The Howiesons Poort and MSA III at Klasies River main site, Cave 1A

Villa, Paola; Soriano, Sylvain; Teyssandier, Nicolas; Wurz, Sarah

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2009.10.028

Cited by 143 publications

(126 citation statements)

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“…After a possible gap corresponding to the peak of this isotopic stage, interpreted as a phase of depopulation or low population density [22], lithic technology became characterized by the production of small blades retouched into segments [23], and other backed pieces (figure 1b), called Howiesons Poort (HP), spanning between approximately 65 ka and 59 ka. This gives way, during the following postHowiesons Poort, to unifacial points on flakes (figure 1c), similar to the Mousterian points made by Neanderthals in Europe [23,24], and subsequently to unstandardized microlithic tools produced by the bipolar technique during the early LSA. A precocious emergence of technical innovation is also observed in north Africa, where new dating situates the earliest occurrences of the distinctive pedunculate point forms typical of the Aterian at 145 ka [25].…”

Section: Archaeological Evidence For the Origin Of Modern Cultures (Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution, Revolution or Saltation Scenario for the Emergence of Modern Cultures?

d’Errico¹,

Stringer²

2011

Culture Evolves

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Crucial questions in the debate on the origin of quintessential human behaviours are whether modern cognition and associated innovations are unique to our species and whether they emerged abruptly, gradually or as the result of a discontinuous process. Three scenarios have been proposed to account for the origin of cultural modernity. The first argues that modern cognition is unique to our species and the consequence of a genetic mutation that took place approximately 50 ka in Africa among already evolved anatomically modern humans. The second posits that cultural modernity emerged gradually in Africa starting at least 200 ka in concert with the origin of our species on that continent. The third states that innovations indicative of modern cognition are not restricted to our species and appear and disappear in Africa and Eurasia between 200 and 40 ka before becoming fully consolidated. We evaluate these scenarios in the light of new evidence from Africa, Asia and Europe and explore the mechanisms that may have led to modern cultures. Such reflections will demonstrate the need for further inquiry into the relationship between climate and demographic/cultural change in order to better understand the mechanisms of cultural transmission at work in Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens populations.

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Section: Archaeological Evidence For the Origin Of Modern Cultures (Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution, Revolution or Saltation Scenario for the Emergence of Modern Cultures?

d’Errico¹,

Stringer²

2011

Culture Evolves

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“…At sites where it was common during the Howiesons Poort the prevalence of silcrete drops following the transition, though there is a lag between the cessation of backed artefact production and a decrease in silcrete in some cases (Mackay, 2011;Porraz et al, 2013a). The Howiesons Poort to post-Howiesons Poort transition is gradual at most sites where it has been examined (Soriano et al, 2007;Villa et al, 2010;Mackay, 2011;Porraz et al, 2013a). Consistent with this, the distribution of post-Howiesons Poort sites can be viewed as an attenuated subset of Howiesons Poort sites in the WRZ/YRZ.…”

Section: Late Pleistocene Archaeological Sequence In the Modern Wintementioning

confidence: 99%

“…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).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Mackay

