Pinnacle Point Research Articles

Late Pleistocene records of speleothem stable isotopic compositions from Pinnacle Point on the South African south coast

AbstractHighly resolved, well-dated paleoclimate records from the southern South African coast are needed to contextualize the evolution of the highly diverse extratropical plant communities of the Greater Cape Floristic Region (GCFR) and to assess the environmental impacts on early human hunter-gatherers. We present new speleothem stable oxygen and carbon isotope ratios (δ18Oc and δ13C) from two caves at Pinnacle Point, South Africa, covering the time between 330 and 43 ka. Composite δ18Oc and δ13C records were constructed for Staircase Cave and PP29 by combining all stable isotope analyses into a single time series and smoothing by a 3-point running mean. δ18Oc and δ13C values record changes in rainfall seasonality and the proportions of C3 and C4 plants in the vegetation, respectively. We show that in general increased summer rainfall brought about a wider spread of C4 grasses and retreat of the C3 plant–dominated GCFR communities. The occurrence of summer rainfall on the southern coast of South Africa was linked to total rainfall amounts in the interior region through tropical temperate troughs. These rainfall systems shifted the southern coastal climate toward more summer (winter) rainfall when precession was high (low) and/or the westerlies were in a northern (southern) position.

Phytoliths as an indicator of early modern humans plant gathering strategies, fire fuel and site occupation intensity during the Middle Stone Age at Pinnacle Point 5-6 (south coast, South Africa).

The study of plant remains in archaeological sites, along with a better understanding of the use of plants by prehistoric populations, can help us shed light on changes in survival strategies of hunter-gatherers and consequent impacts on modern human cognition, social organization, and technology. The archaeological locality of Pinnacle Point (Mossel Bay, South Africa) includes a series of coastal caves, rock-shelters, and open-air sites with human occupations spanning the Acheulian through Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA). These sites have provided some of the earliest evidence for complex human behaviour and technology during the MSA. We used phytoliths—amorphous silica particles that are deposited in cells of plants—as a proxy for the reconstruction of past human plant foraging strategies on the south coast of South Africa during the Middle and Late Pleistocene, emphasizing the use and control of fire as well as other possible plant uses. We analysed sediment samples from the different occupation periods at the rock shelter Pinnacle Point 5–6 North (PP5-6N). We also present an overview of the taphonomic processes affecting phytolith preservation in this site that will be critical to conduct a more reliable interpretation of the original plant use in the rock shelter. Our study reports the first evidence of the intentional gathering and introduction into living areas of plants from the Restionaceae family by MSA hunter-gatherers inhabiting the south coast of South Africa. We suggest that humans inhabiting Pinnacle Point during short-term occupation events during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 built fast fires using mainly grasses with some wood from trees and/or shrubs for specific purposes, perhaps for shellfish cooking. With the onset of MIS 4 we observed a change in the plant gathering strategies towards the intentional and intensive exploitation of dry wood to improve, we hypothesise, combustion for heating silcrete. This human behaviour is associated with changes in stone tool technology, site occupation intensity and climate change.

EXPLORING EFFECTS OF INCUBATION ON CREATIVITY, PROBLEM SOLVING AND META-COGNITION.

The world today is characterized by stiff competition and people develop an urge for being in the top notch of the society. Universally across all age groups - the bosses, teachers and parents are pushing their staff or children to reach the pinnacle point. At these junctures, the caliber of the outcome suffers a quantum decrease because quantity and quick work overpowers quality. The importance of “breather time” also referred as the time period where one lets go of focus on the present task and focuses on subliminal activity is called as Incubation. This can immensely contribute to the quality, quantity as well as efficiency in time.To draw an analogy between the Mad rush and Creative production, it is important to note the ideals of the Psychologist Wallas, 1926 who proposed the term “Incubation”. This downtime has a positive effect on creativity and problem solving (Dodds et al., 2003; Sio and Ormerod, 2009). Meta-cognition is another key cognitive function which enhances planning and learning outcomes, and proves to be a guide for self-monitoring. This research aims to find out the importance of incubation in creativity, problem solving and meta-cognition. The research design was constructed with experimental tests including pre and post-test. The groups were randomly synthesized. The results of the research should prove on how an experiment with a brief time with no activity would fetch good results as compared to continuous work with no assimilation time. This is congruence with a classic proverb “All work with no play makes jack a dull boy”.

