Pamela R. Willoughby

Spheroids and battered stones in the African Early Stone Age

Abstract Spheroids and battered stones form an integral part of the Acheulean and coeval Developed Oldowan at most African Early Stone Age sites. This was recognized early in the development of prehistoric research on the continent. Their absence from assemblages in the Koobi Fora region east of Lake Turkana is therefore unexpected. A study of the distribution and technology of these pieces was undertaken in an attempt to explain this anomaly. Flaked core artefacts from seven Early Stone Age sites were examined. It was discovered that in the class of pounded and battered artefacts, the raw material selected influenced the final form to a great extent. While there is no real standardization of size, the shape of pieces is constant, regardless of raw material, location or age of the site. Most flaked spheroids represent the extreme end of a range of core tools running from angular to smooth. Their shape is produced by a combination of manufacture and/or use. In addition, natural spherical stones produced by...

From the Middle to the Later Stone Age in Eastern Africa

The Middle to Later Stone Age transition in sub-Saharan Africa occurred sometime between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago. It is supposed to be the period in which (already) anatomically modern Homo sapiens became behaviorally modern “Upper Palaeolithic” people. It is said to occur prior to the dispersal(s) out of Africa which brought modern humans into Eurasia and elsewhere. Various evolutionary models have been applied to this period, most notably Richard Klein’s idea that some Africans went through a sudden neurological transformation that resulted in the development of symbolically-based language and culture. This made the dispersal possible, and almost inevitable. What is less well known is that there are few archaeological records in the African continent which can be used to test these models. This paper reviews the evidence for the Middle to Later Stone Age transition in East Africa. While genetics and geochronology point to an African origin of our own species, it is still difficult to conclude what happened during the Upper Pleistocene that led to the spread of anatomically modern humans out of the continent.

Middle Stone Age human teeth from Magubike rockshelter, Iringa Region, Tanzania

In 2006, six isolated hominin teeth were excavated from Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits at the Magubike rockshelter in southern Tanzania. They comprise two central incisors, one lateral incisor, one canine, one third premolar, and one fourth premolar. All are fully developed and come from the maxilla. None of the teeth are duplicated, so they may represent a single individual. While there is some evidence of post-depositional alteration, the morphology of these teeth clearly shares features with anatomically modern Homo sapiens. Both metric and non-metric traits are compared to those from other African and non-African dental remains. The degree of biological relatedness between eastern and southern African Stone Age hunter-gatherers has long been a subject of interest, and several characteristics of the Magubike teeth resemble those of the San of southern Africa. Another notable feature is that the three incisors are marked on the labial crown by scratches that are much coarser than microwear striations. These non-masticatory scratches on the Magubike teeth suggest that the use of the front teeth as tools included regularly repeated activities undertaken throughout the life of the individual. The exact age of these teeth is not clear as ESR and radiocarbon dates on associated snail shells give varying results, but a conservative estimate of their minimum age is 45,000 years.

Land Snail Shell Beads in the Sub-Saharan Archaeological Record: When, Where, and Why?

