REPORTS

Cite as: A. L. Deino et al., Science

10.1126/science.aao2216 (2018).

Chronology of the Acheulean to Middle Stone Age

transition in eastern Africa
Alan L. Deino,1* Anna K. Behrensmeyer,2 Alison S. Brooks,3,4 John E. Yellen,5,4 Warren D. Sharp,1 Richard
Potts4,6*
1
Berkeley Geochronology Center, Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA, USA. 2Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
DC 20013-7012, USA. 3Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA. 4Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural
History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA. 5Archaeology Program, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA 22230, USA. 6Department of Earth
Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box 40658-00100, Nairobi, Kenya.
*Corresponding author. Email: adeino@bgc.org (A.L.D.); pottsr@si.edu (R.P.)

The origin of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) denotes the transition from a highly persistent mode of stone
toolmaking, the Acheulean, to a period of increasing technological innovation and cultural indicators

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associated with the evolution of Homo sapiens. Here we use 40Ar/39Ar and U-series dating to calibrate the
chronology of Acheulean- and early MSA-rich sedimentary deposits in the Olorgesailie Basin, South Kenya
Rift. We establish the age of late Acheulean tool assemblages from 615 to 499 ka, after which a large
technological and faunal transition occurred, with definitive MSA lacking Acheulean elements beginning
most likely by ~320 ka, but at least by 305 ka. These results establish the currently oldest repository of
MSA in eastern Africa.

The oldest development of the MSA has been obscure because
stratigraphic records that span the Acheulean, which is char-
acterized by distinctive large cutting tools (LCTs), to the early
MSA are rare and poorly constrained in time. Here we pre-
sent precise geochronology based on 40Ar/39Ar and U-series
dating of middle Pleistocene archeological sites in the Olor-
gesailie Basin, South Kenya rift (detailed site stratigraphy in
Fig. 1; composite stratigraphy in fig. S8), that document the
stone technology, fauna, and environments of the Acheulean
to Middle Stone Age sequence (1, 2).
As originally defined (3), the MSA lacked LCTs and
bladelet technologies, although more recent work recognizes
the presence of LCTs in some early MSA assemblages and of
bladelets especially after 70 ka. For much of the 20th century
the MSA was considered irrelevant to human evolution and
dispersal largely because the chronometric techniques and
climate correlations used in African contexts placed it at the
end of the Pleistocene, contemporary with the richer record
of European cave art and elaborate lithic toolkits. Human be-
havioral evolution during the middle Pleistocene (780-130 ka)
and into the late Pleistocene prior to 30 ka was thus poorly
understood (4).
Based on newer techniques, well-constrained oldest MSA
sites in eastern and eastern/central Africa now have esti-
mated ages ≥286 to ≤182 ka (Table 1), while the earliest fossils
attributable to Homo sapiens sensu strictu in eastern Africa
are ~160-200 ka (Table 1 and table S4; all K–Ar and 40Ar/39Ar
ages are recalculated for consistency with K decay constants
and revised standard ages (5). While recent investigations in
northern Africa suggest the coeval evolution of Homo sapiens
sensu lato and the MSA in the middle Pleistocene (6, 7), the
earliest MSA predates current evidence for the first appear-
ance of H. sapiens s.s. in eastern Africa and likely constitutes
the context in which the anatomical and behavioral charac-
teristics of our species evolved.
A summary of dates (Table 1) shows that Acheulean and
transitional industries incorporating large tools (Sangoan,
Fauresmith) disappear in Kenya before 285 ka or earlier, but
persist in areas of Ethiopia, Sudan, and southern Africa into
the end of the middle Pleistocene, after the first appearance
of Homo sapiens s.s. While there are currently twelve pub-
lished dated middle Pleistocene South African sites, only Flo-
risbad, Kathu Pan, and possibly Sterkfontein and
Wonderwerk, all in northern South Africa, have dated MSA
horizons older than Marine Isotope Stage 6 (MIS6, ~191 ka)
(8), with six that lack LCTs. Coastal MSA cave horizons older
than MIS6 appear in northwestern Africa, but are absent
from the rich later record of coastal South African caves.
Following investigations by our team on Acheulean sites,
fossil remains, and geology of the Olorgesailie Formation
dated ~1.2–0.5 Ma (9–12), research since 2002 has extended
into the Oltulelei Formation (13) containing rich accumula-
tions of MSA artifacts. Here we set out the chronostrati-
graphic controls for the end of the Acheulean and its
replacement by MSA sites in the Olorgesailie Basin, which
contains the longest stratigraphic sequence of Acheulean and
overlying MSA sites in eastern Africa. Other recent and con-
current manuscripts establish the stratigraphic and regional
geological context of post-500-ka strata at Olorgesailie (13),

