Foulds Discover The Old Acheulian
As archaeologists quickly noticed, one of the hand axes is particularly heavy, weighing over 3.5 kilograms which is almost 8 lbs. Judging from the tool’s design, archaeologists concluded that several of the artifacts are "Acheulian." The term Acheulian, also known Acheulean and Mode II, describes an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by oval and pear-shaped "hand-axes" tightly linked with early humans. Acheulian tools were created during the Lower Palaeolithic era across Africa and much of West Asia, South Asia, and Europe, and are usually found with Homo erectus remains. It is thought that Acheulian technologies first developed in Africa out of the more primitive Oldowan technology as long as 1.76 million years ago, by Homo habilis. Acheulian tools were the dominant technology for the vast majority of human history.
For the time being, however, archaeologists can’t be absolutely certain about the exact period the newly found artifacts at Wadi Dabsa were created. "We hope to try and date the limestone and basalt flows within the site, which are associated with the large stone artifact assemblage recovered from within the wadi.” And added, “Once the team has more-precise dates for the artifacts, Dr. Foulds may be able to determine what type of hominins made the tools.”
However, that’s not surprising to Dr. Foulds, who noted that it has been pretty common for the climate to change in the entire Arabian Peninsula due to the vast changes in global climates that went with glacial cycles over the last 2.5 million years. "During periods when the ice sheets were at their largest, there was widespread aridity in the Sahara and Arabian deserts, but during periods when the ice sheets shrank, the climate of these regions became a lot wetter," Foulds told.
For the time being, however, archaeologists can’t be absolutely certain about the exact period the newly found artifacts at Wadi Dabsa were created. "We hope to try and date the limestone and basalt flows within the site, which are associated with the large stone artifact assemblage recovered from within the wadi.” And added, “Once the team has more-precise dates for the artifacts, Dr. Foulds may be able to determine what type of hominins made the tools.”
However, that’s not surprising to Dr. Foulds, who noted that it has been pretty common for the climate to change in the entire Arabian Peninsula due to the vast changes in global climates that went with glacial cycles over the last 2.5 million years. "During periods when the ice sheets were at their largest, there was widespread aridity in the Sahara and Arabian deserts, but during periods when the ice sheets shrank, the climate of these regions became a lot wetter," Foulds told.
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