Papers by Emily Y Hallett
Handbook of Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa, 2023
Zooarchaeology is the study of animal bones from archaeological sites. Africa has the longest arc... more Zooarchaeology is the study of animal bones from archaeological sites. Africa has the longest archaeological record in the world, potentially extending into the Pliocene and spanning the entire Pleistocene epoch. However, in comparison to other regions of Eurasia, this extended chronology in Africa has not translated to larger numbers of identified sites, more even distribution of sites, or more abundant faunal data. Here, we describe the methods commonly used by zooarchaeologists to analyze faunal assemblages, followed by a summary of general faunal taxonomic patterns across the continent. We then compile data from all Pleistocene zooarchaeological assemblages in Africa for which there is a published record of the site in a peer-reviewed journal or book as of the end of 2020. This facilitates a region-by-region discussion of trends in readily available zooarchaeological data and evaluation of their potential to inform about past environments and hominin interactions with faunal communities. We note that faunal remains exclusively recovered from surface contexts are not included as it is not possible to ascertain their chronological coherence or certainty of association.The reviewed faunal assemblages (N = 409) display a great deal of variability in composition, size, and distribution patterns, largely driven by a combination of depositional factors (in which fossils are likely to preserve in stable depositional settings) and research emphasis (in which archaeologists have worked most intensively versus those less explored). This variability is also tied to the individual regional histories of archaeological infrastructure development, which support repositories and training centers in the form of museums and universities. Most of the faunal data come from eastern, southern, and northern Africa and the Horn, which have rich assemblages from both open-air and cave/rock shelter sites that span the Pleistocene. In contrast, most archaeofaunas from other regions derive from sheltered sites that emphasize the preservation of the Late Pleistocene part of the record and tend to comprise many more fragments. In spite of significant geographic and chronological bias, research on Pleistocene faunal assemblages from Africa has made substantial contributions to understanding early human–animal interactions, developing zooarchaeological methods, and reconstructing ancient environments. There is significant potential for future research to continue doing so, both by revisiting the existing assemblages with new methods and by excavating new ones.
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Ecography, 2022
The recent development of continuous paleoclimatic reconstructions covering hundreds of thousands... more The recent development of continuous paleoclimatic reconstructions covering hundreds of thousands of years paved the way for a large number of studies from disciplines ranging from paleoecology to archaeology, conservation to population genetics, macroevolution to anthropology and human evolution to linguistics. Unfortunately, (paleo)climatic data can be challenging to extract and analyze for scholars unfamiliar with such specific file formats. Here we present pastclim, an R package facilitating the access and use of paleoclimatic reconstructions. It currently includes two of such datasets, covering respectively the last 120 000 and 800 000 years, and a vignette provides instructions on how to include additional datasets. The package contains a set of functions to quickly and easily recover the climate for time periods of interest either for the whole world or specific areas, extract data from locations scattered in space and/or time, retrieve time series from individual sites, and manage the ice or land coverage, offering a handy platform to include the climate of the past into existing or new analyses and pipelines.
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iScience, 2021
The emergence of Homo sapiens in Pleistocene Africa is associated with a profound reconfiguration... more The emergence of Homo sapiens in Pleistocene Africa is associated with a profound reconfiguration of technology. Symbolic expression and personal ornamentation, new tool forms, and regional technological traditions are widely recognized as the earliest indicators of complex culture and cognition in humans. Here we describe a bone tool tradition from Contrebandiers Cave on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, dated between 120,000-90,000 years ago. The bone tools were produced for different activities, including likely leather and fur working, and were found in association with carnivore remains that were possibly skinned for fur. A cetacean tooth tip bears what is likely a combination of anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic modification and shows the use of a marine mammal tooth by early humans. The evidence from Contrebandiers Cave demonstrates that the pan-African emergence of complex culture included the use of multiple and diverse materials for specialized tool manufacture.