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characterize the MSA sites (1), and examine the paleoenviron-
mental setting, faunal turnover, and landscape dynamics as-
sociated with the MSA in the Olorgesailie Basin (2).
The MSA sites of Olorgesailie are exposed within a ~65
km2 early to late Pleistocene sedimentary basin in the south-
ern Kenya Rift, north of the deeply eroded late Pliocene–early
Pleistocene central volcano of Mt. Olorgesailie (14) (Fig. 1, in-
set). The Pleistocene deposits lie upon older lavas dated at
2.66 ± 0.06 Ma (all chronologic uncertainties are reported
throughout at the 2σ level) (9) and the regionally extensive
Magadi Trachyte (1.4–0.8 ka) (15). Normal fault movement
contemporaneous with sedimentation has resulted in separa-
tion of the Olorgesailie Basin into three sub-basins with shift-
ing histories of terrigeneous and lacustrine sedimentary
environments (13).
The basin strata are divided into the older areally exten-
sive and horizontally stratified Olorgesailie Formation, over-
lain unconformably by channel fills and sheet deposits of the
Oltulelei Formation. This latter formation has an upper age
limit <36 ka (13), and a lower age limit established here of
~320 ka. The ~180 ka hiatus between the formations was a
time of deep erosion (>60 m-deep valley formation) and
transport of basin materials into the Koora Graben.
Members 1-14 of the Olorgesailie Formation, calibrated by
40
Ar/39Ar dating to ~1.2–0.499 Ma (9), incorporate the longest
series of excavated Acheulean sites in Africa. Members 8-14
fall in the early part of the middle Pleistocene and contain
Acheulean industries characterized by bold percussion flak-
ing and varying percentages of large cutting tools. Recently
discovered sites in Members 11 and 12 provide evidence of
variations in the Acheulean that are relevant to MSA origins
(2). Here we provide evidence establishing the age of the
Member 11 Acheulean sites and of the oldest MSA sites that
lack large cutting tools, which have been excavated in the
Olkesiteti Member of the Oltulelei Formation (1).
The chronological constraints on the MSA sites at Olorge-
sailie are mainly based on the 40Ar/39Ar dating technique ap-
plied to single phenocrysts of K-feldspar from volcaniclastic
deposits. Two variants of the 40Ar/39Ar method were used –
an early phase of the dating effort was based on single-crystal
total-fusion analyses, while later analyses advanced to single-
crystal incremental heating procedures (5). These approaches
together were applied to a total of 28 samples from approxi-
mately 20 tuffaceous units. We also present an application of
the uranium-series dating method, applied to siliceous rhizo-
liths in growth orientation preserved in a vitric tuff bed (13).
Samples were obtained from the vicinity of archeological sites
in Localities B and G, and archeological and geological sites
in Locality A (Fig. 1 and table S2 provide sample locations and
further details).
The latest known Acheulean archeological sites in the
Olorgesailie Formation (formation age range ~1.2–0.5 Ma)
First release: 15 March 2018 www.sciencemag.org
and the distinctive large-bodied grazing fauna associated
with these sites are located in Members 11, 12, and 14 (2). Pre-
vious 40Ar/39Ar ages constrained Member 11 to a 62-ka inter-
val between underlying Member 10 at 671 ± 8 ka and
overlying Member 12 at 609 ± 6 ka, with an age of 499 ± 2 ka
in Member 14 (9). New 40Ar/39Ar age determinations for Mem-
ber 11 tuffaceous deposits further constrain the archeological
materials in Member 11' to the lower part of the 6 ka interval
from 615–609 ka. The 615-ka constraint is based on two ages
on pumice from a poorly sorted silty sandstone containing
and underlying the artifacts (615.7 ± 6.9 from Locality A and
614.7 ± 5.2 ka from Locality B; a third result of 626.6 ± 7.7 ka
