Peer-reviewed Journal Articles by Benjamin Schoville
Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology, 2020
Over the last few decades, investigations of the southern African Late Pleistocene archeological ... more Over the last few decades, investigations of the southern African Late Pleistocene archeological record have transformed our understanding of Homo sapiens origins and evolution. However, the intensity of research on coastal and near-coastal records has surpassed that in the deep interior. One reason for the geographic bias is the rarity of well-preserved, datable rockshelter sites outside the more mountainous and karstic regions of South Africa. Here, we report stratified Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age deposits at Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter (GHN), near Kuruman, in the Northern Cape, South Africa. Contrary to a previous report, we show that the archeological deposits are in good context with minimal disturbance based on a detailed fabric analysis of plotted finds. Three dating methods, single-grain optically stimulated luminescence, radiocarbon, and uranium-thorium, indicate that the artifact-bearing deposits date to ~ 105 ka, ~ 31 ka, and ~ 15 ka. Thus, Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter provides an important opportunity to investigate early human adaptation in this semiarid region of southern Africa.
Nature, 2018
The Cradle of Humankind (Cradle) in South Africa preserves a rich collection of fossil hominins r... more The Cradle of Humankind (Cradle) in South Africa preserves a rich collection of fossil hominins representing Australopithecus, Paranthropus and Homo1. The ages of these fossils are contentious2,3,4 and have compromised the degree to which the South African hominin record can be used to test hypotheses of human evolution. However, uranium–lead (U–Pb) analyses of horizontally bedded layers of calcium carbonate (flowstone) provide a potential opportunity to obtain a robust chronology5. Flowstones are ubiquitous cave features and provide a palaeoclimatic context, because they grow only during phases of increased effective precipitation6,7, ideally in closed caves. Here we show that flowstones from eight Cradle caves date to six narrow time intervals between 3.2 and 1.3 million years ago. We use a kernel density estimate to combine 29 U–Pb ages into a single record of flowstone growth intervals. We interpret these as major wet phases, when an increased water supply, more extensive vegetation cover and at least partially closed caves allowed for undisturbed, semi-continuous growth of the flowstones. The intervening times represent substantially drier phases, during which fossils of hominins and other fossils accumulated in open caves. Fossil preservation, restricted to drier intervals, thus biases the view of hominin evolutionary history and behaviour, and places the hominins in a community of comparatively dry-adapted fauna. Although the periods of cave closure leave temporal gaps in the South African fossil record, the flowstones themselves provide valuable insights into both local and pan-African climate variability.
The origins of complex projectile weaponry provides insight into cultural and biological changes ... more The origins of complex projectile weaponry provides insight into cultural and biological changes associated with the origins and spread of modern human populations. Middle Stone Age backed pieces are often thought to be components of such armaments, however our limited understanding of their functional characteristics as projectiles precludes understanding the adaptive problems they may have solved. Despite acknowledgment of raw material differences and intra-assemblage variability, whether variability in backed piece form reflects functional , economic, or stylistic variation has a paucity of empirical support. Here, the functional differences in backed piece form (size and shape) while hafted transversely and obliquely as high-velocity complex projectile armatures are examined. If there are performance tradeoffs simply in how backed pieces are arranged at the end of armaments that can influence effectiveness, then identifying the archaeological arrangement can provide insight into what variables were being prioritized in prehistoric technological systems. How variation in backed piece size, elongation, and hafting arrangement influences complex projectile performance is tested using experimental and actualistic projectile replications with a calibrated crossbow against animal and ballistics gelatin targets. The results of this study show that, within the size and shape variation of silcrete backed pieces examined , tool form plays a relatively limited role in their performance as projectile armatures. However, hafting orientation has very different performance characteristics for complex projectiles shot at ballistics gelatin compared to animal targets. We demonstrate that transversely hafted tools have more lethal internal wounds, but obliquely hafted backed pieces have greater puncture reliability. These functional differences represent different technological design emphasis: transversely hafted tools create large, deep wounds, while obliquely hafted arrows and darts create a puncture more reliably. Although obliquely hafted armaments cause less internal trauma, they are more likely to penetrate the hide of ungulate prey. Variability in MSA hunting tactics may have played a role in the design of weapon systems to optimize these performance tradeoffs. Despite similarities in shape with ethno-historic technologies, based on these results, MSA-sized backed pieces hafted as projectile armatures were unlikely to have been used with small, low-powered bows-but would have been lethal with a high-velocity delivery system.
