The Robberg Industry of Rose Cottage Cave, Eastern Free State: The Technology, Spatial Patterns and Environment

Abstract

Rose Cottage Cave contains a late expression of the Robberg Industry dating between about 13 300 and 12 000 BP. The assemblage is comparable to the Robberg at Sehonghong in Lesotho, but has more bladelets than any of the Cape assemblages. Spatial analyses of features, stone and other items in the three Robberg levels show that distinct activity clusters were present and that these are like the clusters found in the more recent Later Stone Age levels of the site. Environmental conditions seem to have been cooler and moister than those of today, and faunal analysis suggests that primary production was low and that most of the species present preferred grassland habitats.