From 100th century BCE
African tropical savannas, especially eastern and southern Africa
The African tropical savanna tool-making tradition refers to the early development of tool-making and hominid adaptation in African savanna environments. Fossil remains and artefacts from eastern and southern Africa are presented as evidence that tool-making evolved in the African tropics, where open savanna, surface water, and abundant fauna supported early hominid populations.
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The Story
The chapter presents the African tropical savannas as the environment in which man the tool-maker evolved. Fossil hominid remains, especially Australopithecine discoveries in southern and eastern Africa, coincide with the early and abundant appearance of tool-making. The evidence is preserved particularly well in cave sediments on the southern African plateau and in the East African Rift Valley.
East African sites retained rich associations of fossils and artefacts with little natural disturbance. Their micro-stratigraphy and accompanying fauna indicate an open, fairly dry savanna with accessible surface water and abundant large Ethiopian fauna. These environmental conditions provided a setting in which early hominids could exploit both resources and movement corridors across the savanna.
The savanna zones extended roughly 12,000 kilometres from Senegal to the Cape, creating extensive opportunities for interaction among hominids adapting to savanna life. The passage suggests that by around three million years ago hominids were distributed through suitable African tropical savannas, while acknowledging that preservation is uneven and that the detailed chronology remains dependent on archaeological and palaeo-anthropological interpretation.
From 100th century BCE
African tropical savannas, especially eastern and southern Africa
The African tropical savanna tool-making tradition refers to the early development of tool-making and hominid adaptation in African savanna environments. Fossil remains and artefacts from eastern and southern Africa are presented as evidence that tool-making evolved in the African tropics, where open savanna, surface water, and abundant fauna supported early hominid populations.
Continue exploring
The Story
The chapter presents the African tropical savannas as the environment in which man the tool-maker evolved. Fossil hominid remains, especially Australopithecine discoveries in southern and eastern Africa, coincide with the early and abundant appearance of tool-making. The evidence is preserved particularly well in cave sediments on the southern African plateau and in the East African Rift Valley.
East African sites retained rich associations of fossils and artefacts with little natural disturbance. Their micro-stratigraphy and accompanying fauna indicate an open, fairly dry savanna with accessible surface water and abundant large Ethiopian fauna. These environmental conditions provided a setting in which early hominids could exploit both resources and movement corridors across the savanna.
The savanna zones extended roughly 12,000 kilometres from Senegal to the Cape, creating extensive opportunities for interaction among hominids adapting to savanna life. The passage suggests that by around three million years ago hominids were distributed through suitable African tropical savannas, while acknowledging that preservation is uneven and that the detailed chronology remains dependent on archaeological and palaeo-anthropological interpretation.