Abstract
The classification of archaeological assemblages in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa in terms of diversity and temporal continuity has significant implications with respect to recent cultural evolutionary models which propose either gradual accumulation or discontinuous, episodic processes for the emergence and diffusion of cultural traits. We present the results of a systematic technological and typological analysis of the Still Bay assemblages from Sibudu and Blombos. A similar approach is used in the analysis of the Howiesons Poort (HP) assemblages from Sibudu seen in comparison with broadly contemporaneous assemblages from Rose Cottage and Klasies River Cave 1A. Using our own and published data from other sites we report on the diversity between stone artifact assemblages and discuss to what extent they can be grouped into homogeneous lithic sets. The gradual evolution of debitage techniques within the Howiesons Poort sequence with a progressive abandonment of the HP technological style argues against the saltational model for its disappearance while the technological differences between the Sibudu and Blombos Still Bay artifacts considerably weaken an interpretation of similarities between the assemblages and their grouping into the same cultural unit. Limited sampling of a fragmented record may explain why simple models of cultural evolution do not seem to apply to a complex reality.
Highlights
Our analysis of the Howiesons Poort (HP) assemblages at Sibudu focuses on patterns that occur repetitively and are consistently present at other sites, for the purpose of comparisons
Using our own and published data from other sites, we report on the heterogeneity within and between the two phases and we discuss to what extent they can be defined as homogeneous sets [14,15,16]
Our comparisons are based on data from HP assemblages at Rose Cottage and Klasies of which we have direct knowledge [20,21] and to a minor degree on publications of other sites
Summary
Our analysis of the HP assemblages at Sibudu focuses on patterns that occur repetitively and are consistently present at other sites, for the purpose of comparisons. Our comparisons are based on data from HP assemblages at Rose Cottage and Klasies of which we have direct knowledge [20,21] and to a minor degree on publications of other sites. We will not discuss the early phases of the HP documented at Diepkloof and concentrate instead on what is often called the “classic” HP dated to MIS 4, after 70 ka. This phase is represented at Diepkloof by the last phases of the Intermediate and Late Howiesons Poort, with mean ages of doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0131127.g012. At Rose Cottage OSL dates go from 66 ± 4 ka for the base of the HP sequence to 59 ± 4 ka at the top [8,20]
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