The YAS-1 Middle Stone Age site at Gona, Afar, Ethiopia

Summary

Tentatively dated to MIS 5/4, the YAS-1 (Ya’alu South 1) site at Gona, Ethiopia is a high-density open-air archaeological site preserving classic Middle Stone Age (MSA) stone tools such as Levallois cores, points, and blades in addition to a variety of fossil fauna, some with bone modifications including cut marks. While most of the archaeological material has been found on the surface over the last ten years, recent excavations have documented both lithics and fauna in situ. Though the zooarchaeological remains and depositional context of the site will be discussed, the emphasis here will be on the lithic assemblage, which includes Levallois points, Levallois blades, Levallois cores including asymmetrical discoids or “Aduma cores,” prismatic blades, blade cores, and a small number of retouched tools. Both obsidian and silicates (mainly cherts) were used to manufacture both points and blades. Ongoing and future research at the site will hope to refine the site’s age, identify the obsidian source(s) of the obsidian artifacts, and expand the excavated archaeological sample.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Parting the Red Sea: Late Pleistocene Lithic Variability and Human Dispersals in the Horn of Africa and Arabia

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