Lithic technological responses to Late Pleistocene glacial cycling at Pinnacle Point Site 5-6, South Africa

There are multiple hypotheses for human responses to glacial cycling in the Late Pleistocene, including changes in population size, interconnectedness, and mobility. Lithic technological analysis informs us of human responses to environmental change because lithic assemblage characteristics are a reflection of raw material transport, reduction, and discard behaviors that depend on hunter-gatherer social and economic decisions. Pinnacle Point Site 5–6 (PP5-6), Western Cape, South Africa is an ideal locality for examining the influence of glacial cycling on early modern human behaviors because it preserves a long sequence spanning marine isotope stages (MIS) 5, 4, and 3 and is associated with robust records of paleoenvironmental change. The analysis presented here addresses the question, what, if any, lithic assemblage traits at PP5-6 represent changing behavioral responses to the MIS 5-4-3 interglacial-glacial cycle? It statistically evaluates changes in 93 traits with no a priori assumptions about which traits may significantly associate with MIS. In contrast to other studies that claim that there is little relationship between broad-scale patterns of climate change and lithic technology, we identified the following characteristics that are associated with MIS 4: increased use of quartz, increased evidence for outcrop sources of quartzite and silcrete, increased evidence for earlier stages of reduction in silcrete, evidence for increased flaking efficiency in all raw material types, and changes in tool types and function for silcrete. Based on these results, we suggest that foragers responded to MIS 4 glacial environmental conditions at PP5-6 with increased population or group sizes, ‘place provisioning’, longer and/or more intense site occupations, and decreased residential mobility. Several other traits, including silcrete frequency, do not exhibit an association with MIS. Backed pieces, once they appear in the PP5-6 record during MIS 4, persist through MIS 3. Changing paleoenvironments explain some, but not all temporal technological variability at PP5-6.

Cetopirus complanatus (Cirripedia: Coronulidae) from the late Middle Pleistocene human settlement of Pinnacle Point 13B (Mossel Bay, South Africa).

The late Middle Pleistocene cave site of Pinnacle Point 13B (PP13B, South Africa) has provided the archaeologically oldest evidences yet known of human consumption of marine resources. Among the marine invertebrates recognised at PP13B, an isolated whale barnacle compartment was tentatively determined as Coronula diadema and regarded as indirect evidence of human consumption of a baleen whale (likely Megaptera novaeangliae). In this paper we redetermine this coronulid specimen as Cetopirus complanatus. This record significantly extends the fossil history of C. complanatus back by about 150 ky, thus partially bridging the occurrence of Cetopirus fragilis in the early Pleistocene to the latest Quaternary record of C. complanatus. Since C. complanatus is currently known as a highly specific phoront of right whales (Eubalaena spp.), we propose that the late Middle Pleistocene human groups that inhabited PP13B fed on a stranded southern right whale. Therefore, the whale barnacle from PP13B suggests the persistence of a southern right whale population off South Africa during the predominantly glacial MIS 6, thus evoking the continuity of cetacean migrations and antitropical distribution during that global cold phase. Interestingly, the most ancient evidence of humans feeding on a whale involves Eubalaena, historically the most exploited cetacean genus, and currently still seriously threatened with extinction due to human impact.

Small mammal utilization by Middle Stone Age humans at Die Kelders Cave 1 and Pinnacle Point Site 5-6, Western Cape Province, South Africa

Reported here are the results of a taphonomic analysis of the small mammals (between 0.75 kg and 4.5 kg adult body weight) and size 1 bovids (≤20 kg adult body weight) from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites of Die Kelders Cave 1 (DK1) and Pinnacle Point Site 5-6 (PP5-6), Western Cape Province, South Africa. This study provides a comprehensive taphonomic analysis of MSA small mammals with a focus on discerning the role of humans in their accumulation and the implications for human behavioral adaptations. Based on comparisons with control assemblages of known accumulation, it is evident that humans accumulated many of the Cape dune mole-rats, hares, and size 1 bovids at DK1. The patterning of cut-marked and burned mole-rat remains at DK1 provides evidence in the MSA for the systematic utilization of small mammals for their skins and as a protein source. Unlike DK1, small mammals and size 1 bovids constitute only a small portion of the PP5-6 mammals and they exhibit little evidence of human accumulation. Nocturnal and diurnal raptors accumulated most of the small fauna at PP5-6. The nominal presence of small mammals in the PP5-6 fauna is atypical of MSA sites in the Cape Floristic Region, where they are abundant and often constitute large portions of MSA archaeofaunas. DK1 humans maximized the environmental yield by exploiting low-quality resources, a strategy employed possibly in response to localized environmental conditions and to greater human population densities. In comparison, the MIS5-4 humans at PP5-6 did not exploit small mammals and instead focused on higher-quality resources like shellfish and large ungulates. Humans and predators accumulated few small mammals at PP5-6, suggesting that these taxa may have been less abundant near the site and/or that humans could afford to concentrate on high-quality resources, perhaps because of a higher-yield local environment. This study suggests that an adaptive response to the environmental conditions of MIS4 was to maximize the resource yield of local habitats to include lower-quality resources when necessary. The incorporation of these resources in the face of changing environmental and perhaps population pressures is a subsistence adaptation that played a crucial role in the population stability and expansion evidenced by the number of sites in the Cape dating to MIS4.

