On the earliest Acheulean in Britain: first dates and in-situ artefacts from the MIS 15 site of Fordwich (Kent, UK). [PDF]
Northern Europe experienced cycles of hominin habitation and absence during the Middle Pleistocene. Fluvial gravel terrace sites in the east of Britain and north of France provide a majority of the data contributing to this understanding, mostly through ...
Key A +6 more
europepmc +2 more sources
An experimental test of the accumulated copying error model of cultural mutation for Acheulean handaxe size. [PDF]
Archaeologists interested in explaining changes in artifact morphology over long time periods have found it useful to create models in which the only source of change is random and unintentional copying error, or 'cultural mutation'.
Marius Kempe +2 more
doaj +3 more sources
When is a handaxe a planned-axe? exploring morphological variability in the Acheulean. [PDF]
The handaxe is an iconic stone tool form used to define and symbolise both the Acheulean and the wider Palaeolithic. There has long been debate around the extent of its morphological variability between sites, and the role that extrinsic factors ...
Clark J +4 more
europepmc +3 more sources
Taphonomic and technological analyses of Lower Palaeolithic bone tools from Clacton-on-Sea, UK. [PDF]
The exceptional survival of Middle Pleistocene wooden spears at Schöningen (Germany) and Clacton-on-Sea (UK) provides tantalizing evidence for the widespread use of organic raw materials by early humans.
Parfitt SA, Lewis MD, Bello SM.
europepmc +2 more sources
Considering the role of time budgets on copy-error rates in material culture traditions: an experimental assessment. [PDF]
Ethnographic research highlights that there are constraints placed on the time available to produce cultural artefacts in differing circumstances. Given that copying error, or cultural 'mutation', can have important implications for the evolutionary ...
Kerstin Schillinger +2 more
doaj +3 more sources
Regional extinction(s) but continental persistence in European Acheulean culture. [PDF]
Traces of early hominin cultural dynamics are revealed through the spatial and temporal character of the archaeological record. In the European Lower Palaeolithic, biface occurrences provide insights into episodes of cultural loss, persistence and ...
Key A.
europepmc +2 more sources
The Acheulean handaxe: More like a bird's song than a beatles' tune? [PDF]
© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. KV is supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. MC is supported by the Canada Research Chairs Program, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research of Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation ...
Corbey R, Jagich A, Vaesen K, Collard M.
europepmc +8 more sources
Automatic analysis of the continuous edges of stone tools reveals fundamental handaxe variability. [PDF]
The edges of stone tools have significant technological and functional implications. The nature of these edges–their sharpness, whether they are concave or convex, and their asymmetry–reflect how they were made and how they could be used.
Muller A, Sharon G, Grosman L.
europepmc +2 more sources
Manual restrictions on Palaeolithic technological behaviours. [PDF]
The causes of technological innovation in the Palaeolithic archaeological record are central to understanding Plio-Pleistocene hominin behaviour and temporal trends in artefact variation.
Key AJM, Dunmore CJ.
europepmc +3 more sources
The origins of the Acheulean: past and present perspectives on a major transition in human evolution. [PDF]
The emergence of the Acheulean from the earlier Oldowan constitutes a major transition in human evolution, the theme of this special issue. This paper discusses the evidence for the origins of the Acheulean, a cornerstone in the history of human ...
de la Torre I.
europepmc +3 more sources

