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

Abstract

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.

Putslaagte 1 (PL1), the Doring River, and the later Middle Stone Age in southern Africa's Winter Rainfall Zone

“…Recent work at Diepkloof and Pinnacle Point, however, and most notably Diepkloof, suggests that the Howiesons Poort is complex and may have initiated in the later stages of the Still Bay (Porraz et al, 2013a). The backed artefacts and small blades produced from unipolar prepared cores which best characterise the Howiesons Poort appear in the last few bifacial point-bearing layers at Diepkloof, with dates extending to around 70 ka at both Diepkloof (in the Jacobs chronology) and Pinnacle Point 5/6 (Brown et al, 2012;. In addition to backed artefacts, the earliest Howiesons Poort at Diepkloof contains numerous pièces esquillées, while a later phase contains both backed artefacts and large numbers of notched flakes.…”

“…The finegrained rock silcrete is more common during the Howiesons Poort than most other periods of the MSA but its prevalence fluctuates within the Howiesons Poort at many WRZ/YRZ sites (Mackay, 2011;Porraz et al, 2013;Singer and Wymer, 1982;Volman, 1980). Heat treatment of silcrete has been noted at Diepkloof, Pinnacle Point and possibly also Klein Kliphuis (Brown et al, 2012;Mackay, 2009;Schmidt et al, 2012). The Howiesons Poort is a particularly common industry, having been noted at Klasies River, Nelson Bay Cave, Pinnacle Point 5/6, Boomplaas, Peers Cave, Diepkloof, Klein Kliphuis, Klipdrift and Klipfonteinrand (Deacon, 1979;Volman, 1980;Singer and Wymer, 1982;Brown et al, 2012;Porraz et al, 2013a;Henshilwood et al, 2014).…”

“…Heat treatment of silcrete has been noted at Diepkloof, Pinnacle Point and possibly also Klein Kliphuis (Brown et al, 2012;Mackay, 2009;Schmidt et al, 2012). The Howiesons Poort is a particularly common industry, having been noted at Klasies River, Nelson Bay Cave, Pinnacle Point 5/6, Boomplaas, Peers Cave, Diepkloof, Klein Kliphuis, Klipdrift and Klipfonteinrand (Deacon, 1979;Volman, 1980;Singer and Wymer, 1982;Brown et al, 2012;Porraz et al, 2013a;Henshilwood et al, 2014). Open site expressions of the Howiesons Poort in the region are, however, scarce (Hallinan, 2013; though see Carrion et al, 2000;Kandel and Conard, 2012).…”

“…Whereas MIS 4 and MIS 2 are characterised by dense artefact assemblages in well-defined industries distributed across numerous sites (e.g., Brown et al, 2012;Deacon, 1984;Mitchell, 1988;Porraz et al, 2013;Soriano et al, 2007;Villa et al, 2010;Volman, 1980;Wadley, 1993;Wadley, 2007), the archaeology of MIS 3, particularly after 50 ka appears comparatively quiet and less well resolved (Ambrose, 2002;Klein et al, 2004;Mitchell, 2008). This is most clearly the case in the south western portion of South Africa, in the Winter and Year-Round Rainfall regions (WRZ/YRZ) which both receive significant winter rainfall input from the seasonal north-ward migration of westerly winds (Chase and Meadows, 2007) (Figure 1).…”

“…This is most clearly the case in the south western portion of South Africa, in the Winter and Year-Round Rainfall regions (WRZ/YRZ) which both receive significant winter rainfall input from the seasonal north-ward migration of westerly winds (Chase and Meadows, 2007) (Figure 1). Many of the most imposing archives in this area -including Klasies River, Nelson Bay Cave, Pinnacle Point, Blombos Cave, Diepkloof and Elands Bay Cave -appear to have been largely unused in the period 50-25 ka (Brown et al, 2012;Deacon, 1995;Deacon and Thackeray, 1984;Faith, 2013;Jacobs, 2010;Mackay, 2010;Mitchell, 2008), despite rich earlier periods of occupation and in some cases, reoccupation after 25 ka (Deacon, 1978;Orton, 2006;Parkington, 1980). This has led some researchers to suggest that southern Africa was largely depopulated in the period leading up to the MSA/LSA transition (Klein et al, 2004).…”