Klipfonteinrand 1 (KFR1) is a foundational but poorly documented Middle Stone Age (MSA) site located in the south west of South Africa. Originally excavated by John Parkington in 1969 but undated for more than 50 years, the MSA component of the sequence formed a part of Thomas Volman's influential culture-historic technocomplex scheme. Renewed excavations identified four distinct MSA stratigraphic units at the site, the oldest two of which date to ∼85 ka and ∼156 ka. This paper presents an analysis of ∼4500 artefacts from the oldest units to test the viability of Volman's scheme and its derivatives. Coeval assemblages from other regional sites are also reviewed to test alternative models of regional technological variability driven by demographic dynamics in MIS 6 and MIS 5. We find that assemblages from neither of the deepest two stratigraphic units at KFR1 map perfectly to prevailing technocomplex schemes for southern Africa, and that they are also distinct from nearb
Silcrete heat treatment was the earliest known transformative process enhancing the mechanical properties of materials. Its study has implications for our understanding of the cultural evolution of early humans in the Middle Stone Age and southern Africa. Here, we analyze a silcrete assemblage from the South African site Klein Kliphuis. We first investigate the relative prevalence of heat treatment in assemblage and then the position of heat treatment within reduction sequences. We found that ∼60% of all silcrete was heat-treated prior to knapping in one post-Howiesons Poort assemblage and ∼85% in two Howiesons Poort assemblages. However, heat treatment early-on was not the only strategy present in the site. Late-stage heat treatment was occasionally deployed to extend the utility of small cores. This finding emphasizes the ability of early anatomically modern humans in Africa to adapt their tool making behavior to changing economic conditions related to raw materials quality and a
Recent archaeological investigations in Sri Lanka have reported evidence for the exploitation and settlement of tropical rainforests by Homo sapiens since c. 48,000 BP. Information on technological approaches used by human populations in rainforest habitats is restricted to two cave sites, Batadomba-lena and Fa-Hien Lena. Here, we provide detailed study of the lithic assemblages of Kitulgala Beli-lena, a recently excavated rockshelter preserving a sedimentary sequence from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene. Our analysis indicates in situ lithic production and the recurrent use of the bipolar method for the production of microliths. Stone tool analyses demonstrate long-term technological stability from c. 45,000 to 8,000 years BP, a pattern documented in other rainforest locations. Foraging behaviour is characterised by the use of lithic bipolar by-products together with osseous projectile points for the consistent targeting of semi-arboreal/arboreal species, allowing for the widespr
Standardization can be applied to a lithic assemblage via raw material selection, blank production, blank selection, and/or retouch. Here we explore the baseline level of morphological standardization achievable through blank production alone. By quantifying how little morphological variability is inherently involved in different blank-producing lithic technologies that span much of the Stone Age, we seek to gain a long-term perspective on the evolution of lithic standardization. 728 flakes were knapped from 26 cores of 7 different lithic technologies: bipolar, multiplatform, discoidal, Levallois, direct percussion prismatic blade, indirect percussion prismatic blade, and pressure prismatic blade. Using generalized Procrustes analyses of blank outlines, we observed three noticeable jumps in shape standardization: between bipolar and free-hand flaking, between flake and blade technologies, and between the percussive blade and pressure blade technologies. Technologies that involve more s
We explore the correspondence between changing palaeoenvironments, patterns of site use, and lithic technology at the rock shelter site Klein Kliphuis (South Africa) across the interval 65–55 000 years before present. This period coincides with the termination of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4, and the disappearance of an iconic late Pleistocene archaeological unit known as the Howiesons Poort. Wood charcoals indicate sufficient soil moisture around Klein Kliphuis throughout the Howiesons Poort to support diverse tree species at a time when site occupation was relatively intense. At least some fuelwood-gathering in this period may have been undertaken to support heat treatment of silcrete, which was the dominant lithology in tool production. A coherent set of changes occurs across the MIS 4/3 transition: occupational intensity declines, tracked by declining diversity of fuelwood species, an increase in the proportion of charcoals from shrubs and small flowering plants, lower prevalence