Sonia Harmand

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Sonia Harmand (born in 1974 [1] ) is a French archaeologist who studies Early Stone Age archaeology and the evolution of stone tool making. [2] She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Paris where she was associated with the "Prehistory and Technology" research unit, which was well known in the field of stone tool analysis. Harmand earned a PhD from Paris Nanterre University, and is a research associate at CNRS, which is the largest French governmental research organization, and Europe's largest fundamental science agency. She worked as a Research Scientist at CNRS for four years before joining Stony Brook University in New York as an associate professor. [2] In 2016 she was named one of the '50 Most Influential French' by the French edition of Vanity Fair magazine, ranked 32nd place. [3] [4]

Contents

Early stone age archaeology

Lomekwi 3 stone tools

In 2011, Harmand discovered the Lomekwi 3 stone tools in the Turkana Basin of Kenya near the town of Lomekwi. This discovery was made while Harmand was leading the West Turkana Archaeological Project team along with Jason Lewis. They were both working with Stony Brook University's Turkana Basin Institute at the time. [5]

At the Lomekwi 3 site, between 2011 and 2012, there were 149 stone artifacts recovered in total. [6] These artifacts were found at the Lomekwi 3 site which sits above the Toroto Tuff, dated at about 3.32 Ma. [7] The 149 artifacts range from small broken flakes weighing less than 1 kg to anvils and passive elements weighing about 12 kg. [8] All of these tools are evidence of knapped stone tools. Stone tool knapping was previously associated with the genus Homo . [6] The discovery of stone tools from the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania dating to about 2.6 Ma brought forth a theory of non- Homo hominins usage of stone tools since there is only fossil evidence of Homo from 2.4-2.3 Ma. [6] The tools found at Lomekwi 3 are dated to ≈3.3 Ma which pushes back the evidence of stone tool use by nearly 700,000 years, and further expands the overall archaeological record. [8] Furthermore, these discoveries support the theory of usage of stone tools by non-homo hominids. Harmand and other archaeologists and paleoanthropologists suspect Australophithecines including: A. Africanus , A. Sediba , A. Garhi , A. Aethiopicus , and A. Robustus to be possible non-homo stone tool knappers. The Lomekwi 3 site is still currently under excavation and the West Turkana Archaeological Project team continues fieldwork in the Turkana Basin every summer.

Acheulean tools

Harmand additionally worked along the northwest shore of Lake Turkana in Kenya in 2011, recovering and studying acheulean tools. The stone tools found at the Kokiselei 4 site are dated to about 1.76 Ma which pushes the evidence for acheulean tool use back an extra ≈300,000 years. [9] Acheulean tools are thought to be connected to Homo Erectus because there were H. erectus fossils found in the same area which are dated at a similar age. [9]

Work at Stony Brook University

Sonia Harmand is currently an associate professor at New York's Stony Brook University teaching in the Anthropology Department. Along with professorial work, Harmand is an associate research scientist at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), and the head of the West Turkana Archeological Project (WTAP) as of 2012. Harmand's research utilizes the chaîne opératoire method to aid in her analysis of stone tools, which places emphasis on the interactions between tool-makers and their environment. The central focus of her research at Stony Brook is on the origins of hominin technology and the role of biomechanics in stone tool production. [10]

Honors and publications

Harmand has received many awards for her work with Early Stone Age archaeology. In 2015, Harmand won both the Stone Age Institute Award for Outstanding Research into Human Origins, [11] and the Field Discovery Award from the Shanghai Archaeology Forum(世界考古论坛·上海) [12] for her work with the Lomekwi 3 tools. The following year, in 2016, she earned the Prix La Recherche archaeology award in Paris, France. In 2017, the Tübingen research prize for Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology was awarded to Harmand from the University of Tübingen, Germany.

Related Research Articles

<i>Kenyanthropus</i> Oldest-known tool-making hominin

Kenyanthropus is a hominin genus identified from the Lomekwi site by Lake Turkana, Kenya, dated to 3.3 to 3.2 million years ago during the Middle Pliocene. It contains one species, K. platyops, but may also include the 2 million year old Homo rudolfensis, or K. rudolfensis. Before its naming in 2001, Australopithecus afarensis was widely regarded as the only australopithecine to exist during the Middle Pliocene, but Kenyanthropus evinces a greater diversity than once acknowledged. Kenyanthropus is most recognisable by an unusually flat face and small teeth for such an early hominin, with values on the extremes or beyond the range of variation for australopithecines in regard to these features. Multiple australopithecine species may have coexisted by foraging for different food items, which may be reason why these apes anatomically differ in features related to chewing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stone Age</span> Prehistoric period during which stone was widely used by humans to make tools and weapons

The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with the advent of metalworking. Though some simple metalworking of malleable metals, particularly the use of gold and copper for purposes of ornamentation, was known in the Stone Age, it is the melting and smelting of copper that marks the end of the Stone Age. In Western Asia, this occurred by about 3,000 BC, when bronze became widespread. The term Bronze Age is used to describe the period that followed the Stone Age, as well as to describe cultures that had developed techniques and technologies for working copper alloys into tools, supplanting stone in many uses.

