Yonatan Sahle
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 136996 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Yonatan Sahle |
| NOMBRES | Yonatan |
| APELLIDO | Sahle |
| FIRMA | SAHLE Y |
| AFILIACIONES | University of Cape Town |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1098-1685 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 23 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 119 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 23 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2011 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 5 |
Characterization of new obsidian sources, artifact provenance, and inferred patterns of mobility and social dynamics in the Ethiopian Middle Stone Age
Geochemical provenance of obsidian artifacts provides critical insights into prehistoric mobility, resource exploitation strategies, and group interactions. Despite Ethiopia’s abundant obsidian outcrops and extensive archaeological record, the scope of provenance studies has been limited by several yet unidentified geological sources. This study integrates newly discovered geological obsidian sources from the Afar Rift with the characterization o…
The Early Homo Conundrum
International audience
Lap-shear and compression testing of ethnographic compound adhesives and implications for archaeology
The properties of ancient compound adhesives are gaining increasing research attention through substance identification and mechanical testing. Research on the latter relies on experimental replication as ethnographic cases of hafted stone artifacts are rare. Here we characterize the lap-shear and compression stress behaviors of a hitherto undescribed compound adhesive used for hafting stone scrapers by hideworkers in Ethiopia. We found that the …
Stable Isotope Analysis of Pleistocene Proboscideans from Afar (Ethiopia) and the Dietary and Ecological Contexts of Palaeoloxodon
The timing, cause, and magnitude of mammalian extinctions during the African Middle Pleistocene remain largely unresolved. The demise of Elephas/Palaeoloxodon recki, a lineage that had a great geographic and temporal span, represents a particularly enigmatic case of megafaunal extinction. Previous studies of Early Pleistocene fossil material have proposed that this lineage was a strict C4-grazer, with its dietary specialization causing its extinc…
The Marine Isotope Stage 5 (∼105 ka) lithic assemblage from Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter and insights into social transmission across the Kalahari Basin and its environs
The social transmission of cultural information is widely acknowledged as a key factor in the survival of our species. This paper explores lithic technological systems to assess the presence and extent of cultural information transmission between early human groups in the Kalahari Basin and its environs during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 (∼130-74 ka). This period is crucial for understanding the development and expansion of complex behaviors in …
Paleoanthropology
The study of human evolution, also known as palaeoanthropology, focuses on our distant and more recent human past; what shaped us as a lineage, genus, and species; and how we came to be the diverse single species we are today. However, the bulk of this research, knowledge production, and understanding has been driven by the global North to the exclusion of non‐Western scientists, despite the deep and rich fossil record of formerly colonized regio…
The Evolution of Long-Range Hunting with Stone-Tipped Weapons During the Afrotropic Middle Stone Age
In the Afrotropic biogeographic realm, with its diverse and high-density mammal population, early humans may have been hunting with stone-tipped weapons since ~500,000 years ago. Being able to hunt effectively from a distance has several important adaptive advantages. Yet, until now, African long-range javelin hunting remained unexplored as intermediate between short/medium-range, hand-delivered and long-range, mechanically projected weapons. Ins…
The Gademotta Formation, Ethiopia
Javelin use among Ethiopia’s last indigenous hunters
The Origins of Early Sapiens Behaviour
This exhibition showcases the results of archaeological research at three coastal sites in the southern Cape of South Africa: Blombos Cave, Klipdrift Shelter and Klasies River main sites. Part of a long-term programme aiming to make palaeosciences accessible to the public, the exhibition befittingly started more locally, first at Stellenbosch and then at the Iziko South African Museums in Cape Town, before moving to Johannesburg. The exhibition o…
An Early Holocene Lithic Assemblage from Dibé Rockshelter, South-Central Ethiopia
