New Evidence Suggests
That Basket Making
May Have Begun 2 Million Years Ago
ABSTRACT: Recent excavations at the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, Africa have revealed new information about some of the earliest hominins, probably Homo habilis, from 2 million years ago. For the purposes of this article, the main point is that these early humans walked 12 km or 7.5 miles to gather specific stones that they used for making Oldowan stone tools and for putting together a toolkit. And these specific stones made up the majority of stones found. They did this for several hundred thousand years. I argue that to do this, they probably had containers or early baskets to help them carry a large collection of stones back to their settlements, since walking that far would have been counterproductive if they only gathered a few stones. Next in this article, I show how very simple carriers could have been from natural plant materials, carriers that might have been like some of the earliest baskets.
INTRODUCTION
An important archeological find has added hard evidence to the possibility that the origins of basketry may have begun 2 million years ago.
Recently archaeologists determined that some early hominins (probably Homo habilis), about 2 million years ago in the now famous Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, made the same type of Oldowan stone tools for hundreds of thousands of years, even though the environment changed radically during that time. And the archaeologists were able to determine that the stones that were used to make the tools were found far from the hominins' settlement.
A close examination of the tools revealed that these hominins chose their rocks carefully for different purposes and in doing so created a toolkit of various implements. And even more surprising, they walked 12 km (7.5 miles) from their camp to find specific kinds of quartzite. Moreover, they found the majority of these stones by traveling this far. All of this implies planning and it also implies a fairly sophisticated knowledge that was passed down from generation to generation.
So my observation is that if they were this smart, they probably made other things as well. And this is why early basketry or containers might be a part of the story. If they walked a distance to find certain stones, wouldn't they also have made some containers to carry the stones back?
LINKS AND QUOTATIONS
ABOUT THE ARCHEOLOGICAL FIND
ABOUT THE ARCHEOLOGICAL FIND
The findings were summed up in this way:
"Early hominins succeeded by being generalists with basic, versatile tools."
(Arstechnica.com, 2 Million Years Ago)
Read the summaries of this study
2-Million-Year-Old Stone Tools Unearthed in Tanzania
This Is How Hominins Adapted To A Changing World 2 Million Years Ago
Read the entire original article
(a PDF download is also available at this site).
Earliest Olduvai Hominins Exploited Unstable Environments ~ 2 Million Years Ago
"The scientists also compared the chemical composition of the Ewass Oldupa tools [ED: the tools found in the excavation] and determined the MAJORITY [ED: my emphasis] of rocks used to make them had been obtained 12 km (7.5 miles) away from the site.“This indicates planned behavior at an early stage in human evolution,” said co-author Julien Favreau, a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Mcmaster University."(Sci-news.com, 2 Million Years Ago)
"The oldest evidence we have for early human relatives at Olduvai Gorge is a handful of stone tools, made and used around 2.03 million years ago."They seemed to choose different materials—in some cases as specific as choosing slightly different types of quartzite from different outcrops—for particular tools. (A study last year also suggested that the earliest toolmakers in our family tree knew enough to choose their materials wisely.)"(Arstechnica.com, 2 Million Years Ago)
THE ORIGINS OF BASKETRY
If these early hominins were this smart, they could have woven containers out of leaves, vines, grasses, and branches since these were the most available materials. Or they could have made pouches out of animal skins or made a carrying device with gourd-like plants. Or they might have made these carriers with a combination of techniques.
Plus these containers or proto-baskets would have been part of the basic toolkit. They would have been one of the tools that worked alongside and complimented the other tools in the toolkit.
I believe that prehistoric containers or baskets were tools, yet when I read about basketry, in particular, it is not usually characterized as a technology and individual baskets are not often thought of as tools. But they were just that. A basket was a tool just as an Oldowan stone chopper or scrapper was a tool. Containers are essential and common to all cultures according to Dr. Donald Brown in his book Human Universals (1991).
In any case, these hominins needed a way to put together the many stones they had collected after walking 12 km and to carry them back when they made the return journey.
It is also important to note that the plants for making baskets would have changed as the environment changed. While the types of stones hominins looked for would have remained the same, the plant life varied. But, as is well known, baskets can be made from a wide variety of local plants, so continuing to make baskets with different plants would not have been out of the question for this young technology.
