The Middle Stone Age point assemblage from Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter : a morphometric study

Moleboheng Mohapi

18 citations0/0 files storedSouthern African humanities

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Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology Archaeological and Geological Studies Archaeology and Rock Art Studies

Abstract

Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, has a Middle Stone Age sequence spanning the period from ~70 to 34 ka. I report on the results of a morphometric analysis of lithic points from this site, the aim of which was to identify temporal trends in the Umhlatuzana Middle Stone Age assemblage makeup. The study confirms that, notwithstanding some mixing, there is temporal change in point morphology and technology throughout the Umhlatuzana sequence. The Still Bay points (levels 27–25) differ markedly from the points in levels 18–16 and levels 23–19, which are post-Howiesons Poort assemblages. There are also subtle differences between points in levels 18–16 and 23–19. The differences could indicate different functions for the Still Bay points and for the points from the younger, post-Howiesons Poort assemblages. It is likely that points from levels 18–16 and those from levels 23–19 performed similar functions, but differences in base types imply that they were hafted differently. The Umhlatuzana sequence follows the general trend recorded for other South African sites and for Lesotho. Thus, our understanding of the KwaZulu-Natal Middle Stone Age sequence is more secure as a result of this study.

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References

2000The revolution that wasn't: a new interpretation of the origin of modern human behavior 2009Implications for complex cognition from the hafting of tools with compound adhesives in the Middle Stone Age, South Africa 2001Blombos Cave, Southern Cape, South Africa: Preliminary Report on the 1992–1999 Excavations of the Middle Stone Age Levels 2005The origins of lithic projectile point technology: evidence from Africa, the Levant, and Europe 1984The Middle Stone Age at Klasies River Mouth in South Africa 1998Getting to the point: Evolutionary change in prehistoric weaponry 2010Indications of bow and stone-tipped arrow use 64 000 years ago in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 2005Evidence of hunting and hafting during the Middle Stone Age at Sibidu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: a multianalytical approach

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2014Coalescence and fragmentation in the late Pleistocene archaeology of southernmost Africa 2014Characterizing the Late Pleistocene MSA Lithic Technology of Sibudu, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 2021Variation in hunting weaponry for more than 300,000 years: A tip cross-sectional area study of Middle Stone Age points from southern Africa 2014Putslaagte 1 (PL1), the Doring River, and the later Middle Stone Age in southern Africa's Winter Rainfall Zone

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