A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. April, 2015 / Percussive technology plays an integral in role lithic tool production and thus has had a significant impact on the evolution of the archaeological record. The characteristic damage patterns that result from percussive activities preserve a record of hominin behaviour, although there remains no comprehensive method for analyzing them. In fact, percussive tools have been largely overlooked in archaeological research, which has obscured their behavioural insights. Recent interests in the commonalities of percussive tool use within the Primate Order have suggested that investigating the evolutionary continuity of these tools may provide a window into the origins of lithic technology. This research presents a framework of analytical techniques for the study of hammerstones from the Earlier Stone Age record. As stone-knapping activities remain the focus of archaeological research, understanding how the use of hammerstones has changed throughout time is a critical concern. A ‘focal lens’ approach is developed to facilitate inter-assemblage comparisons that can be used to construct an evolutionary perspective on the use of these tools. Implications for raw materials, selection behaviours and comparative research are developed to test the potential for future directions in the study of percussive technology.

Scholars of the Late Pleistocene in Southern Africa have recently sought to develop models explaining long-term variation between Middle Stone Age and Late Stone Age assemblages in terms of variability between “macrolithic” vs. “microlithic” toolmaking systems associated with shifts in hunter-gatherer ecology and land use patterns. While it has often proven extremely difficult to actually test many models, recently developed methods allow us to do so in novel ways. In this dissertation, I use new archaeological data from excavations of two sites in the Namib Desert, as well as new approaches to sourcing lithic artifacts to examine the hypothesis that contrasts between terminal Pleistocene (ca. 15-20 ka BP) and early Holocene (ca. 6-12 ka BP) occupation phases at the two sites represent adaptive responses primarily driven by changes in fluvial regimes and the resource productivity of riparian corridors. Analyzing the lithic assemblage compositions and locating probable source areas for raw materials suggests that terminal Pleistocene groups likely centered land use strategies more toward upland areas east of the study sites and periodically followed broad riparian corridors into the desert itself. Early Holocene groups expanded their ranges and more intensively targeted resources on the open desert plains, dunes, and beaches of the coastal lowlands. My results suggest environmental change may be partially responsible for driving this shift, but new data and methodological tools are needed to address factors like fluctuations in regional population size that may have been driving shifts in the late Pleistocene record of this unique region of Southern Africa.

Stone tools have a critical role to play in our understanding of the behavior of early humans. In particular, the types of raw materials that are present in stone tool assemblages, and the sources from which they are acquired, provide information relating to decision making processes, planning, organization of technology, and group mobility. The characterization of Stone Age lithic artifact assemblages from two rockshelter sites in southern Tanzania, Magubike and Mlambalasi, allowed for the evaluation of inter- and intra-assemblage variability. Raw material characterization was conducted using macroscopic and microscopic analyses. Numerous raw material sourcing studies have been undertaken on Stone Age lithic assemblages recovered from sites in Tanzania and the rest of East Africa. Generally these studies have concentrated on identifying the sources of a particular type of stone raw material such as chert, obsidian, and basalt; however, rarely are the attributes of the whole assemblage examined. Furthermore, few archaeologists describe stone materials in terms of their basic petrographic characteristics. Both of these weaknesses are the direct result of the lack of a standardized methodology for describing lithic raw materials, thus this dissertation outlines a strategy for raw material sourcing, with a focus on description and grounded in geoarchaeological theory. When combined with typological and technological analyses, the results of the raw material analyses suggests the exclusive use of locally acquired lithics.

No description available.

