Book Review: Comment l'Homme? A la découverte des premiers Hominidés d'Afrique de l'Est. By Allain Gallay (ed.). Errance—Géo-Découverte Editions, Paris, 1999, 408 pp. (ISBN 2877721752)

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African Archaeological Review [aar] PP085-297578 March 7, 2001 12:34 Style file version Nov. 19th, 1999

African Archaeological Review, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2001

Book Review

Comment l’Homme? A la decouverte des premiers Hominidés d’Afrique del’Est. By Allain Gallay (ed.). Errance—Géo-Decouverte Editions, Paris,1999, 408 pp. (ISBN 2877721752).

Under the direction of Alain Gallay, from the University of Geneva, a groupof researchers, among the most renowned in their respective areas of expertise,have chosen to explore the world of the first East African hominids. These authorsexplore the immense and complex geographical area of East Africa.

Remarkably presented and illustrated by a number of wonderful photographs,the book does not merely describe man’s most ancient ancestors, but it also dealswith the milieu in a way that is at once scientific and elegant. The book may bedivided into two parts: the first presents the geography of the area of the AfricanGreat Rift since the Miocene and particularly since the Pliocene (5 million years);the second describes the evolution and behavior of the first hominids in that context.A glossary of geological, biological, ecological, and prehistoric terms; a 20-pagebibliography; and an atlas are also included in the book, which may be read in anonlinear manner, according to one’s primary interests.

The result is a remarkable publication, seeking to answer a series of ques-tions often left out in the most recent research publications which, despite theirgreat scientific value, remain in many cases imprisoned in a somewhat narrowperspective:

How can we reconstruct the way of life of our most ancient ancestors, when no model,no reference extracted from the present world may be directly used to fill the gaps in thearcheological data available and to interpret this data? (p. 6)

Claude Guérin (University Lyon I) explains in great detail the diversity of thefauna since the Plio-Pleistocene, in particular that of the large mammals (amongwhich hominids today are represented by only three species: gorilla, chimpanzeeand man). Indeed, the animal world provides precious information on the varia-tions of the region’s paleoenvironments. The author distinguishes between sevensuccessive phases, stressing on the alternation of humid and arid periods as wellas the relative distribution of forests and savanna.

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Raymonde Bonnefille (AixenProvence) retraces the botanical environment ofthe Rift. She also stresses on climatic variation, in a context that was probably lessarid than today. At the time, forests still played a key role. She demonstrates thatthe East African milieu was in fact a mosaic of quite diversified landscapes (as itis the case today), stretching from arborescent savanna to mountain forests, and toarid steppes (all of this being illustrated by remarkable photographs and plates).

Paul Mohr (University of Galway) presents the geological, geomorphological,and geographic dimensions of the system of the African rifts. Here again, thenumerous photographs are no less than spectacular. Understanding the mechanismsinvolved in the evolution of the Rift seems indeed essential, as it opens the way to35 million years of chronologically accessible paleontological and paleoclimaticdata. In an “appendix” that reads more like a complete chapter, Alain Gallay offersa synthetic presentation of the geological ensembles of the middle valley of theA wash, the region of Melka Kunturé, the basin of Lake Turkana, Lake Baringo,and the regions of Laetoli and Olduvai, that is, the main geographic zones hostinghominids in Eastern Africa, including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania.

Aside from these studies, Anne Hugon (University of Grenoble) provides afascinating description of the discovery and exploration of the great African Rift.

Alain Gallay tackles “the search for the behavior of the first men” and, in100 pages, offers a brilliant demonstration combining erudition, familiarity withthe abundant literature, and intelligent vulgarization, which should allow—amongother things—an efficient initiation of students.

The author first insists on the fact that the behavior of the first hominidscorresponds neither to the behavior of animals, nor to that of the first modernhuman groups of hunters–gatherers. In his view, it is crucial to avoid the pitfall ofcomparative analysis: the first hominids are no more Bushmen of the Kalahari thanthey are great carnivores of the savanna, or chimpanzees, which have probably toooften been studied in the perspective of a direct behavioral link with our ancientancestors. Gallay hence provides a long analysis of chimpanzees’ social structures,asking whether it is possible to use them as a model for the first hominids,Homohabilis in particular (p. 88).

Gallay reminds us that there are no general laws of history and that historiansshould therefore remain at a descriptive level. He then seeks to find his way inthe maze of available models and scenarios, providing an efficient description oftheir complex succession and insisting in particular on the most recent ones, fromMary Leakey’s to Glynn Isaac’s and Lewis Binford’s. The text is accompanied byexcellent illustrations—reconstructions and photographs.

The analysis focuses on hominids’ predatory behavior; the respective roles ofhunting and consumption of carrion; the modalities of acquisition, of preservationand of movement around food supplies:

Archeologists will be able to draw a plausible picture of the behavior of our ancestors whenthey have managed to reconstruct the complex chain of events linking the death of an animalin the savanna to the meager traces left on the ground. (p. 26)



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The diet of the different australopithecines, their way of life, and their pro-duction are presented with great clarity. The firstHomo then appear. This evo-lution takes place in an environmental context that is from now on rather wellunderstood, where “waterside forests”—forests located on the banks of a lake orwatercourse—play a key role, for their richness as well as the shelters they pro-vide. Open savannas, beyond depressions, are less favorable to hominids, sincethey host greater populations of large carnivorous animals and carrion eaters—amilieu of “high competition among species.”

We follow the evolution of industries, some of which are compared sincethey are more or less contemporary, as in the case of the Evolved Oldowan and ofthe Early Acheulian. The supplying of raw materials and cutting techniques arecovered. We witness the beginnings of planning and the standardization of cuttingtechniques, until the emergence of the Levallois technique and the advent of theMiddle Stone Age.

The text of A. Gallay shows, in a spectacular way, the great difference be-tween the behavioral patterns of theAustralopithecusand those of theHomoergaster/erectus—the first men. And how difficult it is to choose between the “an-imal” and “human” perspective in our hypotheses on the behavior of these ancientancestors.

Isabelle Gemmerich, Béatrice Pellegrini, and Alicia Sanchez-Mazas (Uni-versity of Geneva) study human ancestry in Eastern Africa, without seeking tohide the frequent confusion of available definitions. They focus on the modelsand controversies, then onHomo habilis, first representative of mankind, and onHomo erectus, who will conquer the world. The authors then reflect on the ori-gins of modern humans and the major changes recently inferred by genetics: “Theproblem with genetics is that it is absolutely incapable of locating geographicallya place of origin. All it can do is suppose that the genetic material of this or thatpresent population has more chances of resembling that of an original population”(p. 115).

The authors conclude that, around two million years ago, there occurred anexplosion of prehuman forms, perhaps in response to changes in the environmentalconditions. The issue, obviously, is to understand whyHomo habiliseventuallywon the competition.

Brigitte Senut (Museum, Paris) offers a synthetic presentation of “the evo-lution of the East African great apes and rifts” during the past 30 million years,focusing on the Pliocene, when the hominids first appeared.

Finally, Herbert Thomas (Collége de France et Museum, Paris) discusses “thecercopithecoid primates, present at the same time as the hominids in East Africa,”having shared their milieu for millions of years.

The outcome ofComment l’Homme?is highly positive. First, it providesa concrete perspective on the present environment and on possible linkages withancient times—without, however, overemphasizing possible relations. Secondly, itshows the complexity of our assumptions regarding the behavior of the most ancient



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hominids while remaining sufficiently concrete to allow the reader to understanta certain number of obscure mechanisms, in particular with regard to habitat andhunting.

To conclude, this book concisely combines erudition, richness of iconographicdocumentation, and intelligent popularization. An accomplishment that is not sofrequent among studies on the origins of humans!

Robert VernetDepartment d’HistoireFaculte des LettresUniversite de NouakchottMauritanie

Documents

Book Review: Comment l'Homme? A la découverte des premiers Hominidés d'Afrique de l'Est. By Allain Gallay (ed.). Errance—Géo-Découverte Editions, Paris, 1999, 408 pp. (ISBN 2877721752)