Attributes of Oldowan and lower acheulean tools: tradition and design in the early lower paleolithic

Attribute data have been collected on Oldowan and Lower Acheulean tools—choppers and scrapers — from a series of sites in sub-Saharan Africa. The data were collected with a view toward shedding light on (1) taxonomic relationships among the occurrences, (2) the typology of the varieties of tools in question (as well as more general aspects of the typology of early Lower Paleolithic artefacts), and (3) broad principles of design. The major analytical approach involved scanning the data for statistically significant differences in mean values for attributes between taxonomic entities, and between classes of raw material. Included among the more important results of the study are proposed revisions of the existing taxonomy, such as the inclusion of the Lower Acheulean in the Oldowan Industrial Complex and the recognition of the importance of size as a design criterion for the choppers and scrapers