A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric cultures that have become extinct. Archaeologists often study such prehistoric societies, and refer to the study of stone tools as lithic analysis. Ethnoarchaeology has been a valuable research field in order to further the understanding and cultural implications of stone tool use and manufacture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acheulean</span> Archaeological culture associated with Homo erectus

Acheulean, from the French acheuléen after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated with Homo erectus and derived species such as Homo heidelbergensis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oldowan</span> Archaeological culture

The Oldowan was a widespread stone tool archaeological industry (style) in prehistory. These early tools were simple, usually made with one or a few flakes chipped off with another stone. Oldowan tools were used during the Lower Paleolithic period, 2.9 million years ago up until at least 1.7 million years ago (Ma), by ancient Hominins across much of Africa. This technological industry was followed by the more sophisticated Acheulean industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Turkana</span> Alkaline lake on the border of Ethiopia and Kenya

Lake Turkana formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. By volume it is the world's fourth-largest salt lake after the Caspian Sea, Issyk-Kul, and Lake Van, and among all lakes it ranks 24th.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African archaeology</span> Archaeology conducted in Africa

Africa has the longest record of human habitation in the world. The first hominins emerged 6-7 million years ago, and among the earliest anatomically modern human skulls found so far were discovered at Omo Kibish, Jebel Irhoud, and Florisbad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lower Paleolithic</span> Earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic

The Lower Paleolithic is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 3.3 million years ago when the first evidence for stone tool production and use by hominins appears in the current archaeological record, until around 300,000 years ago, spanning the Oldowan and Acheulean lithics industries.

Cognitive archaeology is a theoretical perspective in archaeology that focuses on the ancient mind. It is divided into two main groups: evolutionary cognitive archaeology (ECA), which seeks to understand human cognitive evolution from the material record, and ideational cognitive archaeology (ICA), which focuses on the symbolic structures discernable in or inferable from past material culture.

<i>Australopithecus garhi</i> Extinct hominid from the Afar Region of Ethiopia 2.6–2.5 million years ago

Australopithecus garhi is a species of australopithecine from the Bouri Formation in the Afar Region of Ethiopia 2.6–2.5 million years ago (mya) during the Early Pleistocene. The first remains were described in 1999 based on several skeletal elements uncovered in the three years preceding. A. garhi was originally considered to have been a direct ancestor to Homo and the human line, but is now thought to have been an offshoot. Like other australopithecines, A. garhi had a brain volume of 450 cc (27 cu in); a jaw which jutted out (prognathism); relatively large molars and premolars; adaptations for both walking on two legs (bipedalism) and grasping while climbing (arboreality); and it is possible that, though unclear if, males were larger than females. One individual, presumed female based on size, may have been 140 cm tall.

In archaeology, lithic technology includes a broad array of techniques used to produce usable tools from various types of stone. The earliest stone tools to date have been found at the site of Lomekwi 3 (LOM3) in Kenya and they have been dated to around 3.3 million years ago. The archaeological record of lithic technology is divided into three major time periods: the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic. Not all cultures in all parts of the world exhibit the same pattern of lithic technological development, and stone tool technology continues to be used to this day, but these three time periods represent the span of the archaeological record when lithic technology was paramount. By analysing modern stone tool usage within an ethnoarchaeological context, insight into the breadth of factors influencing lithic technologies in general may be studied. See: Stone tool. For example, for the Gamo of Southern Ethiopia, political, environmental, and social factors influence the patterns of technology variation in different subgroups of the Gamo culture; through understanding the relationship between these different factors in a modern context, archaeologists can better understand the ways that these factors could have shaped the technological variation that is present in the archaeological record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koobi Fora</span> Kenyan archeological site

Koobi Fora refers primarily to a region around Koobi Fora Ridge, located on the eastern shore of Lake Turkana in the territory of the nomadic Gabbra people. According to the National Museums of Kenya, the name comes from the Gabbra language:

In the language of the Gabbra people who live near the site, the term Koobi Fora means a place of the commiphora and the source of myrrh...

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkana County</span> County in Kenya

Turkana County is a county in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya. It is Kenya's largest county by land area of 71,597.8km2 followed by Marsabit County with an area of 66,923.1km2. It is bordered by the countries of Uganda to the west; South Sudan and Ethiopia, including the disputed Ilemi Triangle, to the north and northeast; and Lake Turkana to the east. To the south and east, neighbouring counties in Kenya are West Pokot, Baringo and Samburu Counties, while Marsabit County is on the opposite shore of Lake Turkana. Turkana's capital and largest town is Lodwar. The county had a population of 926,976 at the 2019 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olorgesailie</span> Archaeological site in Kenya

Olorgesailie is a geological formation in East Africa, on the floor of the Eastern Rift Valley in southern Kenya, 67 kilometres (42 mi) southwest of Nairobi along the road to Lake Magadi. It contains a group of Lower Paleolithic archaeological sites. Olorgesailie is noted for the large number of Acheulean hand axes discovered there that are associated with animal butchering. According to the National Museums of Kenya, the finds are internationally significant for archaeology, palaeontology, and geology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkana Basin</span> Large endorheic basin mainly in Kenya and Ethiopia

The greater Turkana Basin in East Africa determines a large endorheic basin, a drainage basin with no outflow centered around the north-southwards directed Gregory Rift system in Kenya and southern Ethiopia. The deepest point of the basin is the endorheic Lake Turkana, a brackish soda lake with a very high ecological productivity in the Gregory Rift.

