Howiesons Poort Research Articles

Taphonomic and zooarchaeological analysis of fauna from the Howiesons Poort and post-Howiesons Poort at Klasies River main site: Examining links between the environment and subsistence behaviour in Marine Isotope Stages 4 and 3

Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 4 and 3 were significant periods encompassing some 50,000 years, including at least two techno-cultural entities: the Howiesons Poort (HP) and post-HP. Exploring subsistence and environmental changes during these periods may help us understand broader aspects of behavioural and occupational patterns over MIS 4 and 3. In this paper, we report on taphonomic analyses of a sample of early HP, late HP and post-HP fauna from Klasies River main site cave 1A. We use these and other faunal data to examine the links between subsistence behaviour and the environment during the HP and post-HP. The results of our analyses indicate that percussion marks are abundant in the HP, with percussion mark frequencies more prevalent in the later HP than the early HP indicating that humans were the primary accumulators of fauna in the HP. Other taphonomic data such as fracture patterns, burning and trampling marks also suggests that human activity was more prevalent in the HP than the post-HP. In contrast, in the post-HP, the prevalence of zoogenic marks on small mammal remains, and comparisons to actualistic assemblages indicate that carnivores probably contributed significantly to the post-HP assemblage. In all the samples investigated, crania dominate skeletal-part profiles. This could be a result of taphonomic bias, or it could indicate that foraging likely occurred relatively close to the site. Analyses of carcass-part utility show that marrow-extraction may have been a key subsistence strategy in the HP. In the post-HP, bone density-mediated attrition had a significant effect on fauna making it challenging to ascertain subsistence patterns, but preliminary analysis may also suggest marrow extraction in combination with other strategies.Post-depositional taphonomic marks such as manganese staining suggest that post-HP and late HP deposits were significantly more affected by moisture than the early HP deposits. Previous investigations of large mammal data point to more closed environments in the early HP, while our data indicate that the environment in the late HP and post-HP was largely similar. In comparing our data to previously analysed micromammal proxy data, we show that major environmental changes at KRM occurred after the shift to post-HP lithic technology. However, the taphonomic data suggests a close relationship between changing subsistence strategies and the MIS4/3 transition.

Lithic Standardization and Behavioral Complexity in the Middle Stone Age – A Case Study From Sibhudu, South Africa

ABSTRACT The concept of standardization has been applied in archaeological research as a proxy measure for cognitive and behavioral complexity since the late nineteenth century. Here we evaluate these issues in the context of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) examining microlithic technology and laminar blanks and their corresponding core reduction and tool assemblages from the Howiesons Poort (HP) and Sibhudan from Sibhudu (South Africa). We find both standardization and variability among different techno-typological components of these technocomplexes. Similar degrees of standardization characterize the metrics of the bladelet assemblages in the Sibhudan and the backed pieces in the HP, but they remain much more variable than products from craft specialists. We argue for a careful interpretation of standardization in lithic technology taking into account factors like raw material, technological redundancy, site use patterns, functionality and tool biographies. Standardization in lithic tools per se is not an ideal proxy measure for behavioral complexity.

Regional patterns of diachronic technological change in the Howiesons Poort of southern Africa.

The Howiesons Poort (HP) of southern Africa plays an important role in models on the early behavioral evolution of Homo sapiens. The HP is often portrayed as a coherent MSA industry characterized by early complex material culture. Recent work has emphasized parallel technological change through time across southern Africa potentially driven by ecological adaptations or demographic change. Here we examine patterns of diachronic variation within the HP and evaluate potential causal factors behind these changes. We test previous temporal assessments of the technocomplex at the local and regional level based on high-resolution quantitative data on HP lithic assemblages from Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal) and comparisons with other southern African sites. At Sibudu, consistent unidirectional change in lithic technology characterizes the HP sequence. The results show a gradual reduction in typical HP markers such as the proportion of blades, backed pieces, and HP cores, as well as declining size of blades and backed artifacts. Quantitative comparisons with seven HP sites in South Africa suggest that lithic technology varies between regions over time instead of following similar changes. Concerning hypotheses of causal drivers, directional changes in lithic technology at Sibudu covary with shifting hunting patterns towards larger-sized bovids and a gradual opening of the vegetation. In contrast, variation in lithic technology shows little association with site use, mobility patterns or demographic expansions. Unlike at Sibudu, diachronic changes at other HP sites such as Diepkloof, Klasies River and Klipdrift appear to be associated with aspects of mobility, technological organization and site use. The regional diachronic patterns in the HP partly follow paleoclimatic zones, which could imply different ecological adaptations and distinct connection networks over time. Divergent and at times decoupled changes in lithic traits across sites precludes monocausal explanations for the entire HP, supporting more complex models for the observed technological trajectories.

