Open-air Contexts Research Articles

Persistent predators: Zooarchaeological evidence for specialized horse hunting at Schöningen 13II-4

The Schöningen 13II-4 site is a marvel of Paleolithic archaeology. With the extraordinary preservation of complete wooden spears and butchered large mammal bones dating from the Middle Pleistocene, Schöningen maintains a prominent position in the halls of human origins worldwide. Here, we present the first analysis of the complete large mammal faunal assemblage from Schöningen 13II-4, drawing on multiple lines of zooarchaeological and taphonomic evidence to expose the full spectrum of hominin activities at the site—before, during, and after the hunt. Horse (Equus mosbachensis) remains dominate the assemblage and suggest a recurrent ambush hunting strategy along the margins of the Schöningen paleo-lake. In this regard, Schöningen 13II-4 provides the first undisputed evidence for hunting of a single prey species that can be studied from an in situ, open-air context. The Schöningen hominins likely relied on cooperative hunting strategy to target horse family groups, to the near exclusion of bachelor herds. Horse kills occurred during all seasons, implying a year-round presence of hominins on the Schöningen landscape. All portions of prey skeletons are represented in the assemblage, many complete and in semiarticulation, with little transport of skeletal parts away from the site. Butchery marks are abundant, and adult carcasses were processed more thoroughly than were juveniles. Numerous complete, unmodified bones indicated that lean meat and marrow were not always so highly prized, especially in events involving multiple kills when fat and animal hides may have received greater attention. The behaviors displayed at Schöningen continue to challenge our perceptions and models of past hominin lifeways, further cementing Schöningen's standing as the archetype for understanding hunting adaptations during the European Middle Pleistocene.

The Jojosi Dongas: An interdisciplinary project to study the evolution of human behaviour and landscapes in open-air contexts

Hunter-gatherer groups conduct most of their activities in open landscapes as they provide drinking water, food, and raw materials, and offer spaces for social gatherings. The remains left behind at such sites allow for unique archaeological insights into the spatial patterning of prehistoric behaviour. The Stone Age record in southern Africa remains best-known from sheltered sites. A paucity of stratified open-air localities precludes understanding the full spectrum of past hominin activities. Here we introduce an interdisciplinary project in KwaZulu-Natal to study the evolution of human behaviour and landscape dynamics during the Pleistocene in the open-air context of a stratified hillslope with sediments exposed in so-called dongas, a landform created by gully erosion. The project encompasses field and laboratory approaches, combining archaeological, geographical, geological, chronometric, and palaeoenvironmental data. After reviewing relevant open-air research in archaeology and geography, we identify the Jojosi Dongas as a promising research area. Our fieldwork results from 2022-2023 demonstrate the high archaeological, geographical, and geological potential of this landscape. Foot surveys found abundant MSA artefacts spread throughout the dongas, one area with ESA tools, but little to no traces of LSA or later material. Most finds lie on the surface with rarer stratified material occurring in exposed profiles. The surface MSA material is characterised by almost exclusive hornfels use, frequent cortical pieces, many large blanks and cores, and rare retouched tools. These features differ markedly from lithic trends observed in well-known shelter sites, likely the result of differences in site function. Based on the nature of the surface assemblages and the presence of a large outcrop of high-quality hornfels, we hypothesise that the Jojosi Dongas may have been a specialised quarry and workshop area. The stratified MSA occupations are the focus of ongoing excavations and further studies will aim to test our preliminary interpretations provided here.

A multiscalar and multiproxy geoarchaeological approach to site formation processes at the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic site of La Roche-à-Pierrot, Saint-Césaire, France