PhD - Science / Analysis of charcoal from Middle Stone Age layers at Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, shows evidence of environmental change during the Last Glacial. Layers analysed encompass the end of the cold stadial, Oxygen Isotope Stage (OIS) 4, and the warmer interstadial, OIS 3. Layers are divided – on the basis of lithic industry associations and taxonomic content – into the Howiesons Poort (HP) (dated to ca. 61 000 years ago), and the early, middle and late post-HP assemblages (ca. 60-55 000, 55-50 000 and 50-33 000 years ago respectively). This project aims to identify evidence for environmental change, characterise this change using qualitative and quantitative analyses, and compare the results to evidence from other proxies at Sibudu Cave and elsewhere in South Africa. HP layers (GS, GR, GR2) are dominated by evergreen forest taxa, including Podocarpus spp., Buxus sp., Brachylaena sp., Sapium/Spirostachys and Ptaeroxylon obliquum. Kirkia sp. suggests a warm, woodland savanna habitat grew beyond the forest vegetation. Early post-HP layers (Eb, SPCA, BSp) contain taxa from evergreen, riverine forest communities, including Erica spp., Leucosidea sericea, and Rapanea melanophloeos. Some of the taxa in these layers suggest a shift in vegetation, possibly related to the marine regression of the Last Glacial, bringing taxa currently found further inland towards the site. Fewer evergreen forest components, and more bushveld taxa, are present in the middle post-HP (RSp, OMOD, MOD) than in the previous layers. Some of the taxa are only found in northern South Africa in regions that are significantly drier than modern KwaZulu-Natal. These layers also contain more Acacia spp. and other Fabaceae taxa and fewer Erica spp. than the samples from the early post-HP. This may be a result of environmental change, a change in wood selection, charcoal fragmentation, or sampling bias. Layer Bu, within the late post-HP, contains evergreen and deciduous taxa many of which are found in KwaZulu-Natal today. Kirkia sp. again provides evidence for a dry habitat not iv currently found in the region. Many Types were defined in Bu, which may indicate a vegetation community for which there is currently no reference material. Temperature and moisture indices produced using the Factor Analysis suggest warm and moist conditions during the HP layers. During the early post-HP conditions became cooler with intermediate moisture levels. Subsequently, conditions were warm and dry (middle post-HP) and then warm with a little more moisture indicated (late post-HP). Good fuelwoods were routinely collected during the post-HP. In contrast, the HP layers are dominated by Podocarpus spp. and many of the good fuelwoods, such as Acacia spp. and Erica spp., are absent. This pattern may be a result of changes in the environment, sample bias or a development of awareness of wood properties between the HP and post-HP occupations. The charcoal results corroborate palaeoenvironmental interpretations provided by seeds and macrofauna from Sibudu Cave. When the Sibudu Cave data are combined with data from other sites it is apparent that, although conditions in the summer rainfall region during the Last Glacial were generally dry, there is evidence for localised variation in vegetation and climate.

No description available.

Ochre is a ubiquitous artefact in Middle Stone Age (MSA) contexts throughout Africa and the Near East. Archaeological evidence for the abrasive processing of ochre to extract pigment powder becomes increasingly prevalent after 100 ka. The habitual exploitation of ochre is interpreted as evidence for symbolism, a proxy for the origin of language and as a key element of ‘symbolic’ and ‘modern’ human behaviour. Evolutionary explanations agree that ochre and the products of its processing played a significant role in the adaptive strategies of early modern humans, but they differ in the functions assigned to it. I therefore ask the following question: What role did symbolic and functional applications of ochre play in the enhancement of prehistoric technology, and how may these have functioned to promote and maintain social relations within MSA Homo sapiens societies? With the aim of answering this question, I follow a chaîne opératoire approach to elucidate the exploitation of ochre during the MSA. First, I present the results of an experimental study devised to infer the methods employed to process ochre. It is demonstrated that functional data derived from actualistic experiments can enhance our understanding prehistoric behaviour. Second, I describe one of the oldest instances of a deliberate engraving on ochre at 100 ka to 85 ka. I consider the possibility that specific types of raw material were selected for engraving purposes and expand on whether all engraved depictions inevitably functioned in ‘symbolic’ contexts. The third objective entails the evaluation of an often cited functional hypothesis for ochre, namely the use of red ochre as a ‘hide-tanning’ ingredient. I also introduce and discuss three further functional hypotheses, namely those concerning the use of ochre as a form of mineral supplementation and detoxification agent, as a sunprotection element and as an insect repellent. Ethnoarchaeological research has proven to be informative in terms of revealing a range of functional uses for red ochre. I therefore consider how data derived from the Ovashimba of northern Namibia can enhance current understandings of ochre use in the MSA. I propose that in order to assess any hypothesis concerning the exploitation of ochre in the MSA methodically and in a scientific manner, it is necessary to engage with the theories and analytical methods of cognitive and technical sciences not normally viewed as applicable to archaeological enquiry.