from Locality A was rejected as being too old (Text S3).
Archeological sites dated here in the Olkesiteti Member of
the Oltulelei Formation in Locality B occur within a 4–6 m
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thick sequence of siltstones, sandstones, and conglomerates,
with occasional pumice gravels and vitric tuffs (Fig. 1B). The
stratigraphically lowest MSA sites lie above an eroded surface
of Member 9 of the Olorgesailie Formation (757–671 ka).
40
Ar/39Ar ages were obtained from three sites (BOK-1E, BOK-
2, and BOK-4; Fig. 1B) (1), all within a lateral distance of 130
m.
MSA site BOK-1E underlies a succession of vitric tuffs with
concordant ages of 303.7 ± 8.4 and 306.1 ± 9.5 ka (section B10-
01/B08-06, Fig. 1B). These are in turn overlain unconformably
by much younger pumice gravels of the Oltepesi Member of
the Oltulelei Formation, yielding ages of 264.1 ± 1.3 and 158.5
± 3.8 ka. While the minimum age of the site is established by
these dated tuffs at >305 ka, the maximum age is not simi-
larly constrained and must be estimated through sedimento-
logical arguments. We suggest an estimate of ~320 ka, based
on considerations of fluvial sedimentology. This stratigraphic
interval consists of a single upward-fining cycle with intervals
of pedogenesis, and for this fluvial system ~10-20 ka (i.e., 15
ka) of accumulation is considered a reasonable estimate (16).
Site BOK-2 (section B03-03, Fig. 1B) is similarly con-
strained by an overlying pair of vitric tuffs, potentially correl-
ative to those above BOK-1E. Their ages upward are 305.2 ±
6.8 and 302.2 ± 6.3 ka. The lowest dated tuff lies less than a
meter above the BOK-2 artifact levels without indication of a
significant unconformity. Site BOK-4 occurs within a channel
fill incised into the BOK-1E/BOK-2 stratigraphy (section B06-
02, Fig. 1B). 40Ar/39Ar ages were obtained on seven pumice
gravels intercalated with the artifact horizons within a ~2.5
m interval. For convenience, we have grouped the gravels into
a lower bed, middle sequence of five dated gravels, and a cap-
ping gravel with ages of 297.0 ± 3.2, 298.4 ± 1.5, and 295.1 ±
6.4 ka, respectively. The entire episode of over 4 m of channel
cutting and filling at BOK-4 was completed in just ~6-7 ka
after deposition of sites BOK-1 and BOK-2. In brief, the BOK
sites began accumulating as early as ~320 ka and terminated
by ~295 ka.
(Page numbers not final at time of first release) 2
 MSA sites in Locality G are distributed roughly north-
south over a distance of ~1.1 km, in strata of the Olkesiteti
Member of the Oltulelei Formation (Fig. 1C). Most of the tuff
samples that date these sites also are from this member. Six
pumiceous tuff units were analyzed by the 40Ar/39Ar method,
with additional age control from U-series dating.
The U-series sample, consisting of silica and carbonate re-
placing roots or stems in the oldest tuff unit in Locality G,
yielded the precise age of 277.1 ± 1.8 ka (unit G-T1 in Fig. 1C,
section G06-08). This tuff occurs in strata that overlie an ero-
sional unconformity above the MSA archeological material at
GOK-1, which occurs in a thick (~2.5 m), well developed red-
dish paleosol (Fig. 1C, section G08-01). Several factors suggest
that site is considerably older than the U-series date: its oc-
currence in a thick paleosol, presence of an erosional uncon-
formity at the top of the paleosol marking a cut-and-fill
sedimentary cycle, and >1 m of strata beneath the dated tuff
in section G06-08. These elements suggest that GOK-1 may
have equal or greater antiquity than the BOK MSA sites.
Multiple 40Ar/39Ar results from pumice tuffs in Locality G
above the level of the U-series date tightly constrain the age
of the prolific MSA site GOK-1s (Fig. 1C). This site occurs
within a few tens of cm of fine siltstone between the upper
pair of a widespread group of three closely spaced tuffs,infor-