New Chronology and Stratigraphy for Kathu Pan 6, South Africa

Kathu Pan 6 (Northern Cape Province) is an open-air site exposed by sinkhole activity that includes a Middle Stone Age Howiesons Poort (HP) component in a stratigraphic sequence that also includes Later Stone Age, early Middle Stone Age, and Earlier Stone Age (Fauresmith) assemblages. Here, we present the dating of the Kathu Pan 6 sequence using multiple luminescence signals: optically stimulated luminescence (blue OSL) and thermally transferred OSL (TT-OSL) on quartz; and the infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) post IR-IR290 signal on potassium feldspar. The results obtained from analyses of different minerals and signals for the archaeological deposits do not always conform but the quartz OSL provides the most accurate set of ages for the HP at KP6 (between 100 ± 6 and 74 ± 5 ka). This age range places the KP6 HP earlier than any of the scenarios considered plausible by Jacobs and Roberts (Journal of Human Evolution, 107, 1–13 2017) but fits well with the extended duration for the HP at Diepkloof proposed by Tribolo et al. (Journal of Archaeological Science, 36(3) 730–39 2009) and promoted by Feathers (Journal of Archaeological Science, 63, 164–174 2017). Two OSL ages bracket the Later Stone Age Wilton industry at KP6, placing it between 5.7 ± 0.3 ka and 2.3 ± 0.1 ka. These fit with known ages for the Wilton and place the KP6 occupation contemporary with Strata 4c–3b at Wonderwerk Cave.

The Howiesons Poort lithic sequence of Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa.

Howiesons Poort (HP) sites, over the past decades, have provided exceptional access to anthropogenic remains that are enhancing our understanding of early modern human behaviour during the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa. Here, we analyse the technological and typological trends in the lithic record that form part of these behaviours, based on the HP sequence recently excavated at Klipdrift Shelter, located on the southern Cape coast of South Africa. This study contributes to enhance knowledge on the mechanisms of changes that occurred during the transition to the post-HP. Despite patterns of continuity observed, notably for core reduction methods, the seven successive lithic assemblages show significant changes in the typological characteristics and raw material selection but also in the relative importance of blade production over time. However, these changes are not necessarily synchronic and occur either as gradual processes or as abrupt technological shifts. Consequently, we cross-examine the association between the lithic phasing and other anthropogenic remains within the HP sequence at Klipdrift Shelter. We explore the implications of these patterns of changes in terms of cultural behaviours and population dynamics during the HP and we highlight the relationship between the different phases of the HP sequence at Klipdrift Shelter and those from other South African HP sites.

Subsistence strategies during the Late Pleistocene in the southern Cape of South Africa: Comparing the Still Bay of Blombos Cave with the Howiesons Poort of Klipdrift Shelter

The Still Bay (SB) and Howiesons Poort (HP) were two significant techno-complexes in the Middle Stone Age and key periods in the expression of behavioral complexity. In this study, we compare the recently excavated fauna from the SB layers at Blombos Cave (BBC) with that from the HP levels at Klipdrift Shelter (KDS) in the southern Cape of South Africa. We consider our findings in the framework of recent models for early human subsistence behavior. In particular, we link our study with models involving resource intensification to examine whether foraging strategies in the HP were more or less intensive than those in the SB. Based on our criteria used to assess intensification—the exploitation of low-ranked prey, the processing of low-utility elements, transport decisions, and occupational intensity—intensive subsistence strategies are more evident at KDS than BBC. Our results suggest that low-ranked elements were processed more heavily and diet breath was broader at KDS than at BBC. However, foraging ranges may have been more extensive at BBC than at KDS. Taphonomic data also suggests that the SB at BBC was a low-intensity, sporadically occupied period in contrast to the high-intensity occupations during the HP at KDS. We argue that this may be related to differences in mobility and residential patterns between these techno-complexes.

