Paleoenvironment and Archaeology of Drotsky’s Cave: Western Kalahari Desert, Botswana

Robbins, Lawrence H.; Murphy, Michael L.; Stevens, Nancy J.; Brook, George A.; Ivester, Andrew H.; Haberyan, Kurt A.; Klein, Richard G.; Milo, Richard G.; Stewart, Kathlyn M.; Matthiesen, D. G.; Winkler, Alisa J.

doi:10.1006/jasc.1996.0002

Cited by 59 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Ethnoarchaeology around these topics could develop middle-range inferences about how to differentiate peoples when they are similar to those known today (Fisher, 1993;Lupo and Schmitt, 2002). Understanding the history and antecedent lifeways of 20th-century San peoples also can help us extend the ethnographic present in a more informed and flexible way (Robbins et al, 1994(Robbins et al, , 1996Walker, 1995b). Improving the recognition of wild versus domesticated species and the temporal context of finds also will resolve some interpretive debates.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Coastal "megamiddens" and skeletons show the use of coastal resources was much greater than is known ethnographically (Jerardino and Yates, 1997;Sealy and Pfeiffer, 2000). Many later Stone Age hunter-gatherers practiced intensive or delayed-return economies, and considerable change in lifeways can be seen over time, even at the same sites (Hall, 1990;Jerardino, 1998;Plug et al 2003;Robbins et al, 1996;Sadr, 2001;Sadr et al, 2003;Sealey and Pfeiffer, 2000).…”

Section: Archaeology and The Ethnographic Recordmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…At Blombos Cave, on the southern coast of South Africa, Middle Stone Age levels dated to 77,000 years ago have yielded more than 30 worked bone awls and points and 8,000 pieces of worked ochre, two of which are incised with parallel lines (d' Errico et al, 2001;Henshilwood et al, 2002a, b) as well as beads (Henshilwood et al, 2004). However, other sites of the African Middle Stone Age also show evidence of artifact design and geographic diversity, use of microliths, backed tools and hafted tools, hunting proficiency, worked bone, fishing, mollusk gathering, and small animal procurement, and use of symbolic artifacts such as beads and ochre (Ambrose, 1998a(Ambrose, , 1998bBarham, 1998Barham, , 2002aBrooks, 1996;Brooks et al, 1995;Clark, 1988;Deacon, 2001;McBrearty, 2003;McBrearty and Brooks, 2000;Milo, 1998;Parkington, 2001bParkington, , 2003Robbins, 1999;Robbins et al, 1994Robbins et al, , 1996Robbins et al, , 2000Wadley, 2001aWadley, , 2003Watts, 2002;Wurz, 1999). Reviews of the evidence of precocious Middle Stone Age behavior can be found in Cornellissen (2002), Henshilwood and Marean (2003), McBrearty and Brooks (2000), and Wadley (2001a).…”

Section: What Is a Modern Hunter-gatherer?mentioning

confidence: 95%

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What Is a Hunter-Gatherer? Variation in the Archaeological Record of Eastern and Southern Africa

Kusimba

2005

J Archaeol Res

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This article reviews the recent history of the archaeology of African huntergatherers, focusing on debates around the origins of modern humans and the destiny of hunter-gatherers with the advent of food production. African archaeologists are developing an increasing appreciation for the diversity of African hunter-gatherer societies. Understandings of hunter-gatherers based primarily on ethnography are being successfully challenged and extended.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Archaeology and The Ethnographic Recordmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: What Is a Modern Hunter-gatherer?mentioning

confidence: 95%

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What Is a Hunter-Gatherer? Variation in the Archaeological Record of Eastern and Southern Africa

Kusimba

2005

J Archaeol Res

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“…Data for the Palaeolake Makgadikgadi sub-basins are taken from Burrough et al (2007Burrough et al ( , 2009a, Burrough and Thomas (2008), and Burrough and Thomas (2008). The speleothem record for Gcwihaba Cave is adapted from Burrough et al (2007) and based on data in Wayland (1944), Cooke (1975Cooke ( , 1984, Cooke and Verhagen (1977), Shaw and Cooke (1986), Burney et al (1994), Railsback et al (1994Railsback et al ( , 1999, Brook et al (1996Brook et al ( , 1997Brook et al ( , 1998, and Robbins et al (1996b). Table 1.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Going the distance: Mapping mobility in the Kalahari Desert during the Middle Stone Age through multi-site geochemical provenancing of silcrete artefacts

Nash

Coulson

Staurset

et al. 2016

Journal of Human Evolution

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This study utilises geochemical provenancing of silcrete raw materials, in combination with chaîne opératoire analyses, to explore lithic procurement and behavioural patterns in the northern Kalahari Desert during the Middle Stone Age (MSA). New data from the sites of Rhino Cave, Corner Cave, and ≠Gi in northwest Botswana, combined with earlier results from White Paintings Shelter, reveal that the long distance transport of silcrete for stone tool manufacture was a repeated and extensively used behaviour in this region. Silcrete was imported over distances of up to 295 km to all four sites, from locations along the Boteti River and around Lake Ngami. Significantly, closer known sources of silcrete of equivalent quality were largely bypassed. Silcrete artefacts were transported at various stages of production (as partially and fully prepared cores, blanks, and finished tools) and, with the exception of ≠Gi, in large volumes. The import occurred despite the abundance of locally available raw materials, which were also used to manufacture the same tool types. On the basis of regional palaeoenvironmental data, the timing of the majority of silcrete import from the Boteti River and Lake Ngami is constrained to regionally drier periods of the MSA. The results of our investigation challenge key assumptions underlying predictive models of human mobility that use distance-decay curves and drop-off rates. MSA peoples in the Kalahari appear to have been more mobile than anticipated, and repeatedly made costly choices with regard to both raw material selection and items to be transported. We conclude that (i) base transport cost has been overemphasised as a restrictive factor in predictive models, and (ii) factors such as source availability and preference, raw material quality, and potential sociocultural influences significantly shaped prehistoric landscape use choices.3

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“…These caverns have facilitated various scientific expeditions, including paleoclimatic (Cooke, 1975;Railsback et al, 1994), paleontological (Robbins et al, 1996) and mineralogical (Martini, 1996) studies, but have, however, only been visited by a small number of tourists. Subsequently, the government of Botswana initiated the Gcwihaba Caves Project which aims at discovering new cave systems for the purpose of establishing an economically viable tourist destination.…”

Section: Geological Setting and Characteristics Of Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Hairy Stalagmites, a new biogenic root speleothem from Botswana

Preez¹,

Forti²,

Jacobs³

et al. 2015

IJS

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Paleoenvironment and Archaeology of Drotsky’s Cave: Western Kalahari Desert, Botswana

Cited by 59 publications

References 17 publications

What Is a Hunter-Gatherer? Variation in the Archaeological Record of Eastern and Southern Africa

What Is a Hunter-Gatherer? Variation in the Archaeological Record of Eastern and Southern Africa

Going the distance: Mapping mobility in the Kalahari Desert during the Middle Stone Age through multi-site geochemical provenancing of silcrete artefacts

Hairy Stalagmites, a new biogenic root speleothem from Botswana

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