Paloma de la Peña

Quartz Knapping Strategies in the Howiesons Poort at Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)

The variability associated with Sibudus Howiesons Poort Industry highlights the unpredictable trajectory of technology in the Middle Stone Age. We reach this conclusion through a study of the technology on quartz from one of the Howiesons Poort layers (Grey Sand) from Sibudu rock shelter. Quartz bifacial technology has previously been described at the site, but this new in-depth study of the quartz technology reveals other strategies. First is the recurring employment of bipolar knapping, formerly considered as a defining feature of the Later Stone Age. Secondly, we highlight a laminar technology with emphasis on small quartz bladelets. Bipolar cores are most common, followed by prismatic cores. The knapping strategies in Grey Sand seem to involve systematic recycling and the deliberate production of microliths.

A QUALITATIVE GUIDE TO RECOGNIZE BIPOLAR KNAPPING FOR FLINT AND QUARTZ

This paper presents a list of macroscopic characteristics for recognizing pieces resulting from bipolar knapping. I performed specific experiments in fine-grained flint and in quartz. I describe the main characteristics of bipolar knapping in a qualitative manner and discuss the usefulness and limitations of this qualitative methodology for these two types of rocks.This paper presents a list of macroscopic characteristics for recognizing pieces resulting from bipolar knapping. I performed specific experiments in fine-grained flint and in quartz. I describe the main characteristics of bipolar knapping in a qualitative manner and discuss the usefulness and limitations of this qualitative methodology for these two types of rocks.

Refining Our Understanding of Howiesons Poort Lithic Technology: The Evidence from Grey Rocky Layer in Sibudu Cave (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)

The detailed technological analysis of the youngest Howiesons Poort occupation in Sibudu Cave, layer Grey Rocky, has shown the importance of blade production (with different knapping methods involved), but also of flaking methods in coarse grained rock types. Moreover, new strategies of bifacial production and microlithism were important. Grey Rocky lithic technology shows a really versatile example of reduction strategies that were highly influenced by the characteristics of the rock types. This lithic assemblage is another example of the technological variability linked to the Howiesons Poort technocomplex. The reasons for this variability are still difficult to elucidate. Discrepancies between sites might be for different reasons: diachronic variations, functional variations, organizational variations or maybe different regional variations within what has been recognized traditionally and typologically as Howiesons Poort. The technological comparison of the Grey Rocky assemblage with assemblages from other Howiesons Poort sites demonstrates that there are common technological trends during the late Pleistocene, but they still need to be properly circumscribed chronologically. On the one hand, Howiesons Poort characteristics such as the bifacial production in quartz are reminiscent of production in some Still Bay or pre-Still Bay industries and the flake production or the prismatic blade production described here could be a point in common with pre-Still Bay and post-Howiesons Poort industries. On the other hand, the detailed analysis of the Grey Rocky lithics reinforces the particular character of this Howiesons Poort technocomplex, yet it also shows clear technological links with other Middle Stone Age assemblages.

Technological variability at Sibudu Cave: The end of Howiesons Poort and reduced mobility strategies after 62,000 years ago

We evaluate the cultural variation between the youngest Howiesons Poort layer (GR) and the oldest post-Howiesons Poort layers (RB-YA) of Sibudu Cave (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa). We first conducted a technological analysis, secondly we performed a cladistic study with all the technological traits and, finally, we compare the technological variability with other data from Sibudu (ochre, micromorphology, fauna and plant remains). The synapomorphies of the cladistical analysis show numerous lithic technological changes between the youngest Howiesons Poort and the oldest post-Howiesons Poort layers as previously concluded. However, some technological strategies that are present, yet uncommon, in the Howiesons Poort become abundant in the overlying layers, whereas others that were fundamental to the Howiesons Poort continue, but are poorly represented in the overlying layers. We further show that lithic technological strategies appear and disappear as pulses in the post-Howiesons Poort layers studied. Among the most notable changes in the post-Howiesons Poort layers is the importance of flake production from discoidal knapping methods, the unstandardized retouched pieces and their infrequent representation, and the higher than usual frequency of grindstones. We evaluate various hypotheses to explain the transformation of a Howiesons Poort formal industry to a more ‘expedient’ assemblage. Since no marked environmental changes are contemporary with the technological transformation, a change in residential mobility patterns seems a plausible explanation. This hypothesis is supported by the changes observed in stratigraphy, lithic technology, site management, ochre and firewood collection.