Assemblage variability and bifacial points in the lowermost Sibudan layers at Sibudu, South Africa

Building on the important work of Lyn Wadley at Sibudu, archeologists from the University of Tubingen have excavated the upper stratigraphic units of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) sequence down to the Howiesons Poort (HP). Here, we present the main results from lithic analyses of the lowest part of the Sibudan sequence to assess its overall variability and taxonomic status. Based on the new findings, we also discuss the implications for archeological systematics and the cultural evolution of modern humans in MIS 3 from a more general perspective. The Sibudan deposits encompass over 20 archeological horizons that span a 1.2-m-thick, well-stratified sequence whose base and top have been dated to ∼58 ka (MIS 3). In contrast to the upper stratigraphic units, the lower Sibudan assemblages that we analyzed here show much higher use of local sandstone, quartz, and quartzite. These older units are characterized by frequent use of expedient core reduction methods, bipolar reduction of locally available quartz and quartzite, less retouch of blanks, and lower find densities. Tongati and Ndwedwe tools, which feature abundantly in the upper part of the Sibudan sequence, are entirely absent, as are unifacial points. Instead, notched and denticulated tools are common. Surprisingly, knappers manufactured small bifacial points, mainly made from quartz, by means of alternating shaping in the course of the oldest occupations. The results highlight the great diversity of human technological behavior over even short periods during the MSA, raising important questions about the mechanisms of behavioral change, cultural taxonomy, appropriate scales of lithic analyses, and the relationship between the HP and the Sibudan. Our findings further erode the old idea that bifacial technology in southern Africa is limited to the Still Bay. Research is increasingly showing that bifacial points come and go in different forms and contexts of African Late Pleistocene technology, impeding their use as chrono-cultural markers.

Earliest evidence of personal ornaments associated with burial: The Conus shells from Border Cave

The four to six month old infant from Border Cave, found with a perforated Conus shell in a pit excavated in Howiesons Poort (HP) layers dated to 74 ± 4 BP, is considered the oldest instance of modern human burial from Africa, and the earliest example of a deceased human interred with a personal ornament. In this article we present new data retrieved from unpublished archives on the burial excavation, and conduct an in-depth analysis of the Conus found with the infant, and a second similar Conus that probably originates from the same layer. Based on morphological, morphometric and ecological evidence we assign these two shells to Conus ebraeus Linnaeus 1758, a tropical species still living on the nearest coastline to Border Cave, in northern KwaZulu-Natal. This attribution changes the paleoclimatic setting inferred from the previous ascription of these shells to Conus bairstowi, a species endemic to the Eastern Cape and adapted to colder sea surface temperatures. Reconstructions of 74 ka sea surface temperatures along the southern African east coast are consistent with our reassignment. Analysis of shell thanatocoenoses and biocoenosis from the KwaZulu-Natal coast, including microscopic study of their surfaces, reveals that complete, well preserved living or dead Conus, such as those found at Border Cave, are rare on beaches, can be collected at low tide at a depth of c. 0.5–2 m among the rocks, and that the archeological shells were dead when collected. We demonstrate that the perforations at the apex were produced by humans, and that traces of wear due to prolonged utilization as an ornament are present. SEM-EDX analysis of patches of red residue on the Conus found in the pit with the infant indicates that it is composed of iron, phosphorus, silicon, aluminium, and magnesium. Results indicate that, at least in some areas of southern Africa, the use of marine gastropods as ornaments, already attested in Still Bay, extended to the first phases of the HP.

The Still Bay and Howiesons Poort at Sibudu and Blombos: Understanding Middle Stone Age Technologies.

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.