The dearth of securely dated assemblages in the Horn of Africa limits a comprehensive understanding of human adaptation across the Early Holocene. This paper presents results from initial analyses of lithic material from Dibé rockshelter in the Arsi lowlands, Ethiopia. Radiocarbon dates confirm occupation of Dibé rockshelter by hunter-gatherers directly following improved climatic conditions marking the onset of the Holocene. Microliths dominate …
Eastern African Stone Age
The Stone Age record is longer and better documented in eastern Africa. Archaeological and fossil evidence derives particularly from sites within the Rift Valley of the region, often with secure radiometric age estimates. Despite a relatively late start and disproportionate focus on earlier periods and open-air sites within the rift, scientific research into the region’s Stone Age record continues to play a central role in our understanding of hu…
Newly discovered Middle Pleistocene hominid-bearing deposits from the Lower Awash basin, Ethiopia
Recent paleoanthropological surveys conducted in the Lower Awash basin (Afar Rift) have led to the discovery of new localities. Here we announce and describe the latest addition to the roster of hominid-bearing research areas in this basin. Located east of the modern Awash River and west of the Megenta mountain ridge, localities in the new research area contain extensive clay and silty-sand deposits variably capped by a widespread sandstone layer…
Exploring karst landscapes
Ethnoarchaeology of compound adhesive production and scraper hafting
Modern human origins and dispersal
Archaeological reconnaissance of the Late Pleistocene Red Sea coast in the Danakil
The paucity of archaeological evidence from the northern Afar Rift and Red Sea littoral remains a major hindrance to testing the hypothesised Out-of-Africa dispersal of early humans via the 'Southern Route'-across the Bab al-Mandeb into Arabia and beyond. Encouraged by renewed geological studies (e.g. Atnafu et al. 2015), and recent archaeological discoveries (e.g. Walter et al. 2000; Beyin 2013), we initiated a pioneering exploration along the a…
An ethnographic experiment of endscraper curation rate among hadiya hideworkers, ethiopia
The extent of reduction in retouched stones serves as a proxy for curation. In the archaeological record, reduction intensity must be inferred from discarded remnants of tools. The contemporary use of scraper blades by hideworkers in southern Ethiopia provides archaeologists rare opportunities where original tool dimensions can be directly measured and other variables investigated. This study closely examines previously suggested factors for inte…
Geochemical Characterization of Four Quaternary Obsidian Sources and Provenance of Obsidian Artifacts from the Middle Stone Age Site of Gademotta, Main Ethiopian Rift
Twenty‐six Middle Stone Age obsidian artifacts from the Gademotta Formation were instrumentally characterized by energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence. Analysis of artifacts from the type locality enabled sampling of a greater time depth while avoiding the uncertainties in previous results on artifacts sampled from a “disturbed” context at Kulkuletti. Moreover, the analysis here of source samples from Alutu, Worja, and the previously unstudied Bor…
Chronological and behavioral contexts of the earliest Middle Stone Age in the Gademotta Formation, Main Ethiopian Rift
Variability in Ethnographic Hidescraper Use among the Hadiya of Ethiopia
A reassessment of the Middle and Later Stone Age lithic assemblages from Aladi Springs, Southern Afar Rift, Ethiopia
The site of Aladi Springs was discovered and excavated in the 1970s. However, the assemblages from this site did not subsequently receive full investigation. Here, we present results of the first exhaustive analysis of the lithic collections from both the Middle and the Later Stone Age (MSA/LSA) occupation horizons at this site. Detailed analysis of metric and non-metric attributes reveals a marked variability in production techniques and overall…
A social archaeology of colonial war in Ethiopia
EN] The archaeology of twentieth-century warfare, with its focus on Western armies and military issues, has often neglected indigenous experiences of war and social aspects, particularly the role of women in reproducing culture through material practices in situations of great distress. In this article, we propose a postcolonial examination of imperialistic war in Ethiopia. We study the cave of Zeret, the refuge of a large guerrilla group that wa…
Chronological and behavioral contexts of the earliest Middle Stone Age in the Gademotta Formation, Main Ethiopian Rift
