Techno-Cultural Characterization of the MIS 5 (c. 105 – 90 Ka) Lithic Industries at Blombos Cave, Southern Cape, South Africa

Douze, Katja; Wurz, Sarah; Henshilwood, Christopher S.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0142151

Cited by 34 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(79 reference statements)

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“…A recent publication by Douze et al [ 24 ] summarizes the main constitutive elements of MIS5 (pre-Still Bay) lithic technologies of the South African Western and Eastern Cape using the sites of Klasies River Mouth (MSA II, [ 23 , 31 ]), Blombos Cave (M3 phase), Pinnacle Point Cave 13B [ 115 ] and Diepkloof Rock Shelter (MSA-Mike, [ 11 ]) as references. The authors emphasize a combination of different core reduction methods, with a dominant parallel (Levallois-like) core reduction method, to produce predetermined blanks, notably blades (in variable proportions) and triangular flakes.…”

Section: The Pietersburg Techno-complex At Brs In the Context Of The mentioning

confidence: 99%

The MIS5 Pietersburg at ‘28’ Bushman Rock Shelter, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Porraz¹,

Val²,

Tribolo³

et al. 2018

PLoS ONE

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In the past few decades, a diverse array of research has emphasized the precocity of technically advanced and symbolic practices occurring during the southern African Middle Stone Age. However, uncertainties regarding the regional chrono-cultural framework constrain models and identification of the cultural and ecological mechanisms triggering the development of such early innovative behaviours. Here, we present new results and a refined chronology for the Pietersburg, a techno-complex initially defined in the late 1920’s, which has disappeared from the literature since the 1980’s. We base our revision of this techno-complex on ongoing excavations at Bushman Rock Shelter (BRS) in Limpopo Province, South Africa, where two Pietersburg phases (an upper phase called ‘21’ and a lower phase called ‘28’) are recognized. Our analysis focuses on the ‘28’ phase, characterized by a knapping strategy based on Levallois and semi-prismatic laminar reduction systems and typified by the presence of end-scrapers. Luminescence chronology provides two sets of ages for the upper and lower Pietersburg of BRS, dated respectively to 73±6ka and 75±6ka on quartz and to 91±10ka and 97±10ka on feldspar, firmly positioning this industry within MIS5. Comparisons with other published lithic assemblages show technological differences between the Pietersburg from BRS and other southern African MIS5 traditions, especially those from the Western and Eastern Cape. We argue that, at least for part of MIS5, human populations in South Africa were regionally differentiated, a process that most likely impacted the way groups were territorially and socially organized. Nonetheless, comparisons between MIS5 assemblages also indicate some typological similarities, suggesting some degree of connection between human groups, which shared similar innovations but manipulated them in different ways. We pay particular attention to the end-scrapers from BRS, which represent thus far the earliest documented wide adoption of such tool-type and provide further evidence for the innovative processes characterizing southern Africa from the MIS5 onwards.

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Section: The Pietersburg Techno-complex At Brs In the Context Of The mentioning

confidence: 99%

The MIS5 Pietersburg at ‘28’ Bushman Rock Shelter, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Porraz¹,

Val²,

Tribolo³

et al. 2018

PLoS ONE

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“…As with the faunal assemblages, artefact density in phase M3 is highest in the upper layers (CIBh2, CIB, CIA and CI/CH), where silcrete is the dominant raw material for stone artefact production (Douze et al, 2015). The main characteristic of the assemblage is the predetermination of blank shapes by core reduction; retouched tools are very rare.…”

Section: Subsequent Occupation During Phase M3mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2C) suggests that these sands were near the surface for some time, with sufficient calcium carbonate and moisture available to become cemented, perhaps through capillary action. The first archaeological evidence appears in layer CP, including ochre tool kits contained in Haliotis midae shells ) and a small but heterogeneous stone tool assemblage suggestive of transient occupation of the site at this time (Douze et al, 2015). No detailed information has been published on the environmental proxy evidence from these layers.…”

