Techno-Cultural Characterization of the MIS 5 (c. 105 – 90 Ka) Lithic Industries at Blombos Cave, Southern Cape, South Africa
نویسندگان
چکیده
Blombos Cave is well known as an important site for understanding the evolution of symbolically mediated behaviours among Homo sapiens during the Middle Stone Age, and during the Still Bay in particular. The lower part of the archaeological sequence (M3 phase) contains 12 layers dating to MIS 5 with ages ranging from 105 to 90 ka ago (MIS 5c to 5b) that provide new perspectives on the technological behaviour of these early humans. The new data obtained from our extensive technological analysis of the lithic material enriches our currently limited knowledge of this time period in the Cape region. By comparing our results with previously described lithic assemblages from sites south of the Orange River, we draw new insights on the extent of the techno-cultural ties between these sites and the M3 phase at Blombos Cave and highlight the importance of this phase within the Middle Stone Age cultural stratigraphy.
منابع مشابه
The Small Mammal Sequence from the c. 76 – 72 ka Still Bay Levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa – Taphonomic and Palaeoecological Implications for Human Behaviour
The Still Bay, c. 76-72 ka, a prominent techno-tradition during the Middle Stone Age of southern Africa, has yielded innovative technologies, symbolic material culture, and shows evidence of expansion of hunting techniques and subsistence strategies. In this paper we present the results of the first systematic, taphonomic and palaeoenvironmental study of micromammals from the Still Bay levels a...
متن کاملCharacterizing the Late Pleistocene MSA Lithic Technology of Sibudu, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Studies of the African Middle Stone Age (MSA) have become central for defining the cultural adaptations that accompanied the evolution of modern humans. While much of recent research in South Africa has focused on the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort (HP), periods following these technocomplexes were often neglected. Here we examine lithic assemblages from Sibudu that post-date the HP to further t...
متن کاملClimate, Environment and Early Human Innovation: Stable Isotope and Faunal Proxy Evidence from Archaeological Sites (98-59ka) in the Southern Cape, South Africa
The Middle Stone Age (MSA) of southern Africa, and in particular its Still Bay and Howiesons Poort lithic traditions, represents a period of dramatic subsistence, cultural, and technological innovation by our species, Homo sapiens. Climate change has frequently been postulated as a primary driver of the appearance of these innovative behaviours, with researchers invoking either climate instabil...
متن کاملDiachronic Change within the Still Bay at Blombos Cave, South Africa
Characteristically shaped bifacial points are stone artefacts with which the Middle Stone Age Still Bay techno-complex in Southern Africa is identified. Traditional approaches such as chaîne opératoire and two-dimensional metrics in combination with attribute analyses have been used to analyse variability within Still Bay point assemblages. Here we develop a protocol to extract and analyse high...
متن کاملMiddle Stone Age shell beads from South Africa.
There are two competing models for the emergence of modern human behavior: first, a late emergence in Africa or Eurasia at 50 to 40 thousand years ago (ka), and second, a gradual transition in Africa between 250 to 50 ka (1). In both models, personal ornaments and art are unquestioned expressions of symbolism that equate with modern human behavior. The earliest undisputed African personal ornam...
متن کامل