Characterizing the Late Pleistocene MSA Lithic Technology of Sibudu, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Studies of the African Middle Stone Age (MSA) have become central for defining the cultural adaptations that accompanied the evolution of modern humans. While much of recent research in South Africa has focused on the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort (HP), periods following these technocomplexes were often neglected. Here we examine lithic assemblages from Sibudu that post-date the HP to further the understanding of MSA cultural variability during the Late Pleistocene. Sibudu preserves an exceptionally thick, rich, and high-resolution archaeological sequence that dates to ∼58 ka, which has recently been proposed as type assemblage for the “Sibudan”. This study presents a detailed analysis of the six uppermost lithic assemblages from these deposits (BM-BSP) that we excavated from 2011–2013. We define the key elements of the lithic technology and compare our findings to other assemblages post-dating the HP. The six lithic assemblages provide a distinct and robust cultural signal, closely resembling each other in various technological, techno-functional, techno-economic, and typological characteristics. These results refute assertions that modern humans living after the HP possessed an unstructured and unsophisticated MSA lithic technology. While we observed several parallels with other contemporaneous MSA sites, particularly in the eastern part of southern Africa, the lithic assemblages at Sibudu demonstrate a distinct and so far unique combination of techno-typological traits. Our findings support the use of the Sibudan to help structuring this part of the southern African MSA and emphasize the need for further research to identify the spatial and temporal extent of this proposed cultural unit.

Technological successions in the Middle Stone Age sequence of Diepkloof Rock Shelter, Western Cape, South Africa

The southern African MSA comprises a series of phases of unique technological innovations that fuel current models on the evolutionary processes of Anatomically Modern Humans. However, the nature and variability of these technological phases remain poorly documented. This study reports on the previously unpublished sequence of Diepkloof Rock Shelter (South Africa) and investigates the main technological changes therein, particularly emphasizing the emergence, succession and disappearance of the Still Bay (SB) and the Howiesons Poort (HP). We argue for technological change that occurred at different rates and under the influence of variable driving factors. Our model implies that the SB and the HP are not related to the influx of new populations but have regionally specific origins. Unlike the other techno-complexes, the HP at Diepkloof is subdivided into different phases (Early, Intermediate and Late) but only the upper phases resemble the so-called “classic” HP. Finally, the technological sequence of Diepkloof questions the homogeneous picture which has been so far assumed for the southern African MSA and places emphasis on the importance of exploring long regional sequences.

First molecular identification of a hafting adhesive in the Late Howiesons Poort at Diepkloof Rock Shelter (Western Cape, South Africa)

The hafting of tools using adhesive is one of the innovative features that characterizes the southern African Middle Stone Age. This technology has mainstream implications but remains insufficiently documented, largely due to unequal organic preservation and non-adapted analytical procedures. A notable exception is provided by the recent results from the site of Sibudu (Lombard, 2006; Wadley et al., 2009).The excavation at Diepkloof Rock Shelter has revealed several lithic artifacts with a black residue distributed over their surface. Their stratigraphic distribution reveals a strict association with the Howiesons Poort (HP) and suggests a close relationship between the appearance of hafting adhesive and the appearance of blades and geometric backed tools. Macroscopic and microscopic observations attest to a hafting that was exclusively lateralized and preliminary use-wear analysis (Igreja and Porraz, in this issue) supports the hypothesis that hafted tools were mostly integrated within daily (domestic) activities.In this study, we focused specifically on a chemical study of a thick black residue found on a quartz flake attributable to the Late phase of the HP. We determine, for the first time in a MSA context, the nature of the compound adhesive and reconstruct a picture of the multilevel operations and interactions that comprise the process of hafting. The molecular analysis attests to the exploitation of Podocarpus elongatus (Yellowwood), collected in the form of a resin that was naturally dried or heated at a low temperature and possibly mixed with fragmented bone and quartz grains. Compared to Sibudu where ochre additive is documented, the hafting technology at Diepkloof introduces another level of variability within the HP tradition and suggests the existence of regional expressions and adaptations.

