Paleolithic Technology and Human Evolution

doi:10.1126/science.1059487

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Paleolithic Technology and Human Evolution

Stanley H. Ambrose

Human biological and cultural evolution are closely linked to technological innovations. Direct evidence for tool manufactureand use is absent before 2.5 million years ago (Ma), so reconstructionsof australopithecine technology are based mainly on the behaviorand anatomy of chimpanzees. Stone tool technology, robust australopithecines,and the genus Homo appeared almost simultaneously 2.5 Ma. Oncethis adaptive threshold was crossed, technological evolution wasaccompanied by increased brain size, population size, and geographicalrange. Aspects of behavior, economy, mental capacities, neurologicalfunctions, the origin of grammatical language, and social andsymbolic systems have been inferred from the archaeological recordof Paleolithic technology.

Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, 109 Davenport Hall, 607 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. E-mail: ambrose{at}uiuc.edu

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