Oldowan Tradition - Humankinds First Stone Tools

Oldowan Tradition - Humankinds First Stone Tools The Oldowan Tradition (also called Oldowan Industrial Tradition or Mode 1 as described by Grahame Clarke) is the name given to a pattern of stone-tool making by our hominid ancestors, developed in Africa by about 2.6 million years ago (mya) by our hominin ancestor Homo habilis (probably), and used there until 1.5 mya (mya). First defined by Louis and Mary Leakey at Olduvai Gorge in the Great Rift Valley of Africa, the Oldowan tradition is to date the earliest manifestation of stone tool making on our planet. Further, it is global in scope, a toolkit thought to have been carried out of Africa by our hominin ancestors as they left to colonize the rest of the world. To date, the oldest known Oldowan tools were found at Gona (Ethiopia) at 2.6 ma; the latest in Africa is 1.5 mya at Konso and Kokiselei 5. The end of the Oldowan is defined as the appearance of Mode 2 tools or Acheulean handaxes. The earliest Oldowan sites in Eurasia are 2.0 mya at Renzidong (Anhui Province China), Longgupo (Sichuan Province) and Riwat (on the Potwar Plateau in Pakistan), and the latest so far is at Isampur, 1 mya in the Hungsi valley of India. Some discussion of the stone tools found at Liang Bua Cave in Indonesia suggests that they are Oldowan; which either lends support to the notion that the Flores hominin is a devolved Homo erectus or that the Oldowan tools were not specific to species. What Is an Oldowan Assemblage? The Leakeys described the stone tools at Olduvai as cores in the shapes of polyhedrons, discoids, and spheroids; as heavy and light duty scrapers (sometimes called nuclà ©us racloirs or rostro carà ©nà ©s in the scientific literature); and as choppers and retouched flakes. Selection for raw material sources  can be seen in Oldowan by about 2 mya, at sites like Lokalalei and Melka Kunture in Africa and Gran Dolina in Spain. Some of that is surely related to characteristics of the stone and what the hominid planned to use it for: if you have a choice between basalt and obsidian, youd select basalt as a percussion tool, but obsidian to break down into sharp-edged flakes. Why Did They Make Tools at All? The purpose of the tools is somewhat in controversy. Some scholars are inclined to think that most of the tools are simply steps in manufacturing sharp-edged flakes for cutting. The stone-tool making process  is known as chaà ®ne opà ©ratoire in archaeological circles. Others are less convinced. There is no evidence that our hominid ancestors were eating meat before about 2 mya, so these scholars suggest that the stone tools must have been for use with plants, and the percussion tools and scrapers may have been tools for plant processing. Admittedly, however, its hard to make assumptions on negative evidence: the oldest Homo remains we have only date to 2.33 mya in the Nachukui Formation of West Turkana in Kenya, and we dont know if there are earlier fossils we havent found yet that will be associated with Oldowan, and it may be that Oldowan tools were invented and used by another non-Homo species. History The Leakeys  work in Olduvai Gorge in the 1970s was quite revolutionary by any standards. They defined the original chronology of the Oldowan assemblage in the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa including the following periods; the stratigraphy within the region; and the material culture, the characteristics of the stone tools themselves. The Leakeys also focused on geological studies of the paleo-landscape of the Olduvai Gorge and its changes over time. In the 1980s, Glynn Isaac and his team worked at the more-or-less contemporaneous deposits at Koobi Fora, where they used experimental archaeology, ethnographic analogy, and primatology to explain the Oldowan archaeological record. They developed testable hypotheses about ecological and economic conditions that might have triggered stone tool making- hunting, food sharing, and occupying a home base, all of which is also done by primates, with the exception of the production of sharp-edged tools. Recent Investigations Recent expansions to the interpretations built by the Leakeys and Isaac have involved adjustments to the time span of use: discoveries at sites such as Gona have pushed the date of the first tools a half-million years earlier from what the Leakeys found at Olduvai. Also, scholars have recognized a considerable variability within the assemblages; and the extent of the Oldowan tool use throughout the globe has become recognized. Some scholars have looked at the variation in stone tools and argued that there must have been a Mode 0, that Oldowan is the result of a gradual evolution from a common tool-making ancestor of both humans and chimps, and that phase is missing in the archaeological record. That has some merit, because Mode 0 tools may have been made of bone or wood. Not everyone agrees with this, and, currently, it seems that the 2.6 mya assemblage at Gona still represents the earliest stages of lithic production. Sources I highly recommended Braun and Hovers 2009 (and the rest of the articles in their book Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Oldowan) for a good overview of current thinking about Oldowan. Barsky, Deborah. An Overview of Some African and Eurasian Oldowan Sites: Evaluation of Hominin Cognition Levels, Technological Advancement and Adaptive Skills. Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Oldowan, SpringerLink, 2018. Braun, David R. Introduction: Current Issues in Oldowan Research. Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Oldowan, Erella Hovers, SpringerLink, 2018. Braun DR, Tactikos JC, Ferraro JV, and Harris JWK. 2006. Archaeological inference and Oldowan behavior. Journal of Human Evolution 51:106-108. Carbonell, Eudald. From Homogeneity to Multiplicity: A New Approach to the Study of Archaic Stone Tools. Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Oldowan, Robert SalaDeborah Barsky, et al., SpringerLink, 2018. Harmand, Sonia. Variability in Raw Material Selectivity at the Late Pliocene sites of Lokalalei, West Turkana, Kenya. Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Oldowan, SpringerLink, 2018. Harmand S. 2009. Raw Materials and Techno-Economic Behaviors at Oldowan and Acheulean Sites in the West Turkana Region, Kenya. Lithic Materials and Paleolithic Societies: Wiley-Blackwell. p 1-14. McHenry LJ, Njau JK, de la Torre I, and Pante MC. 2016. Geochemical â€Å"fingerprints† for Olduvai Gorge Bed II tuffs and implications for the Oldowan–Acheulean transition. Quaternary Research 85(1):147-158. Petraglia MD, LaPorta P, and Paddayya K. 1999. The first Acheulian quarry in India: Stone tool manufacture, biface morphology, and behaviors. Journal of Anthropological Research 55:39-70. Semaw, Sileshi. The Oldowan-Acheulian Transition: Is there a Developed Oldowan Artifact Tradition? Sourcebook of Paleolithic Transitions, Michael RogersDietrich Stout,  SpringerLink,, June 16, 2009.

Outsourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Outsourcing - Essay Example From raw materials to semi-finished components, from consulting to detail engineering and from direct sales to distributor/retailer networks – there have been avenues for outsourcing as a part of strategic management of operations. The new twist to this has been the phenomenal growth of outsourcing from overseas resources as opposed to the conventional local outsourcing, resulting in significant job losses at home and the public outcry. Business surpluses or profits seek avenues of investment with high returns. Multinational firms in the developed nations with high surpluses and operating in saturated markets look to developing and underdeveloped nations with high populations for investments. The latter countries, on the other hand have the problem of high unemployment or surplus labor and low wage structure. These factors result in overseas investments, actively supported by the globalization process. In the process, the benefit of low cost production not just for the overseas market but for the home market itself Loss of jobs for locals is a sensitive issue for politicians and the public spirited. President Obama’s famous statement, ‘Say no to Bangalore and yes to Buffalo’ reflects the chasm between political and business compulsions. Multinationals like Nokia, IBM, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, General Motors and Levy have set up production facilities overseas with local employees while even in the US thousands of jobs in the technology industry are contracted to foreign workers (CNN.com; Rai, New York Times Feb.22, 2004; Case study, Rugman & Collinson, 2009, pp.30 ). The debate surrounding the ‘sweatshops’ of Asian countries with both the supporters and opponents holding out valid arguments, is another angle to the phenomenon of outsourcing. In the ultimate analysis, outsourcing has to be viewed as a trade off between high-cost local manufacture vs. low-priced but standard quality foreign-made products vs. job losses at home vs. expanding demand

Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 59

Reflection - Essay Example with fewer regulations concerning labor rights in order to produce products that are cheap with the aim of trying to remain competitive in the global market. Although cheap labor is one of the incentives that are making different companies to outsource their operations to Asian countries, there must be limits on how to use this labor. I was surprised that Nike kept stating that it was creating employment to poor countries while in reality; the firm was exploiting the local population and enhancing poverty in these regions. In addition, sweatshops were meant to ensure that money was distributed evenly to the laborers through high wages. On the contrary, the sweatshops were characterized by poor working conditions, low levels of environmental protection, and less attention to health and safety. Therefore, Nike Company was able to make immense profits on the expense of poor people in Indonesia, China, and Vietnam. I have been persuaded that companies have not been making the lives of the locals who are working in sweatshops any easier. This is because with the increasing levels of globalization resulting from liberalization of markets, efficient flow of information, and integration or economies the level of competition in the local market has increased tremendously. Many multinational companies such as Wal-Mart have also been found to have violated the labor rights in an attempt to offer the customers with high quality goods at very low prices. This is an indication that companies are targeting areas with fewer regulations in order to exploit child labor and pay low wages despite overworking these subordinates. I never thought that child labor still exists in the modern society. I thought that competition is healthy and it makes the company to be innovative. In addition, I thought that competition forces the companies to mechanize their operations and becomes more innovative. However, this session has enlightened me on the negative side of intense competition in

Wall-MArt Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Wall-MArt - Assignment Example The divisional structure works for Wal-Mart in attaining the objectives of each division. Annual shareholders meeting assists in the governing process of Wal-Mart in several aspects, with the assistance of a president or chief executive officer. The Wal-Mart Corporation has forty-one regions, thirty-five Wal-Mart regions and six Sam’s club regions (Maestri, 2010). Regional vice presidents head the regions thus supervise the operation of stores in the region. Each region has stores in each district chaired or headed by district managers for Wal-Mart stores and directors of operations for Sam’s clubs. District managers collaborate with regional personnel managers who are responsible for hiring workers and settling their issues. Each Wal-Mart has a person responsible for the overall store activities (store manager) and one in-charge of the overall activities (general manager). Below the store manager, there are co-managers; their deputies depending on the size of the store (Maestri, 2010). Down the ladder, there are hourly department managers who supervise all the junior workers in the stores. However, there are certain elements in the company that affect this structure. The company has a transparency policy in its operation, based on documents filed by the US Security Exchange Committee. This policy applies in all the Wal-Mart stores situated outside the territories of the US. The nomination of the Wal-Mart’s directors is based on shareholders votes. Wal-Mart has a significant number of stakeholders thus should engage all of them in its operations. However, this is not the case, as there is no evidence that shows the engagement of this audience in the executive duties. In addition, the Wal-Mart structure does not encourage training its staff in a manner that engages the stakeholders. Wal-Mart lacks a policy to appraise its ecological effects. However, it has a social assessment plan that evaluates its significance to the society through ethical

Individual Critica Essay - Strategic Analysis of an Organisation

Individual Critica - Strategic Analysis of an Organisation - Essay Example Here, the researcher will conduct PESTLE analysis in order to understand how external factors are shaping Network Rail’s strategic initiatives. Based upon pertinent internal and external pressures on Network Rail, the paper has selected corporate social responsibility (CSR) as key strategic issue to be discussed. In the main discussion, the paper will review strategic initiatives being taken by Network Rail in order to address corporate social responsibility issue. In context to corporate social responsibility, the paper will analyze issues regarding nature of the emerging stakeholder, tensions and challenges within Network Rail and pertinent industry. Strategies of Network Rail to address corporate social responsibility issue will be addressed from leadership or change perspective will be analyzed to understand effectiveness of strategy of Network Rail. Before going into main discussion, the essay will shed light on business matrix of Network Rail in order to create backgroun d for further discussion. Network Rail Ltd uses the trade name of Network Rail and the company has multiple subsidiary companies. The company is headquartered at London, United Kingdom and was established in the year 2002 (Network Rail, 2014). Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd works as subsidiary of Network Rail and the subsidiary operates and owns rail infrastructure across different cities in UK. However, Network Rail does not operate underground railway track or railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland (Network Rail, 2014). From structural perspective, Network Rail Ltd works as a statutory corporation, which can be classified as "not for dividend" private company (Network Rail, 2014). As a result, Network Rail Ltd neither has shareholders nor is it controlled by any particular owner. The company is vulnerable to government ownership as well as intervention, due to absence of legal owners. During 2012, Network Rail announced