Strontium isotope investigation of ungulate movement patterns on the Pleistocene Paleo-Agulhas Plain of the Greater Cape Floristic Region, South Africa

Middle Stone Age sites located within the Greater Cape Floristic Region on the South African southern coast have material culture with early evidence for key modern human behaviors such as projectile weaponry, large animal hunting, and symbolic behavior. In order to interpret how and why these changes evolved, it is necessary to understand their ecological context as it has direct relevance to foraging behavior. During periods of lowered sea level, a largely flat and vast expanse of land existed south of the modern coastline, but it is now submerged by higher sea levels. This exposed area, the Paleo-Agulhas Plain, likely created an ecological context unlike anything in the region today, as evidenced by fossil assemblages dominated by migratory ungulates. One hypothesis is that the Paleo-Agulhas Plain supported a migration ecosystem of large grazers driven by summer rainfall, producing palatable forage during summer in the east, and winter rainfall, producing palatable forage during winter in the west. Alternatively, ungulates may have been moving from the coastal plain in the south to the interior north of the Cape Fold Mountains, as observed for elephants in historic times.In this study, we assess ungulate movement patterns with inter- and intra-tooth enamel samples for strontium isotopes in fossil fauna from Pinnacle Point sites PP13B and PP30. To accomplish our goals we created a bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr isoscape for the region by collecting plants at 171 sampling sites and developing a geospatial model. The strontium isotope results indicate that ungulates spent most of their time on the Paleo-Agulhas Plain and avoided dissected plain, foothill, and mountain habitats located more than about 15 km north of the modern coastline. The results clearly exclude a north-south (coastal-interior) movement or migration pattern, and cannot falsify the east-west movements hypothesized in the south coast migration ecosystem hypothesis.

Anna Reinhard Zwingli – ‘Apostolic Dorcas’, ‘dearest housewife’, ‘angel-wife’, ‘ziel van mijn ziel’ and ‘mater dolorosa of the Reformation’: From woman to valued citizen

A biography of Anna Zwingli might be compiled by skipping from one pinnacle point in her life to another. However, much of her story is relative to what is known about her husbands John Meier von Knonau and Ulrich Zwingli. But Anna was more than simply the wife of a lesser noble or a famous reformer. Her life story was also intertwined with development of the Reformation in Zurich and the impact it had upon her and her family. The Reformation did not only bring about religious reform but also had an impact on women and their ministerial roles. Anna was indeed a woman of the Reformation but also the wife of a reformer. Together with other women of the Reformation and of Zurich she served its cause from within its gender confines overshadowed by her husband, Ulrich Zwingli. The role of woman/women remains a contentious issue for many in the Christian church.

Return rates from intertidal foraging from Blombos Cave to Pinnacle Point: Understanding early human economies

The south coast of South Africa provides the earliest evidence for Middle Stone Age (MSA) coastal resource exploitation by early Homo sapiens. In coastal archaeology worldwide, there has been a debate over the general productivity of intertidal foraging, leading to studies that directly measure productivity in some regions, but there have been no such studies in South Africa. Here we present energetic return rate estimates for intertidal foraging along the southern coast of South Africa from Blombos Cave to Pinnacle Point. Foraging experiments were conducted with Khoi-San descendants of the region, and hourly caloric return rates for experienced foragers were measured on 41 days near low tide and through three seasons over two study years. On-site return rates varied as a function of sex, tidal level, marine habitat type and weather conditions. The overall energetic return rate from the entire sample (1492 kcal h−1) equals or exceeds intertidal returns reported from other hunter-gatherer studies, as well as measured return rates for activities as diverse as hunting mammals and plant collecting. Returns are projected to be exceptionally high (∼3400 kcal h−1 for men, ∼1900 kcal h−1 for women) under the best combination of conditions. However, because of the monthly tidal cycle, high return foraging is only possible for about 10 days per month and for only 2–3 h on those days. These experiments suggest that while intertidal resources are attractive, women and children could not have subsisted independently, nor met all their protein-lipid needs from marine resources alone, and would have required substantial additional energy and nutrients from plant gathering and/or from males contributing game.