The transition in southern Iberia: insights from paleoclimatology and the Early Upper Palaeolithic.

The paper by Wood et al. (1) called attention to the dating methodology of ultrafiltration applied to Mousterian sites in the Southern Iberian Peninsula. The dates of two sites, Jarama VI and Zafarraya, are older than expected, after the application of the authors’ methodology to some of the bones from the two sites. This result has important implications because the Southern Iberian Peninsula was formerly proposed as a unique area demonstrating the late survival of Neanderthals in Eurasia (2, 3). In the case of former studies of Gorham and Carihuela (2, 3), the main argument was paleoclimatic, not radiometric. In contrast, most of the recent studies argue on the basis of radiocarbon dates. The paper by Wood et al. (1) is opportune because it drew attention to the need to treat radiocarbon dates with extreme caution. The authors’ dating method may change the exact chronology of many prehistoric events in the Late Pleistocene, and yet the conclusions should not be taken as final. Only one line of argument (the dates) was presented, and some of the sites used to support the authors’ conclusions still seem to support previous arguments for the later survival of Neanderthals. First, Carihuela Cave, although cited, was dealt with superficially, and its recent dates were rejected by Wood et al. (1) because the sediment sampling was considered inappropriate. However, Carihuela has produced not only recent dates supporting a young chronology (4). Furthermore, the principal argument for the survival of the Mousterian is based on the industrial and paleoclimatic record, obtained from typology, paleontology, sedimentology, and pollen studies (3, 4). Indeed, Carihuela’s stratigraphy has been correlated with other paleoclimatic proxies such as that at Padul (4), and this limnetic sequence is, in turn, correlated with the Alborán Sea Survey. Other Mediterranean sites such as Mallaetes, Cendres, and Bajondillo were cited to support the main argument by Wood et al. (1), even though the sites did not yield proper bone samples for the authors’ methodology. Mallaetes and Cendres do not have Mousterian levels, so they hardly offer weight to the hypothesis defended in the paper. Nevertheless, citing Early Upper Paleolithic sites makes sense if the authors can offer an ante quem relative chronology. Even so, a review of sites assigned to the Upper Paleolithic should be made cautiously because most of these sites have backed industries as the first expression of the Upper Paleolithic. In other words, they appear to be Gravettian. For example, El Palomar (Levels V, IV and III, recently attributed to a technological tradition of the Iberian Gravettian) or Nerja (NV13) and Bajondillo (11 and 10) were sites first attributed to the Aurignacian and later to the Gravettian. Furthermore, most of Siret’s collection and even “indeterminate Early Upper Paleolithic sites” (e.g., Cova Gran and Foradada) also contain backed industries as one of their earliest (5). In conclusion, the authors (1) should have paid more attention to paleoclimatic relative chronostratigraphy as a parallel argument to dating. The authors also required more detailed discussion of the first industries related to the Early Upper Paleolithic.

Milky Quartz Bipolar Reduction and Lithic Miniaturization: Experimental Results and Archaeological Implications

ABSTRACT We present experimental data examining the energetics and identification of axial bipolar reduction in contexts of lithic miniaturization on milky quartz. These experiments answer two specific questions. First, does bipolar reduction provide any benefits over freehand reduction? Second, can axial bipolar reduction be distinguished from freehand reduction? Our data show that bipolar reduction requires significantly less time to reduce a percentage unit of core mass and to produce a millimeter of cutting edge on milky quartz than freehand reduction. Milky quartz bipolar reduction surpasses even the cutting edge production efficiency of obsidian pressure blades. We outline a series of quantitative criteria for identifying bipolar cores and flakes. Our results show that bipolar cores and flakes can be distinguished from those produced using freehand reduction by quantifying platform crushing, distal flake rebound scars, bulb shearing, as well as axial, bipolar, and splintered flake terminations. Our results challenge the widely held perceptions about the wastefulness of bipolar reduction and provide clear guidelines for identifying this reduction strategy in archaeological milky quartz assemblages.

