Experimentally Heat Treated Silcrete Nodule (IMAGE)
Caption
Evidence reported in the Aug. 14 issue of the journal Science shows that early humans living on the southern coast of Africa 72,000 years ago used a complex heat treatment process to manufacture blades and bifacial tools. Unheated silcrete (left) can show dramatic changes in color and texture after heating and flaking (right). An international team, including three researchers from the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University, note that silcrete is not found closer than 5 kilometers from their excavation at Pinnacle Point, Mossel Bay, South Africa, and that most pieces found are extensively flaked.
Credit
Photo by Kyle Brown/South African Coast Paleoclimate, Paleoenvironment, Paleoecology, Paleoanthropology Project (SACP4)
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