Kathu Pan 6: Observations on the First Known Buried High-Density Open-Air Holocene Occupation on the Southern Margin of the Kalahari Basin

Ostrich eggshell (OES) beads are an important kind of human ornaments, because their production reflects the development of modern human behavior, thinking ability, and cognitive level. Although the manufacture procedure of OES beads has been reconstructed in some Later Stone Age sites and early Neolithic sites, little information is known about detailed drilling technologies. In this study, synchrotron radiation micro-CT (SR-μCT) was firstly used to scan OES beads to understand microstructure, drilling marks, and perforation shape in a non-destructive mode. In contrast to other method to research drilling technologies, SR-μCT has a unique advantage that it could eliminate the influence of the adhering soils in a perforation in case that they are not easily removed. The results indicate that (1) SR-μCT could differentiate the eggshell species between Struthio camelus and Struthio anderssoni in terms of pore distribution. Compared to other destructive methods, including the anatomical method, DNA and protein analysis, the species identification through SR-μCT is non-destructive and faster; (2) the outer and inner surface of OES could be non-destructively judged according to OES microstructure, which would help infer the drilling direction; and (3) the perforation shape and drilling marks are distinct between the discontinuous twisting drilling and the multi-rotary drilling methods on the basis of replication experiments. According to these criteria, SR-μCT was applied to examine OES beads found in Locality 12 of the Shuidonggou (SDG) site in China, which were probably discarded in 1.1 k yr BP. The results show that most of ancient beads were firstly drilled from inside. According to the perforation shape and drilling marks, both the twisting drilling and the multi-rotary drilling method with different kinds of drill bits were used in working beads. Therefore, the people in SDG site mastered a few drilling technologies in the early Holocene, and the use of the multi-rotary drilling method reflects the technical development of ancient people. Up to our knowledge, it is the earliest known evidence of the application of the multi-rotary drilling method in China. Furthermore, this study will provide a new approach and important reference to understand drilling technologies of much older OES beads in the Later Stone Age or Upper Paleolithic Age.

Exploring the Later Stone Age at a micro-scale: New high-resolution excavations at Wonderwerk Cave

Improved accuracy of U-series and radiocarbon dating of ostrich eggshell using a sample preparation method based on microstructure and geochemistry: A study from the Middle Stone Age of Northwestern Ethiopia

Modern human behavioral innovations from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) include the earliest indicators of full coastal adaptation evidenced by shell middens, yet many MSA middens remain poorly dated. We apply 230Th/U burial dating to ostrich eggshells (OES) from Ysterfontein 1 (YFT1, Western Cape, South Africa), a stratified MSA shell midden. 230Th/U burial ages of YFT1 OES are relatively precise (median ± 2.7%), consistent with other age constraints, and preserve stratigraphic principles. Bayesian age-depth modeling indicates YFT1 was deposited between 119.9 to 113.1 thousand years ago (ka) (95% CI of model ages), and the entire 3.8 m thick midden may have accumulated within ∼2,300 y. Stable carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopes of OES indicate that during occupation the local environment was dominated by C3 vegetation and was initially significantly wetter than at present but became drier and cooler with time. Integrating archaeological evidence with OES 230Th/U ages and stable isotopes shows the following: 1) YFT1 is the oldest shell midden known, providing minimum constraints on full coastal adaptation by ∼120 ka; 2) despite rapid sea-level drop and other climatic changes during occupation, relative shellfish proportions and sizes remain similar, suggesting adaptive foraging along a changing coastline; 3) the YFT1 lithic technocomplex is similar to other west coast assemblages but distinct from potentially synchronous industries along the southern African coast, suggesting human populations were fragmented between seasonal rainfall zones; and 4) accumulation rates (up to 1.8 m/ka) are much higher than previously observed for dated, stratified MSA middens, implying more intense site occupation akin to Later Stone Age middens.

Ostrich eggshell (OES) beads are a common feature of Later Stone Age (LSA) archaeology throughout eastern and southern Africa and have the potential to inform on site use, cultural diversity, social networks, and site formation. However, too often OES bead assemblages have not been recorded or studied in the necessary detail to make meaningful contributions to these important questions. In this respect, and to aid future research focusing on the African LSA, OES and OES beads must be discussed in detail, beginning with a background to ostriches and their eggs and commenting on why OES is an important raw material. Then, one should consider OES beads in detail, specifically, the manufacturing process, the social context in which they were made, and how they may have been used in the past. Subsequently, the focus should be on how OES bead assemblages are analyzed, as well as archaeometric approaches to studying OES bead residues and OES bead provenance. The potential insights gained from these diverse and multidisciplinary analytical approaches, especially when combined, are then highlighted through discussing trends in OES bead research from African LSA contexts. These trends include the contribution of OES beads to understanding the complex transition from hunter-gatherers to herders, the identification of different cultural groups in the past, and identifying the presence and extent of past social networks. The final focus should be on future research directions that will benefit OES bead research, specifically more detailed approaches to understanding OES bead diversity and the expansion of experimentally derived taphonomic frameworks for identifying past human and nonhuman behaviors in OES bead assemblages. Future research should build on the growing body of detailed OES bead analyses, as they provide unique insight and a strong complement to traditional archaeological approaches to understanding past peoples, groups, and cultures during the African LSA.

