Experimental stone tool replication at the Early Stone Age site of Sterkfontein, Gauteng, South Africa

Abstract

Between 1999 and 2000 a large experimental knapping programme was carried out at the early hominin site of Sterkfontein, South Africa. Its purpose was to assess aspects of the technology of lithic production found in the Oldowan and Acheulean deposits at the site. The data was used to inform technological analysis of the Sterkfontein stone tool assemblages. In the light of more recent research on raw material selection and transport at East African Oldowan sites, we report on the conclusions drawn from the analysis of the experimental cores to assess their contribution to understanding the influence of raw materials on knapping in the Oldowan and Acheulean at Sterkfontein. Hominins practised raw material selectivity and adapted their knapping strategies to fit clast shape and lithology. The experimental programme offered the opportunity to analyse some of the variables commonly involved in reconstructing lithic behaviour from artefacts and found, as with other studies reported elsewhere, that linear relationships based on one, or a few supposedly diagnostic variables do not stand up to scrutiny.