Submerged shorelines and landscape features offshore of Mossel Bay, South Africa

Abstract Coastal geomorphic systems have been studied widely to understand the responses of shorelines to fluctuating sea levels. Submerged shorelines, remnant of Pleistocene sea-level lowstands, are well preserved on the South African continental shelf. This paper describes work undertaken to better understand offshore coastal environments now submerged by high sea levels off the South African south coast near Mossel Bay, offshore of the Pinnacle Point archaeological locality. Multibeam bathymetry and side-scan sonar reveal evidence of past sea-level fluctuations and submerged coastal landscape features on the seabed. These results form the basis of an ongoing palaeoenvironmental reconstruction for this part of the shelf. We describe seven significant geomorphic features that show a submerged environment that differs significantly to the immediate adjacent coastal plain. However, these features are comparable to other stretches of the present South African shoreline that serve as modern analogues. We propose that features on the continental shelf primarily reflect geological substrate, gradients and Pleistocene sea-level fluctuations. Early modern humans were likely to have had a different set of resources to use in this Pleistocene landscape compared to those available along the presently exposed coast.

Interpreting human behavior from depositional rates and combustion features through the study of sedimentary microfacies at site Pinnacle Point 5-6, South Africa

Using fine and coarse resolution geoarchaeological studies at the Middle Stone Age site of PP5-6 at Pinnacle Point, Mossel Bay, South Africa, we discovered different patterns of anthropogenic input and changes in behavior through time. Through the microfacies approach, we documented the various geogenic and anthropogenic processes that formed the deposits of the site. By deciphering large scale rate differences in the production of these microfacies we estimated anthropogenic input rates and therefore gained understanding of occupational duration and intensity.The PP5-6 sediments document occupations characterized by small groups and short visits during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5. This part of the sequence is characterized by numerous single (and mostly intact) hearth structures in a roofspall-rich matrix. During this time the sea was very close to the site and the people were focused on exploiting the rocky shores. With the advent of the glacial conditions of MIS4, the occupation of the site became much more intense. The occurrence of thick palimpsests of burnt remains, sometimes disturbed by small-scale sedimentary gravity processes, supports this conclusion. As sea level dropped and the coastline retreated, the geogenic input shifted to predominately aeolian sediments, implying an exposed shelf probably associated with a rich but more distant coastal environment. The occupants of PP5-6 turned their preference to silcrete as a raw material and they began to make microlithic stone tools. Since sites dating to MIS4 are abundant in the Cape, we suggest that populations during MIS4 responded to glacial conditions with either demographic stability or growth as well as technological change.

Technical considerations and methodology for creating high-resolution, color-corrected, and georectified photomosaics of stratigraphic sections at archaeological sites

Using a conventional, off-the-shelf digital single lens reflex camera and flashes, we were able to create high-resolution panoramas of stratigraphic profiles ranging from a single meter to over 5 m in both height and width at the Middle Stone Age site of PP5-6 at Pinnacle Point, Mossel Bay, South Africa. The final photomosaics are isoluminant, rectilinear, and have a pixel spatial resolution of 1 mm. Furthermore, we systematically color-corrected the raw imagery. This process standardized the colors seen across the photomosaics while also creating reproducible and meaningful colors for relative colorimetric analysis between photomosiacs.Here, we provide a detailed discussion about the creation and application of our photomosaics. In the first part of the paper, we examine the specific characteristics of modern digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras and lenses that were important to us in developing our methodology. We also provide a detailed discussion about how to reproduce the methodology in the field and to post-process the imagery. In the final section of the paper, we give several examples to show how we apply our photomosaics within an empirical 3D GIS database. These examples are provided to show how photographic data can be integrated with other digitally-captured data and used to study the relationships between the stratigraphic features seen in the photomosaics and the 3D distribution of excavated archaeological piece-plots, geochronological samples, and other kinds of geological samples.

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.

