Christian Tryon | University of Connecticut (original) (raw)

Papers by Christian Tryon

Current Anthropology, 2013

Here we report tephra correlations, lithic artifacts, obsidian sourcing data, and fauna from nine... more Here we report tephra correlations, lithic artifacts, obsidian sourcing data, and fauna from nine Late Pleistocene localities of the eastern Lake Victoria basin of western Kenya, as well as new excavations from the 49–36 ka site of Nyamita Main on Rusinga Island. The Late Pleistocene of Africa is an important period for the evolution and dispersals of Homo sapiens. A conspicuous behavioral feature of this period is the replacement of Middle Stone Age (MSA) technologies by Later Stone Age (LSA) technologies. Current research shows this process is complex with the LSA appearing and the MSA disappearing at different times in different places across Africa. Accounting for this pattern requires a precise chronology, detailed evidence of past human behavior and environmental reconstructions of the appropriate scale. Data presented here provide this detail. Tephra correlations improve the regional chronology and expand the lateral area of Late Pleistocene eastern Lake Victoria basin exposu...

Identifying the onset of symbolic or non-utilitarian behavior remains one of the most important i... more Identifying the onset of symbolic or non-utilitarian behavior remains one of the most important issues in the moder human origins debate, and as such early evidencerequires careful scrutiny. "Exotic minerals" dating to >350 ka are one of several possible indications of hominin non-utilitarian behavior from Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa. Ecological data suggest an alternate hypothesis that these "exotic minerals" are ostrich gastroliths accidentally introduced into the cave rather than the result of hominin collection and transport.

Journal of Archaeological Science

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

Abstract Given the importance of the Levant in understanding the origins and dispersals of modern... more Abstract Given the importance of the Levant in understanding the origins and dispersals of modern humans, there has been great interest in archaeological evidence to support population movements between the Levant and adjacent regions. The link, if any, between the Aurignacian tradition across Europe and the “Levantine Aurignacian” is a particular focus. Ksar Akil in Lebanon not only is one of the most deeply stratified Levantine sites but also has the longest record of Upper Paleolithic behaviors, so it is a benchmark to which developments in the Levant are often compared. Schmidt and Zimmermann (2019) recently proposed that the European Aurignacian tradition might best be understood in terms of connectivity, as evidenced by long-distance lithic transfers that can act as a proxy for mobility and social networks. Here we document a previously unreported obsidian burin from Ksar Akil. Portable X-ray fluorescence reveals that it matches a source ≥700 km away on foot in central Turkey. Two recent dating programs have calculated ages of ~41–38 and ~39–37 ka cal BP for its layer, which also included an obsidian flake and immediately precedes the Levantine Aurignacian at the site. The obsidian artifacts from Ksar Akil are roughly contemporaneous obsidian from Yabroud Rockshelter II in Syria and Shanidar Cave in Iraq. Such instances of long-distance obsidian transport imply that connectivity might have risen ahead of the Levantine and Zagros Aurignacian. Unfortunately, due to the limited chronological resolution of older excavations at these sites, only at Ksar Akil can we have confidence that the layer containing obsidian artifacts immediately precedes the earliest Levantine Aurignacian sensu stricto layer. Given the apparent rarity of obsidian in the Levant, this region will benefit from endeavors to nondestructively source other toolstone materials as a means to create datasets similar to those recently used to model cultural areas of the European Aurignacian.

Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews

The Middle to Later Stone Age (MSA/LSA) transition is a prominent feature of the African archeolo... more The Middle to Later Stone Age (MSA/LSA) transition is a prominent feature of the African archeological record that began in some places ~30,000–60,000 years ago, historically associated with the origin and/or dispersal of “modern” humans. Unlike the analogous Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in Eurasia and associated Neanderthal extinction, the African MSA/LSA record remains poorly documented, with its potential role in explaining changes in the behavioral diversity and geographic range of Homo sapiens largely unexplored. I review archeological and biogeographic data from East Africa, show regionally diverse pathways to the MSA/LSA transition, and emphasize the need for analytical approaches that document potential ancestor‐descendent relationships visible in the archeological record, needed to assess independent invention, population interaction, dispersal, and other potential mechanisms for behavioral change. Diversity within East Africa underscores the need for regional, rather than continental‐scale narratives of the later evolutionary history of H. sapiens.

Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews

The Mediterranean basin has long been considered to be an important area for understanding the di... more The Mediterranean basin has long been considered to be an important area for understanding the dispersal of Homo sapiens from Africa to Eurasia. This is particularly the case during the ~40,000–50,000-years-ago window that appears to have led to the establishment of populations in Eurasia equipped with various Upper Paleolithic technologies. Morphological and genetic data from sparse hominin fossils indicate the initial appearance of H. sapiens in western Eurasia north of the Mediterranean Sea during this time, although the reasons for the geographic expansion of our species as well as potential archeological evidence for it remain highly debated. To better understand some of these issues, we hosted a Radcliffe Exploratory Seminar on the Harvard University campus from May 20–21, 2019, entitled Archeological evidence for early human dispersals around the Mediterranean basin that brought together 12 scholars from the US, France, Israel, and the UK. Two Mediterranean sites were the central focus of this meeting: Ksar Akil, outside of Beirut (Lebanon), and Grotte Mandrin, in the middle valley of the Rhône River (France). The site of Ksar Akil remains a key reference sequence for the Middle and Upper Paleolithic of the eastern Mediterranean basin (the Levant). The Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology at Harvard University houses the largest and most complete collection of lithic artifacts from Ksar Akil, >38,000 pieces from 1947 to 1948 seasons across 32 archeological levels that include levels attributed to the Middle Paleolithic, Initial Upper Paleolithic, and Early Upper Paleolithic. Grotte Mandrin also records an important archeological reference succession, for it contains all the phases currently known for the last Neanderthal societies, right up to emergence of the Upper Paleolithic, including the unusual Layer E, attributed to the Neronian and dated to ~50 ka, an artifact industry entirely oriented towards the production of blades, bladelets and standardized light Levallois points. One of us (L. Metz) recently completed a study of projectile technology at both Ksar Akil and Grotte Mandrin. The Ksar Akil collections at the Peabody Museum allowed theoretical discussions among participants to be grounded by direct hands-on analyses of archeological material. Discussions were generally oriented around two problems or questions. First, is there evidence from Ksar Akil for the early use of mechanically assisted projectile technologies such as the atlatl/spearthrower and bow and arrow? If so, do these represent behavioral adaptations that facilitated early human population expansion as some have suggested? Second, as a specific case study in the identification of archeological evidence for human dispersals, are technological similarities between the Initial Upper Paleolithic levels at Ksar Akil and the Neronian level from Grotte Mandrin in the southern Rhone Valley of France sufficient evidence to suggest a direct connection between the regions, as has been postulated for the Middle/Upper Paleolithic transition in other portions of Europe?

Journal of African Archaeology

Late Pleistocene and Holocene evidence from multiple rockshelters in north-central Tanzania sugge... more Late Pleistocene and Holocene evidence from multiple rockshelters in north-central Tanzania suggests a regional pattern of changing technological behaviors through time. We use independent chronological evidence to test if the proposed technological patterns across space were also temporally equivalent. We applied AMS radiocarbon dating methods to the carbonate fraction of five ostrich eggshell fragments from Mehlman’s 1975-1976 excavations at Nasera rockshelter and compared our results to recent re-dating efforts of Mumba rockshelter. We document radiocarbon results >46 ka at Nasera in Level 5, indicating that associated and underlying technologies (including what Mehlman termed the ‘Nasera Industry’) are older than previously documented. Backed pieces first appear >46 ka at Nasera, which is in accordance with recent evidence from nearby rockshelters like Enkapune ya Muto, Panga ya Saidi, and potentially Kisese II. We also provide an age of 11,260-11,710 calBP for the ‘Silale...

Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews

Evolutionary Anthropology, 2019

The workshop “Comparative Analysis of Middle Stone Age Artefacts in Africa (CoMSAfrica)” aimed to... more The workshop “Comparative Analysis of Middle Stone Age Artefacts in Africa (CoMSAfrica)” aimed to reflect upon a common and replicable analytical framework, as well as proposing concrete solutions for its implementation. It builds on previous efforts to standardize panAfrican comparisons which focused on higher taxonomic entities specific categories of stone artifacts, or individual regions. Organized by C. Tryon and M. Will, the workshop brought together 12 international scholars (see author list) working in different periods and regions of Africa, with varied methodological backgrounds. The workshop was held between November 5th and 6th 2018 at Harvard University (USA), and funded through the Accelerator Workshop Program of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (https://projects.iq.harvard. edu/comsafrica). The meeting included short introductory presentations by all participants followed by a series of more focused roundtable discussions to define the main problems and issue...

Journal of African Archaeology, 2018

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

Abstract Ninety years ago in the Zagros foothills of Iraq, Dorothy Garrod and her team excavated ... more Abstract Ninety years ago in the Zagros foothills of Iraq, Dorothy Garrod and her team excavated Zarzi cave, the type site of the Epipalaeolithic “Zarzian” lithic industry. Garrod reported the existence of “two small fragments of obsidian” in the principally chert-based microlithic assemblage. One of the two artifacts from Zarzi was analyzed by Renfrew and colleagues in a pioneering application of obsidian sourcing to the Near East, which elucidated links between Neolithic villages. It was, unfortunately, ambiguously assigned to their “Group 4c” obsidian, which occurs at two different sources, ∼120 km apart, in eastern Turkey. New interpretive methods — agent-based models, least-cost path analysis, and others — have been applied to the datasets of Renfrew and colleagues, furthering work on the mechanisms of Neolithicization. With respect to the Epipalaeolithic, though, all of these studies rely entirely on this single Zarzi artifact with an inconclusive attribution. Fortunately, the second Zarzi obsidian “fragment” — a burin spall — was “rediscovered” at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard. Our study establishes that both artifacts came from Nemrut Dag volcano, 400 km linearly and ≳650 km on foot. To do so, multivariate analyses were applied to the original spectroscopic data of Renfrew and colleagues, while state-of-the-art portable XRF was used to source the burin spall at Harvard's Peabody Museum. Comparison to two Epipalaeolithic sites in the Caucasus begins to reveal a patchwork of interaction spheres that highlight not only the potential of obsidian sourcing but also the considerable amount of work yet to be done.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2018

