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Phytoliths infer locally dense and heterogeneous paleovegetation at FLK North and surrounding localities during upper Bed I time, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Doris Barboni ,
Gail M. Ashley ,
Manuel Dominguez-Rodrigo ,
Henry T. Bunn ,
Audax Z.P. Mabulla  and
Enrique Baquedano
Doris Barboni*
Affiliation:
CEREGE (UMR6635 CNRS/Université Aix-Marseille), BP80, F-13545 Aix-en-Provence cedex 4, France
Gail M. Ashley
Affiliation:
Dept of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8066, USA
Manuel Dominguez-Rodrigo
Affiliation:
IDEA (Instituto de Evolución en África), Museo de los Orígenes, Plaza de San Andrés 2, 28005 Madrid, Spain Dept. of Prehistory, Complutense University of Madrid Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Henry T. Bunn
Affiliation:
Dept of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Audax Z.P. Mabulla
Affiliation:
Archaeology Unit, P.O. Box 35050, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Enrique Baquedano
Affiliation:
IDEA (Instituto de Evolución en África), Museo de los Orígenes, Plaza de San Andrés 2, 28005 Madrid, Spain Museo Arqueológico Regional de Madrid, Plaza de las Bernardas, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
*
*Corresponding author. CEREGE (UMR6635 CNRS/Université Aix-Marseille), BP80, F-13545 Aix-en-Provence cedex 4, France. Fax: +33 442 971 540. E-mail address:barboni@cerege.fr (D. Barboni).
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Abstract

The phytolith content of 10 samples collected immediately under Tuff IF (~ 1.785 Ma) at FLK N and other surrounding localities (~ 2 km²) provides a direct botanical evidence for woody vegetation in the eastern margin of Olduvai Gorge during uppermost Bed I time. Observation and counting of 143 phytolith types (5 to >150 μ) reveal dense but heterogeneous woody cover (~ 40–90%) of unidentified trees and/or shrubs and palms associated to the freshwater springs surrounding FLK N, and more open formation (presumably ~ 25–70% woody cover) in the southeast at localities VEK, HWK W and HWK E. The paleovegetation is best described as groundwater palm forest/woodland or bushland, which current analogue may be found near Lake Manyara in similar hydrogeological context (freshwater springs near saline/alkaline lake). Re-evaluating the published pollen data based on this analogy shows that 70% of the pollen signal at FLK N may be attributed to thicket-woodland, Acacia groundwater woodland, gallery and groundwater forests; while < 30% is attributed to swamp herbage and grasslands. Micro-botanical, isotopic, and taphonomical studies of faunal remains converge on the same conclusion that the area surrounding FLK N, which attracted both carnivores and hominins in the early Pleistocene, was densely wooded during uppermost Bed I time.

Keywords

Silica bodiesOpal-APaleoenvironmentPleistoceneHomininEast Africa
Type
Special Issue Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 74 , Issue 3 , November 2010 , pp. 344 - 354
Copyright
University of Washington

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