The site of La Roche-à-Pierrot in Saint-Césaire (Charente-Maritime, France) produced a succession of Mousterian, Châtelperronian and Aurignacian occupations, and continues to play a central role in debates concerning the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition. The source of controversy surrounding the site relates to ambiguities concerning the overall archaeological sequence, the cultural association of the human remains found at the site and the limited number of robust absolute dates. Here, we present the results of a multiscalar, multiproxy geoarchaeological investigation of the site's sedimentary sequence. Our study integrates geomorphology, field lithostratigraphy, microstratigraphy, geochemistry and absolute dating methods (radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence) designed to characterize site formation processes. We propose a site formation model involving the evolution of a karstified limestone cliff from a semi-closed system to an exposed slope deposit, with sediments at the base of the cliff accumulating under periglacial conditions of MIS3, broadly between ca. 59.9 ± 3.9 ka and ca. 37.7 ka. The lowermost Mousterian occupations took place in a semi-closed, sheltered space in which sedimentary rates were low, involving mainly cryoclastic roof spall and episodic percolation of fine-grained sediment. This depositional environment generated a Mousterian archaeological palimpsest in the proximal area and translocated downslope. Subsequent Mousterian, Châtelperronian and Aurignacian remains embedded within diamictons were deposited in an open-air context, on a sloping surface at the apex of a palaeotalus, and possibly above the site, at the top of the cliff. The resulting diachronous surfaces and immature deposits were subject to solifluction and slopewash, with low sedimentary rates. Our geoarchaeological study sheds new light on previously noted spatial inconsistencies in the archaeological sequence and constitutes a rigorous framework for further archaeological research at the site, highlighting the potential of a multiscalar, multiproxy site formation research to improve stratigraphic investigation of Palaeolithic sites in similar geomorphological contexts.

Do You Think the Painting is Finished? The Function of Correction/Conversation in Developing Painting Skills on the Example of Outdoor Painting

The aim of the article is to present the meaning of correction, i.e. the conversation accompanying the study of outdoor painting. Correction is a tool that can support and motivate to pursue artistic work, and at the same time it can introduce students to the language of visual arts. It is widely used at various levels of arts education. Art adepts in conversation with teachers / experienced artists and other painters gain declarative and procedural knowledge in the field of painting. The article uses materials from observations, conversations and interviews conducted during open-air painting sessions, addressed primarily to amateur artists and people preparing for studies. The article consists of three parts: a theoretical introduction to the subject of outdoor painting and its importance for artistic education, a methodological and empirical section, which discusses the different functions of correction, its types, and the context of the emergence of conversations about artistic progress, including an analysis of the stages of work in the open air context. It concludes with a discussion on creation as an interpersonal and relational process, an important element of which are constructive conversations about art and artistic competences.

The Sustainability of Rock Art: Preservation and Research

Rock art is a widespread cultural heritage, representing an immovable element of the material culture created on natural rocky supports. Paintings and petroglyphs can be found within caves and rock shelters or in open-air contexts and for that reason they are not isolated from the processes acting at the Earth surface. Consequently, rock art represents a sort of ecosystem because it is part of the complex and multidirectional interplay between the host rock, pigments, environmental parameters, and microbial communities. Such complexity results in several processes affecting rock art; some of them contribute to its destruction, others to its preservation. To understand the effects of such processes an interdisciplinary scientific approach is needed. In this contribution, we discuss the many processes acting at the rock interface—where rock art is present—and the multifaceted possibilities of scientific investigations—non-invasive or invasive—offered by the STEM disciplines. Finally, we suggest a sustainable approach to investigating rock art allowing to understand its production as well as its preservation and eventually suggest strategies to mitigate the risks threatening its stability.

A tentative tale of Stone Age human dynamics in Pleistocene south-western Libya (central Sahara)

AbstractThe area encompassing the Acacus and Messak mountains in South Western Libya, similarly to the other central Saharan massifs, is characterized by a deeply eroded landscape where Quaternary geo-archaeological archives are rare, especially Pleistocene ones, making it difficult to understand and contextualize past human dynamics within a solid chrono-paleoenvironmental framework. Except for the few caves and open-air contexts where Pleistocene sedimentary sequences are preserved, the vast majority of archaeological evidence from the region is represented by lithic artefacts found on the surface of deflated open-air sites. Nonetheless, artefacts still stand as the main references used to build a rough framework for population dynamics through time. Although the evidence is not as solid as we would like, it allows us to at least reconsider connecting the human presence solely to ‘green’ phases, as a number of population dynamics related to arid landscapes have inferably occurred in the late Middle Pleistocene and in the Late Pleistocene. Coping with changing or difficult ecological settings could have been a driver at different times for behavioral adjustment, large scale displacement, increased interactions between populations and diffusion of technological innovations.