Changing collecting strategies of the clam Donax serra Röding (Bivalvia: Donacidae) during the Pleistocene at Pinnacle Point, South Africa

South Africa's Middle Stone Age (MSA) coastal sites have played a prominent role in documenting early evidence of systematic shellfish collection and adaptation to aquatic environments in the context of anatomically modern humans. Pinnacle Point 13B cave is important among these MSA sites not only because it holds the earliest yet known evidence for human use of marine resources (∼162 ka [thousands of years ago]), but because shellfish observations have been integrated more fully into discussions of MSA adaptations. This is particularly the case of Donax serra procurement on sandy beaches, where skills that are usually indicative of an aspect of behavioural modernity (in the context of hunting) were apparently used. In this paper, D. serra from 110 to 91 ka old assemblages are studied in detail by way of metrical analyses and relevant biological and ecological literature of this species. Existing seasonality studies derived from oxygen isotope analyses on the same molluscs are incorporated into this reconstruction. Shellfish appear to have been collected in winter over many millennia when D. serra are most nutritious due to high gonad content. A dramatic change in collection strategies took place during the same millennia-long period. Earliest systematic collection of D. serra consisted of mostly unselective procurement of animals in terms of shell size along the tidal gradient and beach depth. In later visits, people collected mostly larger individuals by narrowing their collection to the mid-intertidal. This change increased the efficiency of D. serra collection, which reflects a positive adaptive behaviour that endured into Later Stone Age (LSA) times.

The Evolutionary Implications of Variation in Human Hunting Strategies and Diet Breadth during the Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa

In this paper, we analyze faunal data from southern Africa in order to explore the nature and extent of variability in human hunting strategies and diet breadth during the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Our analysis incorporates data from eight sites that span marine isotope stages (MIS) 6–3 (∼170–40 ka). The sample includes both coastal and inland sites; while it primarily derives from cave and rock shelter contexts (Blombos, Die Kelders, Diepkloof, Klasies River, Pinnacle Point, Sibudu, and Ysterfontein), we also include one open-air site (Florisbad). The data indicate marked changes in subsistence over time—of particular note is a spike in the exploitation of small ungulates and other small mammals during MIS 4. Trends in shellfish utilization also suggest an increasing dietary breadth over time, although shellfish consistently represent only a small portion of the overall diet. We close with a discussion of several causal mechanisms (environment, demography, technology, and cognition) that could account for ...

Testing a taphonomic predictive model of edge damage formation with Middle Stone Age points from Pinnacle Point Cave 13B and Die Kelders Cave 1, South Africa

The interpretation of taphonomic and behavioral lithic edge wear formation is complicated by equifinality of edge damage morphologies. Rejecting hypotheses that edge damage originates from taphonomic processes is standard practice for many archaeological analyses and should be incorporated into lithic use-wear more explicitly. Quantitative hypothesis testing is advocated here, and facilitated by recording edge wear observations in an image referenced GIS spatial environment. A taphonomic predictive model was generated using trampling and flint-knapping experiments. Trampling experiments were conducted to determine how edge damage is distributed along tool edges due to non-use related, taphonomic processes. Experiments designed to test the assumption that undisturbed flakes do not preferentially orient either surface side-up (dorsal or ventral) were performed. Furthermore, it is argued that artifact orientation data, if available, can also be used to assess whether the frequency of edge damage is correlated with the degree of disturbance. This taphonomic predictive model is then statistically compared with frequency and distribution edge damage data from two South African Middle Stone Age sites. The research presented here illustrates the usefulness of edge damage distribution analysis for accounting for taphonomic processes as causal agents of edge damage formation, and strengthening behavioral interpretations regarding tool function. Bringing tool wear observations into a uniform spatial structure is one avenue for standardization of lithic use-wear analysis.

Digital imaging technology and experimental archeology: a methodological framework for the identification and interpretation of fire modified rock (FMR)

This paper presents the results of a series of experiments for the identification and analysis of fire modified rock (FMR). FMR is a common but frequently overlooked artifact type. Experiments were conducted simulating the effects of different hypothetical burning scenarios on rocks similar to those found in a South African Middle Stone Age site. A digital imaging method was then used to quantify FMR color values, designed to limit intra-analyst bias. Statistical tests and a blind test suggest that unburned rocks and experimental FMR can be separated statistically based on physical appearance. Two burning scenario models, based on measured experimental data were applied to archaeological FMR from a South African Middle Stone Age site named Pinnacle Point 5-6 (PP5-6) and show that the archaeological samples are not statistically different from a simulated campfire and possibly a lithic raw material heat-treatment fire.

