How to read stone tools: A new mode system for describing variation in the Eastern African lithic record?

Classification of stone artifacts is challenging yet essential for understanding hominin behavior in the deep past. The Prehistoric Stone Tools of Eastern Africa: A Guide attempts (a) to provide students interested in Eastern African archeology with a simple and straightforward introduction to stone tools; (b) to facilitate intraregional comparative analysis over time and space; and (c) to provide a new framework for investigating evolutionary and historically vital questions about hominins inhabiting the area. It accomplishes these goals exceptionally well, offering both a comprehensive overview of stone tool evidence in Eastern Africa as well as a novel system through which lithics from this region can be examined, the Eastern African Stone Tool (EAST) Typology. The book's author, John Shea, is successful in convincing the reader that the EAST Typology could reform stone tool systematics in Eastern African archeology; his expertise as an experienced stone tool analyst is demonstrated throughout this guide, yet how feasible his proposed overhaul of Eastern African stool tool systematics will prove to be, and how widely his novel framework will be applied, remains to be seen. Unlike archeological theory and methods, which have seen consistent review, the classification of Eastern African stone tools has not experienced similar development. Multiple systems are presently adopted for categorizing African stone tools of similar age and provenance, such as Africa's 'Three Age System' and Modes 1-5, though whether these actually reflect patterning in the existing evidence is highly debated, especially as they inevitably undervalue the diversity and complexity of variation in the African archeological record. Because of this “lithics system anarchy” (a phrase coined by Shea), many prominent scholars have previously called for a reform in stone tool systematics, yet, so far, these have had little, if any, effect on scientific practice. For example, delegates of the 1965 Burg Warstenstein conference proposed that the 'Three Age system' should be abandoned; however, they failed to produce an effective alternative and this terminology widely remains in use. Despite previous calls for continental-wide change being largely unsuccessful, Shea's novel typology has good potential to drastically improve stone tool systematics in Eastern African archeology. This is primarily because the author does not demand the rejection of widely used nomenclatures, as have previous reformation attempts, but rather methodologically addresses problematic areas specific to Eastern African archeology, such as redundant named stone tool industries (also widely known as 'NASTIES'), in order to enhance the accuracy of stone tool categorization and standardize archeological practice in the region. Standardization could ultimately improve the accuracy of comparisons between sites which would greatly enhance our understanding of hominin behavior in the region. One of the main issues with not having a single set of standards through which to describe, classify, measure, or analyze stone tool evidence is that it makes it largely impossible to differentiate between variation deriving from hominin behavior across Eastern African sites and that introduced by semantics; the EAST Typology offers an impartial solution to this issue. Impressively, this guide offers also one of the most comprehensive syntheses of Eastern African stone tool evidence to date. Despite the ever-increasing number of archeologists interested in Eastern Africa stone tool archeology and the huge amount of research interest (and funding) dedicated to understanding hominin behavioral evolution in the region, the last major overview of the Eastern African Stone Age record was published in the 1950s. Shea's handbook therefore fulfills the need for a revised report detailing the current stone tool evidence, as well as an updated evaluation of how this body of evidence should be approached in practice. The EAST Typology borne from this synthesis offers a bespoke approach for the analysis of stone tool data across the expanse of Eastern African prehistory which could be very powerful coupled with transparent quantitative analysis.As noted by the author, it is especially poignant to fully understand behavior in this region due to its pivotal role in understanding long-term trends in hominin evolution.