Thinking Outside the Box at Open-Air Archeological Contexts: Examples From Loess Landscapes in Southeast Romania

Stratified, well preserved sites preserving unambiguous geological and archaeological data from which human-environmental interactions can be reconstructed, are rare. More commonly we must test our hypotheses based on extrapolation of the few available sites, particularly in regions with high sedimentation rates. Here we test the idea of aggregating “off-sites” – human traces which provide isolated evidence of activity in an area – to maximizing the information which can meaningfully be extracted from Palaeolithic open-air contexts. We present two case studies from the sediment-rich loess steppe of southeast Romania, Lipniţa and Dealul Pesterica. Both off-sites preserve low density, undiagnostic lithic assemblages which may otherwise be overlooked in favour of more impressive sites. We constrain the timing of occupation at these two localities to c. 61ka and 34-41 ka at Lipniţa and Dealul Pesterica, and show that people were present near a river bank and on loess slopes respectively. Aggregation of data from the region suggests repeated visitation of riverine landscapes; additionally people likely ranged across landforms, particularly where raw material for making stone tools was plentiful. Our case studies demonstrate that empirical, incremental findings may still be generated from sites traditionally thought to be of little value. We argue that this approach is highly applicable to investigating the human implications for landscape context from archaeological traces in sediment-rich, open-air situations.

Age, palaeoenvironment, and preservation of prehistoric petroglyphs on a boulder in the oasis of Salut (northern Sultanate of Oman)

The preservation of rock art in open-air contexts is a global issue controlled by several environmental processes, which are less investigated than the cultural significance of engravings and paintings. For that reason, we discuss the age, preservation, and palaeoenvironmental context of petroglyphs discovered on the flat, almost vertical face of a large boulder fallen along the western slope of Jabal Hammah, a rocky hill that borders the oasis of Salut (northern Sultanate of Oman). Geoarchaeological investigation highlighted that, in the region, the preservation of petroglyphs is due to the interplay of two contrasting weathering processes. On one hand, karst dissolution – even if it is a very slow process in arid and semi-arid lands – gradually levels the surface of boulders. On the other hand, a biomineralized Mn- and Fe-rich rock varnish has developed inside the grooves of the engravings, thus sheltering them from extreme dissolution and promoting the preservation of the pristine shape of the representations. Moreover, organics trapped within the rock varnish have been radiocarbon dated to 2600 ± 60 uncal. years BP. This result allows establishing a limit ante quem for the production of these specific engravings and to root it to the Bronze or Iron Age exploitation of the area. This result is of particular relevance in a region where well-dated rock art is virtually absent. Today, the biogeochemical processes leading to the formation of the protective crust are almost inactive, and not consistent with the present dry environmental settings. Their occurrence is in accordance with other local palaeoclimatic record, and suggests Bronze and Iron Age climatic conditions wetter than today. A broader implication of our work is that it shows how a multidisciplinary approach to the study of rock art provides the opportunity of understanding the age of rock art and its paleoenvironmental significance. We demonstrate that physical, chemical, and biological weathering processes are in charge of the preservation and/or destruction of rock art; such processes have to be seriously taken into account in projects of rock art field assessment.

Evidencias a cielo abierto para discutir superficies potenciales de actividad temprana en Patagonia centro occidental (44-45° s)

This paper presents the results of the guided search of early open-air evidence framed within a program for assessing potential surfaces for human occupations during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition and the early Holocene. We studied selected areas of the steppe located east of the Andes of central-western Patagonia. The new findings are surface concentrations of lithic material in the Cisnes and Nirehuao river valleys. The data is discussed in a regional frame with the purpose of showing new aspects to consider within the alternatives offered by surface material and open-air contexts.

Sex estimation using sexually dimorphic amelogenin protein fragments in human enamel

