The Gona Palaeoanthropological Research Project conducted fieldwork in the Afar of Ethiopia in February-March, 2013, and the results were extremely successful. CENIEH scientists, including Dr. Mohamed Sahnouni and Dr. Mathieu Duval, traveled to Gona to join Dr. Sileshi Semaw (Director of the Gona Project) in the field. This year’s research targeted deposits estimated between 2.2 – 1.6 million years ago (Ma), a continuation of the archaeological investigations initiated during the previous field season. At the beginning of the season, the major archaeological sites at Gona, including the oldest dated at 2.6 Ma, were surveyed, and a large number of freshly eroded surface artifacts and fauna (some with cutmarks) were collected.
The archaeological fieldwork was co-directed with Dr. Michael Rogers, expert in landscape archaeology and lithic technology from Southern Connecticut State University. With Dr. Rogers, following the systematic survey of the OGS, OGN and the basin-wide Busidima North area, a large scale excavation was opened at BSN-70 (Busidima North). Hundreds of stone artifacts, including large flaked pieces (Early Mode II?), Mode I cores and débitage, as well as several fossil fauna specimens (some with cutmarks) were recovered from the excavation and surrounding area. The BSN-70 site is located stratigraphically below a volcanic ash dated to ~1.65 and it is estimated to be > 1.7 Ma. Expanding the excavation will be important for recovering additional archaeological materials critical for understanding the emergence of the Acheulian Industry. The nature of the archaeological transition from the Oldowan to the Acheulian is among the least understood in Early Stone Age studies, and continuing excavation at BSN-70 and other contemporary sites will be important.
A number of archaeological sites within this time interval have been documented in the OGN, OGS, and BSN areas, yielding a large number of polyhedral cores, large-sized flaked pieces as well as débitage and fauna. During the coming field seasons we will undertake test excavations to recover additional representative archaeological materials for characterizing the nature of the transition from the Oldowan to the Acheulian and for understanding what triggered the emergence of the Acheulian.
Datation by ESR
Dr. Mathieu Duval, CENIEH scientist, collected a substantial amount of geological samples for ESR dating. He has begun analyses of the geological samples at the ESR laboratory at CENIEH, and the results will be critical for determining the minimum age of the major Early Acheulian sites at Gona. This is the first time that the ESR method has applied to Plio-Pleistocene archaeological deposits in East Africa, and his work is promising for pushing the ESR dating technique back in time for use in much older sites.
The participation by Dr. M. Sahnouni, program coordinator of prehistoric technology at CENIEH (and Director of the Ain Hanech Project in Algeria), in the 2013 fieldwork at Gona provided insights on future collaborative research in North and East Africa, with major plans already discussed and designed with Dr. M. Rogers and Dr. D. Stout. To this effect, Dr. Dietrich Stout (Emory University, USA) traveled to Gona to discuss the aforementioned future research plans with CENIEH scientists and to participate in the 2013 fieldwork. Dr. Stout is a member of the Gona archaeology team, and prominent on experimental knapping, lithic technology and brain-imaging studies.
Paleontology fieldwork also continued with Dr. Scott Simpson (Case Western University, USA) and Dr. Stephen Frost (University of Oregon, USA). Focused survey and excavations were undertaken in the Gona Western Margin in the deposits that have yielded a large number of well-preserved hominins assigned to Ardipithecus ramidus, dated between 4.5-4.3 Ma. Several additional isolated teeth belonging to this hominin species were recovered.
The 2013 field research at Gona was funded by the Marie Curie Grant (EU) to Dr. S. Semaw, and by the Leakey Foundation to Dr. M. Rogers. This year´s fieldwork involved about 30 individuals including scientists, local crew and Afars.
