Revisiting Middle Stone Age hunting at ≠GI, Botswana: A tip cross-sectional area study

Abstract

≠Gi was excavated almost half-a-century ago. Despite no formally published analyses of its lithic and faunal assemblages, the site has been important to discussions about technological development during the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Dating to ~77 ka, ≠Gi has been pitched as one of the earliest contexts in southern Africa where the spearthrower-and-dart may have been used as a mechanically projected weapon system. Here we provide a brief history of lithic-point research pertaining to the site, and report on a tip cross-sectional area (TCSA) analysis conducted on 359 Middle Stone Age points excavated from ≠Gi. Based on the TCSA approach, we hypothesise that the use of stabbing spears in ambush hunting, perhaps in tandem with lightweight javelin hunting, was the most likely scenario for the MSA hunters who used the site.