Amelogenin genes are located on both X and Y sex chromosomes in humans and are a major focus of DNA-based sex estimation methods. Amelogenin proteins, AMELX_HUMAN and AMELY_HUMAN, are expressed in the tooth organ and play a major role in mineralization of enamel, the most taphonomically resistant, archaeologically persistent human tissue. We describe shotgun liquid chromatography mass spectrometry analysis of 40 enamel samples representing 25 individuals, including modern third molars and archaeological teeth from open-air contexts including permanent adult (400 to 7300 BP) and deciduous teeth (100 to 1000 BP). Peptides specific to the X-chromosome isoform of amelogenin were detected in all samples. Peptides specific to the sexually dimorphic Y-chromosome isoform were also detected in 26 samples from 13 individuals, across all time periods, including previously unsexed deciduous teeth from archaeological contexts. While the signal of each gene product can vary by more than an order of magnitude, we show close agreement between osteological and amelogenin-based sex estimation and thus demonstrate that the protein-based signal can be obtained reliably from open-air archaeological contexts dating to at least 7300 years ago. While samples with AMELY_HUMAN peptides are unambiguously male, samples with no AMELY_HUMAN signal may either be low signal male false negative samples or female samples. In order to estimate sex in these samples we developed a probability curve of female sex as a function of the logarithm of AMELX_HUMAN signal (p < 0.0001) using logistic regression. This is also the first demonstration using proteomics to estimate sex in deciduous teeth and pushes back the application of the method to teeth that are at least 7300 years old.

Open-air preservation of miniaturised lithics: experimental research in the Cederberg Mountains, southern Africa

Open-air archaeology plays a limited role in southern African Late Pleistocene research, with most studies focused on rock shelter assemblages. Recently, archaeologists have noted discrepancies in the composition of Late Pleistocene lithic assemblages between some of the region’s open-air and rock shelter sites. For example, although relatively abundant in rock shelters, Late Pleistocene Later Stone Age (LSA, c. 44–12 kcal. BP) bipolar cores are rare in open-air contexts. In this paper, we assess this discrepancy by testing for differential preservation of specific artefact classes and sizes in semi-arid open-air conditions. We placed a replicated assemblage of miniaturised cores and flakes on an archaeologically sterile sediment surface in the Doring River Valley (South Africa) and recorded their movements over 22 months. Our results indicate that bipolar and freehand cores moved comparable distances within the study interval and that surface slope is the strongest predictor of miniaturised tool movement. We also show that (1) relatively flat lithics move disproportionately more and (2) random artefact orientations do not preclude local (i.e. metre) scale artefact transport. In terms of the archaeology of our study area, the observed clustering of surface artefacts on sediment bodies likely results from their recent exposure. Our data suggest that the paucity of open-air bipolar artefacts in Late Pleistocene LSA assemblages may have more to do with human behavioural variability at landscape scales than differential preservation. Southern Africa’s rich rock shelter record is, therefore, unlikely to represent the full suite of prehistoric hunter-gatherer behaviours.

Paleohistory of an Aurignacian bison skull from Régismont-le-Haut (Hérault): from nature to value

The discovery of a Bison skull (with its atlas) in the Aurignacian site of Régismont-le-Haut (Hérault) is relatively surprising in this open-air context where faunal remains are not well preserved. Complementary studies in the fields of paleontology, taphonomy and zooarchaeology enable us to reconstruct the history (paleohistory) of this specimen and to discuss its taxonomical position, as well as its (economic, symbolic) value.

Assessing the effects of temporal ambivalence on defining palaeosystem interrelations, and applicability to the analysis of archaeological survey data

We present a possibility-based method with applications to the analysis of archaeological survey data under constraints of temporal ambivalence. The method is a generalizable heuristic for automated learning and data mining that estimates the set of possible responses associated with ambivalent numerical data, by (i) assessing the degree of epistemic ambivalence that is carried in a data set with ambivalent information, and by (ii) monitoring the effects of this degree on data analysis, enabling the adaptation of classical data analysis to the treatment of both crisp and fuzzy information. Owing to the strong methodological foundations of the application, a detailed introduction of the ambivalent paradigm is presented first so its adaptability to archaeological survey data can be followed later. The approach is demonstrated in selecting informative features of uncertain palaeosystems by ambivalent Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and exemplified with archaeological survey data collected in the Sierra de Atapuerca and the Arlanzon valley (Burgos, Spain), focusing on the effects of temporal ambivalence on the analysis of associations between lithological palaeoenvironments and Middle Palaeolithic technologies in an open-air context. Although survey data in this region is affected by varying degrees of temporal ambivalence that, on occasion, span several isotopic stages of the late Pleistocene sequence, its effects on feature selection, regarding PCA, are not significant enough to produce contradictory reprojections of palaeolithological data onto the principal space, thanks to a gradual stabilization of the relief in the Middle Arlanzon valley, on a regional scale, during the late Pleistocene. By applying correlation-based dissimilarity distances and cluster analysis to the grouping of ambivalent score patterns, ambivalent features that describe the palaeolithological context of the Middle Palaeolithic scatters can be grouped on the PC1 × PC2 principal plane into four contexts with a similar palaeolithological evolution among group members: the Mesozoic crest of the Sierra de Atapuerca (Group 1), the Neogene levels of the Villalval-Rubena platform (Group 2), lithologically mixed areas between fluvial valleys and Neogene hills (Group 3), and the valleys of the Arlanzon, Pico and Vena rivers (Group 4). In none of these groups the evolution of the local palaeolandscape is notable enough, once again on a regional scale, to produce conflicting descriptions of the palaeolithological signatures where the archaeological scatters occur, although Group 3 (a geographical interface between different lithological palaeoenvironments) has been more dynamic than the rest of environments over the time range the lithic scatters would have formed.