Sumner

Jacobs

et al. 2014

Quaternary International

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Existing data suggest weak human occupation of southern Africa's Winter Rainfall Zone (WRZ) during later Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3, the causes of which are unknown. Here we report briefly on the results of recent surveys of alluvial terrace sites of the Doring River in the WRZ, which document occupation over a broad expanse of the later Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Pleistocene Later Stone Age. We then report on test excavations at one terrace site, denoted Putslaagte site 1 (PL1), describe in detail the assemblage of flaked stone artefacts produced from that excavation, and present two OSL ages obtained from 0.8 m to 1.5 m below surface. The results suggest that a) artefact accumulations at PL1 are dense, b) the technological systems documented are characteristically MSA but differ in form from the range of systems known from other excavated sites in the region, and c) that the assemblages accumulated in MIS 3. Taken together with the survey data the results introduce new variation into the later MSA in southern Africa, and imply reorganisation of land use in the WRZ in late MIS 3 rather than abandonment. We suggest that a research emphasis on rock shelter deposits may have produced misleading depictions of regional occupation. AbstractExisting data suggest weak human occupation of southern Africa's Winter Rainfall Zone (WRZ) during later Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3, the causes of which are unknown. Here we report briefly on the results of recent surveys of alluvial terrace sites of the Doring River in the WRZ, which document occupation over a broad expanse of the later Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Pleistocene Later Stone Age. We then report on test excavations at one terrace site, denoted Putslaagte site 1 (PL1), describe in detail the assemblage of flaked stone artefacts produced from that excavation, and present two OSL ages obtained from 0.8 m and 1.5 m below surface. The results suggest that a) artefact accumulations at PL1 are extremely dense, b) the technological systems documented are characteristically MSA but differ in form from the range of systems known from other excavated sites in the region, and c) that the assemblages accumulated in MIS 3. Taken together with the survey data the results introduce new variation into the later MSA in southern Africa, and imply reorganisation of land use in the WRZ in late MIS 3 rather than abandonment. We suggest that a research emphasis on rock shelter deposits may have produced misleading depictions of regional occupation.

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“…Deacon 1984;Inskeep 1987;Klein 1987Klein , 1999Klein , 2000Opperman 1987;Mazel 1988;Mitchell 1988). Similarly, bow-and-arrow technology is now hypothesised to have been utilised from around 60,000 years ago, with arrows being tipped with both bone and stone points (Backwell et al 2008;Lombard and Phillipson 2010;Villa et al 2010;Lombard 2011). With bow-and-arrow technology likely established during the Middle Stone Age (MSA; the Howiesons Poort in particular), current evidence suggests that poison-tipped arrows were one of the key innovations of the LSA (Backwell et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Poison arrows and bone utensils in late Pleistocene eastern Africa: evidence from Kuumbi Cave, Zanzibar

Langley

Prendergast

Shipton

et al. 2016

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa

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Most of our current knowledge of late Pleistocene African bone technology is drawn from southern African sites, with recent discoveries indicating that bone-and stone-tipped arrows (propelled by a bow) were in use prior to 60,000 years BP. Integration of archaeological with ethnographic data similarly suggests that hunting with poison-tipped arrows on the African continent has an antiquity of at least 24,000 years. Unfortunately, similar analysis of material from eastern Africa is largely absent and consequently, with the sole exception of barbed points, we know very little regarding osseous technology in this region and how similar or dissimilar it is to contexts located further south. This paper presents a small assemblage of seven bone artefacts recovered from the late Pleistocene deposits of Kuumbi Cave, Zanzibar. Comparison of the bone projectile points, a bone awl and a notched bone tube with ethnographic and archaeological material from throughout the Sub-Saharan region suggests that, as elsewhere in Africa, bone technology was a central element in the Later Stone Age material culture repertoire of Kuumbi Cave's inhabitants. It also suggests that arrow points coated with poison were in use in eastern Africa around 13,000 years BP.ABSTRAIT Actuellement, la plupart de nos connaissances concernant la technologie des os en Afrique à la fin du Pléistocène dérivent de sites d'Afrique australe, avec des découvertes récentes qui indiquent que les flèches avec des pointes en os ou en pierre, propulsées par un arc, étaient en usage avant 60,000 ans BP. En outre, l'intégration des données archéologiques et ethnographiques suggère que la chasse avec des flèches

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The Howiesons Poort and MSA III at Klasies River main site, Cave 1A

Cited by 143 publications

References 74 publications

Evolution, Revolution or Saltation Scenario for the Emergence of Modern Cultures?

Evolution, Revolution or Saltation Scenario for the Emergence of Modern Cultures?

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

Poison arrows and bone utensils in late Pleistocene eastern Africa: evidence from Kuumbi Cave, Zanzibar

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