OSL and TL dating of the Middle Stone Age sequence at Diepkloof Rock Shelter (South Africa): a clarification

Diepkloof Rock Shelter offers an exceptional opportunity to study the onset and evolution of both Still Bay (SB) and Howiesons Poort (HP) techno-complexes. However, previous age estimates based on luminescence dating of burnt quartzites (Tribolo et al., 2009) and of sediments (Jacobs et al., 2008) were not in agreement. Here, we present new luminescence ages for 17 rock samples (equivalent dose estimated with a SAR-ITL protocol instead of classical MAAD-TL) as well as for 5 sediment samples (equivalent dose estimated with SAR-single grain OSL protocol) and an update of the 22 previous age estimates for burnt lithics (modified calibration and beta dose estimates). While a good agreement between the rock and sediment ages is obtained, these estimates are still significantly older than those reported by Jacobs et al. (2008). After our own analyses of the sediment from Diepkloof, it is suspected that these authors did not correctly chose the parameters for the equivalent dose determination, leading to an underestimate of the equivalent doses, and thus of the ages.From bottom to top, the mean ages are 100 ± 10 ka for stratigraphic unit (SU) Noël and 107 ± 11 ka for SU Mark (uncharacterized Lower MSA), 100 ± 10 ka for SU Lynn-Leo (Pre-SB type Lynn), 109 ± 10 ka for SUs Kim-Larry (SB), 105 ± 10 ka for SUs Kerry-Kate and 109 ± 10 ka for SU Jess (Early HP), 89 ± 8 ka for SU Jude (MSA type Jack), 77 ± 8 ka for SU John, 85 ± 9 ka for SU Fox, 83 ± 8 ka for SU Fred and 65 ± 8 ka for SU OB5 (Intermediate HP), 52 ± 5 ka for SUs OB2-4 (Late HP).This chronology, together with the technological analyses, greatly modifies the current chrono-cultural model regarding the SB and the HP and has important archaeological implications. Indeed, SB and HP no longer appear as short-lived techno-complexes with synchronous appearances for each and restricted to Oxygen Isotopic Stage (OIS) 4 across South Africa, as suggested by Jacobs et al. (2008, 2012). Rather, the sequence of Diepkloof supports a long chronology model with an early appearance of both SB and HP in the first half of OIS 5 and a long duration of the HP into OIS 3. These new dates imply that different technological traditions coexisted during OIS 5 and 4 in southern Africa and that SB and HP can no longer be considered as horizon markers.

Quantification of climate and vegetation from southern African Middle Stone Age sites – an application using Late Pleistocene plant material from Sibudu, South Africa

In southern Africa numerous Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites document important steps in technological and behavioural development leading to significant changes in the lifeways of modern humans. To assess whether these cultural changes and developments may be related to environmental changes we need to ascertain past environments. To do this we apply a new quantitative method, the GIS-based Coexistence Approach (CAGIS), on fossil plant material from the MSA site Sibudu, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Previous qualitative environmental interpretations of the fossil fauna and flora of the site remain ambiguous. Because much of the material is anthropogenically introduced, it is difficult to distinguish between the effects of natural changes in the local vegetation and behavioural changes of the people that inhabited the shelter. CAGIS can be applied to such biased assemblages and seems to be an adequate method to directly quantify palaeoclimate and vegetation parameters at an archaeological site.The CAGIS analysis shows that during the Howiesons Poort (HP) Industry winters were slightly colder and drier than present, whereas during summer, temperatures and precipitation were similar to today. Post-HP winters were drier and colder than present, presumably colder than during the HP. Summer temperatures remained the same, but summer precipitation decreased from the HP to post-HP. Vegetation cover was less than today, may be even less than during the HP. The late MSA was observably warmer than the older periods, especially during winter. At the same time summer precipitation slightly increased and vegetation became more dense, but still remained generally open similar to today's anthropogenic landscape.Generally, climatic changes are most pronouncedly reflected in winter temperature parameters, especially in minimum winter temperatures, and to a lesser extent by changes in summer precipitation. The observed ecological trends seem to be affected mainly by variations through time in winter temperatures. This refinement of interpretation was not discernible using previous methods for analysing the Sibudu data.

