Although grindstones - that is, pairs of stone implements used to grind, pound, pulverise or otherwise process intermediate materials - have been intensively studied by archaeologists in other parts of the world, in southern Africa to date they have received little attention. Despite a near-ubiquitous presence on Middle and Later Stone Age archaeological sites, their primary function in archaeological reconstructions has been as proxies for other behaviours. These include behavioural modernity; gender; particular plant types, such as geophytes/underground storage organs. This doctoral thesis interrogates grindstones with a view not only to establishing specific (rather than proxy) uses in the southern African archaeological record,but also as a means to explore the gathered side of hunter-gatherer lifeways, which have also historically been neglected. It does this by developing a methodological toolkit for grindstone analysis in southern Africa. Comparison of archaeological and historical literature from the southern African Grassland Biome and elsewhere suggests a tension between archaeological accounts which posit geophyte and mineral pigment grinding as a primary purpose for grindstones and ethnohistorical accounts suggesting that grass-processing was a staple of hunter-gatherer life. Finally, a corpus of putative grindstones from the site of Ha Makotoko in western Lesotho is typologically assessed and analysed for plant starches and phytoliths. It emerges that at this site, and in contrast to received wisdom, geophyte grinding was not extensive but by contrast, grass seed processing was practised. This belies models suggesting that C4 grass seeds were unlikely to have contributed to hunter-gatherer diets, and questions interpretations of grass 'bedding' as well as the distinction between 'forager' and 'farmer'. Most importantly, this thesis validates the idea that grindstone study is worthwhile, and should be integrated into wider lithic study in southern Africa as a matter of course.

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Microlith production is a distinctive and significant stone tool technology. However, inter-regional comparative analyses of microlithic industries are rare, and have tended to homogenise these industries by focussing analytical attention on retouched tool typologies alone. This thesis provides the first demonstration and exploration of variability in two of the earliest microlithic industries in the world - the Howiesons Poort of southern Africa and the Late Palaeolithic of South Asia. Analysis of this variation has implications for the long-standing debates concerning modern human behaviour and dispersals. In order to assess variability in underlying technological processes and manufacturing trajectories, detailed attribute analyses were conducted on lithic assemblages. Metric and qualitative variables were recorded on cores, debitage and tools from three southern African Howiesons Poort sites (Rose Cottage Cave and Umhlatuzana, South Africa, and Ntloana Tsoana, Lesotho) and four South Asian Late Palaeolithic sites (Batadomba-lena and Kitulgala Beli-lena, Sri Lanka, and Patne and Jwalapuram 9, India). Analysis of the results reveals variability within sites, over time, and between sites and regions, demonstrating that microlith production is not a homogenous technology. Underlying technological processes are shown to differ more between regions than do retouched tool forms. It is argued that this pattern is more parsimoniously explained by independent innovation of microlithic technology situated within local lithic traditions, rather than by cultural diffusion. Additionally, the exploration of variability in microlithic assemblages highlights the benefits of using a methodological approach to the modern human behaviour debate which focusses on technological variability rather than the presence of particular tool types. It is this behavioural and technological variability that is key to understanding our species.