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PaleoAnthropology, 2019
A number of Middle Stone Age (MSA) assemblages in northern Africa, as well as a few in South Afri... more A number of Middle Stone Age (MSA) assemblages in northern Africa, as well as a few in South Africa and the eastern Mediterranean, preserve small mollusk shells, most notably estuarine and marine members of the subfamily Nassariinae (e.g., Nassarius kraussianus, N. circumcinctus, and Tritia gibbosula). In most of these instances, these small shells have additional holes, which were made by natural processes or humans. These holes have led some researchers to interpret these shells as having been used as beads or ornaments. Studies of traces from wear and ocher residues on these shells have supported this interpretation, but most lack traces of manufacturing. The antiquity of such shells in the archaeological record extends back to the early Late Pleistocene, and as such, these shells may provide the earliest consistent and geographically widespread evidence for human personal ornamentation in the world. Here we review what is known about each of these assemblages and their contexts-their species designations, relative abundances, context, antiquity, taphonomy, association with other aquatic resources, and analytical history. In doing so, we highlight similarities and differences between these assemblages. In particular, we highlight the abundance and antiquity of these shells in northwestern Africa, and we compare them to similar shells from South Africa and Israel. We find that there are discrepancies in how these shells are described from different sites, and that this limits comparisons. We present some suggested criteria to be included in analyses of these shells, with the goal of improving comparative studies between assemblages. Personal ornaments are frequently identified in assemblages attributed to modern human arrival in western Asia and Europe. As such, the study of the antiquity and distribution of early personal ornament use in the African MSA has implications for our understanding of the expansion of modern humans out of Africa.
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iScience, 2021
The emergence of Homo sapiens in Pleistocene Africa is associated with a profound reconfiguration... more The emergence of Homo sapiens in Pleistocene Africa is associated with a profound reconfiguration of technology. Symbolic expression and personal ornamentation, new tool forms, and regional technological traditions are widely recognized as the earliest indicators of complex culture and cognition in humans. Here we describe a bone tool tradition from Contrebandiers Cave on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, dated between 120,000-90,000 years ago. The bone tools were produced for different activities, including likely leather and fur working, and were found in association with carnivore remains that were possibly skinned for fur. A cetacean tooth tip bears what is likely a combination of anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic modification and shows the use of a marine mammal tooth by early humans. The evidence from Contrebandiers Cave demonstrates that the pan-African emergence of complex culture included the use of multiple and diverse materials for specialized tool manufacture.
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In: Préhistoire de la Région de Rabat-Témara, M. A. El Hajraoui, R. Nespoulet, A. Debénath and H. L. Dibble (eds.), 2012
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In: Préhistoire de la Région de Rabat-Témara, M. A. El Hajraoui, R. Nespoulet, A. Debénath and H. L. Dibble (eds.), 2012
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North Africa is quickly emerging as one of the more important regions yielding information on the... more North Africa is quickly emerging as one of the more important regions yielding information on the origins of modern Homo sapiens. Associated with significant fossil hominin remains are two stone tool industries, the Aterian and Mousterian, which have been differentiated, respectively, primarily on the basis of the presence and absence of tanged, or stemmed, stone tools. Largely because of historical reasons, these two industries have been attributed to the western Eurasian Middle Paleolithic rather than the African Middle Stone Age. In this paper, drawing on our recent excavation of Contrebandiers Cave and other published data, we show that, aside from the presence or absence of tanged pieces, there are no other distinctions between these two industries in terms of either lithic attributes or chronology. Together, these results demonstrate that these two ‘industries’ are instead variants of the same entity. Moreover, several additional characteristics of these assemblages, such as distinctive stone implements and the manufacture and use of bone tools and possible shell ornaments, suggest a closer affinity to other Late Pleistocene African Middle Stone Age industries rather than to the Middle Paleolithic of western Eurasia.