Conociendo la función del utillaje lítico tallado: Veinticinco años de análisis traceológicos aplicados a contextos neolíticos del noreste de la Península Ibérica [Getting to know the function of the flaked stone tools: Twenty-five years of use-wear...

Getting to know the function of the flaked stone tools: Twenty-five years of use-wear analysis on the Neolithic assemblages of the NE of the Iberian Peninsula This paper deals with the functionality of the flaked stone assemblages from several Neolithic sites of the NE of the Iberian Peninsula. The chronological framework ranges from the mid-6 th to the mid-4 th millennium cal. BCE, which corresponds to the Early and Middle Neolithic. This long period ranges from the arrival of the first farming communities in the Iberian Peninsula, around 5600-5500 cal. BCE, to 3600-3500 cal. BCE, two millennia later, when Neolithic communities had stably occupied most of the available territory, from the mountainous areas of the Pyrenees to the coastal areas of the Mediterranean. In this context, the NE of the Iberian Peninsula is one of the areas where a major number of use-wear analyses have been carried out, especially for what concerns the Neolithic period. This is mainly due to the interest shown by the directors of the excavations and by the Spanish use-wear specialists as well; both participated and cooperated in order to enlarge the number of contexts studied, making the NE of the Iberian Peninsula one of the areas of Europe with the largest number of ‘functional studies’. As a result, today we have a reliable picture of the type of lithic tools used by the first farming groups, how they were used, and which needs they were satisfying. The methodology employed for this type of analysis is today broadly shared by most use-wear specialists. A stereoscopic microscope is used together with a reflected-light microscope for the analysis of the archaeological specimens. Afterwards, the observed use-wear traces are compared with the traces from experimental tools. This study primarily made use of the tools preserved at the ‘Traceoteque’ of the Institucion Mila y Fontanals of the CSIC of Barcelona. This paper presents the results obtained for the different types of analysed sites and the relative lithic assemblages. In this way, tools from different contexts are compared: open-air sites, caves and rock-shelters, pit-sites, burials, and mining sites. Such a diversity of contexts allowed for the exploration of the existence of recurrences and differences in the functionality of the lithic tools from one site to another. The results obtained have also provided information on some aspects related to the economic processes carried out at the different sites, caves, rock-shelters and open-air contexts. It has been possible to gain fresh data on the types of tasks carried out and their relative importance for each site, their relation with the geographical and environmental context and the natural resources available there. In addition, analysing tools recovered from burials – mainly individual inhumations – provided information on the relationships between the buried individuals and the working tools, in particular exploring the relationships between sex and age patterns and the types of tools deposited as goods. In conclusion, use-wear analysis allowed for the exploration of a variety of issues; from technical aspects related to the production and management of the lithic resources to social aspects related to the subsistence activities and the individuals that carried them out.

