New insights into hominin lithic activities at FLK North Bed I, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania F. Diez-Martin a, ⁎, P. Sanchez Yustos a , M. Domínguez-Rodrigo b,g , A.Z.P. Mabulla c , H.T. Bunn d , G.M. Ashley e , R. Barba b , E. Baquedano f,g a Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Valladolid, Plaza del Campus s/n, 47011 Valladolid, Spain b Department of Prehistory, Complutense University, Prof. Aranguren s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain c Archaeology Unit, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, P.O. Box 35050, Tanzania d Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA e Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8066, USA f Museo Arqueológico Regional, Plaza de las Bernardas s/n, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain g IDEA (Instituto de Evolución en África), Museo de los Orígenes, Plaza de San Andrés 2, 28005 Madrid, Spain abstract article info Article history: Received 16 November 2009 Available online 30 August 2010 Keywords: Technology Typology Operational sequences Battering activities Knapping activities Landscape strategies Hominin impact Plant resources Recent work at FLK North (FLK N) has unearthed a new archaeological assemblage recovered with precise control of its stratigraphic position. In the present work, the technological study of the new lithic sample is described. The results show the co-occurrence in the same site of different technological behaviors. At FLK N, hominins were involved in both percussion/battering activities and, through freehand and bipolar knapping, in core reduction. However, the reconstruction of the operational sequences shows that core reduction was probably a marginal behavior, while percussion/battering activities occurred more regularly throughout the sequence. If hominins were not involved in regular carcass processing, as recent taphonomic studies suggest, then hominins' sporadic and low-impact visits to the site over a long period of time must have been driven by other activities probably linked to the exploitation of alternative resources. Plant processing could have been a plausible explanation for hominin presence at FLK N. © 2010 University of Washington. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Introduction FLK North (FLK N), located on a ridge about 60 m north of the FLK site, was first excavated in 1960 (Leakey, 1971). Fieldwork unearthed a sedimentary sequence spanning ~7.31 m in depth, which included three fossil-bearing horizons in Lower and Middle Bed II sediments and six more levels in Upper Bed I, right below the marker Tuff 1F, dated to 1.79 Ma (Walter et al., 1991). The 1.52-m-deep sequence excavated in the Bed I sediments of FLK N revealed rich accumulations of fossil bones and artifacts. In her landmark work on the lithic industry of Olduvai, Leakey (1971, 1976) provided a detailed account of the lithic collections retrieved from this site. The material excavated at FLK N totaled 2019 objects. Leakey (1971) concluded that at this site the main knapping goal was chopper production, as 46.5% out of the total tool sample retrieved was included in this type. A high percentage of débitage (N 50% of the total sample) indicated that hominins were involved in intense knapping activities probably related to carcass processing, a behavioral pattern that seemed to be in agreement with the functional scenario of living floors and butchering sites (but see Leakey 1971, 1976). Since Leakey's work, other researchers have used parts of the FLK N lithic dataset (Bower 1977; Roche, 1980; Willoughby 1987; Potts 1988; Sahnouni, 1993; Brantingham, 1998). Apart from Leakey's work, two other studies have been devoted to re-examining the complete lithic collection of FLK N (Ludwig 1999; de la Torre and Mora, 2005a). De la Torre and Mora's work is of particular interest, as it constitutes the only published comprehensive reassessment of the entire FLK N collection retrieved by Leakey. De la Torre and Mora's diagnosis differs drastically from the ones previously proposed (Leakey 1971; Potts, 1988). These authors suggest that here, hominins were preferentially involved in battering activities. They argue that knapping activities were residual and they depict an alternative scenario in which hominins were basically involved in the intense percussion of a variety of organic materials, particularly long bone shafts. However, no evidence of hammerstone-broken bones has been found in most of the FLK N sequence (Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2007). Recent work at FLK N undertaken by our team has unearthed a new archaeological assemblage (Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2010). This paper presents the technological study of the new lithic sample retrieved. Our diagnosis of the hominin behavior observed at this site concludes that archaeological items related to battering activities are Quaternary Research 74 (2010) 376–387 ⁎ Corresponding author. Fax: +34 983 423 197. E-mail address: fernando.diez.martin@uva.es (F. Diez-Martin). 0033-5894/$ – see front matter © 2010 University of Washington. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2010.07.019 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yqres