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Conference Presentations by Emily Y Hallett
"The origin and use of bone tool technology in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) figures prominently in ... more "The origin and use of bone tool technology in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) figures prominently in modern human origins research,
as formal tools systematically manufactured on material other than stone are thought to be a hallmark of modern humans and a
proxy for complex cognition. There is consensus that modern humans recognized bone as a raw material for tool manufacture by at
least ~70,000 years ago (ka) in Africa during the MSA (Henshilwood et al. 2001), although this record is patchy and bone does not
appear to be frequently and systematically utilized until the Later Stone Age in Africa and the Upper Paleolithic in Europe. Here we
describe a previously unrecognized formal and informal bone tool assemblage from recent excavations by Dibble et al. (2012) at
Contrebandiers Cave on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, originating approximately 100 ka during the MSA that extends the earliest
appearance of formal bone tools by ~30,000 years. Sixty-five bone tools from 11 levels securely dated to 122 ka–96 ka and associated with the Aterian/Moroccan Mousterian industry are described. Identification of the raw material selected to manufacture each bone
tool includes, when possible, taxonomic identification, size class, age class, and skeletal element. Shaping techniques and use-wear
were recorded for each piece using bright incident light coupled with an Olympus binocular 10x–40x zoom microscope, as well as a
Leica EZ4 HD stereo 8x–35x zoom microscope with an integrated high definition digital camera for photography. The bone tools
described here include spatulates, possible points, and scaled pieces that were systematically manufactured through scraping with a
lithic edge and grinding to produce recurrent morphologies that were likely used for specific tasks. The bone tools from Contrebandiers Cave represent the largest bone tool sample from a single MSA locality yet described."
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"The habitats associated with Homo sapiens at
Contrebandiers were reconstructed in order to rec... more "The habitats associated with Homo sapiens at
Contrebandiers were reconstructed in order to recognize
any habitat interrelationship with H. sapiens populations
and their tool technology, resource acquisition, and
dispersal patterns. In addition, zooarchaeological
methods allowed new types of analyses with which to
understand H. sapiens subsistence patterns in Morocco.
Preliminary results of information derived from the large
mammalian fauna including species representation,
paleoecological reconstruction of the environment, and
bone surface modification are presented in this study"
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In 2007 new excavations began at the site of Contrebandiers, located on the Atlantic coast near t... more In 2007 new excavations began at the site of Contrebandiers, located on the Atlantic coast near the town of Témara, which is one of three sites in the nearby area (the others being El Mnasra and El Harhoura) that overlap in their sequences and that share similar methods of recovery and analysis. Building on the earlier work of J. Roche, the recent work has obtained samples from most of the stratigraphic sequence, from the so-called Moroccan Mousterian to Aterian to Iberomaurusian. This paper will discuss the earlier industries, which along with the hominin fossils recovered from the site by Roche and the current team, are especially relevant to the origins of modern Homo sapiens in North Africa.
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Human Evolution by Emily Y Hallett
Journal of Maps, 2022
African paleoanthropological studies typically focus on regions of the continent such as Eastern,... more African paleoanthropological studies typically focus on regions of the continent such as Eastern, Southern and Northern Africa, which hold the highest density of Pleistocene archaeological sites. Nevertheless, lesser known areas such as West Africa also feature a high number of sites. Here, we present a high-resolution map synthesising all well contextualised Pleistocene archaeological sites present in Sub-Saharan West Africa. A detailed elevation and ecoregional map was developed and correlated with palaeoanthropological sites. This map is supplemented with 1,000-and 2000-year interval climate reconstructions over the last 120,000 years for three subregions of high archaeological interest. The presented archaeological sites were compiled by reviewing published literature, and selected based on: (1) documented archaeological stratification or >10 characteristic artefacts, (2) published coordinates, and (3) published chronometric ages or relative dating. The data presented here elucidates the current state of knowledge of Pleistocene West Africa, highlighting the regional potential for human evolutionary studies.
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Digital Archaeology by Emily Y Hallett
PLOS ONE, 2022
Photography and photogrammetry have recently become among the most widespread and preferred visua... more Photography and photogrammetry have recently become among the most widespread and preferred visualisation methods for the representation of small objects and artefacts. People want to see the past, not only know about it; and the ability to visualise objects into virtually realistic representations is fundamental for researchers, students and educators. Here, we present two new methods, the 'Small Object and Artefact Photography' ('SOAP') and the 'High Resolution "DIY" Photogrammetry' ('HRP') protocols. The 'SOAP' protocol involves the photographic application of modern digital techniques for the representation of any small object. The 'HRP' protocol involves the photographic capturing, digital reconstruction and three-dimensional representation of small objects. These protocols follow optimised stepby-step explanations for the production of high-resolution two-and three-dimensional object imaging, achievable with minimal practice and access to basic equipment and softwares. These methods were developed to allow anyone to easily and inexpensively produce highquality images and models for any use, from simple graphic visualisations to complex analytical, statistical and spatial analyses.
