Eleanor Scerri. Photo: Jason BorgEleanor Scerri. Photo: Jason Borg

Before leaving Africa and scattering across the globe, the first human beings already had distinct cultural traditions, according to an international study led by a Maltese researcher.

“This is the first time scientists have been able to map the distribution of early popul-ations of modern humans in Africa and understand the character of their cultural diversity,” Eleanor Scerri, 36, said. The study into the origins of early humans kicked off as part of her doctorate studies at the University of Southampton and has developed into her first post-doctorate at Oxford University. Dr Scerri is currently based at the University of Bordeaux and is a visiting scholar in Oxford.

Since ancient DNA in Africa has not yet been found, her team turned to the only form of preserved material from more than 100,000 years ago: stone tools.

It took five years and over 300,000 measurements of stone tools from 17 archaeological sites across North Africa to complete this biggest-ever comparative study.

The team has discovered significant differences among the sites in the way that the stone tools, dating between 130,000 and 75,000 years ago, were made, reflecting a diversity of cultural traditions.

Researchers carried out the largest-ever comparative study of stone tools dating between 130,000 and 75,000 years old. Photo: The British MuseumResearchers carried out the largest-ever comparative study of stone tools dating between 130,000 and 75,000 years old. Photo: The British Museum

The patterns of similarities and differences of these tools were then compared to the environment and climate where they were found, and the researchers discovered that popul-ations connected by rivers had similarities in their cultures. This could be the earliest evid-ence of populations dispersing across the Sahara, using rivers to meet people from other populations.

“Through the study of genetics and fossils we had an idea that the earliest modern humans were organised in diverse groups of hunters and gatherers spread across the entire continent, which could go for years without any interaction. We also knew that around 80,000 years ago there was already the first appearance of complex culture: human beings had started to paint and make shell-bead jewellery, for example. Intelligence had already been taken to a higher level – from killing an animal to eat it, people were using objects to give a message,” she explained.

Gradually, as the climate changed, the growing populations were no longer restrained by the desert barrier, and these groups started interacting and dispersing further. They developed different solutions to the same environmental problems and innov-ating products, as reflected in the stone tools examined by Dr Scerri’s team.

“Till now, models of our earliest origins and dispersals were based on assumptions. Through this study we now have a map of the structure of these populations, their differences and similarities and how they were spread across North Africa.

“These results have important implications for how we interpret genetic information reflecting our origins and early dispersals.”

The paper, co-authored by Huw Groucutt, Nick Drake and Richard Jennings, is called ‘Earliest evidence for the structure of Homo Sapiens populations in Africa’. It was published at the weekend in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.

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