The Taphonomy of the Final Middle Stone Age Fauna from Sibudu Cave,South Africa

This study applies a taphonomic analysis to the final Middle Stone Age faunal assemblage from Sibudu Cave, South Africa, by assessing bone surface modifications, breakage patterns and skeletal element abundances. Cut marks, percussion marks, severe fragmentation and the high frequency of burned bone combine to demonstrate that human behaviour was the principal agent in the assemblage's formation. These results are consistent with previous research on earlier occupations of Sibudu during the Middle Stone Age. Moreover, this assemblage is proposed to reflect regular site maintenance and cleaning. This conclusion is consistent with previous research that demonstrates systematic site maintenance during the Middle Stone Age at Sibudu and emphasises this behaviour as being a consistent activity for Middle Stone Age foragers. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quartz-tipped arrows older than 60 ka: further use-trace evidence from Sibudu,KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

This paper discusses the results of a detailed functional study of 16 microlithic backed tools made on quartz, and newly excavated at Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The layers associated with the artefacts have OSL ages of 61.7 ± 1.5 ka, 63.8 ± 2.5 ka and 64.7 ± 1.9 ka and represent the Howiesons Poort Industry at the site. I show that more than 50% of the pieces could hardly have been used in any way other than to tip arrows in a transverse position. This outcome supports previous inferences that some of these small stone tools, and perhaps a bone point from the same context, signify the use of bow and arrow technology during the Middle Stone Age. In addition to transversely hafted arrow tips, there is also evidence that some of the tools could have been hafted diagonally. Such tools could have been used equally successfully as arrow tips or barbs, or as barbs for hand-delivered spears. The variation in hafting configuration for these geometric shapes signifies hunting technologies that were flexible and most likely adapted according to need, preference, season and/or prey type.     

Burned bone in the Howieson’s Poort and post-Howieson’s Poort Middle Stone Age deposits at Sibudu (South Africa): behavioral and taphonomic implications

Despite a growing awareness of the wide range of information that can be provided by detailed analyses of burned bone from archaeological contexts, such analyses are still relatively uncommon. This paper focuses on the behavioral and taphonomic implications of burned bone from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) site of Sibudu Cave (South Africa), reporting on the analysis of a large sample (>377,000 fragments) of bone recovered from the Howieson’s Poort (HP) and post-HP MSA deposits at the site. Faunal remains were initially sorted into burning categories based on changes in color; microscopic analyses focused on the optical properties of the bone matrix (degree of preservation of the bone structure, reflectance and fluorescence) indicated that the color is a valid indicator of thermally altered bone in the Sibudu assemblage. The association of burned bone with hearths, the intensity of burning damage, and the sheer quantity of thermally altered bone suggests that the bone was not burned primarily as a result of natural fires. We propose that the high incidence of burned bone primarily reflects two types of site maintenance activities: first, the discarding of bone into fire as a means of disposing of food waste (as also argued by Cain [2005, Using burned animal bone to look at Middle Stone Age occupation and behavior. J. Archaeol. Sci. 32, 873–884], for a smaller sample of material from the post-HP and late MSA deposits at the site), and second, the incidental burning of bone on/near the surface during the periodic burning of plant-based bedding. In considering the taphonomic implications of the burned bone, we demonstrate that calcined bone is in fact more heavily fragmented than unburnt or moderately burned bone. Furthermore, cortical preservation was negatively correlated with the intensity of burning damage, which has implications for the study of surface modifications. These results indicate the importance of conducting thorough taphonomic analyses prior to making comparisons between units that show differing degrees or intensities of burning damage.     

A late Middle Stone Age artifact assemblage from Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal): comparisons with the European Middle Paleolithic

It has been suggested that many behavioral innovations, said to appear during the late Middle Stone Age in sub-Saharan Africa, facilitated the expansion of anatomically modern humans from Africa and the Near East into Europe at about 50 kyr; the process eventually led to the replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans and the emergence of the Upper Paleolithic. However, assemblages in this time range are little known in South Africa. In fact, the transition from Middle to the Later Stone Age in Southern Africa is controversial. The early appearance in South Africa of many innovations, such as sophisticated knapping techniques (e.g. the use of soft hammer or indirect percussion in blade production, of composite tools, of microlithic and bladelet technologies) remains to be established through technological analysis.We present here the first results of a project designed to carry out detailed technological studies of several lithic assemblages in South Africa and France dated to the transition period. At this time we have completed the study of a post-Howiesons Poort assemblage from the rock shelter site of Sibudu.The >2 m deep stratigraphic sequence of Sibudu extends from Howiesons Poort at its base to final Middle Stone Age, directly under Iron Age layers. We have analyzed in detail layer RSP (ca. 53 kyr, 1 m above the Howiesons Poort levels) which has provided a large assemblage of several thousand stone artifacts. Compared to published MSA assemblages this industry is unusual for the very high proportions of retouched pieces (15%). The technology is not very elaborate and there is no strong standardization of the end-products. There are no flakes of predetermined shapes; retouch is used to modify irregular flakes to obtain desired edges. Knapping of flakes and blades is done by hard hammer; soft hammer is used only for retouching tools. Interestingly the older Howiesons Poort blades were produced on the same raw materials by soft hammer. Raw material (hornfels and dolerite) was procured from distances of less than 20 km. Unifacial points are the dominant type and there is strong evidence of hafting and use as spear armatures. Detailed comparisons with Middle Paleolithic assemblages of Western Europe show that the late Middle Stone Age technology in South Africa is very similar to that of the Middle Paleolithic; in fact we see no fundamental differences between the two entities, as far as lithic technology is concerned. Implications for the Out of Africa hypothesis are discussed.     

Identifying regional variability in Middle Stone Age bone technology: The case of Sibudu Cave

A few pieces of worked bone were previously reported from Sibudu, a site from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa featuring a stratigraphic sequence with pre-Still Bay, Still Bay, Howiesons Poort, post-Howiesons Poort, late and final MSA cultural horizons. Here we describe an expanded collection of worked bones, including twenty-three pieces. Technological and use-wear analysis of these objects, and their comparison with experimental and ethnographic data, reveals that a number of specialised bone tool types (wedges, pièces esquillées, pressure flakers, smoothers, sequentially notched pieces), previously known only from the Upper Palaeolithic and more recent periods, were manufactured and used at least 30,000 years earlier at Sibudu Cave. These tools appear to be part of a local tradition because they are absent at contemporaneous or more recent southern African sites. Variability in Middle Stone Age material culture supports a scenario in which, beyond broad similarities in lithic technology, significant differences between regions, and trends of continuity at a local scale emerge in other aspects of the technical system, and in the symbolic domain. The archaeological record is revealing a complexity that prevents evaluation of the modern character of Middle Stone Age cultures in antinomic terms. We argue here that it is the detailed analysis of cultural variation that will inform us of the non-linear processes at work during this period, and contribute in the long run to explaining how and when crucial cultural innovations became established in human history.     

A Comparison of Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age Blades from South Africa

Abstract

The Middle Stone Age (MSA, ca. 250,000 to 25,000 B.P.) and the Later Stone Age (LSA, ca. 25,000 to 2000 B.P.) provide the cultural backdrops for the evolution of modern humans in Africa. The LSA has been long regarded as the period during which modern forms of behavior were widely adopted. Over the last decade evidence of modern behavior in the MSA has grown significantly, however, and some cultural distinctions between the MSA and LSA have become blurred. Perceived differences between MSA and LSA blade technologies warranted closer investigation. The South African site of Rose Cottage Cave (RCC) has a long cultural sequence incorporating several MSA and LSA industries. A controlled comparison of blades from the Howiesons Poort (ca. 65,000 to 55,000 B.P.) and Robberg (ca. 20,000 to 10,000 CAL B.P.) industries of RCC is presented. Robberg blade production appears to involve both a different theoretical approach and greater technical precision than Howiesons Poort production but it does not result in a greater level of dimensional standardization. Robberg blade technology could be described as more advanced, but its economic advantages are problematic. The skills involved may have been fostered within a particular social context, though it remains to be established whether these conditions were peculiar to the environmentally-stressed Robberg phase or to the broader LSA.     

An empirical test of the relative frequency of bipolar reduction in Beds VI,V, and III at Mumba Rockshelter,Tanzania: implications for the East African Middle to Late Stone Age transition

Mumba Rockshelter, Tanzania, is the only East African site spanning a continuous record of more than 100,000 years, including the Middle Stone Age (MSA) to Late Stone Age (LSA) Transition. Rather than examine the presence or absence of traditional markers of “behavioral modernity”, we have endeavored here to respond to the calls of Shea (2011) and Basell (2008) by examining the proportional similarity of a trait present throughout the MSA–LSA sequence at Mumba Rockshelter: the bipolar technique of lithic reduction. We use a quantified, experimentally derived proxy to track the relative amount of bipolar percussion among Mumba's Beds VI, V, and III, namely, waste shatter. Our examination of Mehlman's previously unanalyzed collections from Mumba demonstrates that in terms of bipolar production Bed V is statistically indistinguishable from the Late Stone Age (LSA) Bed III, but significantly different from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) Bed VI. Given that Bed V dates to 56.9 ± 4.8 − 49.1 ± 4.3 ka cal BP, this result is consistent with other evidence that the origins of the LSA in East Africa began well before 40 kya, and that Mumba Bed V represents one of the earliest manifestations of the LSA in East Africa. We conclude with a discussion of factors that may have influenced the increased dependence of bipolar production at the site.     

Middle Stone Age pièces esquillées from Sibudu Cave,South Africa: an initial micro-residue study

In this paper I present the results of a micro-residue study conducted on ten pièces esquillées (scaled pieces) from Sibudu Cave, South Africa. These artefacts are associated with the Howiesons Poort Industry (∼61.7 and ∼64.7 ka years ago at Sibudu), representing part of the later phase of the Middle Stone Age. Until now, it was unclear on what these pieces were used, and whether they were functional. Previous experimental use-wear work tentatively pointed towards bone processing. However, replication work on stone tool production technology suggests that pièces esquillées are merely the by/end-product of bipolar knapping. I used residue analysis on the Sibudu artefacts because this alternative method has the potential to identify if they were used, and if so, illuminate the specific materials the pieces were used on. Although the sample is small, all the pièces esquillées reveal a clear animal processing signal. There are some bone deposits on the utilised edges that may substantiate bone processing, or perhaps a bone hammer was used with them, but additional study, including Later Stone Age artefacts, is needed to assess the feasibility of these observations. It remains possible that the artefacts are core reduced pieces that were subsequently used as tools or simply knapped with a bone hammer.     

Terminal Pleistocene Later Stone Age Human Remains from the Mlambalasi Rock Shelter,Iringa Region,Southern Tanzania

This paper introduces research at the Mlambalasi rock shelter in the Iringa Region of southern Tanzania. The deposits are composed of a historic and Iron Age occupation, a microlithic Holocene Later Stone Age (LSA), and then a macrolithic Late Pleistocene LSA. Middle Stone Age deposits are also present on the slope in front of the rock shelter. Excavations in A.D. 2002, 2006, and 2010 yielded fragmentary human remains as well as pottery, iron, stone tools, faunal bone, and glass and ostrich eggshell beads. Among the human remains, four individuals are present: two adults and a juvenile were found in the same LSA context, and another adult associated with the Iron Age/historic period. The most complete skeleton is an adult of indeterminate sex that was found in situ in an LSA deposit. Charcoal in proximity to the bone was AMS radiocarbon dated to 12,925 cal BC (OxA‐24620), which is consistent with radiocarbon dates on giant land snail shells from above and below the remains. The skeleton exhibits a series of pathological changes such as extensive dental wear and carious lesions, as well as damage most likely caused by termites, post‐mortem. The most striking aspect of this individual is its small size; stature and body mass estimations place it in the range of historic Khoesan from southern Africa. Consequently, this research adds to the discourse regarding the existence of small‐bodied people in the East African LSA. Findings from this new skeletal sample will contribute to studies of human biology and variation in Africa during the terminal Pleistocene and Holocene. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Pleistocene Technology at Rose Cottage Cave: A Search for Modern Behavior in an MSA Context

Recent excavations at Rose Cottage Cave, located in the Free State, South Africa, have revealed both a transitional assemblage, dated to ca. 20,000 bp, and a final Middle Stone Age (MSA) assemblage, dated to ca. 28,000 bp. Preliminary analysis of these assemblages was undertaken to determine if the current European model of a cultural revolution for the emergence of the Upper Palaeolithic can be applied to the southern African evidence. Examination of these assemblages revealed that differences occurred between the transition in Europe and that in southern Africa in both the chronology of the transition and the degree to which this complete cultural package is linked to the emergence of Late Stone Age (LSA) technology. The methods of lithic production, the chronology of the MSA/LSA transition, and the associated behavioral characteristics were examined and results indicated that the technological change which occurred during the MSA/LSA transition was not a dramatic innovation in technology but, rather, a shift in the emphasis of production from a level of technology already in place and demonstrate a level of continuity between the MSA and the LSA. As a gradual occurrence, the MSA/LSA transition does not seem to fit the time frame for the European Upper Palaeolithic; it both occurs at a later period and takes longer to transpire. In addition, the origins of symbolic use of lithics appear to lie within the MSA, indicating that a more complex set of behavioral adaptation was occurring in the late Pleistocene in southern Africa, and that the MSA/LSA transition in this region does not adequately conform to the model of a revolutionary shift in behavior and technology that is proposed for the Middle/Upper Palaeolithic transition in Europe     

Engraved ochre from a Middle Stone Age context at Klein Kliphuis in the Western Cape of South Africa

This paper reports on a piece of engraved ochre recovered from a Middle Stone Age context at the rock shelter site of Klein Kliphuis (Western Cape, South Africa). The ochre was associated with a mixed assemblage of Howiesons Poort and post-Howiesons Poort MSA artefacts, suggesting that it is substantially younger than similar finds at Blombos Cave. The implications of the find for arguments concerning the nature of Late Pleistocene behavioural evolution are discussed.     

The evolution of human culture during the later Pleistocene: Using fauna to test models on the emergence and nature of “modern” human behavior

It has often been argued that the success and spread of modern humans ∼50,000 years ago was due to a series of key behavioral shifts that conferred particular adaptive advantages. And yet, particularly during the African Middle Stone Age (MSA), some of these “modern” behaviors see only patchy expression across time and space. Recent models have proposed a link between the emergence of modern behaviors and environmental degradation and/or demographic stress. Under these models, modern behaviors represent a form of social/economic intensification in response to stress; if this were the case, signs of subsistence intensification should be more common during periods in which these behaviors are manifested than when they are not. In order to test these models, I analyzed faunal remains from Sibudu Cave (South Africa), focusing on the Howieson’s Poort (HP), a phase in which modern behaviors are evidenced, and the post-HP MSA, when classical signatures of such behavior have disappeared. Significant variability in hunting behavior was identified. While much of this variability appears to correspond with changes in the local environment, evidence for resource stress was more common during the HP. The implications of these results to our understanding of the evolution of human culture are discussed.     

Shellfish Exploitation Strategies at the Pinnacle Point Shell Midden Complex,South Africa,During the Later Stone Age

Pinnacle Point, Mossel Bay, is best known for the preservation of the earliest evidence for systematic shellfish exploitation by humans during the African Middle Stone Age (MSA). Comparatively little is known about the shellfish gathering strategies of the Later Stone Age (LSA) inhabitants of this region. This article reports on five LSA sites at the Pinnacle Point Shell Midden Complex excavated by the Centre for Heritage and Archaeological Resource Management in 2006 and 2007. These sites represent 2,000 years of hunter-gather and herder settlement and subsistence in the region. Shellfish remains from the five middens were analyzed in order to understand the exploitation patterns of their LSA inhabitants. Information on the relative abundance of different mollusk species in these assemblages and, where possible, the average size of collected specimens, is then compared with published accounts of shellfish material from other sites along the southern Cape coast. These include roughly contemporary assemblages from Noetzie, Hoffman's/Robberg Cave and sites in the Garcia State Forest, and MSA assemblages from Pinnacle Point, Blombos Cave, and Klasies River Mouth. Regional continuities in gathering strategies focused on a range of bivalves and gastropods, and chronological shifts in the exploitation of rocky shores and sandy beaches, and different littoral zones, are apparent.     

Possible shell beads from the Middle Stone Age layers of Sibudu Cave,South Africa

Recent excavations at Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, uncovered an Iron Age horizon below which is a complex 3 m thick Middle Stone Age sequence with post-Howiesons Poort, Howiesons Poort, Still Bay and pre-Still Bay layers. Available OSL ages indicate that the Howiesons Poort occupation is older than 60 ky and the Still Bay older than 70 ky. Here we present the archaeological context and the taphonomic analysis of six Afrolittorina africana, three of which bear perforations, from the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort layers of this site. The single specimen from the latter cultural horizon comes from the lowermost layer attributed to this technocomplex. This and the depositional context of this layer suggest that this shell derives, as do the other five, from the Still Bay occupation layers. Taphonomic analysis of the archaeological specimens based on present day Afrolittorina africana biocoenoses, microscopic examination, morphometry, experimental perforation of modern shells, and a review of the natural agents that may accumulate marine shells at inland sites, indicate probable human involvement in the collection, transport, modification, and abandonment of Afrolittorina africana in Sibudu. If confirmed by future discoveries these shells would corroborate the use of personal ornaments, already attested at Blombos Cave, Western Cape Province, by Still Bay populations. The apparent absence of ornaments at Howiesons Poort sites raises the question of the mechanisms that have led to cultural modernity since it seems to contradict the scenario according to which cultural innovations recorded at Middle Stone Age sites reflect a process of continuous accretion and elaboration interpreted as the behavioural corollary of the emergence of anatomically modern humans.     

Blombos Cave,Southern Cape,South Africa: Preliminary Report on the 1992–1999 Excavations of the Middle Stone Age Levels

The Later- and Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave (BBC) were excavated over four field seasons between 1992 and 1999. Here we report on the results from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) levels. The taphonomy and depositional history of the MSA levels is complex due to faulting, folding and spalling. Careful observations during excavation have assisted in understanding some of these taphonomic and site formation processes; microstratigraphic analysis, currently in progress, will add to this information. The uppermost MSA level, the Still Bay phase, contains high densities of bifacial points, the fossile directeur of the Still Bay Industry. Placing the Still Bay within the MSA culture sequence has been problematic in the past because Still Bay assemblages are rarely found in situ and previous excavations were inadequately recorded. However with the regional data discussed in the text, the Still Bay can be securely placed before the Howiesons Poort dated at 65–70 ka.Flaked stone makes up the greatest proportion of all artefacts with the highest incidence of retouch and use of fine grained, non-local materials found in the Still Bay levels. The ochre assemblage is remarkable for the mass of material compared to other MSA sites. Finds uncommon in an MSA context are two pieces of ochre from the Still Bay phase engraved with a geometric design; a fragment of deliberately engraved bone; also, 28 shaped and polished bone tools recovered mainly from a phase just below the Still Bay. Blombos Cave is the first site where well preserved faunal remains have been recovered in association with the Still Bay allowing for unique insights into human subsistence behaviour and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Large fish bones, marine shells, seals and dolphins attest to extensive exploitation of aquatic resources and a wide range of terrestrial animals were hunted and gathered. The few human teeth recovered are heavily worn and damaged thus the issue of morphological modernity cannot be addressed.The BBC findings are a useful adjunct to findings from other MSA coastal sites in the southern Cape, especially Klasies River (KR) and Die Kelders Cave 1 (DK1); uniquely, BBC provides insights into human behaviour during a phase of the MSA never before studied in detail.     

Bedding, hearths, and site maintenance in the Middle Stone Age of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Micromorphological analysis of sediments from the Middle Stone Age site of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, provides a high-resolution sequence and evidence of site formation processes of predominantly anthropogenic deposits. This methodology allows for a detailed interpretation of individual anthropogenic activities, including the construction of hearths and bedding and the maintenance of occupational surfaces through the sweep out of hearths and the repeated burning of bedding. This analysis also provides a context for evaluating other studies at the site relating to magnetic susceptibility, paleobotany, paleozoology, anthracology, and studies of ochre.     

Assemblage variability and bifacial points in the lowermost Sibudan layers at Sibudu,South Africa

Building on the important work of Lyn Wadley at Sibudu, archeologists from the University of Tübingen have excavated the upper stratigraphic units of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) sequence down to the Howiesons Poort (HP). Here, we present the main results from lithic analyses of the lowest part of the Sibudan sequence to assess its overall variability and taxonomic status. Based on the new findings, we also discuss the implications for archeological systematics and the cultural evolution of modern humans in MIS 3 from a more general perspective. The Sibudan deposits encompass over 20 archeological horizons that span a 1.2-m-thick, well-stratified sequence whose base and top have been dated to ～58 ka (MIS 3). In contrast to the upper stratigraphic units, the lower Sibudan assemblages that we analyzed here show much higher use of local sandstone, quartz, and quartzite. These older units are characterized by frequent use of expedient core reduction methods, bipolar reduction of locally available quartz and quartzite, less retouch of blanks, and lower find densities. Tongati and Ndwedwe tools, which feature abundantly in the upper part of the Sibudan sequence, are entirely absent, as are unifacial points. Instead, notched and denticulated tools are common. Surprisingly, knappers manufactured small bifacial points, mainly made from quartz, by means of alternating shaping in the course of the oldest occupations. The results highlight the great diversity of human technological behavior over even short periods during the MSA, raising important questions about the mechanisms of behavioral change, cultural taxonomy, appropriate scales of lithic analyses, and the relationship between the HP and the Sibudan. Our findings further erode the old idea that bifacial technology in southern Africa is limited to the Still Bay. Research is increasingly showing that bifacial points come and go in different forms and contexts of African Late Pleistocene technology, impeding their use as chrono-cultural markers.     

Lithostratigraphy of Border Cave, KwaZulu, South Africa: a Middle Stone Age sequence beginning c. 195,000 b.p.

Border Cave is well-known for its Middle Stone Age (MSA) sequence and associated hominids, as well as for the earliest demonstrable Later Stone Age (LSA) (c. 38,000 b.p.) strata in southern Africa. Detailed lithostratigraphic and sedimentological study permits identification of 8 Pleistocene sedimentary cycles, including 6 major cold phases and 2 intervening weathering horizons. The 2 youngest cold phases are associated with the LSA and have 8 ¹⁴C dates 38,600-13,300 b.p. By gauging sedimentation rates in finer and coarser sediments, duration of sedimentary breaks, and allowing for differential compaction, the excellent radiocarbon framework provided by 28 available ¹⁴C dates can be extrapolated to the 6 cold intervals and 2 palaeosols that are older than 50,000 b.p. These clearly span oxygenisotope stages 4, 5 and 6, placing the base of the MSA deposits at c. 195,000 b.p., Homo sapiens sapiens at c. 90,000–115,000 b.p. and the sophisticated, microlithic “Howieson's Poort” industry at 95,000 b.p. These results require radical reassessment of the age and nature of the MSA complex and of the earliest evolution of anatomically-modern people.     

The Middle and Later Stone Age faunal remains from Diepkloof Rock Shelter,Western Cape,South Africa

The faunal sample from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) and overlying Later Stone Age (LSA) deposits of Diepkloof Rock Shelter (Western Cape Province, South Africa) includes at least 40 taxa, mostly mammals, but also tortoises, snakes, birds (especially ostrich represented by eggshell), and intertidal mollusks. The LSA sample contains only species that occurred nearby historically, including domestic sheep, which LSA people introduced to the region by 1800 years ago. In contrast, like other Western Cape MSA faunas, the Diepkloof MSA sample has more species and it is especially notable for five large extralimital grazing species. These imply a greater-than-historic role for grasses in the local vegetation, particularly in the post-Howiesons Poort (latest MSA) interval where the grazers appear most abundant. Extreme fragmentation and dark-staining impedes analysis of the MSA bones, but cut-marks, abundant burning, and numerous associated artifacts suggest that people were the main accumulators. Rare coprolites imply that carnivores could have contributed some bones, and concentrations of small mammal bones, particularly near the bottom of the MSA sequence, suggest a role for raptors. Tortoise bones are common throughout the sequence, and the MSA specimens tend to be especially large, as in other MSA assemblages. The LSA specimens are smaller, probably because LSA human populations were denser and preyed on tortoises more intensively. The most surprising aspect of the Diepkloof assemblage is its marine component. The coast is currently 14 km away and it would have been even more distant during much of the MSA when sea levels were often lower. Intertidal mollusks, particularly black mussels and granite limpets, are concentrated in the LSA and in the Late and Post-Howiesons Poort layers. Only LSA shells are complete enough for measurement, and the limpets are small as at other LSA sites. The implication is again for more intense LSA collection by relatively dense human populations. Both the LSA and MSA deposits also contain bones of shorebirds and Cape fur seals. Whale barnacles and occasional dolphin bones indicate that MSA people scavenged beached cetaceans.     

The Middle Stone Age of West Turkana,Kenya

Abstract

Research on the origins of Homo sapiens and the development of our species’ unique behavior is focused on the Middle Stone Age (MSA) period in Africa (in comparison with the European Upper Palaeolithic). Although archaeological and paleontological fieldwork in the Turkana Basin in northwestern Kenya has contributed greatly to our understanding of human evolution in Africa, the Basin's MSA archaeological record remains poorly known. We report on a reconnaissance of MSA sites in West Turkana, Kenya, which included known archaeological/paleoanthropological localities at Eliye Springs and Kabua Waterhole (Kadokorinyang). A newly-discovered site, Nakechichok 1 (GdJh 5), preserves MSA tools stratified beneath Late Stone Age assemblages. The MSA lithic artifacts from Nakechichok 1 differ from those known from other MSA localities in nearby regions, and, they expand the known scope of MSA variability in the Turkana Basin, demonstrating that the MSA is not “missing” in this region, but just hard to find.