Kariandusi prehistoric site is an archaeological site in Kenya. Located on the southeastern edge of the Great Rift Valley and on Lake Elmenteita, Kariandusi is an African Early Stone Age site dating to approximately 1 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Shea (archaeologist)</span> American archaeologist and paleoanthropologist

John Joseph Shea is an American archaeologist and paleoanthropologist. He has been a professor of anthropology at Stony Brook University in New York since 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lomekwi</span> Kenyan archaeological site dated to 3.3 million years ago

Lomekwi 3 is the name of an archaeological site in Kenya where ancient stone tools have been discovered dating to 3.3 million years ago, which make them the oldest ever found.

Gona is a paleoanthropological research area in Ethiopia's Afar Region. Gona is primarily known for its archaeological sites and discoveries of hominin fossils from the Late Miocene, Early Pliocene and Early Pleistocene. Fossils of Ardipithecus and Homo erectus were discovered there. Two of the most significant finds are an Ardipithecus ramidus postcranial skeleton and an essentially complete Homo erectus pelvis. Historically, Gona had the oldest documented Oldowan artifact assemblages. Archaeologists have since found older examples of the Oldowan at other sites. Still, Gona's Oldowan assemblages have been essential to the archaeological understanding of the Oldowan. Gona's Acheulean archaeological sites have helped us understand the beginnings of the Acheulean Industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mzalendo Kibunjia</span> Kenyan archeologist

Kibunjia Nyagah Mzalendo is a Kenyan archeologist. He formerly served as the Director General of the National Museums of Kenya (NMK), a multi-disciplinary state corporation. He was appointed as the first chairman of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), a government agency intended to address and reduce inter-ethnic conflicts. In this role, he chaired the Nakuru Peace Accord between the Agikuyu and the Kalenjin communities. He was the first Kenyan to hold a doctorate in Early Stone Age Archaeology.

References

  1. ↑ VIAF resume
  2. 1 2 Communications, Stony Brook Office of. "Sonia Harmand | Experts at Stony Brook University, New York". www.stonybrook.edu. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
  3. ↑ "Les 50 Français les plus influents du monde | Vanity Fair". 2016-11-06.
  4. ↑ "Le classement des 50 Français les plus influents au monde, selon Vanity Fair". konbini.
  5. ↑ "Oldest Stone Artifacts Found in Kenya's Turkana Basin". Turkana Basin Institute. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  6. 1 2 3 Lewis, Jason E.; Harmand, Sonia (2016-07-05). "An earlier origin for stone tool making: implications for cognitive evolution and the transition to Homo". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 371 (1698): 20150233. doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0233. ISSN   0962-8436. PMC   4920290 . PMID   27298464.
  7. ↑ "Figure 4: Stratigraphic sections and placement of hominin specimens at sites in upper part of the Lomekwi drainage, west of Lake Turkana, northern Kenya". www.nature.com. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  8. 1 2 Harmand, Sonia; Lewis, Jason E.; Feibel, Craig S.; Lepre, Christopher J.; Prat, Sandrine; Lenoble, Arnaud; Boës, Xavier; Quinn, Rhonda L.; Brenet, Michel (2015-05-20). "3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya". Nature. 521 (7552): 310–315. Bibcode:2015Natur.521..310H. doi:10.1038/nature14464. ISSN   0028-0836. PMID   25993961. S2CID   1207285.
  9. 1 2 Lepre, Christopher J.; Roche, Hélène; Kent, Dennis V.; Harmand, Sonia; Quinn, Rhonda L.; Brugal, Jean-Philippe; Texier, Pierre-Jean; Lenoble, Arnaud; Feibel, Craig S. (September 2011). "An earlier origin for the Acheulian". Nature. 477 (7362): 82–85. Bibcode:2011Natur.477...82L. doi:10.1038/nature10372. ISSN   0028-0836. PMID   21886161. S2CID   4419567.
  10. ↑ "Stony Brook University: Department of Anthropology". Stony Brook University. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  11. ↑ "2015 SAI Public Lectures: Sonia Harmand". www.stoneageinstitute.org. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  12. ↑ "PACEA — De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie. - Jacques Jaubert et ses collaborateurs récompensés par l'Académie des Sciences sociales de Chine pour leurs travaux sur la grotte de Bruniquel". www.pacea.u-bordeaux1.fr (in French). Retrieved 2018-12-02.
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