A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2014. / The site of Canteen Kopje in Barkly West, South Africa, has provided the archaeological record with an invaluable collection of Earlier Stone Age artefacts. An alluvial deposit approximately 1km from the modern Vaal River, the site contains an abundance of artefacts. A 2007 – 2009 excavation in Pit 6 has provided an assemblage of over 15,000 artefacts that has been dated by cosmogenic nuclide burial method. Three distinct assemblages show technological changes through time of the earlier Acheulean industrial complex. The youngest industry, the Prepared Core Technology Assemblage, is dated to 1.2 ± .07 Ma and contains Victoria West prepared core technology. Beneath it is the Organised Core Assemblage which is void of Victoria West prepared core technology but contains cores that demonstrate more organised knapping techniques in the form of asymmetrical control. This assemblage is dated to 1.51 ±0.8 Ma. Finally, the underlying Basal Early Acheulean Assembage lacks both prepared cores and organised cores and is >1.51 Ma in age. The abundance of large angular clasts of andesite in the area made multiple knapping strategies effective for the manufacture of large flakes. A technological sequence in the knapping strategies has emerged in this excavation, from simple cores to organised cores and finally prepared cores. The older technologies clearly display the roots of prepared core technology in the asymmetrical control of the organised knapping methods. The overall success of the knapping strategies prior to the appearance of the Victoria West industry in the Canteen Kopje archaeological record creates questions as to why more complex strategies might have been implemented over time. Analysis of the assemblages from the Pit 6 excavation fails to provide a clear technological explanation within the empirical data as to why this change occurs. This research therefore argues that the Victoria West prepared core knapping strategy is a localized stone age culturally motivated knapping tradition.

The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether western Orust was continuously inhabited during the Stone Age and the Bronze Age. Using reports from the archaeological excavations carried out in Nösund in western Orust as a basis, I discuss what conclusions can be drawn, relating, when possible, the findings to what we, thanks to analyzes of fossil DNA made in recent years, now know about ancient peoples’ descent. The results show that there is no basis for claiming that Nösund has been continuously inhabited under the Mesolithic, despite archaeologists having located and dated half a dozen settlements from the Stone Age and the Bronze Age in the village. The findings from the various archaeological surveys do not allow us to determine the descent of the people living in Nösund during different time-periods, nor whether they were mainly fishermen or hunters. The main reason for this is the absence of organic materials, especially bones, in the findings from Nösund. The conclusion therefore is that much more research has to be done, if we are to provide a comprehensive picture of the earliest settlements in western Orust. / Denna uppsats har syftet att visa huruvida västra Orust varit kontinuerligt bebodd under stenålder och bronsålder. Utgångspunkten har varit rapporterna från de arkeologiska grävningar som utförts i Nösund, och resultaten därifrån diskuteras med utgångspunkt från de nya kunskaper om människors härstamning som de senaste årens analyser av fossilt DNA har gett oss. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att vi inte har underlag för att påstå att Nösund har varit kontinuerligt bebodd under mesolitikum, trots att man lokaliserat och daterat ett halvt dussin boplatser i Nösund från stenålder och bronsålder, och att kunskapen om vad som skedde under neolitikum och bronsålder är ännu mer bristfällig. Fynden från de olika arkeologiska undersökningarna är inte heller av en kvalitet som gör att vi kan uttala oss vilken härstamning människor som bott i Nösund under olika perioder har haft, eller om de huvudsakligen varit fiskare eller jägare. Den största bristen är frånvaron av fynd av organiska material, särskilt ben, i Nösund.

The aim of this study is to understand the colonization process of the county Närke in relation to the surrounding archaeologically defined areas western Sweden and eastern central Sweden. By using a comparative analysis and a landscape analysis in combination with a theoretical framework that advocates for colonization as a process and not an event, I argue that Närke was colonized from within eastern central Sweden around 8 500 BC, based on the use of local raw material quartz. Further, I argue for the importance of the sea to the mesolithic people in the area around 7 500–4 500 BC as more than just an economic resource. Around 4 500 BC contact with groups in western Sweden increased which in time brought the idea of farming to the area. The late mesolithic sites in Närke show continuity into the early neolithic age, rejecting the idea of a Funnelbeaker migration in the area.