EARLY BASKET DESIGNS AND TECHNOLOGY
There are many things in nature that could have sparked the imagination of early hominins to make or weave baskets such as various bird nests, spider webs, or a tangle of plant growth which demonstrates how interwoven branches and vines can be quite strong and resilient.
As I wrote in an earlier article, there is fossil evidence of Oldowan stone tools and weaverbirds remains, birds that made elaborate woven basket-like nests, that were found together in the Bed I layer at Olduvai Gorge. These bird nests could have provided a model for early baskets.
Paleolithic Evidence Shows That Homo Habilis
Could Have Learned Weaving From Weaverbirds (Ploceidae)
Could Have Learned Weaving From Weaverbirds (Ploceidae)
A weaverbird nest (left) and a random weave basket (right).
NOTE: While the earlier find is consistent with the same general time frame as that of this recent archeological find, i.e., 2 mya, it is in a different area of the Gorge. Bird fossils were found at the Ewass Oldupa site where this study was done but unfortunately I cannot determine if they included weaverbirds.
"The concentration of stone tools and animal fossils (wild cattle, pigs, hippos, panthers, lions, hyena, primates, reptiles, and birds) at the Ewass Oldupa site are evidence that both human and animal life centered around water sources."(Sci-news.com, 2 Million Years Ago)
THE FIRST CONTAINERS/BASKETS?
While I believe that basic early basketry could have been learned based on observations by hominins of weaverbird nests, I also think that prior to that, simple proto-baskets could have been made. These baskets might have required only minutes to create and could probably have been made as needed while hunting or gathering. It may have only taken a few folds of large leaves, for example, or the intertwining of smaller leaves and branches to make a container.
"Traditional water container made from palm leaves from Camenaça / East Timor" (Commons.wikimedia.org)
This very simple water container (above) shows how easily a container or proto-basket could have been made.
View the next video that shows how to make a cup that holds water that is made from a flat sheet of printing paper. Making such a cup takes about a minute. Something like this could easily have been made by Homo habilis from a large leaf or several leaves or other plant materials. These could have been modified to work as carrying baskets with a handle or straps to carry on the back or to hang from the shoulder.
How To Make A Paper Cup That Holds Water (HD) (1.5-minute video)
This recent archeological excavation found that palm trees were part of the changing environment at one time. Palm leaves are especially useful for making simple fast woven-fiber items.
“Our research reveals that the geological, sedimentary and plant landscapes around Ewass Oldupa changed a lot, and quickly,” the researchers said.“Yet humans kept coming back here to use local resources for over 200,000 years.“They used a great diversity of habitats: fern meadows, woodland mosaics, naturally burned landscapes, lakeside PALM GROVES,[ED: my emphasis] steppes.”(Sci-news.com, 2 Million Years Ago)
The next video shows how to make a very simple but more advanced basket and uses standard basket weaving techniques. It uses paper strips and takes about five minutes to create. This use of strips is similar to basket-weaving with palm leaves detailed next.
Paper Weaving Basket (4-minute video)
This basket is created like the palm leaf basket next.
This next how-to video shows how to make a 'primitive' traditional basket. It is based on the same principles as the paper basket in the video above. It is strong and durable but not complicated and only takes minutes to make.
How To Make A Primitive Basket (5-minute video)
A simple quick basket made from palm leaves.
Photo from the video of the finished basket.
Carrying basket of the Sherente people in Brazil.
National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan. Collected in 1977.
(Commons.wikimedia.org)
National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan. Collected in 1977.
(Commons.wikimedia.org)
A basket that uses the basic simple weaving method shown above.
So as basket-weaving developed, Hominins might have used strips of palm leaves or other such plant material to make similar items, since one of their changing environments included palm trees.
See the next set of pictures about karagumoy leaves in the Philippines that can be used to create strong but basic baskets. (Click on any picture to see the images as a 'slide show'.)
