Hafting adhesives from the final Later Stone Age layers at Sehonghong, Lesotho: a case study and commentary on the use of imported resources by nineteenth-century San

Abstract

ABSTRACT There is longstanding evidence in the archaeological record of southern Africa for the application of hafting adhesives in the production of composite tool technology. Despite the limitations in the preservation of organics in archaeological contexts, the preservation of these materials can inform us about aspects of technological production and function, including hafting arrangements, adhesive production and resource acquisition. In some instances where we see the prevalence of organic materials that are at odds with the ecological landscape, these same materials can also elucidate social interactions between cultural groups. This paper presents the results of the analysis by microscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) of hafting residues from stone tools from the ceramic final Later Stone Age assemblages at Sehonghong, Lesotho. It argues that an adoption of novel resources including Pinus sp. resin, castor oil and paraffin by nineteenth-century San facilitated the continued existence of hunter-gatherer lifeways in increasingly marginalised circumstances amid tense relationships between the last hunter-gatherers of the Maloti-Drakensberg, newly arriving Basotho communities and European colonists.