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Pleistocene Homo and the updated Stone Age sequence of South Africa
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We provide a brief overview of how the rich South African Pleistocene Homo fossil record correlates with the recently revised Stone Age sequence. The overview and correlation of the data is intended to highlight gaps in the record and/or our understanding thereof, and to stimulate interdisciplinary research and debate on the Homo fossil and archaeological records spanning the Pleistocene. As an updated resource we present a complete inventory of known Pleistocene fossil material assigned to the genus Homo, and, where possible, its association with archaeological material. We demonstrate that (1) anatomical changes are not necessarily paralleled by changes in the archaeological sequence currently based on a range of technocomplexes, (2) the early Homo record of South Africa probably differs from that of East Africa, (3) mid-Pleistocene Homo might be associated with the Earlier to Middle Stone Age transitional phase and (4) the fossil record associated with the Middle Stone Age has wide anatomical variation. Also, hiatuses in the fossil record, such as that associated with the appearance of early Khoe-San-like populations, do not show concurrent hiatuses in the archaeological record. Thus, for a broader understanding of the demographic history of South Africa during the Pleistocene, both sources of information should be considered in tandem.
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... The last half of the Middle Pleistocene, 770-126 ka (thousand years ago), or Chibanian stage (Hornyak, 2020), encompasses the origin of anatomically modern humans (AMH) (Hublin et al., 2017;Scerri et al., 2018), the technological transition from the Early Stone Age (ESA) to the Middle Stone Age (MSA) , and the appearance of complex behavioral and cognitive traits McBrearty & Brooks, 2000;Shea, 2011). In Central Africa, the archaeology of this period is poorly understood (Taylor, 2014) compared to Southern (Dusseldorp et al., 2013) and Eastern Africa (Tryon & Faith, 2013). Although many ESA and MSA sites have been reported for south-central Africa (Clark, 1967), few are firmly dated and many lack stratigraphic integrity due to long-term bioturbation and other taphonomic issues (Cahen & Moeyersons, 1977;McBrearty, 1990;Moeyersons, 1978;Williams, 2019). ...
This paper describes the lithic aggregates from Sitwe 23 (SW23), a Stone Age locality in a previously unstudied region of the northern Luangwa Valley, Zambia. This area yielded two surface lithic scatters containing abundant artifacts derived from Pleistocene sediments on uplifted terrain and exposed by recent erosion on two adjacent terraces. The scatters are time-averaged palimpsests formed by deflation, but most of the lithics lack evidence of significant fluvial transport or post-depositional damage, indicating minimal horizontal displacement. Typological and attribute analyses of samples from both spurs reveal predominantly simple and expedient core and flake technologies, as well as sophisticated biface manufacture and Levallois technique producing flakes and points that are differentially distributed between the terraces. The artifacts identified in this analysis include types conventionally considered diagnostic of the Acheulean, Sangoan, and Middle Stone Age, suggesting that the collections may document one or more temporal windows during the Chibanian age (770–126 ka). Whether artifacts in these samples were originally deposited sequentially or concurrently is not yet known and alternative hypotheses are presented and discussed. The collections are compared to sites in Zambia and the northern Lake Malawi basin and found to be similar technologically but typologically different. Given the paucity of previously known Ston Age archaeological sites in the region, our work now demonstrates that northern Luangwa has significant archaeological potential and deserves further study.
... With this contribution we revisit the Holocene human remains of South Africa. Pre-Holocene human remains from the region are less abundant and often highly fragmentary-direct radiocarbon dates from such remains are rare, given patterns of collagen preservation in southern Africa (but see Dusseldorp et al. 2013 for summary). We provide a revised georeferenced database of all the dated remains we were able to trace (SOM 1). ...