hominins inhabiting the area. It accomplishes these goals exceptionally well, offering both a comprehensive overview of stone tool evidence in Eastern Africa as well as a novel system through which lithics from this region can be examined, the Eastern African Stone Tool (EAST) Typology. The book's author, John Shea, is successful in convincing the reader that the EAST Typology could reform stone tool systematics in Eastern African archeology; his expertise as an experienced stone tool analyst is demonstrated throughout this guide, yet how feasible his proposed overhaul of Eastern African stool tool systematics will prove to be, and how widely his novel framework will be applied, remains to be seen.
Unlike archeological theory and methods, which have seen consistent review, the classification of Eastern African stone tools has not experienced similar development. Multiple systems are presently adopted for categorizing African stone tools of similar age and provenance, such as Africa's 'Three Age System' and Modes 1-5, 1,2 though whether these actually reflect patterning in the existing evidence is highly debated, especially as they inevitably undervalue the diversity and complexity of variation in the African archeological record. [3][4][5] Because of this "lithics system anarchy" (a phrase coined by Shea), many prominent scholars have previously called for a reform in stone tool systematics, 6-8 yet, so far, these have had little, if any, effect on scientific practice. For example, delegates of the 1965 Burg Warstenstein conference proposed that the 'Three Age system' 1 should be abandoned; however, they failed to produce an effective alternative and this terminology widely remains in use. 3,4 Despite previous calls for continental-wide change being largely unsuccessful, Shea's novel typology has good potential to drastically improve stone tool systematics in Eastern African archeology. This is primarily because the author does not demand the rejection of widely used nomenclatures, as have previous reformation attempts, but rather methodologically addresses problematic areas specific to Eastern African archeology, such as redundant named stone tool industries 9 (also widely known as 'NASTIES'), in order to enhance the accuracy of stone tool categorization and standardize archeological practice in the region. Standardization could ultimately improve the accuracy of comparisons between sites which would greatly enhance our understanding of hominin behavior in the region. One of the main issues with not having a single set of standards through which to describe, classify, measure, or analyze stone tool evidence is that it makes it largely impossible to differentiate between variation deriving from hominin behavior across Eastern African sites and that introduced by semantics; the EAST Typology offers an impartial solution to this issue. Impressively, this guide offers also one of the most comprehensive syntheses of Eastern African stone tool evidence to date.
Despite the ever-increasing number of archeologists interested in Eastern Africa stone tool archeology and the huge amount of research interest (and funding) dedicated to understanding hominin behavioral evolution in the region, the last major overview of the Eastern African Stone Age record was published in the 1950s. 10 Shea's handbook therefore fulfills the need for a revised report detailing the current stone tool evidence, as well as an updated evaluation of how this body of evidence should be approached in practice. The EAST Typology borne from this synthesis offers a bespoke approach for the analysis of stone tool data across the expanse of Eastern African prehistory which could be very powerful coupled with transparent quantitative analysis. 11 As noted by the author, it is especially poignant to fully understand behavior in this region due to its pivotal role in understanding long-term trends in hominin evolution.
[Copyright line updated after the first online publication on 1 December 2020]

| A GUIDE TO THE PREHISTORIC STONE TOOLS OF EASTERN AFRICA
This book has three main sections. The first comprises Chapters 2-3, which provide a basic yet thorough introduction to stone tools and how to 'read' them. This book is targeted at students and professionals somewhat unfamiliar with prehistoric stone tools, therefore the author introduces the essential terms and concepts used to describe, examine, and interpret this type of evidence in these chapters. Shea familiarizes the inexperienced reader with the vocabulary used by archeologists when studying stone tools, as well as introducing them to the current debates in stone tool analyses. The author does well to place the student within these debates, offering advice on best practice and how students can contribute to these longstanding conversations. language. The EAST Typology is an easy-to-use yet comprehensive mode-based system that could be easily be adopted by students and professional alike.
The author succeeds in providing a standardized typological system for describing Eastern African stone tools, the absence of which has previously limited research in this region. As the author notes, such a reform in stone tool systematics has the potential to answer some of the most important questions in paleoanthropology, such as how stone working evolved and why it was abandoned in the majority of cases as well as queries about how sites of different ages and geography relate to each other.
However, whether the EAST Typology will become standard practice in Eastern African archeology, as the author optimistically intends, is far from clear. The author himself acknowledges that, historically, archeologists are reluctant to revise established artifact typologies with earlier attempts at reform, including his own Lithic Modes A-I, 12,13 proving largely unfruitful. That said, similar recent calls for standardization in other areas of prehistoric archeology [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] suggests that Shea's appeal for abandoning well-known NASTIES in Eastern African archeology in favor of a system free of presumptions is timely and opportune, despite some reservations about his total rejection of cultural taxonomy. 22