Oldest evidence of toolmaking hominins in a grassland-dominated ecosystem

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dc.contributor.authorPlummer, Thomas Wen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorDitchfield, Peter Wen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorBishop, Laura Cen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorKingston, John Den_ZA
dc.contributor.authorFerraro, Joseph Ven_ZA
dc.contributor.authorBraun, David Ren_ZA
dc.contributor.authorHertel, Fritzen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorPotts, Richarden_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-11-18T07:07:42Z
dc.date.available2015-11-18T07:07:42Z
dc.date.issued2009en_ZA
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND: Major biological and cultural innovations in late Pliocene hominin evolution are frequently linked to the spread or fluctuating presence of C 4 grass in African ecosystems. Whereas the deep sea record of global climatic change provides indirect evidence for an increase in C 4 vegetation with a shift towards a cooler, drier and more variable global climatic regime beginning approximately 3 million years ago (Ma), evidence for grassland-dominated ecosystems in continental Africa and hominin activities within such ecosystems have been lacking. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We report stable isotopic analyses of pedogenic carbonates and ungulate enamel, as well as faunal data from ∼2.0 Ma archeological occurrences at Kanjera South, Kenya. These document repeated hominin activities within a grassland-dominated ecosystem. Conclusions/Significance These data demonstrate what hitherto had been speculated based on indirect evidence: that grassland-dominated ecosystems did in fact exist during the Plio-Pleistocene, and that early Homo was active in open settings. Comparison with other Oldowan occurrences indicates that by 2.0 Ma hominins, almost certainly of the genus Homo , used a broad spectrum of habitats in East Africa, from open grassland to riparian forest. This strongly contrasts with the habitat usage of Australopithecus , and may signal an important shift in hominin landscape usage.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationPlummer, T. W., Ditchfield, P. W., Bishop, L. C., Kingston, J. D., Ferraro, J. V., Braun, D. R., ... Potts, R. (2009). Oldest evidence of toolmaking hominins in a grassland-dominated ecosystem. <i>PLoS One</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15126en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationPlummer, Thomas W, Peter W Ditchfield, Laura C Bishop, John D Kingston, Joseph V Ferraro, David R Braun, Fritz Hertel, and Richard Potts "Oldest evidence of toolmaking hominins in a grassland-dominated ecosystem." <i>PLoS One</i> (2009) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15126en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationPlummer, T. W., Ditchfield, P. W., Bishop, L. C., Kingston, J. D., Ferraro, J. V., Braun, D. R., ... & Potts, R. (2009). Oldest evidence of toolmaking hominins in a grassland-dominated ecosystem. PLoS One, 4(9), e7199. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007199en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Plummer, Thomas W AU - Ditchfield, Peter W AU - Bishop, Laura C AU - Kingston, John D AU - Ferraro, Joseph V AU - Braun, David R AU - Hertel, Fritz AU - Potts, Richard AB - BACKGROUND: Major biological and cultural innovations in late Pliocene hominin evolution are frequently linked to the spread or fluctuating presence of C 4 grass in African ecosystems. Whereas the deep sea record of global climatic change provides indirect evidence for an increase in C 4 vegetation with a shift towards a cooler, drier and more variable global climatic regime beginning approximately 3 million years ago (Ma), evidence for grassland-dominated ecosystems in continental Africa and hominin activities within such ecosystems have been lacking. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We report stable isotopic analyses of pedogenic carbonates and ungulate enamel, as well as faunal data from ∼2.0 Ma archeological occurrences at Kanjera South, Kenya. These document repeated hominin activities within a grassland-dominated ecosystem. Conclusions/Significance These data demonstrate what hitherto had been speculated based on indirect evidence: that grassland-dominated ecosystems did in fact exist during the Plio-Pleistocene, and that early Homo was active in open settings. Comparison with other Oldowan occurrences indicates that by 2.0 Ma hominins, almost certainly of the genus Homo , used a broad spectrum of habitats in East Africa, from open grassland to riparian forest. This strongly contrasts with the habitat usage of Australopithecus , and may signal an important shift in hominin landscape usage. DA - 2009 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0007199 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - PLoS One LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2009 T1 - Oldest evidence of toolmaking hominins in a grassland-dominated ecosystem TI - Oldest evidence of toolmaking hominins in a grassland-dominated ecosystem UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15126 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/15126
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0007199
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationPlummer TW, Ditchfield PW, Bishop LC, Kingston JD, Ferraro JV, Braun DR, et al. Oldest evidence of toolmaking hominins in a grassland-dominated ecosystem. PLoS One. 2009; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15126.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Archaeologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.en_ZA
dc.rights.holder© 2009 Plummer et alen_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_ZA
dc.sourcePLoS Oneen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://journals.plos.org/plosoneen_ZA
dc.subject.otherPaleoanthropologyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHuman evolutionen_ZA
dc.subject.otherArchaeologyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherPaleozoologyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHabitatsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherPaleoecologyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherCarbonatesen_ZA
dc.titleOldest evidence of toolmaking hominins in a grassland-dominated ecosystemen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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