Variability in Ethnographic Hidescraper Use among the Hadiya of Ethiopia
Javelin use among Ethiopia’s last indigenous hunters
A social archaeology of colonial war in Ethiopia
EN] The archaeology of twentieth-century warfare, with its focus on Western armies and military issues, has often neglected indigenous experiences of war and social aspects, particularly the role of women in reproducing culture through material practices in situations of great distress. In this article, we propose a postcolonial examination of imperialistic war in Ethiopia. We study the cave of Zeret, the refuge of a large guerrilla group that wa…
Ethnoarchaeology of compound adhesive production and scraper hafting
Modern human origins and dispersal
Geochemical Characterization of Four Quaternary Obsidian Sources and Provenance of Obsidian Artifacts from the Middle Stone Age Site of Gademotta, Main Ethiopian Rift
Twenty‐six Middle Stone Age obsidian artifacts from the Gademotta Formation were instrumentally characterized by energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence. Analysis of artifacts from the type locality enabled sampling of a greater time depth while avoiding the uncertainties in previous results on artifacts sampled from a “disturbed” context at Kulkuletti. Moreover, the analysis here of source samples from Alutu, Worja, and the previously unstudied Bor…
A reassessment of the Middle and Later Stone Age lithic assemblages from Aladi Springs, Southern Afar Rift, Ethiopia
The site of Aladi Springs was discovered and excavated in the 1970s. However, the assemblages from this site did not subsequently receive full investigation. Here, we present results of the first exhaustive analysis of the lithic collections from both the Middle and the Later Stone Age (MSA/LSA) occupation horizons at this site. Detailed analysis of metric and non-metric attributes reveals a marked variability in production techniques and overall…
An ethnographic experiment of endscraper curation rate among hadiya hideworkers, ethiopia
The extent of reduction in retouched stones serves as a proxy for curation. In the archaeological record, reduction intensity must be inferred from discarded remnants of tools. The contemporary use of scraper blades by hideworkers in southern Ethiopia provides archaeologists rare opportunities where original tool dimensions can be directly measured and other variables investigated. This study closely examines previously suggested factors for inte…
The Evolution of Long-Range Hunting with Stone-Tipped Weapons During the Afrotropic Middle Stone Age
In the Afrotropic biogeographic realm, with its diverse and high-density mammal population, early humans may have been hunting with stone-tipped weapons since ~500,000 years ago. Being able to hunt effectively from a distance has several important adaptive advantages. Yet, until now, African long-range javelin hunting remained unexplored as intermediate between short/medium-range, hand-delivered and long-range, mechanically projected weapons. Ins…
An Early Holocene Lithic Assemblage from Dibé Rockshelter, South-Central Ethiopia
The dearth of securely dated assemblages in the Horn of Africa limits a comprehensive understanding of human adaptation across the Early Holocene. This paper presents results from initial analyses of lithic material from Dibé rockshelter in the Arsi lowlands, Ethiopia. Radiocarbon dates confirm occupation of Dibé rockshelter by hunter-gatherers directly following improved climatic conditions marking the onset of the Holocene. Microliths dominate …
Eastern African Stone Age
The Stone Age record is longer and better documented in eastern Africa. Archaeological and fossil evidence derives particularly from sites within the Rift Valley of the region, often with secure radiometric age estimates. Despite a relatively late start and disproportionate focus on earlier periods and open-air sites within the rift, scientific research into the region’s Stone Age record continues to play a central role in our understanding of hu…
Newly discovered Middle Pleistocene hominid-bearing deposits from the Lower Awash basin, Ethiopia
Recent paleoanthropological surveys conducted in the Lower Awash basin (Afar Rift) have led to the discovery of new localities. Here we announce and describe the latest addition to the roster of hominid-bearing research areas in this basin. Located east of the modern Awash River and west of the Megenta mountain ridge, localities in the new research area contain extensive clay and silty-sand deposits variably capped by a widespread sandstone layer…
Archaeological reconnaissance of the Late Pleistocene Red Sea coast in the Danakil
