The Middle/Later Stone Age transition and cultural dynamics of late Pleistocene East Africa

Abstract

The Middle to Later Stone Age (MSA/LSA) transition is a prominent feature of the African archeological record that began in some places ~30,000–60,000 years ago, historically associated with the origin and/or dispersal of “modern” humans. Unlike the analogous Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in Eurasia and associated Neanderthal extinction, the African MSA/LSA record remains poorly documented, with its potential role in explaining changes in the behavioral diversity and geographic range of Homo sapiens largely unexplored. I review archeological and biogeographic data from East Africa, show regionally diverse pathways to the MSA/LSA transition, and emphasize the need for analytical approaches that document potential ancestor‐descendent relationships visible in the archeological record, needed to assess independent invention, population interaction, dispersal, and other potential mechanisms for behavioral change. Diversity within East Africa underscores the need for regional, rather than continental‐scale narratives of the later evolutionary history of H. sapiens.

Neural networks differentiate between Middle and Later Stone Age lithic assemblages in eastern Africa

“…The transition from the MSA to the LSA is a protracted process, with one recent estimate suggesting that it occurs over a minimum of 5-10 ka [12]. The results presented above suggest that this estimate should certainly be viewed as a minimum, though it remains possible that the transition could have occured rapidly within individual, smaller areas within our study region.…”

“…With reference to the Karungu Kisaaka Main assemblage, both Blegen and colleagues [70] and Tryon [12] suggest that assemblages within the Lake Victoria basin demonstrate the persistence of what are here regarded as MIS5 MSA technologies well into later Marine Isotope Stages. Tryon [12] suggests that the high level of endemism apparent among faunal species in the Lake Victoria basin reflects the relative isolation of this region, perhaps due to environmental factors. If the human inhabitants of the basin were similarly isolated, this could account for the observed delay in technological developments [12].…”

“…Tryon [12] suggests that the high level of endemism apparent among faunal species in the Lake Victoria basin reflects the relative isolation of this region, perhaps due to environmental factors. If the human inhabitants of the basin were similarly isolated, this could account for the observed delay in technological developments [12]. The notion of delayed technological development in this region is supported by the 'misclassification' of the Karunga Kisaaka Main assemblage as MIS5 MSA; based on the typology adopted here, this assemblage is identical to the (MIS5) Karungu ZTG and A3 Ex assemblages, consistent with the notion of nominally MIS5 MSA technological components persisting into MIS4 and beyond.…”

“…In eastern Africa, the onset of this transition begins as early as 67 thousand years ago [ka] at Panga ya Saidi [ 1 ], appearing in southern Rift Valley sites such as Enkapune ya Moto [ 2 ], Mumba [ 3 ], Magubike [ 4 ], Nasera [ 5 ] before 45ka, whilst recognised MSA technologies persist later in assemblages in the southwestern Ethiopian highlands at Fincha Habera [ 6 ] and Mochena Borago [ 7 ],in the Horn of Africa at Goda Buticha [ 8 – 10 ], and in the Lake Victoria Basin [ 11 ]. The transition is often characterised archaeologically by decreases in prepared-core technologies and the production of retouched points and by concomitant increases in (backed) microliths, prismatic blade(lets) and bipolar reduction methods [ 12 ]. In addition, frequencies of ochre use and bead production are also generally considered to increase across the transition from MSA to LSA, though both first appear long prior to the earliest transitional sequences.…”

Revisiting an old profile: an updated geoarchaeological study at Nasera Rockshelter (Tanzania)

“…However, it is worth noting that actual depositional rates can vary considerably within a site and within levels, as observed in Panga ya Saidi (Shipton et al, 2018). Such is the case at Nasera, where sedimentation ranges from rapid in Levels 17-14 (18.97 cm kyr -1 ), closely resembling rates in Kisese II (~17.5 cm kyr -1 ; Tryon et al, 2018Tryon et al, , 2019Tryon, 2019), to slow in Levels 14-12 (~5.125 cm kyr -1 ), similar to those observed at Mumba (~6.66 cm kyr -1 ; Díez-Martín et al, 2009;Gliganic et al, 2012;Tryon, 2019).…”