ABSTRACT

The Acheulean has long been considered a single, unified tradition. Decades of morphometric and technological evidence supports such an understanding by demonstrating that a single fundamental Bauplan was followed for more than 1.6 million years. What remains unknown is whether sites assigned to the Acheulean represent multiple socially-independent iterations of the same technological solution to shared ecological (functional) and ergonomic demands. Here, using the ‘surprise test’, the temporal cohesion of the Acheulean record is statistically assessed for the first time. Chronological data from 81 early and late Acheulean sites are investigated to see if breaks in this record warrant the designation of separate, culturally distinct groupings of sites. No significant results were returned, suggesting the Acheulean to be temporally cohesive and there to be no evidence of cultural convergence from a temporal perspective. When combined with previous morphometric, technological and spatial evidence, the best-fit scenario for the Acheulean continues to be that it represents a single, but variable, tradition.

摘要

阿舍利主义长期以来一直被认为是一个单一的、统一的传统。数十年的形态测量和技术证据通过证明单一基本Bauplan被追随了超过 160 万年。目前尚不清楚的是，分配给阿舍利的站点是否代表了同一技术解决方案的多个独立于社会的迭代，以满足共享的生态（功能）和人体工程学需求。在这里，使用“惊喜测试”，首次对阿舍利记录的时间凝聚力进行了统计评估。对 81 个早期和晚期阿舍利遗址的年代数据进行了调查，以了解该记录的突破是否有必要指定单独的、文化上不同的遗址分组。没有返回显着的结果，这表明阿舍利派在时间上具有凝聚力，并且从时间角度来看没有文化趋同的证据。与之前的形态测量、技术和空间证据相结合，