Early Epipaleolithic lithics, time-averaging, and site interpretations: Wadi al-Hasa region, Western Highlands of Jordan

The lithic assemblages from the Wadi al-Hasa region Early Epipaleolithic site occupations reveal long-term patterning as well as distinctions. These assemblages are records of time-averaged deposition of multiple activities in these persistent places in the landscape. In this paper we examine the characteristics of the lithic assemblages from the rockshelters at Tor Sageer, Yutil al-Hasa, and KPS-75, as well as the open-air context in front of the rockshelter at KPS-75 and the open-air site at Tor at-Tareeq. There are several cross-cutting variables that can be considered, including exterior versus interior spaces, temporal slices within the Early Epipaleolithic (e.g., Nebekian and Qalkhan), and the issues of time-averaging. A number of lithic measures often are used in these contexts to examine concepts such as the relative mobility of prehistoric hunter–gatherer–forager groups (e.g., blank-to-core ratios, lithic densities, and stone raw materials) and thus their settlement systems, although these measures can produce contradictory results. We argue instead that lithic assemblages (“occupations”) that are the result of accumulations in site layers must be assessed using the framework of time-averaging because such accumulations are not a record of an individual event but of long-term deposition and discard at locales in the landscape. The Hasa region Early Epipaleolithic site occupations are not unique in being such accumulations, as most researchers combine the lithics from layers to form analytical units. In this regard, consideration of time-averaging should be applied more broadly to Levantine site occupation lithic assemblages and their interpretation(s).

Lithic tool management in the Early Middle Paleolithic: an integrated techno-functional approach applied to Le Pucheuil-type production (Le Pucheuil, northwestern France)

The significant development of predetermined flake technologies marks the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic in Europe. This phenomenon is not only expressed by the increase in the Levallois methods, but it also includes a diversity of other flaking methods, e.g. micro-Levallois, Kombewa, truncated-faceted and Le Pucheuil, often related to secondary reduction sequences. The tool management and use patterns they fulfill are still largely unknown due to the scarcity of use-wear analyses, whereas their technological characteristics are well defined.In this paper we present a combined technological and functional study of Le Pucheuil-type flakes (Delagnes, 1993), from the eponymous Early Middle Paleolithic site of Le Pucheuil (northwestern France). The technical investment during the reduction sequence is relatively low but flaking is nevertheless guided by specific and constant technical rules which result in the production of predetermined flakes. These flakes share common morphotechnical attributes: an acute, straight or slightly curved, distal edge opposed to a robust and wide proximal area. The use-wear analysis shows that this morphology was clearly sought after insofar as the distal acute edges were used as working edges while the proximal edges served as prehensile areas. Despite their similarity, Le Pucheuil-type flakes were used for a variety of tasks, including butchery but also hide scraping, wood and non-woody plant working. Tool management suggests that their production responded to deferred and/or collective uses. Our combined approach points to: 1. the high degree of elaborateness and flexibility of the tool management strategies developed in the Early Middle Paleolithic in Europe, 2. the presence of long-lasting and multi-activity occupations in an open-air context during the harsh environmental conditions at the beginning of the penultimate glaciation (OIS 6). The results finally show the great potential of combined technological/functional approaches to lithic assemblages as a way to refine our understanding of the technical, social and economical organization of Neanderthal hunter-gatherers, most specifically in contexts where lithics are the only preserved materials.

Actualistic Zooarchaeology in Central Western Argentina in Cave and Open Air Contexts

Many cultural and natural processes form the archaeological record. Taphonomy, the study of the transition of organic matter from living contexts (the biosphere) to geological contexts (the lithosphere), aids in understanding how agents and processes affect skeletal remains in the archaeological record. In this paper the results of an actualistic taphonomic study on deposition of bones in open-air and cave contexts in the high elevation Andes Mountains are presented. Results indicate that within the first three months after deposition many bones are displaced or removed from sites and that the agents that act in each context are different. Horizontal displacement of bones from their deposited locations is limited in the cave context but is dominant in the open air site. Carnivores appear to be responsible for moving bones in open-air contexts, and rodents appear to displace bones vertically in the cave context. Such naturalistic experiments are important in particular areas of the world in which local taphonomic processes vary.