The study of human remains can provide valuable information about aspects of past populations. Here we present an updated database consisting of 590 radiocarbon ( ¹⁴ C) dates for human remains from Holocene South Africa before European contact. We calibrated or recalibrated all the previously published dates using the most recent calibration curve for the southern hemisphere. Each date is roughly georeferenced and plotted according to their Stone Age or Iron Age contexts, revealing the broad distribution pattern of dated Holocene human remains across South Africa—perhaps reflecting aspects of past population distribution and densities, but also underscoring historical collection practices, archaeological research focus, and preservation conditions. We use Kernel Density Estimation models to show peaks and troughs of dated remains through time, with Later Stone Age peaks at ∼5.5 ka cal BP, ∼2 ka cal BP and ∼0.5 ka cal BP, and Iron Age peaks ∼1.1 ka cal BP and ∼0.5 ka cal BP, some of which show broad correspondence to climatic data. Our data, based on dated remains only, do not provide a full reflection of past populations, and our large-scale, coarse-grained analysis cannot yet assess the reasons for the peaks in dated human remains in detail. Yet, the study provides a new resource, and a data-driven overview that highlights aspects to be explored with further contextual analyses against the available archaeological records, population histories and climatic indicators through time and across space.
... During the past ~200 ka years, the South African subcontinent has witnessed the advent of major innovations (9), technological changes (e.g., refs. [10][11][12], and population turnovers (13). New traits linked to what some authors have called behavioral modernity (e.g., ref. 14) or behavioral varia bility (15), include abstract expressions through art and pigment use (16)(17)(18)(19), composite tools made by combining different material classes (20,21) or complex and analogous reasoning (22). ...
In the Stone Age, the collection of specific rocks was the first step in tool making. Very little is known about the choices made during tool-stone acquisition. Were choices governed by the knowledge of, and need for, specific properties of stones? Or were the collected raw materials a mere by-product of the way people moved through the landscape? We investigate these questions in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) of southern Africa, analyzing the mechanical properties of tool-stones used at the site Diepkloof Rock Shelter. To understand knapping quality, we measure flaking predictability and introduce a physical model that allows calculating the relative force necessary to produce flakes from different rocks. To evaluate their quality as finished tools, we investigate their resistance during repeated use activities (scraping or cutting) and their strength during projectile impacts. Our findings explain tool-stone selection in two emblematic periods of the MSA, the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort, as being the result of a deep understanding of these mechanical properties. In both cases, people chose those rocks, among many others, that allowed the most advantageous trade-off between anticipated properties of finished tools and the ease of acquiring rocks and producing tools. The implications are an understanding of African MSA toolmakers as engineers who carefully weighed their choices taking into account workability and the quality of the tools they made.
... Cranially, Au. africanus displays a somewhat more Homo-like morphology The list of localities is not comprehensive. The localities in South Africa are in close proximity, and we recommend detailed maps found elsewhere, such as in the study by Dusseldorp et al. (2013). The Kabwe 1 replica image is adapted from the Wikimedia contributor Gerbil, and the Jebel Irhoud 1 replica image is adapted from the Wikimedia user Ryan Somma than do earlier known australopiths, with a slightly more flexed cranial base and reduction in subnasal prognathism. ...
Which hominins are responsible for creating the Pleistocene archaeological record of Africa? Given that tool use has been recorded through paleontological and archaeological records over the last approximately 2.5 million years (Myr), we know that multiple hominin species must be involved in technological innovations at different times and locations. Although tool use and manufacture were once considered unique characteristics of our own genus (Homo), the last few decades have shown us that there may be archaeological evidence of tool use before the genus Homo (McPherron et al., 2010; Harmand et al., 2015). Another intractable issue is that it is nearly impossible to know whether archaeological materials and hominins are related to one another, even if found in situ at the same site. There are many lines of evidence that might mislead an association between hominin remains and archaeology: hominins can scavenge and repurpose tools, have late access to an already butchered carcass, or be preserved at a location where tools were either discarded by another hominin species or accumulated through other taphonomic processes. In short, identifying which hominins are responsible for the archaeological record is not always clear-cut. Here, we briefly discuss the 11 species of hominins currently recognized in Africa during the Pleistocene, selected by virtue of their temporal placement within the Pleistocene span (2.58 million years ago (Ma) to 11 thousand years ago (ka), the focal period of the volume) and their direct and indirect associations with tool-making capacity. For readership’s sake, we list the main traits (both derived and primitive) that distinguish the featured taxa in Table 1. Although all of these species may have been contributors to the archaeological record of Africa during the Pleistocene, only a handful seem to be unequivocally linked to tool use or manufacture.