The main archaeological features studied in this thesis are semi-subterranean house remains in the woodlands of middle northern Sweden, east of the high mountains and some 100 km from the coast. The period during which they were occupied has been delimited to 4500-2500 BC. The house remains consist of circular or sometimes rectangular depressions in the ground, surrounded by mounds of refuse and large amounts of fire-cracked stone. Eighty house remains of this kind have been discovered so far and 20 features have been excavated. They are found at 29 different localities that cover an area of more than 60,000 km2. The question put forward is whether these house remains show patterning in site location, economy and material culture, suggesting that they belonged to one people sharing a similar language and values. The majority of the locations include more than one house and because of the dug-out-floors and the large amounts of fire-cracked stone they are interpreted as winter villages. The distributions of the villages show a settlement pattern in which the locales are separated by a mean distance of approximately 35 km. In one of the regions, Vilhelmina parish, summer camps have been located by smaller lakes where the waterways from 3 different winter villages connect. Other possible summer camp sites are suggested, based on their location in areas where waterways connect two or three winter villages. The winter sites were associated with local bands, according to the social structure of hunting societies in North America, suggested by June Helm. Several local bands form a regional band that camp together during certain periods of the year. All regional bands form the tribe or the language family. No traces of social differences between groups or families have been revealed in the material and it is therefore assumed that the remains of the houses represent a hunting/gathering band society. Among the artifacts in the houses is a predominance of small scrapers of quartz and quartzite. There is also a very high representation of elk (moose) in the bone material from the house remains. Prehistoric and later pit-falls as well as paintings and carvings of elk are distributed within the same area. This shows that elk were a very important prey and this has been emphasized when discussing the explanations of the uniformity in house type and artefacts. Finally the importance of the slate tools, in particular those of red slate, is briefly discussed. The manufacture of slate tools increase during the neolithic period. In the inland of middle Norrland artifacts of red slate dominate over the grey and black slate artifacts in most of the houses and on many other sites. The raw material is, in most cases, found close to the high mountains, but the red slate is otherwise rare compared to the black and grey, which suggests that it has been highly valued. The knowledge of, and access to, red slate is suggested as having symbolized the unity of this band society. / digitalisering@umu

Thesis (doctoral)--Uppsala universitet, 1995. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement and English abstract inserted. Includes bibliographical references (p. [207]-219).

Thesis (doctoral)--Uppsala universitet, 1995. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement and English abstract inserted. Includes bibliographical references (p. [207]-219).

This thesis concerns the relationship between research in experimental archaeology and the intangible of the past. Only a quarter of technological experiments in a sample of 100 studies addresses the intangible of technological practice, and this project sets out to explore if there are conceptual or practical obstacles for this low rate. The thesis begins with an in-depth examination of experimental archaeology and the criteria, paradigms and theories that determine its practice. Through this study, elements of the dichotomy positivism/postmodernism are uncovered and discussed. To resolve this dualism, a third paradigm – philosophical pragmatism – is introduced as an alternative. This conceptual debate represents Part I, and is subsequently collated into a methodological framework for the creation of a typified experiment. Part II consists of the experimental segment of this study, in search for practical obstacles for the exploration of the intangible. Through experimenting with Iron Age Bucket-shaped pots, Mesolithic faceted pebbles and Middle Palaeolithic birch bark tar production, different components of an experiment are highlighted for investigation. An element that comes forward as problematic is the relationship between experimental archaeologists and science ideals that is underscored by experimental tradition. Conclusively, the final discussion leaves the conceptual and practical barriers that may prevent archaeologists from studying the intangible aspects of technology overturned. In sum, this may enable experimental archaeologists to take a fuller view of their own practice and that of the people of the past.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate different scales of mobility and social networks in Southern Scandinavia around 7000 BC. An essential basis for this work is the hypothesis that the conical core pressure blade technology, a specific method for producing lithic blades, reached Scandinavia from the east. The process has been discussed and verified in several earlier studies. The study is based on investigations of lithic material and bone tools, as well as human skeletal remains; a multidisciplinary strategy has been applied, which combines technological analyzes of archaeological material with isotope analyzes of human teeth. Materials and data have been collected from a total of 111 sites located mainly in Scandinavia, but also in Finland, the Baltic countries and Russia. The Mesolithic site Norje Sunnansund in Blekinge, southern Sweden is in focus. Analyzes of the chaîne opératoire of lithic and osseous production make it possible to study technological processes as the transmission of culturally conditioned patterns; these patterns underlie the formative principles of each technology complex. By identifying specific traditional knowledge built into the material process, it becomes possible to define prehistoric human traditions and thereby study human interactions and migrations between geographical regions. The analyzes of strontium isotopes in human teeth from Norje Sunnansund enables an additional individual provenancing since the isotopes reflect a geographical-geological variation. The study provides a higher resolution of the arrival and spreading of the pressure blade technology from the northeast. It also strengthens the picture of a Mesolithic society in Southern Scandinavia based on geographically extensive social networks. An increased regionalization and territorialization has previously been proposed for western Scandinavia around 8800-7500 BC. The study confirms that during this period the population seem to consist of several subgroups related to specific territories, but with close and regular contact within a more extensive social network. This fits well with the picture of a group that may have inhabited Norje Sunnansund for extended periods, while social contacts were maintained over longer distances.