A Middle Stone Age Paleoscape near the Pinnacle Point caves, Vleesbaai, South Africa

Open-air Middle Stone Age (MSA) contexts in southern Africa have received relatively little research attention compared to caves/rock-shelters. MSA caves/rock shelters can provide long sequences of MSA behaviors dominated by residential activities in circumscribed contexts but most procurement activities occurred on the landscape in uncircumscribed space. We have a limited understanding of these activities at present, making studies of open-air sites crucial. To alleviate this bias, the South African Coast Paleoclimate, Paleoenvironment, Paleoecology, Paleoanthropology (SACP4) project expanded its research scope to include MSA archaeology from open-air contexts. We report on a series of MSA open-air assemblages that are exposed on ancient land surfaces suggestive of intact paleosols at Vleesbaai and Visbaai, South Africa. Importantly, these sites occur in close proximity to the long cave/rock shelter sequences at Pinnacle Point. This presents the novel potential to study evidence of MSA behavior in closed and open settings where their proximity to each other approximates the typical hunter–gatherer daily foraging radius documented in ethnography. We present a fabric and technological analysis of MSA stone tool assemblages from three “Areas”. Analysis of total-station piece plotting of artifact bearing/plunge suggests that the lithic assemblages have undergone limited post-depositional disturbance. The technological analysis and exploratory comparisons between these open-air assemblages and MSA cave and rock shelter contexts at Pinnacle Point Cave 13B and 9, and Cape St. Blaize Cave suggest that the quartzite artifacts from Vleesbaai were procured from locally available sources and may have been field processed there before being transported elsewhere, perhaps to the caves/rock shelters. Further, the analysis suggests a dichotomous pattern of retouched tool discard, where quartzite tools are discarded similarly across the landscape. In contrast, non-quartzite tools may have been made primarily at the cave sites, and discarded or lost more frequently on the landscape.

Paleoenvironmental change and settlement dynamics in the Druze Marsh: Results of recent excavation at an open-air Paleolithic site

Large open-air archaeological sites provide a unique contribution to our understanding of the range of environments exploited by hominins and how their mobility patterns were affected by local, regional, and global environmental fluctuations. The challenge, however, is that in open-air contexts the distribution of buried and surface archaeological remains is greatly affected by geomorphic processes that acted on the landscape throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene. Deciphering the behavioural patterns of large open-air sites necessitates an approach that incorporates landscape evolution as a critical component contributing to the spatial distribution and variability in the archaeological record. We suggest that it is more appropriate to speak of open-air archaeological landscapes rather than sites in the traditional sense.Within this framework, we present our ongoing research at Druze Marsh, a Paleolithic locale in the northwest corner of the Azraq Basin (Jordan), and an oasis that may have functioned as a desert refugium at different points during the Pleistocene. Surveys and excavations in the Azraq Basin have recovered material from the Lower Paleolithic to historical periods. Recent research by our team has identified a stratified sequence of artifacts that typologically correspond to the Late Lower, Middle, Upper, and Epipaleolithic industries. Both the surface and stratified material are the remains of prehistoric behaviour, and a full understanding of the prehistoric settlement system and land-use surrounding the Druze Marsh requires amalgamating these different contexts with the environmental history of the area, particularly accounting for the contribution of geomorphic processes on the spatial distribution of the archaeological record.

Geomorphic development and Middle Stone Age archaeology of the Lower Cunene River, Namibia–Angola Border

During geomorphic reconnaissance of the Lower Cunene River near the reach of Serra Cafema, a significant accumulation of Middle Stone Age artifacts was discovered along the Namibia–Angolan border. The archaeological site is downstream of the Marienfluss–Hartmann Valley and lies along the eastern perimeter of the hyperarid Cunene erg (sandsea). Within the study area, the Cunene River is a bedrock anabranching – mixed bedrock-alluvial anabranching system with a morphology that is strongly controlled by lithology and structure and a hydrology dominated by tropical rainfall in the headwaters. A 5 m high alluvial terrace along the left bank of the perennial river is mantled with a surface lag of cobbles and gravels that includes MSA lithics. More than 30 artifacts are preserved in this open-air context. Finds include quartzite flakes, cores, and Levallois–Mousterian points with varying degrees of edge abrasion and varnish; these appear to be the first Levallois–Mousterian points found in this region of Africa. Since the archaeology of this region is poorly known, these cultural assemblages enable initial correlations across southern Africa. A replicate OSL-SAR date ∼220 kyr provides initial age constraints on a sand preserved within the cobble-boulder terrace fill, and constrains a maximum age for the overlying archaeological assemblage. This is the first MSA site in northern Namibia in direct stratigraphic context with a securely dated unit. The artifact assemblage underscores the importance of riparian corridors in reconstructing hominin behaviours during the Middle Pleistocene, the time frame marked by the first appearance and the dispersal of the modern human species Homo sapiens.