Space Age Furniture Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Space Age Furniture - Term Paper Example 3079) which needs machining on a particular lathe equipment applied for the making of that special part only. Ed Szewczak, an able and experienced machinist is in charge of this special lathe machine. Once the lathe gets started it can run on its won without being attended by someone. However it is necessary for the machinist to be present during the operations of any machine, including the lathe. Recently it has become essential for Ed to opt for overtime in order to finish producing the part 3079 on time. Due to the increased overload, Ed has become unhappy and this news has been communicated to the operations manager, Coral Snodgrass. Coral has been finding solutions to solve the overtime issue. Recently the company started using an MRP system which has helped it in reducing the inventories and improving the timing of the deliveries. There are two different sub-assemblies where the part 3079 is used and the lathe machines are used for producing both the sub-assemblies of Saturn an d Gemini. Ed Szewczak is supposed to get a 50% additional payment for the overtime work. Thus the whole scenario has got certain advantages and certain disadvantages which when studied carefully provide a framework for the better functioning of the organization. Questions & Answers 1. ... Overtime is expensive and the variation between a profitable week and a losing week is represented by overtime. If the demand is constantly surpassing the facility, then Coral can consider either adding more employees or adding more facilities. While taking this step, he should attempt to improve the efficiency of the plant by eliminating waste and dropping bottlenecks. Whenever measures are taken to remove overtime, either by increasing capacity or improving efficiency, it is necessary to understand the consequence of such a step on the employees. As in this case the overtime is not consistent, therefore extreme measures are not required; however Coral should be conscious of when the overtime is taking place which will help him to recognize the grounds for overtime. There is an alternative way-out that can be applied instead of adding more people to the organization which is outsourcing the jobs and getting things done away from the workplace. This would of course incur more expense s but it would reduce the costs of material consumption, overhead costs, labor costs, electricity consumption and other related expenditures. Therefore in simple terms it can be concluded that Coral can either add more people to the company or add more machinery to the organization or a third option is there where he can include an additional shift between the regular shifts. These steps would be helpful in reducing the workload on Ed. 2. How would reducing the minimum quantity of subassemblies help? The Saturn and Gemini tables are made up of part 3079 which is exclusively manufactured by the lathe machine and the lathe machine is not used for any other purpose. Also the part

Segmentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Segmentation - Essay Example Despite this, there are no restaurants in Victoria, BC that serve Saudi Food. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the marketability of opening a Saudi restaurant in Victoria BC by focusing on three potential market segments for this business venture. Three market segments will be analyzed which include Single Saudi students in Victoria, Married Saudi students in Victoria and Muslim non-Saudi. These will be analyzed based on demographic, psychographic, behavioral attributes. Evaluation of the profitability of the restaurant will be based on the analysis and finally recommendations would be offered for the business. The segment consists of Saudi students including both genders male and female. According to Saudi club in Victoria â€Å"Victoria now has more than 860 Saudi students male and female are divided among between University of Victoria, Royal Roads University, and Camosun College as well as other English institutions in the city; 67 per cent of the students are single and the rest are married† (N. Daheher, Personal Communication, 12 February, 2013). This means 576 are singles. The percent of single Saudi females in Victoria are 17% of 576 (98 females). The percent of single Saudi males in Victoria are 83 of 576 (478 males). These students usually lead a very busy lifestyle. They are involved in a myriad of activities which apart from taking classes includes homework, taking English Language classes and also socializing. Saudi students, especially men, come from a culture where they have little experience of household chores including cooking. Also their busy schedule in Canada does not allow them to take out the time to cook food. While they consume mostly Western fast food, they are still nostalgic about their Saudi food which is quite different from the food that is available in Victoria BC. As mentioned before, there are more than 860 Saudi male and female students; of these 23 percent are married. The married are further divided into male