What do spatial data from Sibhudu tell us about life in the Middle Stone Age?

Abstract

For the last 10 years, we have been carefully excavating rich, well-stratified Middle Stone Age (MSA) horizons from Sibhudu in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This work has provided a great abundance of numerous classes of cultural material from well-controlled contexts dating to between > 90 and 36 ka that is relevant for documenting the Late Pleistocene cultural evolution of Homo sapiens in Africa. In this paper, we look more closely at intra-site spatial relationships between the finds and critically examine their context to determine what has been learned through such careful excavation. The effort is justified because through excavation we destroy sites, necessitating the recovery of as much relevant information as is possible and practicable, for ourselves and for future generations. This paper focuses on the high-resolution Sibhudan sequence at Sibhudu (~ 58 ka) which features high sedimentation rates and abundant finds, with people performing multiple activities in different parts of the site over time. The analyses present examples of how quantitative, 3D spatial data and statistical analyses open new paths of inquiry that advance our understanding of the lifeways of MSA peoples on spatial and temporal scales that have yet to attract much attention by researchers in Africa. Our analyses find intra-site patterning both within and across layers that is indicative of structured spatial use even in small areas of excavation. We identify potential knapping and dumping areas that change their position through time and connect these observations with rich techno-typological and techno-functional information. This work points to future directions, such as refitting and related contextual studies that are rarely used in Late Pleistocene archaeology of southern Africa, but will ultimately provide new insights into MSA lifeways.