Section: Pre-occupation and Initial Occupation (Phase M3)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main characteristic of the assemblage is the predetermination of blank shapes by core reduction; retouched tools are very rare. Douze et al (2015) suggested that this assemblage can be grouped as a single MSA tradition. The upper layers (CJ and CI/CH) of phase M3 also include 10 pieces of deliberately engraved ochre (Henshilwood et al, 2009).…”

Section: Subsequent Occupation During Phase M3mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The chronological, sedimentary and environmental context for the archaeological deposits at Blombos Cave, South Africa

Jacobs

Jones

Cawthra

et al. 2020

Quaternary Science Reviews

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The site of Blombos Cave (BBC) is well known for archaeological remains that have advanced our understanding of the development of modern human behaviour during the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Occupation of the cave occurred against a backdrop of landscape-scale environmental and sedimentary processes that provide the broader context for finer-scale interpretations of the site-formation history and archaeological patterns detected in the cave deposits. Aeolian and palaeosol sequences are abundant in the vicinity of BBC and these provide a partial view of the past landscapes available to the inhabitants of the cave. An important extension to the palaeo-landscape around BBC currently lies submerged on the Agulhas Bank, as sea levels were lower than at present for the entire period of human occupation of BBC. In this paper, we revisit the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) chronology for the full sequence of sediment deposition inside BBC, increasing the number of dated samples to a total of 40 and revising the period of MSA occupation to between 97.7 ± 7.6 and 71.0 ± 5.7 ka (uncertainties at 95.4% probability). We describe the geological successions at four main areas around BBC, estimate the time of sediment deposition using OSL, and describe and interpret three seismic profiles on the Agulhas Bank, offshore of BBC. By correlating these onshore and offshore geological sequences with the sedimentary deposits inside BBC, we place the archaeological record within a landscape-scale chrono-stratigraphic framework to examine how environmental changes may have regulated the presence or absence of humans in the cave and surrounding terrain between about 100 and 70 ka.

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“…M.M. Haaland et al Henshilwood et al, 2001a;Villa et al, 2009;Mourre et al, 2010;Archer et al, 2016;Douze et al, 2015;Soriano et al, 2015. c Henshilwood et al, 2001a, 2001b, 2002d'Errico et al, 2005;d'Errico and Henshilwood, 2007;Vanhaeren et al, 2013.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Geoarchaeological investigation of occupation deposits in Blombos Cave in South Africa indicate changes in site use and settlement dynamics in the southern Cape during MIS 5b-4

et al. 2020

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The archaeological assemblage recovered from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) levels in Blombos Cave, South Africa, is central to our understanding of the development of early modern humans. Here, we demonstrate that the cultural and technological innovations inferred from the Blombos Cave MSA record also correlate with significant shifts in site use and occupational intensity. Through a comprehensive geoarchaeological investigation of three MSA occupation phases, we identified distinct diachronic trends in the frequency of visits and the modes of occupation. During the earliest phases (ca. 88–82 ka), humans inhabited the cave for more extended periods, but cave visits were not frequent. During the later phases (ca. 77–72 ka), the cave was more regularly visited but for shorter periods each time. We argue that these changes in local occupational intensity, which also coincide with shifts in vegetation, sea levels, and subsistence, can best be explained by broader changes in hunter-gatherer mobility strategies and occupation patterns. Fundamental changes in regional settlement dynamics during Marine Oxygen Isotope Stages 5b-4 would have significantly affected the nature and frequency of social interaction within and between prehistoric populations living in the southern Cape, a scenario that ultimately may explain some of the social and technological advances that occurred there during this time frame.

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Techno-Cultural Characterization of the MIS 5 (c. 105 – 90 Ka) Lithic Industries at Blombos Cave, Southern Cape, South Africa

Cited by 34 publications

References 39 publications

The MIS5 Pietersburg at ‘28’ Bushman Rock Shelter, Limpopo Province, South Africa

The MIS5 Pietersburg at ‘28’ Bushman Rock Shelter, Limpopo Province, South Africa

The chronological, sedimentary and environmental context for the archaeological deposits at Blombos Cave, South Africa

Geoarchaeological investigation of occupation deposits in Blombos Cave in South Africa indicate changes in site use and settlement dynamics in the southern Cape during MIS 5b-4

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