Foraging strategies during the final Middle Stone Age occupation at Sibudu Cave, South Africa

Abstract

This study discusses the subsistence strategies from the final Middle Stone Age occupation (~38,000years ago) at Sibudu Cave, South Africa, through identifying which animal resources were exploited, and how they were acquired. The faunal profile suggest that two complementary strategies were being used: one focusing on small (Sizes 1 and 2) ungulates that were most likely acquired close to the site; and the other focusing on larger (Sizes 3 and 4) ungulates that were likely hunted farther away from the site. The final Middle Stone Age assemblage from Sibudu was compared with several others from the broader region that also date to late MIS 3. This comparison, albeit inhibited by small sample sizes, suggests diversity in hunting patterns that is most parsimoniously explained by localised behavioural adaptations to different environments. The late and final Middle Stone Age assemblages from Sibudu were also compared and found to not be significantly different, suggesting similar hunting patterns during the two environmentally similar occupations.