Variability in the Middle Stone Age Lithic Sequence, 115,000–60,000 Years Ago at Klasies River, South Africa

Wurz, Sarah

doi:10.1006/jasc.2001.0799

Cited by 202 publications

(124 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…5). This is reflected in both South and East Africa by industries belonging broadly to the so-called "Howiesons Poort" variant, which, although inevitably regionally variable over an area the size and with the environmental diversity of sub-Saharan Africa, collectively exhibit all of the most distinctive features that characterize the earlier stages of the Indian microlithic technologies (3,(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53) (Figs. 3 and 4 and Archaeology).…”

Section: Archaeological Evidence and Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genetic and archaeological perspectives on the initial modern human colonization of southern Asia

Mellars

Gori

Carr

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

249

229

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It has been argued recently that the initial dispersal of anatomically modern humans from Africa to southern Asia occurred before the volcanic "supereruption" of the Mount Toba volcano (Sumatra) at ∼74,000 y before present (B.P.)-possibly as early as 120,000 y B.P. We show here that this "pre-Toba" dispersal model is in serious conflict with both the most recent genetic evidence from both Africa and Asia and the archaeological evidence from South Asian sites. We present an alternative model based on a combination of genetic analyses and recent archaeological evidence from South Asia and Africa. These data support a coastally oriented dispersal of modern humans from eastern Africa to southern Asia ∼60-50 thousand years ago (ka). This was associated with distinctively African microlithic and "backed-segment" technologies analogous to the African "Howiesons Poort" and related technologies, together with a range of distinctively "modern" cultural and symbolic features (highly shaped bone tools, personal ornaments, abstract artistic motifs, microblade technology, etc.), similar to those that accompanied the replacement of "archaic" Neanderthal by anatomically modern human populations in other regions of western Eurasia at a broadly similar date.India | Paleolithic | archaeogenetics | mtDNA

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Section: Archaeological Evidence and Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3 and 4). These forms are widely assumed to represent, primarily if not entirely, the armatures of composite, light-weight hunting missiles, most probably (by analogy with ethnographically documented examples) the tips and barbs of wooden arrows (37,38,47,50,53).…”

Section: Archaeological Evidence and Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic and archaeological perspectives on the initial modern human colonization of southern Asia

Mellars

Gori

Carr

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

249

229

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…We compare assemblages from Baringo Basin, Kapedo Tuffs, and Turkana Basin using typological and technological criteria at the coarse degree of resolution that others have used to examine subcontinental-scale regional variants among African MSA lithic assemblages (e.g., Clark, 1988;McBrearty and Brooks, 2000;Wurz, 2002). Our goal is not to establish the precise degree of similarity or dissimilarity among lithic assemblages in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia, nor is it to erect formal industrial or industrial complex names for assemblages from the Kapedo Tuffs or elsewhere (cf.…”

Section: Regional Comparisonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whatever the interpretation of the cause of retouched piece frequency, the influence on assemblage typology is the same. Retouched tools such as points continue to play a key role in our understanding of MSA variability at sites throughout the Africa (e.g., McBrearty and Brooks, 2000;Garcea, 2004;Villa et al, 2005; but see also Wurz, 2002), but their presence or abundance may be strongly dictated by the available stone raw material.…”

Section: Retouched Artifact Frequencymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Middle Stone Age of the northern Kenyan Rift: age and context of new archaeological sites from the Kapedo Tuffs

Tryon

Roach

Logan

2008

Journal of Human Evolution

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“…While individuals trained in both theoretical literatures may not be able to act as culture brokers in Geertz's sense (1960), their ability to contextualize the theoretical differences in relation to the methodological differences may allow useful aspects of both disciplinary inheritances to be reworked in order to move the debate in a new direction. In fact, many examples can be cited that blur the lines between the approaches (Adler et al 2004;Baumler 1988;Henry 1995;Hovers 1998Hovers , 2009Hovers and Raveh 2000;Tostevin 2003b Tostevin andŠkrdla 2006;Van Peer 1992;Wurz 2002;Wurz et al 2003). Providing a venue for such studies to be read by proponents of each approach is one of the goals of this special issue.…”

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confidence: 99%

Untitled

2011

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There are more areas of overlap as well as distinction between the Reduction Sequence and Chaîne Opératoire methods of archaeological analysis than the current debate recognizes. While methodological differences have been acknowledged, high-level theory differs to a greater degree than is currently appreciated, partly due to the social practice of archaeology in different contexts. This paper compares and evaluates examples of reduction sequence and chaîne opératoire research to demonstrate how high-level theory goals impact middle-range theory and even low-level theory practices (i.e., how data are constructed and published). The paper then utilizes the distinction between an emic decision hierarchy and an etic production hierarchy to elucidate how the practitioners of both methods can more successfully integrate their approaches. An alternative to both methods is offered to demonstrate how common epistemological problems can be resolved. As an example of this alternative approach, the paper compares blank production behaviors and tool kit morphologies among Levantine Ahmarian, as well as among Levantine Aurignacian assemblages, from Kebara Cave, Israel. This case study demonstrates that the two Ahmarian assemblages are more different, rather than more similar to each other, in comparison to the Levantine Aurignacian assemblages. This suggests that a typological approach to these assemblages conceals significant behavioral data.

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Variability in the Middle Stone Age Lithic Sequence, 115,000–60,000 Years Ago at Klasies River, South Africa

Cited by 202 publications

References 28 publications

Genetic and archaeological perspectives on the initial modern human colonization of southern Asia

Genetic and archaeological perspectives on the initial modern human colonization of southern Asia

The Middle Stone Age of the northern Kenyan Rift: age and context of new archaeological sites from the Kapedo Tuffs

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