Shell beads are well established in the archaeological record of sub-Saharan Africa and appear as early as 75,000 BP; however, most research has focused on ostrich eggshell (OES) and various marine mollusc species. Beads made from various land snails shells (LSS), frequently described as Achatina, also appear to be widespread. Yet tracking their appearance and distribution is difficult because LSS beads are often intentionally or unintentionally lumped with OES beads, there are no directly dated examples, and bead reporting in general is highly variable in the archaeological literature. Nevertheless, Achatina and other potential cases of LSS beads are present at over 80 archaeological sites in at least eight countries, spanning the early Holocene to recent past. Here, we collate published cases and report on several more. We also present a new case from Magubike Rockshelter in southern Tanzania with the first directly dated LSS beads, which we use to illustrate methods for identifying LSS as a raw material. Despite the long history of OES bead production on the continent and the abundance of land snails available throughout the Pleistocene, LSS beads appear only in the late Holocene and are almost exclusively found in Iron Age contexts. We consider possible explanations for the late adoption of land snails as a raw material for beadmaking within the larger context of environmental, economic, and social processes in Holocene Africa. By highlighting the existence of these artifacts, we hope to facilitate more in-depth research on the timing, production, and distribution of LSS beads in African prehistory.RésuméLes perles de coquillages sont bien établies dans les archives archéologiques de l’Afrique subsaharienne et apparaissent dès 75 000 BP, mais la plupart des recherches ont porté sur la coquille d’œuf d’autruche (OES) et diverses espèces de mollusques marins. Les perles fabriquées à partir de diverses coquilles d’escargots terrestres (LSS), souvent décrites comme Achatina, semblent également être répandues. Cependant, le suivi de leur apparence et de leur distribution est. difficile parce que les billes LSS sont souvent volontairement ou involontairement regroupées avec des billes OES, il n’y a pas d’exemples directement datés, et les rapports sur les perles en général sont très variables dans la littérature archéologique. Néanmoins, Achatina et d’autres cas potentiels de perles LSS sont présents sur plus de 80 sites archéologiques dans au moins huit pays, couvrant le début de l’Holocène à un passé récent. Ici, nous rassemblons les cas publiés et rapportons plusieurs autres cas. Nous présentons également un nouveau cas de Magubike Rockshelter dans le sud de la Tanzanie avec les premières perles LSS directement datées, que nous utilisons pour illustrer les méthodes d’identification du LSS comme matière première. Malgré la longue histoire de la production de perles d’OES sur le continent et l’abondance d’escargots terrestres disponibles tout au long du Pléistocène, les perles de LSS n’apparaissent qu’à la fin de l’Holocène et sont presque exclusivement trouvées dans des contextes de l’âge du fer. Nous considérons les explications possibles de l’adoption tardive des escargots terrestres en tant que matière première pour la fabrication de perles dans le contexte plus large des processus environnementaux, économiques et sociaux en Afrique de l’Holocène. En mettant en évidence l’existence de ces artefacts, nous espérons faciliter des recherches plus approfondies sur le calendrier, la production et la distribution des perles LSS dans la préhistoire africaine.

Review of An archaeological and geomorphological survey of the Luangwa Valley, Zambia by Dan Colton

analysis and description of a pottery assemblage about which much was said but little was known or published. Some aspects of the nomenclature applied to pottery decoration should prove useful for anyone working in West Africa, but should also be an interesting tool for use outside this area. A set of terms is clearly and explicitly defined (in French) and I recommend the use of the vocabulary for decorative figures (pp. 60 65). This would allow for a much-needed standardisation of the terminology of pottery decoration.

Gonzales Rhonda M.. Societies, Religion, and History: Central-East Tanzanians and the World They Created c. 200 B.C.E. to 1800 C.E. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. ix + 257 pp. Appendix. Abbreviations and Symbols. Bibliography.

tions. These measures then eroded the limited moral authority of colonial administrators in these peripheral societies during die depression. Ochonu contends that in response to these arbitrary measures local people, rather than retreating, imaginatively engaged their precarious condition as producers of food crops for subsistence, even as the depression intensified. As the income of local producers fell drastically and die prices of imported manufactured commodities rose significantly, colonial subjects became more inward-looking, relying solely on the local economy to sustain themselves as the depression ravaged their impoverished communities. British colonial authorities responded by insisting on the incorporation of these marginal communities into a problematic colonial administrative arrangement through more arbitrary taxation in order to generate badly needed revenue. Thus, confronted by the deepening crisis of the depression, colonial agents implemented draconian tax collection policies that further alienated the impoverished masses.

60.00. Cloth.

Remaking knowledge about African iron technology historical and cultural contexts - excavating history, myth and ritual ethnoarchaeology and experiment in iron technology ethnoarchaeology and bricolage - engaging iron smelting a technological model of the Haya process comparative models - forging a history of Haya iron smelting dynamic models for an archaeology of iron technology models for the interpretation of space - smelting and forging an archaeology of African iron symbolism reading ideology in the archaeological record a history of landscape transformation - bringing the past up to the present.