The paucity of archaeological evidence from the northern Afar Rift and Red Sea littoral remains a major hindrance to testing the hypothesised Out-of-Africa dispersal of early humans via the 'Southern Route'-across the Bab al-Mandeb into Arabia and beyond. Encouraged by renewed geological studies (e.g. Atnafu et al. 2015), and recent archaeological discoveries (e.g. Walter et al. 2000; Beyin 2013), we initiated a pioneering exploration along the a…
A social archaeology of colonial war in Ethiopia
EN] The archaeology of twentieth-century warfare, with its focus on Western armies and military issues, has often neglected indigenous experiences of war and social aspects, particularly the role of women in reproducing culture through material practices in situations of great distress. In this article, we propose a postcolonial examination of imperialistic war in Ethiopia. We study the cave of Zeret, the refuge of a large guerrilla group that wa…
Variability in Ethnographic Hidescraper Use among the Hadiya of Ethiopia
A reassessment of the Middle and Later Stone Age lithic assemblages from Aladi Springs, Southern Afar Rift, Ethiopia
The site of Aladi Springs was discovered and excavated in the 1970s. However, the assemblages from this site did not subsequently receive full investigation. Here, we present results of the first exhaustive analysis of the lithic collections from both the Middle and the Later Stone Age (MSA/LSA) occupation horizons at this site. Detailed analysis of metric and non-metric attributes reveals a marked variability in production techniques and overall…
Chronological and behavioral contexts of the earliest Middle Stone Age in the Gademotta Formation, Main Ethiopian Rift
An ethnographic experiment of endscraper curation rate among hadiya hideworkers, ethiopia
The extent of reduction in retouched stones serves as a proxy for curation. In the archaeological record, reduction intensity must be inferred from discarded remnants of tools. The contemporary use of scraper blades by hideworkers in southern Ethiopia provides archaeologists rare opportunities where original tool dimensions can be directly measured and other variables investigated. This study closely examines previously suggested factors for inte…
Geochemical Characterization of Four Quaternary Obsidian Sources and Provenance of Obsidian Artifacts from the Middle Stone Age Site of Gademotta, Main Ethiopian Rift
Twenty‐six Middle Stone Age obsidian artifacts from the Gademotta Formation were instrumentally characterized by energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence. Analysis of artifacts from the type locality enabled sampling of a greater time depth while avoiding the uncertainties in previous results on artifacts sampled from a “disturbed” context at Kulkuletti. Moreover, the analysis here of source samples from Alutu, Worja, and the previously unstudied Bor…
Archaeological reconnaissance of the Late Pleistocene Red Sea coast in the Danakil
The paucity of archaeological evidence from the northern Afar Rift and Red Sea littoral remains a major hindrance to testing the hypothesised Out-of-Africa dispersal of early humans via the 'Southern Route'-across the Bab al-Mandeb into Arabia and beyond. Encouraged by renewed geological studies (e.g. Atnafu et al. 2015), and recent archaeological discoveries (e.g. Walter et al. 2000; Beyin 2013), we initiated a pioneering exploration along the a…
Modern human origins and dispersal
Eastern African Stone Age
The Stone Age record is longer and better documented in eastern Africa. Archaeological and fossil evidence derives particularly from sites within the Rift Valley of the region, often with secure radiometric age estimates. Despite a relatively late start and disproportionate focus on earlier periods and open-air sites within the rift, scientific research into the region’s Stone Age record continues to play a central role in our understanding of hu…
Newly discovered Middle Pleistocene hominid-bearing deposits from the Lower Awash basin, Ethiopia
Recent paleoanthropological surveys conducted in the Lower Awash basin (Afar Rift) have led to the discovery of new localities. Here we announce and describe the latest addition to the roster of hominid-bearing research areas in this basin. Located east of the modern Awash River and west of the Megenta mountain ridge, localities in the new research area contain extensive clay and silty-sand deposits variably capped by a widespread sandstone layer…
Exploring karst landscapes
Ethnoarchaeology of compound adhesive production and scraper hafting
An Early Holocene Lithic Assemblage from Dibé Rockshelter, South-Central Ethiopia