"Pandanus simplex is an economically important species of Pandanus (screwpine) (They are palm-like, dioecious trees) endemic to the Philippines. It is commonly known as karagumoy (also spelled karagomoy or karagomoi) or kalagimay. Its leaves and fibers are used widely in the Philippines for thatching, ropes, and weaving various traditional handicrafts like baskets and mats." (Wikipedia.com) (Commons.wikimedia.org)
CONCLUSION
But again, the key point is quite simple. Would these intelligent hominins spend a full day (round trip plus gathering) walking to a place 12 km away without having a container to help them carry back the stones that they had found? This does not seem likely.
So I believe this study now adds one more bit of evidence, to the many others I have written about in previous articles, that suggests that basketry may have begun quite early in the evolution of hominins.
_______________________________________________________
AFTERWORD
Instead of the "Stone Age," it might be more appropriate to describe earlier eras of human existence as also being in the "Basket Age." When basketry started is, of course, up for debate. It might have been in the Upper Paleolithic or the Lower Paleolithic, for example.
In earlier articles, I have made the point that for about 100 years archeological authorities held that basket-weaving was not possible before 10 - 15 kya, i.e., it was a technology of Neolithic agricultural societies. These authorities felt that basket-making would have been too demanding and time consuming for earlier hunter-gatherer societies. So this idea effectively prevented any explorations into the possibility of basketry in the Paleolithic era, the era of hunter-gatherers. Now, finally, that barrier has been disproved and it is clear that basket making did happen in at least the Upper Paleolithic and possibly earlier. I have written about this in detail in my series of articles about basket-weaving.
See a full list of these articles:
However, the question still remains, how long ago did basketry begin? The current thinking is that it probably began in the earliest part of the Upper Paleolithic or perhaps 40 - 50 kya. Yet I believe it could have happened much earlier, i.e., 2-3 mya or millions of years ago. The key point is this: Now that we know that basket-weaving was not incompatible with a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and would have made a major survival difference, it could have begun with our earliest hunter-gatherer ancestors, Homo erectus or even Homo habilis.
We humans have been hunter-gatherers for millions of years while agriculture has been around for only 10-20 thousand years and civilization for a mere 5 thousand years. When human-like creatures were just getting a foothold on survival millions of years ago, basket technology would have proven invaluable. It would have enhanced the ability to gather plants, collect fish, and carry various materials, for example. Plus these people lived in the natural world of plants and fibers -- the materials needed to make baskets, so it seems logical that they would have made carrying devices.
The problem, of course, is that fibers decay and do not leave much evidence behind. But with modern forensics, we may be able to overcome this barrier such as looking at the microwear cutting patterns on Oldowan and Acheulean stone tools.
It is important to note that two well-respected anthropologists came up with a list of cultural universals, i.e., attributes common to all cultures, which included several things that were consistent with the idea that early cultures could have made baskets. George Murdock in the book, The Common Denominator of Cultures in The Science of Man in the World Crisis (Edited by Ralph Linton, New York: Columbia University Press; 1945: 123-142) listed weaving, tool-making, and ethno-botany as common to all cultures. Donald Brown in his book Human Universals (1991), listed tool and tool making, cordage, and containers.
In my past articles, I have listed over 20 facts that suggest basketry could have begun much earlier than previously thought.
And if it turns out that basketry was practiced millions or hundreds of thousands of years ago, we might need to revise our ideas about early human technology. As an article in Discovery Magazine suggested, we may want to rethink our categories. Instead of characterizing these early hominin time-periods as only belonging to the "Stone Age" it might make sense to think of them also as belonging to a "Basket Age."
(Menon, 1996, The Basket Age)
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Footnotes
Arstechnica.com. Smith, Kiona, author. "This is how hominins adapted to a changing world 2 million years ago: Early hominins succeeded by being generalists with basic, versatile tools." January 8, 2021. Accessed January 12, 2021.
Menon, Shanti. "The Basket Age." Discovery Magazine, January 1996 Issue. Accessed January 12, 2021.<https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-basket-age>
Nature.com. Authors: Mercader, J., Akuku, P., Boivin, N. et al. "Earliest Olduvai hominins exploited unstable environments ~ 2 million years ago." Nat Commun 12, 3 (2021). Accessed January 12, 2021. <https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20176-2>
Sci-news.com (News staff). "2-Million-Year-Old Stone Tools Unearthed in Tanzania." Jan 11, 2021. Accessed January 12, 2021.