Still Bay and Howiesons Poort Foraging Strategies: Recent Research and Models of Culture Change

The Still Bay (SB) and Howiesons Poort (HP) industries, endemic to southern Africa and dating to approximately 72–59 ka, have received a great deal of archaeological attention by virtue of their striking patterns of technology and their close association with some of the earliest unambiguously symbolic objects found in southern Africa. This paper reviews recent literature concerning SB and HP lithic assemblages, faunal remains, paleoenvironmental contexts, and chronological information. It argues that SB biface-dominated technology was designed to be multifunctional and to economize lithic raw material, a strategy well-suited to foragers moving frequently across a wide range of ecological zones in which access to resources and prey encounters were unpredictable. In contrast, HP blade-based tools, using backed blades as modular components in compound weapons, were efficient and reliable hunting weapons designed for specific tasks. More costly and difficult to maintain, HP technology resulted from the targeting of known, localized, and seasonal resources through planned logistical forays. We argue that these complicated patterns of innovation represent separate cultural responses to environmental instability during Marine Isotope Stage 4 and demographic pressures in southern Africa at this time. Against the backdrop of environmental and demographic shifts, the emergence of these innovative tools and associated symbolic objects reflects distinct but quintessentially modern cultural behaviors ethnographically associated with risk reduction, reciprocity, and information sharing.

The evolution of human culture during the later Pleistocene: Using fauna to test models on the emergence and nature of “modern” human behavior

It has often been argued that the success and spread of modern humans ∼50,000 years ago was due to a series of key behavioral shifts that conferred particular adaptive advantages. And yet, particularly during the African Middle Stone Age (MSA), some of these “modern” behaviors see only patchy expression across time and space. Recent models have proposed a link between the emergence of modern behaviors and environmental degradation and/or demographic stress. Under these models, modern behaviors represent a form of social/economic intensification in response to stress; if this were the case, signs of subsistence intensification should be more common during periods in which these behaviors are manifested than when they are not. In order to test these models, I analyzed faunal remains from Sibudu Cave (South Africa), focusing on the Howieson’s Poort (HP), a phase in which modern behaviors are evidenced, and the post-HP MSA, when classical signatures of such behavior have disappeared. Significant variability in hunting behavior was identified. While much of this variability appears to correspond with changes in the local environment, evidence for resource stress was more common during the HP. The implications of these results to our understanding of the evolution of human culture are discussed.

Burned bone in the Howieson’s Poort and post-Howieson’s Poort Middle Stone Age deposits at Sibudu (South Africa): behavioral and taphonomic implications

Despite a growing awareness of the wide range of information that can be provided by detailed analyses of burned bone from archaeological contexts, such analyses are still relatively uncommon. This paper focuses on the behavioral and taphonomic implications of burned bone from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) site of Sibudu Cave (South Africa), reporting on the analysis of a large sample (>377,000 fragments) of bone recovered from the Howieson’s Poort (HP) and post-HP MSA deposits at the site. Faunal remains were initially sorted into burning categories based on changes in color; microscopic analyses focused on the optical properties of the bone matrix (degree of preservation of the bone structure, reflectance and fluorescence) indicated that the color is a valid indicator of thermally altered bone in the Sibudu assemblage. The association of burned bone with hearths, the intensity of burning damage, and the sheer quantity of thermally altered bone suggests that the bone was not burned primarily as a result of natural fires. We propose that the high incidence of burned bone primarily reflects two types of site maintenance activities: first, the discarding of bone into fire as a means of disposing of food waste (as also argued by Cain [2005, Using burned animal bone to look at Middle Stone Age occupation and behavior. J. Archaeol. Sci. 32, 873–884], for a smaller sample of material from the post-HP and late MSA deposits at the site), and second, the incidental burning of bone on/near the surface during the periodic burning of plant-based bedding. In considering the taphonomic implications of the burned bone, we demonstrate that calcined bone is in fact more heavily fragmented than unburnt or moderately burned bone. Furthermore, cortical preservation was negatively correlated with the intensity of burning damage, which has implications for the study of surface modifications. These results indicate the importance of conducting thorough taphonomic analyses prior to making comparisons between units that show differing degrees or intensities of burning damage.