Responses of South African Agate and Chalcedony When Heated Experimentally, and the Broader Implications for Heated Archaeological Minerals

ABSTRACT Here we present a database of responses by South African agate and chalcedony to heat treatment. This will assist analyses of heated stone tools not only in South African archaeological sites, but wherever heated agate and chalcedony pieces were knapped. The minerals are abundant worldwide. To replicate potential heating methods during the Stone Age we placed some minerals in a wood fire, some under coals, and others were buried in sediments beneath fires. Thermal responses include lustrous flaked surfaces, pot lid fractures, semi-circular internal fractures, rough internal surfaces, and crazing. Aerobic heating is implied by pot lid fractures. To explain the thermal responses we analyzed the minerals using X-ray fluorescence, Raman spectroscopy, and carbon and sulfur analyses. Our chalcedony contains more water and impurities than agate, making it more vulnerable to thermal damage. Our method of combining field experiments with chemical analyses has global applications even though we expect that mineral components of agate and chalcedony will vary slightly in different parts of the world.

The MIS5 Pietersburg at ‘28’ Bushman Rock Shelter, Limpopo Province, South Africa

In the past few decades, a diverse array of research has emphasized the precocity of technically advanced and symbolic practices occurring during the southern African Middle Stone Age. However, uncertainties regarding the regional chrono-cultural framework constrain models and identification of the cultural and ecological mechanisms triggering the development of such early innovative behaviours. Here, we present new results and a refined chronology for the Pietersburg, a techno-complex initially defined in the late 1920’s, which has disappeared from the literature since the 1980’s. We base our revision of this techno-complex on ongoing excavations at Bushman Rock Shelter (BRS) in Limpopo Province, South Africa, where two Pietersburg phases (an upper phase called ‘21’ and a lower phase called ‘28’) are recognized. Our analysis focuses on the ‘28’ phase, characterized by a knapping strategy based on Levallois and semi-prismatic laminar reduction systems and typified by the presence of end-scrapers. Luminescence chronology provides two sets of ages for the upper and lower Pietersburg of BRS, dated respectively to 73±6ka and 75±6ka on quartz and to 91±10ka and 97±10ka on feldspar, firmly positioning this industry within MIS5. Comparisons with other published lithic assemblages show technological differences between the Pietersburg from BRS and other southern African MIS5 traditions, especially those from the Western and Eastern Cape. We argue that, at least for part of MIS5, human populations in South Africa were regionally differentiated, a process that most likely impacted the way groups were territorially and socially organized. Nonetheless, comparisons between MIS5 assemblages also indicate some typological similarities, suggesting some degree of connection between human groups, which shared similar innovations but manipulated them in different ways. We pay particular attention to the end-scrapers from BRS, which represent thus far the earliest documented wide adoption of such tool-type and provide further evidence for the innovative processes characterizing southern Africa from the MIS5 onwards.

New Excavations at Border Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

ABSTRACT New excavations at Border Cave use high-resolution techniques, including FT-IR, for sediment samples and thin sections of micromorphology blocks from stratigraphy. These show that sediments have different moisture regimes, both spatially and chronologically. The site preserves desiccated grass bedding in multiple layers and they, along with seeds, rhizomes, and charcoal, provide a profile of palaeo-vegetation through time. A bushveld vegetation community is implied before 100,000 years ago. The density of lithics varies considerably through time, with high frequencies occurring before 100,000 years ago where a putative MSA 1/Pietersburg Industry was recovered. The highest percentage frequencies of blades and blade fragments were found here. In Members 1 BS and 1 WA, called Early Later Stone Age by Beaumont, we recovered large flakes from multifacial cores. Local rhyolite was the most common rock used for making stone tools, but siliceous minerals were popular in the upper members.

Trampling vs. Retouch in a Lithic Assemblage: A Case Study from a Middle Stone Age Site, Steenbokfontein 9KR (Limpopo, South Africa)

ABSTRACT At the site of Steenbokfontein 9KR, virtually 80% of the lithic blanks presented retouch—an extreme proportion for Middle Stone Age assemblages. The high percentage of putative retouch led us to investigate whether post-depositional processes played a role in the preservation of the lithic assemblage. We designed and performed an experiment that reproduced all the archaeological conditions inferred from the site formation analyses to determine if the archaeological assemblage was trampled or retouched. We defined several qualitative attributes and studied both trampled and retouched experimental samples, and compared them to the archaeological material. We subsequently performed different statistical analyses and a correspondence analysis with all the macro qualitative attributes that we defined. We were then able to discern which attributes were the most eloquent variables and assess the usefulness of a multivariate analysis in discriminating between trampling and retouch.