... Although this assemblage is not directly associated with hominin fossil material, and if we accept the association of the artefacts with the age estimate of >464 ka [76], it is reasonable to suggest that these artefacts were knapped by Homo heidelbergensis [77]. H. heidelbergensis fossils were recorded from Elandsfontein and Hoedjiespunt in South Africa during MIS 7 [78]. The Canteen Kopje assemblage from South Africa dating to~300 ka [79] could have been made by either H. heidelbergensis or early H. sapiens. ...
There are many opinions and arguments about the types of weapons that Neanderthals may have used. We list five assumptions about Neanderthal weapon-assisted hunting and suggest that the tip cross-sectional area (TCSA) approach may be used to assess these, and to provide a hypothetical overview of stone-tipped weaponry used in south eastern France between MIS 7 and MIS 3. We analysed stone points from Abri du Maras, Saint-Marcel, Grotte du Figuier, and Payre, and discuss possible hunting strategies in tandem with faunal evidence. Our results suggest that early Neanderthals may have hunted with bimanual thrusting spears in combination with one-handed stabbing spears, but that later groups possibly introduced javelin hunting to the Neanderthal arsenal. Stone-tipped assegais or one-handed stabbing spears, however, stand out as the Neanderthal weapons of choice throughout the Middle Palaeolithic, and we discuss the adaptive advantages of hunting with these weapons. Comparative results that include assemblages from elsewhere in the Old World suggest similarities in hunting with stone-tipped weapons between Neanderthal and H. sapiens before MIS 5, marked differences during MIS 5-4, but similarities again during MIS 3. We suggest that caution is needed when attributing MIS 3 point assemblages to Neanderthals based on age and/or technology only.
... The past two decades of intense research have shown that many of the innovations and behavioral changes once thought to originate in the LSA appeared already several millennia before, associated with clear MSA technologies such as at Blombos Cave (d'Errico et al., 2005;Henshilwood et al., 2001a, b), Diepkloof (Texier et al., 2010), Sibhudu (Conard et al., 2012;d'Errico et al., 2008;Wadley, 2005a;Wadley and Mohapi, 2008), Panga Ya Seidi ), or Border Cave (d'Errico et al., 2012Grün and Beaumont, 2001;Wadley et al., 2020). These finds suggest that populations of Late Pleistocene Homo sapiens living on the African continent were not only biologically (Dusseldorp et al., 2013;Rightmire and Deacon, 1991;Wang et al., 2009) but also from a cultural and cognitive perspective similar to modern-day hunter gatherers (Bradfield et al., 2020;Haidle, 2010;Henshilwood et al., 2011;Kandel et al., 2016;Lombard and Haidle, 2012;Wadley et al., 2009). ...
The MSA/LSA transition is a major shift in the African archaeological record, but questions on its beginning remain debated. In southern Africa, most sites suggest an origin of LSA technology after about 30.000 years BP. The single exception is Border Cave situated at the border between South Africa and Eswatini, with surprisingly old dates of ∼43.000 BP associated with an LSA-like bipolar quartz assemblage. While many researchers now consider Border Cave to represent the origin of the LSA in southern Africa, these findings lack proper contextualization with regional lithic and chronometric data. Here we pursue the question whether Border Cave provides firm evidence for the source of LSA technology that later spread to the rest of southern Africa. To test between different hypotheses, we provide new chronometric and lithic data from the site of Sibebe, situated in the highveld of Eswatini only 100 km distant to Border Cave, and contextualize these results with nearby localities. Eswatini represents an ideal study area as it features many excavated sites but remains heavily understudied, rarely appearing in comparative MSA/LSA research. Our analyses at Sibebe identify two distinct groups of MSA lithic assemblages dated to between 43.000 and 27.000 cal BP by C14, overlain by a late Holocene LSA industry. The latest MSA expression at Sibebe features finely shaped unifacial and bifacial points without trends towards LSA technology. A comparative review of sites in Eswatini, South Africa, and Mozambique confirms similar MSA industries post-dating 30.000 BP but finds no evidence for LSA technologies before ∼27.000 BP. These findings suggest that Border Cave cannot mark the origin of the much later LSA in southern Africa, but rather signifies an early set of locally specific behavioral innovations that appeared and disappeared again. These findings have important implications for the spread of new technologies and our understanding of cultural evolutionary trajectories in southern Africa and beyond.
