Interpreting pachyderm single carcass sites in the African Lower and Early Middle Pleistocene record: A multidisciplinary approach to the site of Nadung’a 4 (Kenya)

Nadung’a 4 is one of the single carcass pachyderm sites recorded in East Africa during the Lower and Early Middle Pleistocene. The site has yielded an abundant lithic assemblage in close association with the partial carcass of an elephant. Conjoined pedological, geoarchaeological, spatial, technolog...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of anthropological archaeology 2006-12, Vol.25 (4), p.448-465
Main Authors: Delagnes, Anne, Lenoble, Arnaud, Harmand, Sonia, Brugal, Jean-Philip, Prat, Sandrine, Tiercelin, Jean-Jacques, Roche, Hélène
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropology
Archaeological research
Archaeological sites
Archaeology
Butchery site
Early Middle Pleistocene
East Africa
Elephants
Geoarchaeology
Hominids
Kenya
Lithic technology
Lower Pleistocene
Pachyderms
Paleontology
Ritual
Site function
Spatial analysis
West Turkana
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Summary:Nadung’a 4 is one of the single carcass pachyderm sites recorded in East Africa during the Lower and Early Middle Pleistocene. The site has yielded an abundant lithic assemblage in close association with the partial carcass of an elephant. Conjoined pedological, geoarchaeological, spatial, technological, and taphonomical analyses have been carried out to address the relationship between hominids and elephant. The resulting data are consistent with a non-fortuitous association between both categories of remains. The lithic artefacts do not match a classical Acheulean tool-kit, as would be expected for the time period ascribed to the site, and the functional patterns inferred from their analysis make this site radically different from other purported butchery sites. The implications of these original features are discussed.
ISSN:0278-4165
1090-2686
DOI:10.1016/j.jaa.2006.03.002