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Open Methods (Protocols) by Emily Y Hallett
protocols.io, 2022
Photogrammetry is a method of calculating the three-dimensional shape of an object from a set of ... more Photogrammetry is a method of calculating the three-dimensional shape of an object from a set of images. The advantages of Photogrammetry include the ability to record the shape of an object in a short time and with high accuracy without contact. In addition, the generated model can be displayed without textures. Here, the High Resolution Photogrammetry method is presented, which describes the use of photogrammetric techniques to take pictures and generate models. This method aims to give a comprehensive and extensive description for the development of high resolution 3D models, merging the well known techniques used in academic and computer graphic fields, allowing anyone to independently produce high resolution and quantifiable models for any need.
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Book Chapters by Emily Y Hallett
Handbook of Pleistocene archaeology of Africa: hominin behavior, geography, and chronology, 2023
The Ihò Eléérú rock shelter (7°26'28.83"N, 5°7'29.16"E) is located within the
hilly ancient igneo... more The Ihò Eléérú rock shelter (7°26'28.83"N, 5°7'29.16"E) is located within the
hilly ancient igneous landscapes near Akure, SW Nigeria. The site name
means “Cave of Ashes” in the Yoruba language, here named Iho Eleru in its
anglicised rendition, and erroneously known as “Iwo Eleru”. The Iho Eleru
rock shelter is widely known for the discovery of the only West African
Pleistocene hominin fossil remains, identified as Homo sapiens associated
with Later Stone Age (LSA) technology. Between 1964 and 1965, T. Shaw and
S.G.H. Daniels conducted a series of excavations at the rock shelter, revealing
a terminal Pleistocene to middle Holocene sequence documenting a history of
recurring human occupations ranging from the LSA into the Holocene. This
section describes the site’s geographic, topographic, physiographic and
climatic characters. Furthermore, it includes descriptions of the site’s
chronology, stratigraphy and all recovered material culture (knapped tools,
ground stone tools, pottery), faunal remains, and human remains.
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Papers by Emily Y Hallett
Conference Presentations by Emily Y Hallett
as formal tools systematically manufactured on material other than stone are thought to be a hallmark of modern humans and a
proxy for complex cognition. There is consensus that modern humans recognized bone as a raw material for tool manufacture by at
least ~70,000 years ago (ka) in Africa during the MSA (Henshilwood et al. 2001), although this record is patchy and bone does not
appear to be frequently and systematically utilized until the Later Stone Age in Africa and the Upper Paleolithic in Europe. Here we
describe a previously unrecognized formal and informal bone tool assemblage from recent excavations by Dibble et al. (2012) at
Contrebandiers Cave on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, originating approximately 100 ka during the MSA that extends the earliest
appearance of formal bone tools by ~30,000 years. Sixty-five bone tools from 11 levels securely dated to 122 ka–96 ka and associated with the Aterian/Moroccan Mousterian industry are described. Identification of the raw material selected to manufacture each bone
tool includes, when possible, taxonomic identification, size class, age class, and skeletal element. Shaping techniques and use-wear
were recorded for each piece using bright incident light coupled with an Olympus binocular 10x–40x zoom microscope, as well as a
Leica EZ4 HD stereo 8x–35x zoom microscope with an integrated high definition digital camera for photography. The bone tools
described here include spatulates, possible points, and scaled pieces that were systematically manufactured through scraping with a
lithic edge and grinding to produce recurrent morphologies that were likely used for specific tasks. The bone tools from Contrebandiers Cave represent the largest bone tool sample from a single MSA locality yet described."
Contrebandiers were reconstructed in order to recognize
any habitat interrelationship with H. sapiens populations
and their tool technology, resource acquisition, and
dispersal patterns. In addition, zooarchaeological
methods allowed new types of analyses with which to
understand H. sapiens subsistence patterns in Morocco.