... While the Eurasian Savanna disappeared by the beginning of the Pliocene after ~5 Ma, the African branch continued-ultimately developing the Plio-Pleistocene Savanna faunas, including the hominins. Using the evolutionary ages of African Savanna trees, Davies et al. (2020) suggest that the biome expanded from tropical/sub-tropical Africa, reaching southern Africa by at least ~3 Ma, encompassing the entire archaeological and hominin fossil record of the region (see Dusseldorp et al., 2013 for Pleistocene hominin record; Lombard et al., 2012 for Stone Age sequence). Based on the methods used for reconstructing plant phylogenies, we may assume that most extant plants found in the Cradle were around since ~3 Ma (Peter Bruyns pers. ...
Despite a century’s work in the UNESCO Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in South Africa, there has been no systematic consideration of the area’s full foodplant regime when palaeo-scientists try to reconstruct past hominin dietary ecologies. Here we present the first inventory of human-foraged foodplants currently growing in the Cradle of Humankind and discuss the time depth of the relative biomes, showing that some of the plant regimes may well have been available for hominin foraging throughout the Quaternary. We list 223 taxa, highlighting the most species-rich foodplant families in the Cradle, such as the Poaceae, Apocynaceae, and Fabaceae. Our results show an almost equal availability of edible fruits, leaves, and underground/underwater storage organs (USOs) in the Cradle’s foodplant population, supporting work suggesting diet specialization or flexible foraging strategies for the Cradle’s hominins. Whereas it was thought that human geophyte and/or USO consumption was particularly high on the Cape Fynbos landscape during the middle-late Pleistocene, the richness of USO plant foods growing in the Cradle—most of them non-geophytic in their growth forms (thus without specialized/modified storage systems such as tubers, corms, rhizomes or bulbs)—demonstrates that such resources were probably also abundantly available to inland hominin populations. We suggest that future dietary reconstructions for the Cradle’s hominins may benefit from working with the known foodplant population presented here.
Humans evolved in the dynamic landscapes of Africa under conditions of pronounced climatic, geological and environmental change during the past 7 million years. This book brings together detailed records of the paleontological and archaeological sites in Africa that provide the basic evidence for understanding the environments in which we evolved. Chapters cover specific sites, with comprehensive accounts of their geology, paleontology, paleobotany, and their ecological significance for our evolution. Other chapters provide important regional syntheses of past ecological conditions. This book is unique in merging a broad geographic scope (all of Africa) and deep time framework (the past 7 million years) in discussing the geological context and paleontological records of our evolution and that of organisms that evolved alongside our ancestors. It will offer important insights to anyone interested in human evolution, including researchers and graduate students in paleontology, archaeology, anthropology and geology.
Studying the earliest archaeological adhesives has implications for our understanding of human cognition. In southern Africa, the oldest adhesives were made by Homo sapiens in the Middle Stone Age. Chemical studies have shown that these adhesives were made from a local conifer of the Podocarpaceae family. However, Podocarpus does not exude resin, nor any other substance that could have been recognized as having adhesive properties. Therefore, it remains unknown how these adhesives were made. This study investigates how Podocarpus adhesives can be made, comparing their mechanical properties with other naturally available adhesives. We found that Podocarpus tar can only be made by dry distillation of leaves, requiring innovative potential, skill, and knowledge. This contrasts with our finding that the Middle Stone Age environment was rich in substances that can be used as adhesives without such transformation. The apparent preference for Podocarpus tar may be explained by its mechanical properties. We found it to be superior to all other substances in terms of its adhesive properties. In addition, the condensation method that allows producing it can be recognized accidentally, as the processes take place above ground and can be triggered accidentally. Our findings have implications for establishing a link between technology and cognition in the Middle Stone Age.
