A Newly Discovered Acheulean Assemblage in the Mbulu Plateau, Northern Tanzania

This article reports a newly discovered Acheulean assemblage in Tanzania’s Northern Mbulu Plateau. Recent investigations in the region have documented surface scatters of artifacts spanning the Acheulean-Later Stone Age continuum. Most of these artifacts have been recovered from disturbed surface co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The African archaeological review 2022-09, Vol.39 (3), p.347-360
Main Authors: Masao, Fidelis T., Kadalida, Penina E., Kisena, Felix D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropology
Archaeology
Regional and Cultural Studies
Research Report
Social Sciences
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Summary:This article reports a newly discovered Acheulean assemblage in Tanzania’s Northern Mbulu Plateau. Recent investigations in the region have documented surface scatters of artifacts spanning the Acheulean-Later Stone Age continuum. Most of these artifacts have been recovered from disturbed surface contexts, on foothills, plains, and river terraces. However, there were few areas where the Acheulean assemblages were in situ. Like at Oldupai Beds II–IV, the Acheulean of Mbulu Plateau consists of various bifacial large and small cutting tools, flaked and detached types, and nondescript forms. While at Oldupai the raw material includes quartzite and different types of lava, the Mbulu Plateau assemblage is almost exclusively quartzite. Though the focus of this report is on the Acheulean, the artifacts are found co-occurring on the surface with MSA and LSA forms and are in a surprisingly good state of preservation.
ISSN:0263-0338
1572-9842
DOI:10.1007/s10437-022-09477-7