Mon projet de recherche porte sur une étude techno-économique des industries lithiques à la fin de Paléolithique supérieur et à la transition Pléistocène – Holocène de deux sites du sud de l’Italie: Grotta della Serratura (Salerno) et Grotta del Cavallo (Nardo).Les industries de cette période en Italie du sud ont fait l’objet d’études essentiellement typologiques. Avec une nouvelle méthodologie nous essayerons de produire de nouvelles données et interprétations concernant ces questions. Les trois grandes interrogations au cœur de ce projet sont les suivantes:– A travers l’étude des traditions technique, peut-on identifier des moments de rupture ou de continuité, au sein des séquences étudiées ? Si oui, les observe-t-on au même moment dans les séquences ?– Les deux gisements, qui sont différents d’un point de vue géographique et environnemental, montrent-ils aussi, sur le plan technologique, des grandes différences, comme celles mises en évidence par les études typologiques antérieures (phénomène de régionalisation épigravettien) ?– Dans la séquence de Grotta della Serratura, comment s’insèrent les deux niveaux de l’Épipaléolithique indifférencié ? Et dans le cadre du passage Pléistocène/Holocène dans la province méditerranéenne ?Les industries seront donc abordées suivant deux axes. Un premier diachronique, puisqu’il s’agit d’identifier des ruptures et/ou des continuités dans chaque séquence avec l’identification des traditions techniques. Le second axe est d’ordre synchronique, avec l’élargissement de l’échelle à un niveau micro et macro – régional. / This research focuses on a techno-economic study of lithic industries at the end of the Upper Paleolithic and the frist Holocene of two sites in southern Italy: Grotta della Serratura (Salerno) and Grotta del Cavallo (Nardo).The industries of this period in southern Italy were the subject of essentially typological studies. With a new methodology we will try to produce new data and interpretations about these issues. The three main questions at the heart of this project are:- Through the study of technical traditions, we can identify moments of rupture or continuity, within the sequences studied? If yes, do we observe them at the same time in the sequences?- The two deposits, which are different from a geographical and environmental point of view, also show, in terms of technology, major differences, such as those highlighted by earlier typological studies (epigravettian regionalization phenomenon).- In the sequence of Grotta della Serratura, how do connect the two levels of the undifferentiated Epipaleolithic? And in the context of the Pleistocene / Holocene passage in the Mediterranean area?The lithic industries will therefore be approached along two axes. A first diachronic, since it involves identifying breaks and / or continuities in each sequence with the identification of technical traditions. The second axis is of synchronic order, with scaling up to a micro and macro - regional level. / Questa ricerca si concentra su uno studio tecnico-economico delle industrie litiche alla fine del Paleolitico Superiore e il primo Olocene di due siti nel sud Italia: Grotta della Serratura (Salerno) e Grotta del Cavallo (Nardo).Le industrie di questo periodo nell'Italia meridionale sono ancora oggi oggetto di studi essenzialmente tipologici. Con una nuova metodologia dunque, cercheremo di ottenere nuovi dati e nuove interpretazioni su alcune problematiche al centro di attuali dibattiti scentifici. Le tre domande principali al centro di questo progetto sono:- Attraverso lo studio delle tradizioni tecniche, possiamo identificare momenti di rottura o continuità, all'interno delle sequenze studiate? Se sì, li osserviamo contemporaneamente nelle due sequenze?- I due depositi, diversi da un punto di vista geografico e ambientale, mostrano anche a livello tecnologico, importanti differenze, come quelle evidenziate dagli studi tipologici (fenomeno di regionalizzazione epigravettiana).- Nella sequenza della Grotta della Serratura, come si inseriscono i due livelli dell'Epipaleolitico indifferenziato? E nel contesto del passaggio Pleistocene / Olocene nell'area mediterranea?Le industrie litiche saranno quindi analizzate seguendo due assi: una diacronica, per mettere in luce discontinuità e / o continuità nelle sequenze analizzate sulla base delle tradizioni tecniche; l'altra sincronica, confrontando a livello micro e macro - regionale le sequenze analizzate.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2016. / In current Middle Stone Age research there is interest in understanding whether climatic and environmental factors played a role in behaviours related to subsistence, mobility patterns and material culture production. From a palaeoenvironmental perspective, the southern Cape is recognized as an important study region for exploring the link, if any, between past environmental conditions and key MSA occurrences. The research presented in this thesis aimed to contribute to the existing database of past environments in the southern Cape through the geochemical analysis of speleothems from a previously uninvestigated locality in the De Hoop Nature Reserve. Together, the De Hoop speleothems provide a discontinuous record of environmental change from marine oxygen isotope stage MIS 5a to MIS 3 (and the Holocene). Results from the De Hoop records indicate warm summer rain and C4 vegetation in early MIS 5a (c. 85 ka to 80 ka) but more variability by late MIS 5a (c. 79 ka to 74 ka). At Klasies River main site, also on the southern Cape coast, the upper MSA II is associated with the warm early MIS 5a conditions. At Blombos Cave, another important coastal MSA site, the Still Bay occurring within terminal MIS 5a was linked to warm but more variable late MIS 5a conditions. While early MIS 4 (c. 73 ka to 68 ka) was comparatively cooler, conditions were similar to those in early MIS 5a. From this research, the earlier phase of the Howiesons Poort at Klasies River main site and the Howiesons Poort at Klipdrift Shelter were correlated with the early MIS 4 conditions in De Hoop. By late MIS 4 (c. 67 ka to 60 ka), conditions remained cool, but were seemingly more variable than during the earlier part of this iii stage / GR2016