The transition from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) to the Later Stone Age (LSA) in South Africa was not associated with the appearance of anatomically modern humans and the extinction of Neandertals, as in the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in Western Europe. It has therefore attracted less attention, yet it provides insights into patterns of technological evolution not associated with a new hominin. Data from Border Cave (KwaZulu-Natal) show a strong pattern of technological change at approximately 44-42 ka cal BP, marked by adoption of techniques and materials that were present but scarcely used in the previous MSA, and some novelties. The agent of change was neither a revolution nor the advent of a new species of human. Although most evident in personal ornaments and symbolic markings, the change from one way of living to another was not restricted to aesthetics. Our analysis shows that: (i) at Border Cave two assemblages, dated to 45-49 and >49 ka, show a gradual abandonment of the technology and tool types of the post-Howiesons Poort period and can be considered transitional industries; (ii) the 44-42 ka cal BP assemblages are based on an expedient technology dominated by bipolar knapping, with microliths hafted with pitch from Podocarpus bark, worked suid tusks, ostrich eggshell beads, bone arrowheads, engraved bones, bored stones, and digging sticks; (iii) these assemblages mark the beginning of the LSA in South Africa; (iv) the LSA emerged by internal evolution; and (v) the process of change began sometime after 56 ka.
Palaeontological and geological research at the Gladysvale Cave during the last decade has concentrated on de-roofed deposits located outside the Main Chamber. This area has been termed the Gladysvale External Deposit (GVED) and consists of fossil-rich calcified and decalcified sediments. Here we report on the recent analysis of both the faunal material and the geological context of this deposit. The faunal assemblage, excavated from the decalcified sediments contains 29 mammal species including taxa rare or absent in the Witwatersrand Plio-Pleistocene fossil record (e.g. Pelorovis and Kobus leche). Carnivores and porcupines are identified as accumulating agents of the bones. No new hominin findings can be reported from this deposit, and no cultural remains have been recovered. Geologically the calcified and decalcified breccias represent part of a large talus cone that is relatively unexposed. Uniquely for a cave fill in the Witwatersrand hominin-bearing sites, the sediments are horizontally stratified and form a number of flowstone bound sequences. The dating of the in situ cemented sediments is based on electron spin resonance (ESR) and palaeomagnetism. Recent results indicate that the deposits are of Middle-Pleistocene age.
A hominid upper central incisor was recently discovered in a box of fossils from the Cooper's site, South Africa. The fossils are believed to have originated from collecting expeditions conducted either in the 1940s or early 1950s. The tooth is the second hominid fossil to be reported from this site, the first, an australopithecine third molar attributed to Australopithecus africanus, having been discovered and described during in late 1930s. The new specimen is described and its taxonomic affinities are assessed as being closest to either A. africanus or early Homo. -Authors
PALAEOMAGNETIC DATA ARE PRESENTED for a set of orientated cores from a talus cone at Kromdraai B, a South African cave deposit associated with early Pleistocene fauna including important hominid remains of Paranthropus (Australopithecûs) robustus. Polarity interpretations of calcified sediments and flowstones suggest that the cave deposits include episodes of deposition that span the Olduvai Event of the Matuyama chron. Results suggest that matrix of the kind associated with the type specimen of P. robustus (TM 1517) corresponds closely to the beginning of the Olduvai Event, c. 1.9 Myr ago.
The TP1 skeleton discovered in 1929 during quarry work at Tuinplaas, near Pretoria, South Africa, has generally been considered to date from the Middle Stone Age on the basis of artefacts and biostratigraphy at the site. However, no direct association between the skeleton and the lithics or faunal remains could be demonstrated, and the date of TP1 has remained uncertain. We present U-series dates measured directly on a fragment of TP1 using laser ablation mass spectrometry. The results constrain the age to between 11.0 ± 0.7 and 20 ± 3 kyr, placing TP1 in the Late Stone Age.