Broken bones and shattered stones: On the foraging ecology of Oldowan hominins

The foraging ecology of early archaeological hominins (Oldowan hominins) is an important yet poorly understood aspect of our evolutionary history. Utilizing relatively simple stone tools, for instance, Oldowan individuals likely enjoyed improved access to an increased variety of food resources: resources that included thick-skinned animal carcasses. To some, an increased consumption of animal remains is believed to have precipitated and sustained a wide-range of anatomical and behavioral adaptations associated with the emergence and evolution of the genus Homo. The inference is seductive, but was meat really an 'important' component of the Oldowan diet? At issue in this dissertation is how to most appropriately address this question using archaeological data.;Chapter One outlines the theoretical-approach advocated in this dissertation. The chapter also outlines several new conceptual models of Oldowan hominin behavioral ecology. These include the 'obligate carnivory model' and the 'coordination point hypothesis'.;Chapter Two presents new zooarchaeological data from the late Pliocene locality of Kanjera South, Kenya. Results suggest that Oldowan hominins had early access to an abundance of gazelle/impala-sized bovids and what was likely to have been much later access to larger wildebeest-sized bovids. Interestingly, the fauna reflects overall low-to-moderate levels of carnivore activity: an unexpected result for the inferred grassland setting. Hominins at Kanjera thus enjoyed at least occasional access to substantial amounts of meat and within-bone resources: resources perhaps sufficient in abundance to have fueled both dramatic anatomical and social adaptations.;Nevertheless, how might we infer that animal remains were an 'important' component of the Oldowan diet? Chapter Three presents a conceptual model of Oldowan lithic strategies. Optimality models are employed to articulate the fundamental variables and interplay of variables posited to underlie an evolved lithic adaptation. These models are then used to generate falsifiable hypotheses of lithic strategies. Should the 'neutral-selection' hypothesis be falsified, results would indicate strong selective pressures on hominin tool-mediated behaviors. When 'optimized' lithics are found in association with faunal remains, and the two can be reasonably linked (e.g. via bone modifications), the inference might be made that selective pressures honed lithic strategies in pursuit of lithic-mediated benefits (i.e. the consumption of animal tissues).