Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Stratigraphic, chronological and behavioural contexts of Pleistocene Homo sapiens from Middle Awash, Ethiopia

Abstract

Clarifying the geographic, environmental and behavioural contexts in which the emergence of anatomically modern Homo sapiens occurred has proved difficult, particularly because Africa lacked adequate geochronological, palaeontological and archaeological evidence. The discovery of anatomically modern Homo sapiens fossils at Herto, Ethiopia1, changes this. Here we report on stratigraphically associated Late Middle Pleistocene artefacts and fossils from fluvial and lake margin sandstones of the Upper Herto Member of the Bouri Formation, Middle Awash, Afar Rift, Ethiopia. The fossils and artefacts are dated between 160,000 and 154,000 years ago by precise age determinations using the 40Ar/39Ar method. The archaeological assemblages contain elements of both Acheulean and Middle Stone Age technocomplexes. Associated faunal remains indicate repeated, systematic butchery of hippopotamus carcasses. Contemporary adult and juvenile Homo sapiens fossil crania manifest bone modifications indicative of deliberate mortuary practices.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Geographic and stratigraphic placement of the Herto Bouri hominid fossils and archaeological artefacts.
Figure 2: Cultural modification of the Herto adult and child crania.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. White, T. D. et al. Pleistocene Homo sapiens from Middle Awash, Ethiopia. Nature 423, 742–747 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Asfaw, B. et al. Australopithecus garhi: A new species of early hominid from Ethiopia. Science 284, 629–635 (1999)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Asfaw, B. et al. Remains of Homo erectus from Bouri, Middle Awash, Ethiopia. Nature 416, 317–320 (2002)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. DeHeinzelin, J., Clark, J. D., Schick, K. D. & Gilbert, W. H (eds) The Acheulean and the Plio-Pleistocene Deposits of the Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia (Royal Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium; Ann. Sci. Geol. 104, 2000).

  5. Katoh, S., Nagaoka, S., WoldeGabriel, G., Beyene, Y. & Suwa, G. Preliminary study on geomorphological development since the early Pleistocene in Konso-Gardula area (KGA), southern Ethiopia. Proc. Gen. Meet. Assoc. Jpn. Geogr. 49, 208–209 (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Howell, F. C. Paleo-demes, species clades, and extinctions in the Pleistocene hominin record. J. Anthropol. Res. 55, 191–243 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Stringer, C. B. in The Age of the Earth: From 4004 BC to AD 2002 (eds Lewis, C. L. E. & Knell, S. J.) 265–274 (Geological Society of London, Spec. Publ. 190, 2001)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Tryon, C. A. & McBrearty, S. Tephrostratigraphy and the Acheulian to Middle Stone Age transition in the Kapthurin Formation, Kenya. J. Hum. Evol. 42, 211–235 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Clark, J. D. in A Very Remote Period Indeed: Papers on the Palaeolithic Presented to Derek Roe (eds Milliken, S. & Cook, J.) 1–18 (Oxbow Books, Oxford, 2001)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Hours, F. in Proceedings of the Seventh Panafrican Congress of Prehistory and Quaternary Studies, 1971, Addis Ababa (eds Abebe, B., Chavaillon, J. & Sutton, J. E. G.) 99–104 (Ministry of Culture, Addis Ababa, 1976)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Chavaillion, J., Chavaillon, N., Hours, F. & Piperno, M. From the Oldowan to the Middle Stone Age at Melka-Kunturé (Ethiopia): Understanding cultural changes. Quaternaria 21, 87–114 (1979)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Clark, J. D. in Hominid Evolution: Lifestyles and Survival Strategies (ed. Ullrich, H.) 277–292 (Edition Archaea, Berlin, 1999)

    Google Scholar 

  13. White, T. D. Prehistoric Cannibalism at Mancos 5MTUMR-2346 (Princeton Univ. Press, 1992)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  14. White, T. D. & Toth, N. The question of ritual cannibalism at Grotta Guattari. Curr. Anthropol. 32, 118–138 (1991)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Pickering, T., White, T. D. & Toth, N. Cutmarks on a Plio-Pleistocene hominid from Sterkfontein, South Africa. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 111, 579–584 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. White, T. D. Cutmarks on the Bodo cranium: A case of prehistoric defleshing. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 69, 503–550 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

J.D.C., a legend in African archaeology, founded and co-led the Middle Awash project until his death in February 2002. We thank A. Almquist, A. Asfaw, M. Asnake, T. Assebework, D. Brill, J. DeHeinzelin, A. Getty, Y. Haile-Selassie, A.-R. Jaouni, B. Latimer, C. Pehlevan, K. Schick, S. Simpson, P. Snow and Y. Zeleka for fieldwork and analytical studies; the Earth Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, for access to electron microprobe and other support; D. DeGusta, F. C. Howell, C. O. Lovejoy, L. Hlusko, F. Bibi, R. Klein, L. Jellema and E. Vrba for review and/or assistance; and J. Feathers, and J. Westgate and A. Sandhu for assessing the feasibility of luminescence and fission track dating, respectively, on some of the tephra. We thank the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, the Authority for Research and Conservation of the Cultural Heritage, and the National Museum of Ethiopia for permissions; the Afar Regional Government and the Afar people of the Middle Awash, particularly the Bouri–Modaitu community and H. Elema; and many additional individuals for contributions. This research was supported by the NSF (US), the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (University of California at Los Alamos National Laboratory), and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Additional financial contributions were made by the Hampton Fund for International Initiatives, Miami University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tim D. White.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Clark, J., Beyene, Y., WoldeGabriel, G. et al. Stratigraphic, chronological and behavioural contexts of Pleistocene Homo sapiens from Middle Awash, Ethiopia. Nature 423, 747–752 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01670

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01670

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing