Stone Age Prehistory of the Songwe River Valley, Lake Rukwa Basin, Southwestern Tanzania

This paper reports on results from survey and preliminary test excavations at MSA and LSA sites along the Songwe River in the Lake Rukwa Rift Valley of southwestern Tanzania. At IdIu22, a continuous, extensive archaeological deposit was revealed which may have both Pleistocene and Holocene components. The lithic material here shows a gradual transformation from a flake based LSA assemblage to one employing microburin techniques.Cet article discute la recherche préhistorique aux environs de la rivière Songwe, dans le vallée rift de Lac Rukwa en la sud-ouest de Tanzanie. Au gisement IdIu22, un sequence de l'âge de la pierre finale (LSA) a été découverte avec possible niveaux du Pleistocene et Holocène. Les assemblages lithiques changent graduellement dès un LSA avec outils sur les éclats, vers un LSA employant la téchnique microburin.     

Shifting social networks along the Nile: Middle Holocene ceramic assemblages from Sai Island, Sudan

During the middle Holocene, profound changes in environment, economy, and social relations laid the foundations for the emergence of Africa’s earliest polities: the Egyptian Old Kingdom and the Kerma state. Regional shifts in economy and society may be reflected in local changes in patterning of ceramic production and exchange. Analysis of two pottery assemblages from Sai Island, north Sudan, reveals dramatic shifts in the scale of cultural spheres and the nature of cross-cultural interaction between 5000 BC (Khartoum Variant) and 2600 BC (Pre-Kerma). Near-sedentary Khartoum Variant hunter–gatherers at site 8-B-10C participated in a longstanding cultural sphere that extended far into the Sahara, but were beginning to focus more tightly on resources by the Nile. By Pre-Kerma times, Sai occupants familiar with animal husbandry started to use southwest Asian plant domesticates; they began to experiment with large-scale storage facilities and engage in long-distance trade along the Nile, outside of their own cultural boundaries. Beyond a shift in axes for contact from east–west to north–south, these changes signal progressive geographic and temporal compression of cultural entities, amidst accelerating processes of economic innovation and social change that finally culminated in the polities of Egypt and Kerma.     

Claudia Abatino: Exploitation and Management of Animal Resources During the Middle Iron Age,Northern Limpopo Province,South Africa

African Archaeological Review -     

Lithic Microwear Analysis of Middle Stone Age Artifacts from White Paintings Rock Shelter,Botswana

Abstract

Excavations conducted at the White Paintings rock shelter in the NW Kalahari Desert have uncovered seven meters of Later and Middle Stone Age deposits. Lithic microwear evidence was found on 15 artifacts representing five of the major archaeological subdivisions in the sequence and revealed work in wood, hide, and bone, as well as butchering and impact damage. Middle Stone Age points found in deposits bracketed by TL dates to between approximately 66,400 ± 6500 and 94,300 ± 9400 B.P. were of special interest because of the possible association of the Middle Stone Age with the origin of anatomically modern humans and because little, if any, micro-wear evidence has been published on Middle Stone Age points. Five out of 10 points examined revealed impact damage consistent with their use as projectiles, most likely as spear points. We present a model of the use of such points for hunting medium-sized mammals with spears, an interpretation that is largely consistent with faunal remains observed in South African cave sites.     

Levallois Lithic Technology from the Kapthurin Formation,Kenya: Acheulian Origin and Middle Stone Age Diversity

The earliest fossils of Homo sapiens are reported from in Africa in association with both late Acheulian and Middle Stone Age (MSA) artifacts. The relation between the origin of our species during the later Middle Pleistocene in Africa and the major archaeological shift marked by the Acheulian-MSA transition is therefore a key issue in human evolution, but it has thus far suffered from a lack of detailed comparison. Here we initiate an exploration of differences and similarities among Middle Pleistocene lithic traditions through examination of Levallois flake production from a sequence of Acheulian and MSA sites from the Kapthurin Formation of Kenya dated to ∼200–500 ka. Results suggest that MSA Levallois technology developed from local Acheulian antecedents, and support a mosaic pattern of lithic technological change across the Acheulian-MSA transition.Les premiers restes fossiles d’Homo sapiens sont rapportés d’Afrique aussi bien à des avec des outillages de l’Acheuléen final que du Middle Stone Age (MSA). La relation entre l’origine de notre espèce au Pléistocène moyen final d’Afrique et le changement majeur marquée par la transition Acheuléen-MSA est par conséquent un moment clé de l’évolution humaine qui a manqué jusqu’ici d’analyses comparatives détaillées. Nous nous proposons ici de commencer à explorer les différences et les similarités qui peuvent se faire jour au Pléistocène moyen dans les traditions techniques à l’examen des productions à éclats Levallois, dans une séquence de sites acheuléens et MSA de la formation de Kapthurin (Kenya), datée de 200–500 ka. Les resultants obtenus suggèrent que la technologie Levallois MSA s’est développée sur ce substrat acheuléen et renforce cette perception que l’on peut avoir d’une mosa?que de changements technologiques jalonnant la transition Acheuléen-MSA.     

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.     

Early evidence of complexity in lithic economy: core-axe production,hafting and use at Late Middle Pleistocene site 8-B-11, Sai Island (Sudan)

Wear analysis indicates that Sangoan core-axes from site 8-B-11 at Sai Island, Sudan, were used while hafted. The middle Sangoan occupation level at 8-B-11 served as a locale where specialized activities were performed, including core-axe manufacture and hafting. Newly manufactured quartz core-axes served as replacements for exhausted items that were mostly fabricated out of raw materials other than quartz, which were carried back to the site in their hafts for re-tooling. The hafted core-axes appear as highly mobile, curated tools, being transported across a large territory. The evidence indicates that the Sangoan is the archaeological reflection of a complex behavioural system involving economic specialization, which appeared in this part of Africa for the first time around 200 ka ago.     

The Organization of Later Stone Age Lithic Technology in the Caledon Valley, Southern Africa

Paleoclimatic data indicate that the Pleistocene/Holocene transition was a period of considerable ecological change in the Caledon Valley of the southern African interior. Stone artefact assemblages from sites in one part of this region, the Phutiatsana ea Thaba Bosiu (PTB) Basin of western Lesotho, were analyzed in order to investigate whether changes in settlement and subsistence strategies during this period are also reflected in the organization of lithic technologies. It appears that although technological solutions to the problems of subsistence risk may have been emphasized during the late Pleistocene, social means, such as exchange, dominated at the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary. Subsequent innovation or adoption of new formal tool types suggests that both strategies were important from the middle Holocene onwards.Dans la vallée de Caledon à l'intérieur sud-africain les données paléoclimatiques indiquent que la transition du pléistocène à l'holocène était une période de changement écologique considérable. Les résultats des analyses des outils lithiques découverts aux gisements dans une partie de cette région, le Bassin de la Phuthiatsana ea Thaba Bosiu (PTB) du Lesotho occidentale, sont présentées pour examiner si des changements aux stratégies de subsistance et de l'occupation des sites se réfletent à l'organisation des technologies lithiques. Il semble que on a employé les solutions technologiques pour éviter les risques de subsistance pendant le pléistocène tardif, mais que des solutions sociales, comme l'échange, prédominaient à la frontière pléistocène-holocène. L'innovation ou l'adoption plus tard des nouvelles outils lithiques suggère que tous les deux stratégies étaient importantes depuis le début du moyen Holocène.     

Changing fashions in the Middle Stone Age: the stone artefact sequence from Klasies River main site,South Africa

The analysis of Middle Stone Age artefact assemblages from the 1984–8 Deacon excavation of Klasies River main site on the southern Cape coast of South Africa emphasizes its importance as a source of information on the Late Pleistocene period. The trends in artefact variability noted in the previous 1967–8 Singer and Wymer excavation are described in more detail and it is concluded on typological grounds that the cave 1B assemblages which are associated with the anatomically modern human mandible no. 41815 are of the order of 100,000 years old. Rare, unstandardized retouch and the persistence of time-restricted patterning in the Klasies River main site Middle Stone Age sequence over periods in excess of 20,000 years represent significant differences between Middle and some parts of Later Stone Age sequences. It is suggested that this may be a consequence of conservatism under relatively low-density demographic conditions rather than a reflection of the absence of modern behaviour among Middle Stone Age toolmakers.

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Résumé L'analyse des industries lithiques de l'âge de la Pierre Moyen provenant des fouilles Deacon au site principal à Klasies River, sur la côte sud du cap de l'Afrique du Sud, souligne l'importance de ce site pour ses renseignements sur le Pléistocene récent. Les tendances de variabilité dans le matériel culturel déjà constatées dans les fouilles précédentes de Singer et Wymer (1967–8) sont présentées ici en davantage de détail. L'étude typologique amène à la conclusion que les industries de la grotte 1B, associées à la mandibule no. 41815 de forme humaine moderne, ont un âge approximative de 100,000 ans. La présence assez rare d'une retouche non-standardisée et la persistance des modalités, chronologiquement bien définies, dans la succession des industries de l'âge de la Pierre Moyen au site principal à Klasies River pendant des périodes de plus de 20,000 ans constituent des différences considérables entre l'âge de la Pierre Moyen et quelques phases de l'âge de la Pierre Récent. On propose que cela peut être la conséquence d'un conservatisme sous les conditions de densité démographique faible, plutôt qu'en déduire que la mode de comportement caractéristique de l'homme moderne manquait aux gens de l'âge de la Pierre Moyen.

     

Ochre resources from the Middle Stone Age sequence of Diepkloof Rock Shelter,Western Cape,South Africa

Although no paintings are associated with archaeological contexts before the end of the Middle Stone Age, hundreds of ochre pieces were discovered on numerous southern African sites suggesting a lasting tradition of ochre use. The variability and the significance of ochre exploitation remain however poorly documented. The MSA site of Diepkloof Rock Shelter (Western Cape Province, South Africa) offers an ideal opportunity to discuss questions of ochre procurement, processing, and use over a long sequence. This study develops an original methodology based on observations on one hand, and SEM-EDS, XRD and Raman spectrometry analyses on the other hand. By comparing raw materials with our geological database, we show that some iron-rich raw materials were collected more than 20 km from the site. Such long-distance procurement combined with other elements of the overall context suggests a planning of procurement. One main chaîne opératoire based on grinding was identified at Diepkloof. In comparison with other South African sites, we observed no evidence for use as loading agent in adhesives. We conclude that ochre use may follow regional cultural patterns.     

Continental Patterns in Stone Tools: A Technological and Biplot-Based Comparison of Early Late Pleistocene Assemblages from Northern and Southern Africa

The technology of the end products i.e. blades and points in Late Pleistocene stone artefact assemblages from Klasies River, South Africa, and the Nile Valley, Egypt, are compared. The comparison includes univariate and multivariate analysis of metrical attributes enhanced by graphical biplot displays. The end products in these assemblages are either dominantly points or blades and this is related to the core reduction strategy adopted. The MSA 11 from Klasies River and the Nubian Complex industry from the Nile Valley are point industries made in the Levallois tradition, while the MSA 1 from Klasies River and the Taramsan from the Nile Valley may be non-Levallois or adapted Levallois blade industries. Dating of the assemblages shows the changes between dominant core reduction strategies are sequential and time restricted in both South and North Africa. It is concluded that variability of the same kind occurs in Middle Stone Age and Middle Palaeolithic assemblages south and north of the Sahara in the early Late Pleistocene.Dans cet article, les technologies des produits recherchés, des lames et des pointes, pour certains ensembles lithiques de Klasies River, Afrique du Sud et la Vallée du Nil, Egypte, sont comparées. Cette comparaison implique des analyses univariées et multivariées de variables métriques biplot. Les produits recherchés sont bien des pointes que des lames, selon les stratégies dexploitation adoptées. Le MSA II de Klasies River et le Complexe nubien de la Vallée du Nil sont des industries à pointes issues de la tradition Levallois. Par contre, le MSA I de Klasies River et le Taramsien de la Vallée du Nil évoquent une technologie de production non-Levallois ou Levallois modifiée. Les éléments de datation disponibles indiquent que les changements dans la prépondérance des stratégies dexploitation senchaînent dans une séquence chronologique bien identifiable, aussibien dans lAfrique du Sud que lAfrique du Nord. On arrive à la conclusion quune variabilité du même caractère est attestée dans les ensembles du Middle Stone Age et du Paléolithique moyen au sud et au nord du Sahara, pendant le Pléistocène supérieur ancien.     

Reconstructing Cycladic Prehistory: Naxos in the Early and Middle Late Bronze Age

The lack of published deposits from Cycladic settlement contexts has been a serious setback to our knowledge of Cycladic prehistory, as it has led to inflexible 'pan-Aegean' models of cultural history, imposed on the islands without consideration of local particularities and regional variations. Naxos, the largest and most central of the Cyclades, is a prime example of an important island, whose cultural history, especially in the early and middle Late Bronze Age (roughly from the sixteenth to the thirteenth centuries BC), is not well known. In the present article the author reconstructs the stratigraphic and chronological sequence of the island's only excavated settlement at Grotta, examines the development of settlement pattern on Naxos, and attempts to assess the position of the island in the Aegean during the periods in question. It is suggested that the fluctuations in the number of settlements and the changes in settlement pattern of the island could be tied to the degree of integration of the island into the Minoan and Mycenaean exchange networks. In periods of limited integration (LC I/II and LH IIIB) the settlement pattern consists of one or two important centers (Mikre Vigla and/or Grotta) and a number of small settlements dispersed in the interior of the island. In periods of advanced integration (LH IIIA1-IIIA2), a process of nucleation takes place, in which small settlements are abandoned, Mikre Vigla declines, and Grotta is established as the only settlement of the island.     