Paleoanthropologically significant South African sea caves dated to 1.1–1.0 million years using a combination of U–Pb, TT-OSL and palaeomagnetism

Deposits in sea caves found along the southern coastline of South Africa have produced a rich and detailed archaeological record of early modern humans. There is, however, little evidence for coastal cave deposits and human occupation older than MIS5e (∼120 ka). Based on the correlation of four different chronological methods we present evidence for remnant cave deposits of 1.1–1.0 Ma from the quartzite sea cliff of Pinnacle Point, near Mossel Bay. Initial uranium–thorium ages at isotopic equilibrium indicated an age of >500 ka for two flowstone layers, confirmed by uranium–lead dating of these flowstones from 1.099 ± 0.012 to 1.047 ± 0.011 Ma. TT-OSL (thermally transferred optically stimulated luminescence) provides an age of 1.02 ± 0.088 Ma for the sand grains imbedded in the tufa underlying the flowstone and 0.720 ± 0.066 to 0.665 ± 0.056 for the overlying beach sediments, producing an internally consistent age sequence centring on 1.0–1.1 Ma. The normal palaeomagnetic signal of the younger section of the flowstone is interpreted to represent the Jaramillo between 1.07 and 0.99 Ma. There is a clear hiatus in the middle of this flowstone, leading us to interpret the lower normal signal as the Punaruu event at ∼1.115–1.1051 Ma. Together these four techniques point to an age of 1.1–1.0 Ma for these cave deposits at Pinnacle Point, far older than anticipated. The persistent presence of these 1.1–1.0 Ma deposits means that the enigmatic lack of Earlier Stone Age (Acheulean) artefacts in the sea caves along this coastal region can no longer be explained entirely by the age of the caves or through removal of sediments by previous sea level highstands. We believe that these and other coastal caves from this region, if located high enough above sea level, may contain deposits of great antiquity, which could provide outstanding records of climate, environment, sea level change, and human occupation back into the early to middle Pleistocene.

Sharpening the mind

The discovery of stone tools dating to 71,000 years ago at a site in South Africa suggests that the humans making them had developed the capacity for complex thought, and passed this knowledge down the generations. See Letter p.590 The modern human lineage appeared in Africa between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago, but the roots of modern human technology are much less clearly defined. Curtis Marean and colleagues describe a previously unrecognized advanced stone tool technology from Pinnacle Point in South Africa, dating back to around 71,000 years ago. Previously observed signs of such activity have been less definitive, seeming to appear and disappear — perhaps because of poor sampling — but the current work indicates that these tools persisted for some 11,000 years. The technology is dominated by heat-treated stone 'bladelets' that are thought to have been components of composite tools. The technology provides strong evidence for advanced projectile weapons such as spearthrowers, or even bows and arrows. The authors speculate that weapons made using such bladelets may have been pivotal to the success of modern humans as they left Africa and encountered Neanderthals.

An early and enduring advanced technology originating 71,000 years ago in South Africa

There is consensus that the modern human lineage appeared in Africa before 100,000 years ago. But there is debate as to when cultural and cognitive characteristics typical of modern humans first appeared, and the role that these had in the expansion of modern humans out of Africa. Scientists rely on symbolically specific proxies, such as artistic expression, to document the origins of complex cognition. Advanced technologies with elaborate chains of production are also proxies, as these often demand high-fidelity transmission and thus language. Some argue that advanced technologies in Africa appear and disappear and thus do not indicate complex cognition exclusive to early modern humans in Africa. The origins of composite tools and advanced projectile weapons figure prominently in modern human evolution research, and the latter have been argued to have been in the exclusive possession of modern humans. Here we describe a previously unrecognized advanced stone tool technology from Pinnacle Point Site 5-6 on the south coast of South Africa, originating approximately 71,000 years ago. This technology is dominated by the production of small bladelets (microliths) primarily from heat-treated stone. There is agreement that microlithic technology was used to create composite tool components as part of advanced projectile weapons. Microliths were common worldwide by the mid-Holocene epoch, but have a patchy pattern of first appearance that is rarely earlier than 40,000 years ago, and were thought to appear briefly between 65,000 and 60,000 years ago in South Africa and then disappear. Our research extends this record to ~71,000 years, shows that microlithic technology originated early in South Africa, evolved over a vast time span (~11,000 years), and was typically coupled to complex heat treatment that persisted for nearly 100,000 years. Advanced technologies in Africa were early and enduring; a small sample of excavated sites in Africa is the best explanation for any perceived 'flickering' pattern.