Preliminary results of information derived from the large
mammalian fauna including species representation,
paleoecological reconstruction of the environment, and
bone surface modification are presented in this study"
Human Evolution by Emily Y Hallett
Digital Archaeology by Emily Y Hallett
Open Methods (Protocols) by Emily Y Hallett
Book Chapters by Emily Y Hallett
hilly ancient igneous landscapes near Akure, SW Nigeria. The site name
means “Cave of Ashes” in the Yoruba language, here named Iho Eleru in its
anglicised rendition, and erroneously known as “Iwo Eleru”. The Iho Eleru
rock shelter is widely known for the discovery of the only West African
Pleistocene hominin fossil remains, identified as Homo sapiens associated
with Later Stone Age (LSA) technology. Between 1964 and 1965, T. Shaw and
S.G.H. Daniels conducted a series of excavations at the rock shelter, revealing
a terminal Pleistocene to middle Holocene sequence documenting a history of
recurring human occupations ranging from the LSA into the Holocene. This
section describes the site’s geographic, topographic, physiographic and
climatic characters. Furthermore, it includes descriptions of the site’s
chronology, stratigraphy and all recovered material culture (knapped tools,
ground stone tools, pottery), faunal remains, and human remains.
as formal tools systematically manufactured on material other than stone are thought to be a hallmark of modern humans and a
proxy for complex cognition. There is consensus that modern humans recognized bone as a raw material for tool manufacture by at
least ~70,000 years ago (ka) in Africa during the MSA (Henshilwood et al. 2001), although this record is patchy and bone does not
appear to be frequently and systematically utilized until the Later Stone Age in Africa and the Upper Paleolithic in Europe. Here we
describe a previously unrecognized formal and informal bone tool assemblage from recent excavations by Dibble et al. (2012) at
Contrebandiers Cave on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, originating approximately 100 ka during the MSA that extends the earliest
appearance of formal bone tools by ~30,000 years. Sixty-five bone tools from 11 levels securely dated to 122 ka–96 ka and associated with the Aterian/Moroccan Mousterian industry are described. Identification of the raw material selected to manufacture each bone
tool includes, when possible, taxonomic identification, size class, age class, and skeletal element. Shaping techniques and use-wear
were recorded for each piece using bright incident light coupled with an Olympus binocular 10x–40x zoom microscope, as well as a
Leica EZ4 HD stereo 8x–35x zoom microscope with an integrated high definition digital camera for photography. The bone tools
described here include spatulates, possible points, and scaled pieces that were systematically manufactured through scraping with a
lithic edge and grinding to produce recurrent morphologies that were likely used for specific tasks. The bone tools from Contrebandiers Cave represent the largest bone tool sample from a single MSA locality yet described."
Contrebandiers were reconstructed in order to recognize
any habitat interrelationship with H. sapiens populations
and their tool technology, resource acquisition, and
dispersal patterns. In addition, zooarchaeological
methods allowed new types of analyses with which to
understand H. sapiens subsistence patterns in Morocco.
Preliminary results of information derived from the large
mammalian fauna including species representation,
paleoecological reconstruction of the environment, and
bone surface modification are presented in this study"
hilly ancient igneous landscapes near Akure, SW Nigeria. The site name
means “Cave of Ashes” in the Yoruba language, here named Iho Eleru in its
anglicised rendition, and erroneously known as “Iwo Eleru”. The Iho Eleru
rock shelter is widely known for the discovery of the only West African
Pleistocene hominin fossil remains, identified as Homo sapiens associated
with Later Stone Age (LSA) technology. Between 1964 and 1965, T. Shaw and
S.G.H. Daniels conducted a series of excavations at the rock shelter, revealing
a terminal Pleistocene to middle Holocene sequence documenting a history of
recurring human occupations ranging from the LSA into the Holocene. This
section describes the site’s geographic, topographic, physiographic and
climatic characters. Furthermore, it includes descriptions of the site’s
chronology, stratigraphy and all recovered material culture (knapped tools,
ground stone tools, pottery), faunal remains, and human remains.