Palaeoenvironments and Cultural Sequence of the Florisbad Middle Stone Age Hominid Site, South Africa

Florisbad, an open-air spring site with 7 m of strata, has yielded the type assemblage of Middle Stone Age (MSA) fauna, the cranium of an archaic hominid in 1932 and an extensive sequence of MSA artefacts in the 1980s. The cultural assemblages include an early MSA dated broadly to 279,000±47,000 years, a highly retouched form of MSA at 157,000±21,000 years and a minimally retouched, expedient MSA assemblage from a series of occupation horizons at 121,000±6000 years. The latter represents multiple brief visits to a hunting and butchery site on the edge of an active spring pool, where periodic sedimentation gently buried occupation debris in a near-pristine context. Periods of lower spring discharge are represented by organic horizons as swampy vegetation encroached on the springs, while periods of higher spring discharge created pools. Overall the spring sequence indicates low-energy subaqueous environments similar to lakes, ponds or backwater sites. The sequence is characterized by fine sands, silts and clays responsible for the good archaeological preservation.     

Processing ochre in the Middle Stone Age: Testing the inference of prehistoric behaviours from actualistically derived experimental data

The increase in the presence of ‘ochre’ in African Middle Stone Age contexts has been employed, together with changes in human biology and behaviour, to support the hypothesis that ‘modern’ cognitive abilities arose in Africa. The consistent exploitation of ochre is interpreted as evidence for colour symbolism, a proxy for the origin of language and a defining aspect of ‘modern’ human behaviour. That humans attached considerable symbolic value to red ochres in particular is illustrated by ethnographic examples. Research has shown that wear patterns indicative of abrasive processing methods prevail, but many archaeological specimens also exhibit wear traces not derived from grinding or scraping alone. Building on former research, I present here the results of an experimental study devised to infer the methods employed to extract powder from ochre during the African Middle Stone Age. The prospect of ascertaining at least some of the likely uses to which ochre may have been put, is also explored. I conclude that functional data derived from actualistic experiments can be used to enhance our understanding of some aspects of prehistoric behaviour.     

Late Stone Age subsistence in the Tilemsi Valley, Mali: Stable isotope analysis of human and animal remains from the site of Karkarichinkat Nord (KN05) and Karkarichinkat Sud (KS05)

The pathways leading to the adoption of cereal cultivation and pastoralism in West Africa are poorly understood. In order to elucidate the transition to food production during the Late Stone Age in Mali’s Tilemsi Valley samples of ancient and modern human and animal remains were selected for carbon and oxygen isotope analysis. Our results indicate the inhabitants of Karkarichinkat Nord (KN05) consumed considerable quantities (85%) of carbon derived from C₄ plants, either directly in the form of C₄ grasses such as wild Panicum sp. and possibly domestic Pennisetum sp. or indirectly through the consumption of C₄ grazers such as Bos sp. and Ovis sp.     

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.     

Technological successions in the Middle Stone Age sequence of Diepkloof Rock Shelter,Western Cape,South Africa

The southern African MSA comprises a series of phases of unique technological innovations that fuel current models on the evolutionary processes of Anatomically Modern Humans. However, the nature and variability of these technological phases remain poorly documented. This study reports on the previously unpublished sequence of Diepkloof Rock Shelter (South Africa) and investigates the main technological changes therein, particularly emphasizing the emergence, succession and disappearance of the Still Bay (SB) and the Howiesons Poort (HP). We argue for technological change that occurred at different rates and under the influence of variable driving factors. Our model implies that the SB and the HP are not related to the influx of new populations but have regionally specific origins. Unlike the other techno-complexes, the HP at Diepkloof is subdivided into different phases (Early, Intermediate and Late) but only the upper phases resemble the so-called “classic” HP. Finally, the technological sequence of Diepkloof questions the homogeneous picture which has been so far assumed for the southern African MSA and places emphasis on the importance of exploring long regional sequences.     

An experimental micromorphological investigation of bedding construction in the Middle Stone Age of Sibudu,South Africa

We conducted experiments to compare the micromorphological signatures of modern burnt sedge and grass bedding to laminated layers of carbonized material and phytoliths in Middle Stone Age deposits at the shelter, Sibudu. The experiments were designed to clarify the formation processes associated with the laminated layers and to investigate whether these previously identified layers of bedding were deliberately burned or not. The results indicate that the laminated layers were most likely produced by human activity related to the construction, maintenance and burning of bedding. Furthermore, our experiments demonstrate that large volumes of vegetal material could have produced the relatively thin, archaeological deposits of burnt bedding.