The context, form and significance of the MSA engraved ostrich eggshell collection from Diepkloof Rock Shelter, Western Cape, South Africa

Use-wear analysis of obsidian artifacts from Later Stone Age shell midden sites on the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea, with experimental results

The archaeology of East Africa during the last ~65,000 years plays a central role in debates about the origins and dispersal of modern humans, Homo sapiens. Despite the historical importance of the region to these discussions, reliable chronologies for the nature, tempo, and timing of human behavioral changes seen among Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA) archaeological assemblages are sparse. The Kisese II rockshelter in the Kondoa region of Tanzania, originally excavated in 1956, preserves a ≥ 6-m-thick archaeological succession that spans the MSA/LSA transition, with lithic artifacts such as Levallois and bladelet cores and backed microliths, the recurrent use of red ochre, and >5,000 ostrich eggshell beads and bead fragments. Twenty-nine radiocarbon dates on ostrich eggshell carbonate make Kisese II one of the most robust chronological sequences for understanding archaeological change over the last ~47,000 years in East Africa. In particular, ostrich eggshell beads and backed microliths appear by 46–42 ka cal BP and occur throughout overlying Late Pleistocene and Holocene strata. Changes in lithic technology suggest an MSA/LSA transition that began 39–34.3 ka, with typical LSA technologies in place by the Last Glacial Maximum. The timing of these changes demonstrates the time-transgressive nature of behavioral innovations often linked to the origins of modern humans, even within a single region of Africa.

Luminescence and radiocarbon dating the Naisiusiu Beds type section and timing of the Middle Stone Age/Later Stone Age transition at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania.

New ages for Middle and Later Stone Age deposits at Mumba rockshelter, Tanzania: Optically stimulated luminescence dating of quartz and feldspar grains

230Th/U burial dating of ostrich eggshell

The use of ochre has been documented in many Middle Stone Age sites of Southern Africa. However, the literature on the exploitation of ochre within the archaeological contexts of Later Stone Age (LSA) rock art sites is scarce. Despite the discovery of several painted shelters within the Erongo Mountains (Namibia), no archaeological study of ochre assemblages has been conducted in the region. Here, we present the archaeological ochre assemblage recovered from a LSA sequence at the rock art shelter of Leopard Cave (Erongo, Namibia), spanning ca. 5,700 to 2,100 cal. BP. The use-wear traces present on some ochre fragments and the stone tools bearing red residues are indicative of different stages of ochre processing at the site. The presence of other artifacts, such as ostrich eggshell and bone beads with red residues, and the existence of rock paintings in the cave are pointers to the importance of ochre for understanding the sociocultural behaviors of the LSA populations in central Namibia.

The Upper Pleistocene (late Pleistocene) archaeology of sub-Saharan Africa (MSA and LSA)

Kenya National Museums Lukenya Hill Hominid 1 (KNM-LH 1) is a Homo sapiens partial calvaria from site GvJm-22 at Lukenya Hill, Kenya, associated with Later Stone Age (LSA) archaeological deposits. KNM-LH 1 is securely dated to the Late Pleistocene, and samples a time and region important for understanding the origins of modern human diversity. A revised chronology based on 26 accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dates on ostrich eggshells indicates an age range of 23,576-22,887 y B.P. for KNM-LH 1, confirming prior attribution to the Last Glacial Maximum. Additional dates extend the maximum age for archaeological deposits at GvJm-22 to >46,000 y B.P. (>46 kya). These dates are consistent with new analyses identifying both Middle Stone Age and LSA lithic technologies at the site, making GvJm-22 a rare eastern African record of major human behavioral shifts during the Late Pleistocene. Comparative morphometric analyses of the KNM-LH 1 cranium document the temporal and spatial complexity of early modern human morphological variability. Features of cranial shape distinguish KNM-LH 1 and other Middle and Late Pleistocene African fossils from crania of recent Africans and samples from Holocene LSA and European Upper Paleolithic sites.

Improved ostrich eggshell and ungulate tooth enamel radiocarbon dating methods reveal Later Stone Age occupation in arid MIS 2 southern Somalia