mally called the Triple tuffs and assigned to the Oltulelei
Tuffs (13). These tuffs yielded indistinguishable mean ages
from 219.5 ± 3.6 to 221.8 ± 3.5 ka (Fig. 1C). Employing a Bayes-
ian chronology model for the Locality G samples (fig. S7), we
estimate that the duration of the stratigraphic interval of
GOK-1s was ≤ 1.5 ka.
MSA artifact sites GOK-3 and GOK-4 in Locality G are also
constrained by the underlying Triple tuffs, and by two over-
lying pumice horizons within ~1.5 m of the artifact levels: a
3–10 cm pumice tuff unit G-T6 at 215.3 ± 2.3 ka, and pumice
gravel within the erosional base of a channel deposit at 207.1
± 4.4 ka (G-T7) (Fig. 1C).
This new sequence of precise dates from the Olorgesailie
Basin in the southern Kenya Rift, relying primarily on the
40
Ar/39Ar technique but also utilizing innovative U-series
methodologies, provides the first secure chronostratigraphic
constraints on the early establishment of Middle Stone Age
lifeways in eastern Africa and on the end of the Acheulean by
~320 ka. Although the latest Acheulean site is found in Mem-
ber 14 of the Olorgesailie Formation at ~499 ka, earlier vari-
ations in the Acheulean showing a greater degree of stone
raw material selectivity for toolmaking, including rocks from
distant sources, thus potentially anticipating aspects of MSA
behavior (2), occur in Member 11 at ~615–609 ka, Member 12
at ~609 ka, and Member 14 at ~499 ka. Following a period of
deep erosion at Olorgesailie between ~499 and ~320 ka, MSA
technological innovations, including important cultural
First release: 15 March 2018 www.sciencemag.org
markers such as long-distance obsidian transport and pig-
ment processing (1), are preserved in the Oltulelei Formation
beginning most likely by 320 ka and no later than 305 ka.
These ages also imply that a major shift in landscapes and
mammalian biota of the southern Kenya rift (2) had occurred
by 320 ka.
This newly calibrated archeological sequence provides a
secure basis for comparison with the limited sample of other
well-dated Acheulean and MSA occurrences in Kenya and
elsewhere in Africa. Evidence for an increased pace of envi-
ronmental change that now is well documented in the Olor-
gesailie sequence suggests that eastern Africa was important
to the development of MSA technological, social, and cogni-
tive innovations in human behavior prior to 300 ka as a key
region fostering the development of a more widespread set of
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behavioral changes related to the emergence of H. sapiens.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank the National Museums of Kenya and Kenya Government permission
granted by the Ministry of Sports, Culture and the Arts, and NACOSTI permit
P/14/7709/683. We thank J. Clark for assistance in preparation of the
manuscript. Funding: Laboratory analyses were supported by National Science
Foundation grant EAR-1322017 (A.L.D.). Fieldwork was funded by the Peter Buck
Fund for Human Origins Research, Human Origins Program (Smithsonian), and
NSF HOMINID Program grant BCS-0218511 (R.P.). Author contributions: A.L.D.
contributed 40Ar/39Ar geochronology; W.D.S. contributed U-Series
geochronology; A.K.B. led stratigraphic studies, with input from A.L.D., R.P., and
W.D.S; archeological data contributed by A.S.B., J.E.Y. and R.P. Competing
interests: The authors have no competing interests. J.E.Y. contributed to this
article in his personal capacity; any opinions, findings, and conclusions or
recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the NSF. Data and materials availability: All
geochronological data are available in the paper or in online supplementary
materials. Samples and field notes are archived at the Berkeley Geochronology
Center.
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Tables S1 to S10
References (34–65)