No description available.

The late Holocene marks a period of significant population movement and subsistence change throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa. Around 3500 BP it appears that foraging populations in southernmost South Africa began to experience stress related to an increasing population and changing climatic conditions. Approximately 1500 years later a new form of subsistence - sheep herding – emerged in areas previously occupied solely by foragers, but was not exclusively adopted. The mechanisms surrounding the introduction of this new subsistence strategy – an indigenous adoption via diffusion or a foreign migration - remain unresolved. This study takes a biological approach to this significant question in southern African prehistory by exploring a collection of Later Stone Age skeletal remains that predate and postdate the appearance of pastoralism in order to determine if any significant changes in skeletal morphology indicative of population discontinuity can be identified at 2000 BP. A collection of seventy-three Later Stone Age adult skeletons (31 M, 42 F) with newly generated radiocarbon dates ranging from 8000 BP to 300 BP (uncalibrated) from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa forms the basis of this study. Questions surrounding population continuity or discontinuity associated with the advent of sheep herding are investigated by examining metric variables collected from the cranium, post cranial skeleton and dentition, in conjunction with cranial discrete traits. Some changes in skeletal morphology are observed, but the timing, pattern and magnitude of these changes are not consistent with a foreign migration. A reduction in overall skeletal size in the absence of changes in shape corresponds with the period of forager intensification. Body size rebounds at around 2000 BP when evidence for a new form subsistence, sheep herding, is first observed in this region, suggesting that some foragers may have adopted sheep and the herding way of life as a stress relieving mechanism, while others maintained the foraging lifestyle. The timing of the observed changes in skeletal size, the absence of shape changes and the homogeneity in cranial discrete trait frequencies through time argues against the idea that sheep herding was introduced to the Cape region by outsiders. Rather, the findings of the current study suggest sheep herding was an indigenous development among existing foragers.

The late Holocene marks a period of significant population movement and subsistence change throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa. Around 3500 BP it appears that foraging populations in southernmost South Africa began to experience stress related to an increasing population and changing climatic conditions. Approximately 1500 years later a new form of subsistence - sheep herding – emerged in areas previously occupied solely by foragers, but was not exclusively adopted. The mechanisms surrounding the introduction of this new subsistence strategy – an indigenous adoption via diffusion or a foreign migration - remain unresolved. This study takes a biological approach to this significant question in southern African prehistory by exploring a collection of Later Stone Age skeletal remains that predate and postdate the appearance of pastoralism in order to determine if any significant changes in skeletal morphology indicative of population discontinuity can be identified at 2000 BP. A collection of seventy-three Later Stone Age adult skeletons (31 M, 42 F) with newly generated radiocarbon dates ranging from 8000 BP to 300 BP (uncalibrated) from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa forms the basis of this study. Questions surrounding population continuity or discontinuity associated with the advent of sheep herding are investigated by examining metric variables collected from the cranium, post cranial skeleton and dentition, in conjunction with cranial discrete traits. Some changes in skeletal morphology are observed, but the timing, pattern and magnitude of these changes are not consistent with a foreign migration. A reduction in overall skeletal size in the absence of changes in shape corresponds with the period of forager intensification. Body size rebounds at around 2000 BP when evidence for a new form subsistence, sheep herding, is first observed in this region, suggesting that some foragers may have adopted sheep and the herding way of life as a stress relieving mechanism, while others maintained the foraging lifestyle. The timing of the observed changes in skeletal size, the absence of shape changes and the homogeneity in cranial discrete trait frequencies through time argues against the idea that sheep herding was introduced to the Cape region by outsiders. Rather, the findings of the current study suggest sheep herding was an indigenous development among existing foragers.