The role of cultural factors in the formation of stone tools in the early Paleolith

Abstract

Introduction. The original stone industries of the Early Paleolithic, produced by the earliest hominins and known as the Oldowan (~2.6-1.0 Ma), are characterized by rather primitive stone-working techniques and a very simple set of tools that show the intentional design of only workers and accommodators. elements. These industries have changed little in time and space and are not subdivided into variants due to cultural factors.Materials and Methods: The main sources of the work were massive historical documents related to the development of technology and protodesign in the early Paleolithic.Results. The Acheulean industries, which were made more advanced by early people, are distinguished by the appearance of more complex technologies and a whole range of tools of various shapes and purposes. Throughout the Acheulian era (~2.0-0.2 million years ago), these industries gradually developed, and also divided into local groups with specific technological repertoire and tool forms, which were almost completely modeled by ancient craftsmen according to their preferences and reproduced over time. This means the emergence of proto-design and cultural traditions, which are most reflected in the forms of the most important large tools, primarily the axe.Conclusion. Persistent tool patterns in different Acheulean industries can be seen as cultural types that mark distinct traditions. There are also individual samples of axes, the anomalous dimensions of which, along with extremely careful processing and some peculiarities of the form, suggest that they were not so much tools as some kind of symbolic objects that played a certain role in the cultural practices of different populations of the Acheulean people.

Keywords

• early paleolithic
• oldowan
• acheulian
• tool forming
• cultural traditions
• protodesign
• types of handaxes
• handaxes-symbols