27 June 2017; accepted 14 February 2018

Published online 15 March 2018
10.1126/science.aao2216

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 Fig. 1. Locations, stratigraphic
relationships, and stratigraphic placement
of localities, archeological sites and dated
tuffaceous beds. (A) Olorgesailie Formation,
Member 11 in Localities A and B. M11-Tu
indices are samples 1) OL11/A-7p; 2)
A97/ALD-6p; 3) OL11/B-1p. (B) Oltulelei
Formation in Locality B and BOK sites. (C)
Oltulelei Formation in Locality G and GOK
sites. Inset maps show location of Olorgesailie
(top) and of stratigraphic locations for panels
(A), (B), and (C). Stratigraphic relationships
are based on field mapping of channel margins
and lithologies (13). Dashed lines indicate
inferred correlations between beds while solid
lines are more traceable and secure. Numbers
above columns are Lat-Long positions and

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stratigraphic section designations. Note that
lateral section positions are not to scale.

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Table 1. Eastern African MSA and Acheulean Middle Pleistocene sites with published K–Ar or 40Ar/39Ar age estimates from ~600 to ~180
ka, excluding new Olorgesailie Formation (Member 11) analyses reported in this paper. Ages are recalculated using revised K decay constants
(17), and astronomically calibrated standard ages (Fish Canyon Tuff sanidine = 28.201 Ma (18); Alder Creek Rhyolie sanidine = 1.1848 Ma (19).

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Age estimate LCTs Pigment
Industry References Country
(ka ± 2σ) present present
MSA sites
Omo Kibish KHS levels 2-3, AHS, Member I 197 ± 4 MSA X (20, 21) Ethiopia
Gademotta (Kulkuletti Unit 15) 72-1 ≤ 182 ± 10 early MSA X (22, 23) Ethiopia
Gademotta (Unit 12) ETH72-7B < 274 ± 2 early MSA X (22, 23) Ethiopia
Gademotta (Units 9 and 10) ETH72-8B ≥ 274 ± 2 early MSA (22, 23) Ethiopia
Kapthurin, Kampi ya Samaki beds (upper K4) 237 ± 4 MSA (24, 25) Kenya
Kapthurin, Sibiloi School Road / Koimolot (upper
~250 – 200* MSA (26) Kenya
Bed K4)
Kapthurin, K4 286 ± 24 MSA (24, 25) Kenya
Kapthurin, Upper K3/Lower K4; GnJh-15, -17 Acheulean with
512 ± 18 – 286 ± 24 (24, 25) Kenya
(upper), -63, GnJi-28 blades/MSA?
230 ± 10, 220 ± 90,
Olduvai Ndutu Beds, Upper MSA (27, 28) Tanzania
380 ± 20, >260†
Acheulean sites
Herto - Lower 262 ± 32 Acheulean X (29) Ethiopia
Andalee <554 ± 61‡ Acheulean/Sangoan X (30, 31) Ethiopia
Bodo <554 ± 61§ Acheulean X (30) Ethiopia
Mieso 208 ± 16|| Acheulean X (32) Ethiopia
Kapthurin, upper K3, GnJh-17 (lower), GnJh-15,
512 ± 18 – 286 ± 24 Acheulean, w blades X (24, 25) Kenya
-03, -05
Kapthurin, GnJh-41, -42, -57 (lower K3′) 556 ± 15 – 546 ± 8 Core+flake/Acheulean? X (24, 25) Kenya
Kapthurin K2 610 ± 80 – 546 ± 8 Acheulean X (24, 25) Kenya
Olorgesailie Mbr 10 671 ± 8 Acheulean X (9) Kenya
Olorgesailie Mbr 12 609 ± 6 Acheulean X (9) Kenya
Olorgesailie Mbr 14 499 ± 2 Acheulean X (9) Kenya
Lainyamok, Khaki 2 397 ± 8 – 334 ± 12 MSA? (indeterminate) X (33) Kenya
*Not directly dated; estimated based on chemical compositional trends and reference to (24). †Not peer-reviewed; complicated dating situation subject to re-
interpretation. ‡Age assigned via stratigraphic correlation with Bodo sequence. §Recalculated from sample 90-20 of (30). ||Acheulean sites below and
above dated tuff.

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Chronology of the Acheulean to Middle Stone Age transition in eastern Africa
Alan L. Deino, Anna K. Behrensmeyer, Alison S. Brooks, John E. Yellen, Warren D. Sharp and Richard Potts

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