Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents an analysis of the Lower and Middle Pleistocene archaeological and paleontological records. It compares animal-part profiles from prey of various sizes in order to construct inferences concerning the nature of food packages collected by hominins. The book offers a comparative analysis of bone surface damage patterns in order to understand the nature of the nutritional resources targeted by hominin butchery practices. It departs from a prevailing interest in the inference of cognitive capabilities, focusing on the potential of lithic assemblages to provide information concerning site use dynamics, mobility patterns, settlement systems, and the design of important technologies. The book works from the premise that stone tool assemblages may be important sources of information about whether hominins used sites as home bases or other forms of special activity areas. It argues that increasing brain size was linked with the diversification of subsistence activities and population increases.