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Reply to Barkai: Implications of the Konso bone handaxe

Gen Suwa, Berhane Asfaw, View ORCID ProfileKatsuhiro Sano, and Yonas Beyene
PNAS December 8, 2020 117 (49) 30894-30895; first published October 27, 2020; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2018084117
Gen Suwa
aThe University Museum, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan;
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  • For correspondence: gsuwa@um.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Berhane Asfaw
bRift Valley Research Service, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;
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Katsuhiro Sano
cCenter for Northeast Asian Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8576, Japan;
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  • ORCID record for Katsuhiro Sano
Yonas Beyene
dAssociation for Conservation of Culture Hawassa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;
eFrench Center for Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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This article has a Letter. Please see:

  • Lower Paleolithic bone handaxes and chopsticks: Tools and symbols? - October 27, 2020

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  • A 1.4-million-year-old bone handaxe from Konso, Ethiopia, shows advanced tool technology in the early Acheulean
    - Jul 13, 2020
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We welcome Ran Barkai’s thoughts (1) on the symbolic significance of the Konso bone handaxe that we recently reported (2). First, we agree that African Homo erectus at 1.4 Mya may have been considerably sophisticated in their cognitive capacities, including potential symbolic perception and behavior. Indeed, the technological context of the find suggests a higher level of cognition than previously thought, a point we further discuss below. Next, we note that, although bone marrow was exploited, fragmented fresh bones at processing sites are covered with soft tissue. One experimental work (3) reports that presence of periosteum precludes efficient controlled percussion, and another reports that weathered bone …

↵1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: gsuwa{at}um.u-tokyo.ac.jp.

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Reply to Barkai: Implications of the Konso bone handaxe
Gen Suwa, Berhane Asfaw, Katsuhiro Sano, Yonas Beyene
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Dec 2020, 117 (49) 30894-30895; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2018084117

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Reply to Barkai: Implications of the Konso bone handaxe
Gen Suwa, Berhane Asfaw, Katsuhiro Sano, Yonas Beyene
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Dec 2020, 117 (49) 30894-30895; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2018084117
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