Middle Stone Age bone tools from the Howiesons Poort layers, Sibudu Cave, South Africa

Recently discovered bone implements from Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits at Sibudu Cave, South Africa, confirm the existence of a bone tool industry for the Howiesons Poort (HP) technocomplex. Previously, an isolated bone point from Klasies River provided inconclusive evidence. This paper describes three bone tools: two points and the end of a polished spatula-shaped piece, from unequivocal HP layers at Sibudu Cave (with ages greater than ∼61 ka). Comparative microscopic and morphometric analysis of the Sibudu specimens together with bone tools from southern African Middle and Later Stone Age (LSA) deposits, an Iron Age occupation, nineteenth century Bushman hunter-gatherer toolkits, and bone tools used experimentally in a variety of tasks, reveals that the Sibudu polished piece has use-wear reminiscent of that on bones experimentally used to work animal hides. A slender point is consistent with a pin or needle-like implement, while a larger point, reminiscent of the single specimen from Peers Cave, parallels large un-poisoned bone arrow points from LSA, Iron Age and historical Bushman sites. Additional support for the Sibudu point having served as an arrow tip comes from backed lithics in the HP compatible with this use, and the recovery of older, larger bone and lithic points from Blombos Cave, interpreted as spear heads. If the bone point from the HP layers at Sibudu Cave is substantiated by future discoveries, this will push back the origin of bow and bone arrow technology by at least 20,000 years, and corroborate arguments in favour of the hypothesis that crucial technological innovations took place during the MSA in Africa.

Animal exploitation strategies during the South African Middle Stone Age: Howiesons Poort and post-Howiesons Poort fauna from Sibudu Cave

As one of the few sites that preserve fauna from the Howiesons Poort (HP) and the immediately post-HP Middle Stone Age (MSA), Sibudu Cave provides a unique opportunity to explore the range of variability in subsistence behaviors during this important phase in human behavioral evolution. In addition to providing information on subsistence, the faunal assemblage serves as a means of reconstructing the environmental conditions during these two periods. While the HP fauna is dominated by species that prefer closed (particularly forested) habitats, the fauna from the upper-most layers of the post-HP MSA are largely representative of open conditions. These results largely coincide with macrobotanical analyses and may simply indicate that the extent of the riverine forest near the site was greater during the HP. Alternatively, the pattern could be indicative of a marked intensification in the exploitation of the environment in the immediate vicinity of the shelter during the HP, perhaps resulting from a decline in the productivity of adjacent regions. We also document variation in the frequency of the different bovid size classes over time. The evidence shows a declining focus on the smallest bovids after the HP, with a parallel increase in the frequency of large and very large bovids. Beyond a heavy focus on small bovids, small mammals and suids also occur at higher frequencies during the HP. Although the HP faunal assemblage is largely unique as compared to the bulk of the MSA sequence at Sibudu, the evidence presented here suggests that the transition between the HP and the post-HP MSA may have been more gradual than abrupt. Our results indicate that the HP and post-HP MSA inhabitants of Sibudu Cave were capable hunters; however, hunting strategies appear to show marked variation over time. We propose that the variability in animal procurement strategies reflects a degree of behavioral plasticity beyond that generally attributed to MSA populations.

New ages for the post-Howiesons Poort, late and final Middle Stone Age at Sibudu, South Africa

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) measurements are reported for single grains of quartz from deposits within Sibudu rock shelter. Such measurements enable rejection of unrepresentative grains and application of the finite mixture and central age models to obtain the most reliable age estimates. Three types of single-grain equivalent dose ( D e) distributions were observed: one sample represented a single dose population, three samples indicated mixing between Iron Age (IA) and Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits, and 10 samples (in addition to the three mixed samples) showed scattered distributions. The latter type resulted from differences in the beta dose received by individual grains. For these samples, the beta doses were modelled and adjusted accordingly. Ages for the 14 samples collected from MSA deposits post-dating the Howiesons Poort (HP) resulted in three age clusters, which are stratigraphically consistent with the three informally named cultural phases at Sibudu: namely, the post-HP, late MSA and final MSA. Weighted mean ages of 58.5 ± 1.4 ka, 47.7 ± 1.4 ka and 38.6 ± 1.9 ka were calculated for these phases, respectively. The three phases were separated by two occupational hiatuses with durations of 10.8 ± 1.3 ka and 9.1 ± 3.6 ka. We hypothesise that the punctuated presence of humans at Sibudu was determined by large-scale fluctuations in climate during oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 3, which resulted in alternating wet and dry periods. Phases of occupation correspond to wet periods when fresh water was available in the Tongati River, whereas intervals of site abandonment correspond to dry periods when people were forced to migrate in search of a reliable source of fresh water. Where people migrated to, remains unresolved.