The dearth of securely dated assemblages in the Horn of Africa limits a comprehensive understanding of human adaptation across the Early Holocene. This paper presents results from initial analyses of lithic material from Dibé rockshelter in the Arsi lowlands, Ethiopia. Radiocarbon dates confirm occupation of Dibé rockshelter by hunter-gatherers directly following improved climatic conditions marking the onset of the Holocene. Microliths dominate …
The Origins of Early Sapiens Behaviour
This exhibition showcases the results of archaeological research at three coastal sites in the southern Cape of South Africa: Blombos Cave, Klipdrift Shelter and Klasies River main sites. Part of a long-term programme aiming to make palaeosciences accessible to the public, the exhibition befittingly started more locally, first at Stellenbosch and then at the Iziko South African Museums in Cape Town, before moving to Johannesburg. The exhibition o…
The Gademotta Formation, Ethiopia
Javelin use among Ethiopia’s last indigenous hunters
Paleoanthropology
The study of human evolution, also known as palaeoanthropology, focuses on our distant and more recent human past; what shaped us as a lineage, genus, and species; and how we came to be the diverse single species we are today. However, the bulk of this research, knowledge production, and understanding has been driven by the global North to the exclusion of non‐Western scientists, despite the deep and rich fossil record of formerly colonized regio…
The Evolution of Long-Range Hunting with Stone-Tipped Weapons During the Afrotropic Middle Stone Age
In the Afrotropic biogeographic realm, with its diverse and high-density mammal population, early humans may have been hunting with stone-tipped weapons since ~500,000 years ago. Being able to hunt effectively from a distance has several important adaptive advantages. Yet, until now, African long-range javelin hunting remained unexplored as intermediate between short/medium-range, hand-delivered and long-range, mechanically projected weapons. Ins…
Stable Isotope Analysis of Pleistocene Proboscideans from Afar (Ethiopia) and the Dietary and Ecological Contexts of Palaeoloxodon
The timing, cause, and magnitude of mammalian extinctions during the African Middle Pleistocene remain largely unresolved. The demise of Elephas/Palaeoloxodon recki, a lineage that had a great geographic and temporal span, represents a particularly enigmatic case of megafaunal extinction. Previous studies of Early Pleistocene fossil material have proposed that this lineage was a strict C4-grazer, with its dietary specialization causing its extinc…
The Marine Isotope Stage 5 (∼105 ka) lithic assemblage from Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter and insights into social transmission across the Kalahari Basin and its environs
The social transmission of cultural information is widely acknowledged as a key factor in the survival of our species. This paper explores lithic technological systems to assess the presence and extent of cultural information transmission between early human groups in the Kalahari Basin and its environs during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 (∼130-74 ka). This period is crucial for understanding the development and expansion of complex behaviors in …
Characterization of new obsidian sources, artifact provenance, and inferred patterns of mobility and social dynamics in the Ethiopian Middle Stone Age
Geochemical provenance of obsidian artifacts provides critical insights into prehistoric mobility, resource exploitation strategies, and group interactions. Despite Ethiopia’s abundant obsidian outcrops and extensive archaeological record, the scope of provenance studies has been limited by several yet unidentified geological sources. This study integrates newly discovered geological obsidian sources from the Afar Rift with the characterization o…
The Early Homo Conundrum
International audience
Lap-shear and compression testing of ethnographic compound adhesives and implications for archaeology
The properties of ancient compound adhesives are gaining increasing research attention through substance identification and mechanical testing. Research on the latter relies on experimental replication as ethnographic cases of hafted stone artifacts are rare. Here we characterize the lap-shear and compression stress behaviors of a hitherto undescribed compound adhesive used for hafting stone scrapers by hideworkers in Ethiopia. We found that the …
Archaeology (18 obras) · Geography (18 obras) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (15 obras) · Geology (12 obras) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (9 obras) · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies (9 obras) · Paleontology (9 obras) · Pleistocene (7 obras) · Middle Stone Age (6 obras) · Biology (5 obras)