Lithic Raw Material Characterisation at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

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dc.contributor.advisorMercader, Julio
dc.contributor.authorFavreau, Julien
dc.contributor.committeememberHubbard, Stephen M.
dc.contributor.committeememberWalls, Matthew
dc.date2019-06
dc.date.accessioned2019-04-23T20:19:53Z
dc.date.available2019-04-23T20:19:53Z
dc.date.issued2019-04-18
dc.description.abstractOlduvai Gorge is located within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in northern Tanzania along the western margin of the East African Rift System. Olduvai’s sedimentary record exhibits a complex sequence of inter-stratified lithic technologies including Oldowan, Acheulean, Middle Stone Age, and Later Stone Age assemblages. While diachronic technological change is perceptible, one aspect that remained largely unchanged through time was the totality of locally-available rock types. This study constitutes Olduvai Gorge’s first systematic survey and characterisation of source lithologies using thin section petrography. The primary objectives of this thesis were to establish the range of available lithic raw materials, petrographically characterise these, and determine if there were unique inter-outcrop petrographic signatures to determine if it is feasible to source lithic artifacts at the mineralogical level. Geological samples were collected in primary and secondary positions within the greater Olduvai Gorge region. A total of seventy-four thin sections of sixty-two geological samples from nineteen sources were analysed. By way of comparative analyses, it is shown that four quartzitic outcrops have unique mineral compositions, four meta-granite varieties are unique to individual outcrops, Engelosin phonolite samples are texturally and mineralogically unique, and magmatic samples recovered in secondary position may be sourced to their volcanic centre. The results of this thesis demonstrate it is feasible to differentiate between source material by way of optical mineralogy which implies that sourcing lithic artifacts from Olduvai is possible. Altogether, these revelatory insights will allow future researchers to glean new understandings of hominin raw material transport, as well as ecological and social behaviour within the Olduvai paleobasin.en_US
dc.identifier.citationFavreau, J. (2019). Lithic Raw Material Characterisation at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/36374
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/110186
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArtsen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectLithicen_US
dc.subjectMineralogyen_US
dc.subjectPetrographyen_US
dc.subjectSourcingen_US
dc.subjectProvenanceen_US
dc.subjectOlduvai Gorgeen_US
dc.subject.classificationEducation--Sciencesen_US
dc.subject.classificationEducation--Social Sciencesen_US
dc.subject.classificationAnthropologyen_US
dc.subject.classificationArchaeologyen_US
dc.subject.classificationGeologyen_US
dc.subject.classificationMineralogyen_US
dc.subject.classificationPaleoecologyen_US
dc.titleLithic Raw Material Characterisation at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzaniaen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineArchaeologyen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (MA)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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