Ninety years ago in the Zagros foothills of Iraq, Dorothy Garrod and her team excavated Zarzi cav... more Ninety years ago in the Zagros foothills of Iraq, Dorothy Garrod and her team excavated Zarzi cave, the type site of the Epipalaeolithic " Zarzian " lithic industry. Garrod reported the existence of " two small fragments of ob-sidian " in the principally chert-based microlithic assemblage. One of the two artifacts from Zarzi was analyzed by Renfrew and colleagues in a pioneering application of obsidian sourcing to the Near East, which elucidated links between Neolithic villages. It was, unfortunately, ambiguously assigned to their " Group 4c " obsidian, which occurs at two different sources, ∼120 km apart, in eastern Turkey. New interpretive methods — agent-based models, least-cost path analysis, and others — have been applied to the datasets of Renfrew and colleagues , furthering work on the mechanisms of Neolithicization. With respect to the Epipalaeolithic, though, all of these studies rely entirely on this single Zarzi artifact with an inconclusive ...

We challenge the view that our species, Homo sapiens, evolved within a single population and/or r... more We challenge the view that our species, Homo sapiens, evolved within a single population and/or region of Africa. The chronology and physical diversity of Pleistocene human fossils suggest that morphologically varied populations pertaining to the H. sapiens clade lived throughout Africa. Similarly, the African archaeological record demonstrates the polycentric origin and persistence of regionally distinct Pleistocene material culture in a variety of paleoecological settings. Genetic studies also indicate that present-day population structure within Africa extends to deep times, paralleling a paleoenvironmental record of shifting and fractured habitable zones. We argue that these fields support an emerging view of a highly structured African prehistory that should be considered in human evolutionary inferences, prompting new interpretations, questions , and interdisciplinary research directions.

PloS one, 2018

The archaeology of East Africa during the last ~65,000 years plays a central role in debates abou... more The archaeology of East Africa during the last ~65,000 years plays a central role in debates about the origins and dispersal of modern humans, Homo sapiens. Despite the historical importance of the region to these discussions, reliable chronologies for the nature, tempo, and timing of human behavioral changes seen among Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA) archaeological assemblages are sparse. The Kisese II rockshelter in the Kondoa region of Tanzania, originally excavated in 1956, preserves a ≥ 6-m-thick archaeological succession that spans the MSA/LSA transition, with lithic artifacts such as Levallois and bladelet cores and backed microliths, the recurrent use of red ochre, and >5,000 ostrich eggshell beads and bead fragments. Twenty-nine radiocarbon dates on ostrich eggshell carbonate make Kisese II one of the most robust chronological sequences for understanding archaeological change over the last ~47,000 years in East Africa. In particular, ostrich eggshell bea...

The archaeology of East Africa during the last ~65,000 years plays a central role in debates abou... more The archaeology of East Africa during the last ~65,000 years plays a central role in debates about the origins and dispersal of modern humans, Homo sapiens. Despite the historical importance of the region to these discussions, reliable chronologies for the nature, tempo, and timing of human behavioral changes seen among Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA) archaeological assemblages are sparse. The Kisese II rockshelter in the Kondoa region of Tanzania, originally excavated in 1956, preserves a ! 6-m-thick archaeological succession that spans the MSA/LSA transition, with lithic artifacts such as Levallois and bladelet cores and backed microliths, the recurrent use of red ochre, and >5,000 ostrich eggshell beads and bead fragments. Twenty-nine radiocarbon dates on ostrich eggshell carbonate make Kisese II one of the most robust chronological sequences for understanding archaeological change over the last ~47,000 years in East Africa. In particular, ostrich eggshell bea...

Current Anthropology, 2013

Journal of Archaeological Science

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews

Journal of African Archaeology

Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews

Evolutionary Anthropology, 2019

Journal of African Archaeology, 2018

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2018

PloS one, 2018

The archaeology of East Africa during the last ~65,000 years plays a central role in debates abou... more The archaeology of East Africa during the last ~65,000 years plays a central role in debates about the origins and dispersal of modern humans, Homo sapiens. Despite the historical importance of the region to these discussions, reliable chronologies for the nature, tempo, and timing of human behavioral changes seen among Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA) archaeological assemblages are sparse. The Kisese II rockshelter in the Kondoa region of Tanzania, originally excavated in 1956, preserves a ! 6-m-thick archaeological succession that spans the MSA/LSA transition, with lithic artifacts such as Levallois and bladelet cores and backed microliths, the recurrent use of red ochre, and >5,000 ostrich eggshell beads and bead fragments. Twenty-nine radiocarbon dates on ostrich eggshell carbonate make Kisese II one of the most robust chronological sequences for understanding archaeological change over the last ~47,000 years in East Africa. In particular, ostrich eggshell bea...