Researchers from CENIEH have co-supervised a doctoral thesis on lithic production in East Africa that reveals how the availability of raw materials and interregional social networks shaped technological variability during the Middle Stone Age.
Burgos, September 22,
This morning, Irene Solano-Megías defended her doctoral dissertation at the Facultad de Ciencias of the Universidad de Burgos, entitled “Technological Behaviors in East Africa during the Middle Stone Age: the Regions of Gona and Northern Tanzania”, co-supervised by Mohamed Sahnouni and Sileshi Semaw, researchers at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), and José Manuel Maíllo Fernández, professor and researcher at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED).
In her thesis, Solano-Megías examines technological variability during the Middle Stone Age within the MIS 5 climatic period (approximately 75,000–130,000 years ago) at four African archaeological sites: YAS-1 in Ethiopia, and Mumba VI-B, DGS, and Nasera 22 in Tanzania. She analyzes the factors that influenced lithic production strategies, such as the physical and technical properties of raw materials and interregional social networks. The findings show that the availability and quality of raw materials shaped technological choices, while networks facilitated their diffusion and exchange.
The examination committee, chaired by Fernando Díez Martín of the Universidad de Valladolid and including Paula García Medrano (CENIEH) and Marianna Fusco (Emory University), unanimously awarded the new PhD from the Universidad de Burgos the distinction of summa cum laude.
