in East Africa and Beyond

Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75983-8

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-75985-2

Copyright Year: 2018

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75985-2_9