ORACEAF Project
Little is known about the biological and cultural evolutionary mechanisms underlying the process that led to the emergence of the Acheulean. Traditionally, it has been assumed that this major cultural change was ignited by the emergence of a new human species, Homo ergaster/ erectus, and that there was a steady technological evolution during the Oldowan that eventually led to the emergence of the Acheulean handaxes. However, these assumptions are not grounded in the current available evidence, but rooted in paradigms that should now be superseded.
The Olduvai Pleistocene outcrops with the Ngorongoro Highlands in the background
Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) is the site where the earliest Acheulean was first discovered, and where the traditional view of the Oldowan-Acheulean transition was established. Despite the pivotal role of Olduvai as a sequence of reference for East Africa and elsewhere, the original datasets are outdated and are unsuitable for current discussions.
Oldowan core and flake from HWK EE, a site excavated by the ORACEAF project
Early Acheulean handaxe unearthed at EF-HR, a 1.5 million year old site at Olduvai
Between 2012 and 2016, the ORACEAF project tackled this problem by conducting a comprehensive research program at Olduvai, based on the retrieval of fresh data derived from new laboratory and fieldwork research. The multidisciplinary character of this study provided an integrative perspective to the analysis of the paleoecology, archaeology, geology and geochronology of the early Acheulean at Olduvai.
Olduvai paleoecological data from teeth isotopes (Uno et al, 2018)
Using an innovative theoretical perspective that combined interests in cultural change, ecological adaptations, and biological evolution, and state-of-the-art methods in archaeology, geology, and taphonomy, this project helped to consolidate Olduvai Gorge as the world’s best reference for understanding of the evolutionary processes that led to the emergence of the Acheulean, the longest lasting culture in the history of humankind.