Occupational intensity and environmental changes during the Howiesons Poort at Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa

Reynard, Jerome P.; Discamps, Emmanuel; Wurz, Sarah; Niekerk, Karen L. van; Badenhorst, Shaw; Henshilwood, Christopher S.

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.02.035

Cited by 38 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…Taken as a whole, the growing body of evidence for gradual changes (in a number of realms of human behavior) across the HP to post-HP transition suggests a complex situation in which demographic and social factors no doubt played an important role (e.g., Soriano et al, 2007;Villa et al, 2010;Mackay, 2011;Clark, 2013;Porraz et al, 2013;Mackay et al, 2014;Wadley, 2015;Reynard et al, 2016b). It also highlights the continuing need for high-resolution analyses of variation in behavior within the HP at the site-level-analyses that incorporate multiple classes of data ;Reynard et al's (2016b)…”

Section: Implications For Thinking About the Onset-and Disappearance-mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent work by Reynard and colleagues (Reynard et al, 2016a; 2016b) on the HP faunal assemblage at Klipdrift demonstrates the relevance of this line of inquiry. Based on variation in the macromammal and shellfish assemblages, they propose that shifts in occupational intensity throughout the HP may be associated with changing environmental conditions-particularly as relates to fluctuations in the shoreline (Reynard et al, 2016b). They compare their results to preliminary lithic data, highlighting potential links between environmental change and shifts in raw material and tool kit components documented in the middle of the HP sequence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Howieson's Poort fauna from Sibudu Cave: Documenting continuity and change within Middle Stone Age industries

Clark

2017

Journal of Human Evolution

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The Howieson's Poort (HP; ∼65-59 ka) continues to be a source of interest to scholars studying human behavioral evolution during the Late Pleistocene. This is in large part because the HP preserves evidence for a suite of innovative technologies and behaviors (including geometric backed tools and engraved ostrich eggshell), but also because the disappearance of the innovative behaviors associated with this phase is not well understood. Here, I present taphonomic and taxonomic data on the full sample of macromammal remains excavated from the HP deposits at Sibudu Cave under the direction of Lyn Wadley. With a total number of identified specimens (NISP) of 5921, Sibudu provides the largest sample of HP fauna published to date. Taken as a whole, the data suggest a focus on a diverse range of prey. Ungulates dominate the assemblage, as do taxa that preferentially inhabit closed (particularly forested) environments. Small bovids are common throughout; blue duiker (Philantomba monticola) alone comprises ∼33% of the total NISP. A diverse smaller game assemblage is also present. Taphonomic data implicate humans as the primary contributor to the fauna; however, low levels of gastric etching (∼1% of the NISP) suggest that non-human agents may have played some role in the accumulation of the smaller game. Despite broad similarities in the fauna, a number of directional trends are evidenced. Most notably, the lowermost deposits of the HP contain the highest frequency of blue duiker and other small ungulates, taxa which prefer closed environments, and miscellaneous smaller game. All of these decline throughout the HP, and these differences are statistically significant. After considering possible explanations for these trends, I discuss the potential implications of the variation evidenced in the assemblage to our understanding of the onset-and disappearance-of this important substage of the MSA.

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Section: Implications For Thinking About the Onset-and Disappearance-mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Howieson's Poort fauna from Sibudu Cave: Documenting continuity and change within Middle Stone Age industries

Clark

2017

Journal of Human Evolution

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“…Consistent with the latter prediction for reduced residential mobility, but not necessarily a logistical mobility system, Karkanas et al (2015) found there is sedimentological evidence for increased site occupation intensity during the MIS 4 glacial compared to the MIS 5 interglacial at PP5-6. At Klipdrift Shelter, Reynard et al [88], found that an environmental shift toward open grasslands during the HP occupation corresponds with increased faunal density and trampling evidence suggesting increased occupation intensity [88]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2017

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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.

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“…However, there is no consensus about how each hominin hunted or how to best interpret variability in faunal exploitation strategies . Early modern human sites such as Sibudu Cave and Klipdrift Shelter in South Africa show an abundance of smaller ungulates that may have been acquired through traps or snares, while others show either a preponderance of large ungulates or a shift over time in accumulation patterns of small and large fauna . The demand to explain this variation has steered zooarcheological work toward understanding the processes underlying the adoption of new technological solutions, one of which is the use of projectile technology.…”

Section: Faunal Techniques For Identifying Projectilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…37 However, there is no consensus about how each hominin hunted 42 or how to best interpret variability in faunal exploitation strategies. [43][44][45] Early modern human sites such as Sibudu Cave and Klipdrift Shelter in South Africa show an abundance of smaller ungulates that may have been acquired through traps or snares, [46][47][48] They have since been recognized in different time scales and cultural periods across the world, including the Mesolithic, 59,61 Upper Palaeolithic, 62 Magdalenian, 63,64 Hamburgian, 63 and Aurignacian. 63 Although hunting lesions have been described from the Middle Pleistocene, 65,66 it is unclear if a thrusting or throwing spear was responsible.…”

Section: F a U N Al Te Ch Ni Qu E S F Or I D En Ti F Yi N G P R Oj mentioning

confidence: 99%

The origins and early elaboration of projectile technology

O’Driscoll

Thompson

2018

Evolutionary Anthropology

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The ability of Homo sapiens to kill prey at a distance is arguably one of the catalysts for our current ecological dominance. Many researchers have suggested its origins lie in the African Middle Stone Age or the European Middle Palaeolithic (∼300-30 thousand years ago), but the perishable components of armatures rarely preserve. Most research on this subject therefore emphasises analysis of armature tip size, shape, and diagnostic impacts or residues. Other lines of evidence have included human skeletal anatomy or analyses of the species composition of faunal assemblages. Projectile Impact Marks (PIMs) on archaeofaunal remains offer an ideal complement to this work, but their potential has been restricted mainly to the later Eurasian zooarchaeological record. A review of current evidence and approaches shows that systematic PIM research could add much to our understanding of early projectile technology, especially in Africa.

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Occupational intensity and environmental changes during the Howiesons Poort at Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa

Cited by 38 publications

References 70 publications

The Howieson's Poort fauna from Sibudu Cave: Documenting continuity and change within Middle Stone Age industries

The Howieson's Poort fauna from Sibudu Cave: Documenting continuity and change within Middle Stone Age industries

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

The origins and early elaboration of projectile technology

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