There are multiple hypotheses for human responses to glacial cycling in the Late Pleisto-cene, in... more There are multiple hypotheses for human responses to glacial cycling in the Late Pleisto-cene, including changes in population size, interconnectedness, and mobility. Lithic technological analysis informs us of human responses to environmental change because lithic assemblage characteristics are a reflection of raw material transport, reduction, and discard behaviors that depend on hunter-gatherer social and economic decisions. Pinnacle Point Site 5–6 (PP5-6), Western Cape, South Africa is an ideal locality for examining the influence of glacial cycling on early modern human behaviors because it preserves a long sequence spanning marine isotope stages (MIS) 5, 4, and 3 and is associated with robust records of paleoenvironmental change. The analysis presented here addresses the question, what, if any, lithic assemblage traits at PP5-6 represent changing behavioral responses to the MIS 5-4-3 interglacial-glacial cycle? It statistically evaluates changes in 93 traits with no a priori assumptions about which traits may significantly associate with MIS. In contrast to other studies that claim that there is little relationship between broad-scale patterns of climate change and lithic technology, we identified the following characteristics that are associated with MIS 4: increased use of quartz, increased evidence for outcrop sources of quartzite and silcrete, increased evidence for earlier stages of reduction in silcrete, evidence for increased flaking efficiency in all raw material types, and changes in tool types and function for silcrete. Based on these results, we suggest that foragers responded to MIS 4 glacial environmental conditions at PP5-6 with increased population or group sizes, 'place provisioning', longer and/or more intense site occupations, and decreased residential mobility. Several other traits, including silcrete frequency, do not exhibit an association with MIS. Backed pieces, once they appear in the PP5-6 record during MIS 4, persist through MIS 3. Changing paleoenviron-ments explain some, but not all temporal technological variability at PP5-6.
The Middle Stone Age (MSA) is associated with early evidence for symbolic material culture and co... more The Middle Stone Age (MSA) is associated with early evidence for symbolic material culture and complex technological innovations. However, one of the most visible aspects of MSA technologies are unretouched triangular stone points that appear in the archaeological record as early as 500,000 years ago in Africa and persist throughout the MSA. How these tools were being used and discarded across a changing Pleistocene landscape can provide insight into how MSA populations prioritized technological and foraging decisions. Creating inferential links between experimental and archaeological tool use helps to establish prehistoric tool function, but is complicated by the overlaying of post-depositional damage onto behaviorally worn tools. Taphonomic damage patterning can provide insight into site formation history, but may preclude behavioral interpretations of tool function. Here, multiple experimental processes that form edge damage on unretouched lithic points from taphonomic and behavioral processes are presented. These provide experimental distributions of wear on tool edges from known processes that are then quantitatively compared to the archaeological patterning of stone point edge damage from three MSA lithic assem-blages—Kathu Pan 1, Pinnacle Point Cave 13B, and Die Kelders Cave 1. By using a model-fitting approach, the results presented here provide evidence for variable MSA behavioral strategies of stone point utilization on the landscape consistent with armature tips at KP1, and cutting tools at PP13B and DK1, as well as damage contributions from post-depositional sources across assemblages. This study provides a method with which landscape-scale questions of early modern human tool-use and site-use can be addressed.
Journal of Archaeological Science, Aug 2014
The interpretation of taphonomic and behavioral lithic edge wear formation is complicated by equi... more The interpretation of taphonomic and behavioral lithic edge wear formation is complicated by equifinality of edge damage morphologies. Rejecting hypotheses that edge damage originates from taphonomic processes is standard practice for many archaeological analyses and should be incorporated into lithic use-wear more explicitly. Quantitative hypothesis testing is advocated here, and facilitated by recording edge wear observations in an image referenced GIS spatial environment. A taphonomic predictive model was generated using trampling and flint-knapping experiments. Trampling experiments were conducted to determine how edge damage is distributed along tool edges due to non-use related, taphonomic processes. Experiments designed to test the assumption that undisturbed flakes do not preferentially orient either surface side-up (dorsal or ventral) were performed. Furthermore, it is argued that artifact orientation data, if available, can also be used to assess whether the frequency of edge damage is correlated with the degree of disturbance. This taphonomic predictive model is then statistically compared with frequency and distribution edge damage data from two South African Middle Stone Age sites. The research presented here illustrates the usefulness of edge damage distribution analysis for accounting for taphonomic processes as causal agents of edge damage formation, and strengthening behavioral interpretations regarding tool function. Bringing tool wear observations into a uniform spatial structure is one avenue for standardization of lithic use-wear analysis.
Science, Nov 16, 2012
Hafting stone points to spears was an important advance in weaponry for early humans. Multiple li... more Hafting stone points to spears was an important advance in weaponry for early humans. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that ~500,000-year-old stone points from the archaeological site of Kathu Pan 1 (KP1), South Africa, functioned as spear tips. KP1 points exhibit fracture types diagnostic of impact. Modification near the base of some points is consistent with hafting. Experimental and metric data indicate that the points could function well as spear tips. Shape analysis demonstrates that the smaller retouched points are as symmetrical as larger retouched points, which fits expectations for spear tips. The distribution of edge damage is similar to that in an experimental sample of spear tips and is inconsistent with expectations for cutting or scraping tools. Thus, early humans were manufacturing hafted multicomponent tools ~200,000 years earlier than previously thought.
Journal of Human Evolution, 2010
Unretouched convergent flakes are frequently a well represented tool type in many Middle Stone Ag... more Unretouched convergent flakes are frequently a well represented tool type in many Middle Stone Age (MSA) assemblages. Damage to the lateral margins of these points is frequent; however, analytical methods for dealing with the frequency and distribution of edge damage on points have not been developed and applied to a complete MSA lithic assemblage. A method for using GIS to quantify edge damage and statistically analyze the relative location and frequency of edge damage is presented here and applied to the complete assemblage of MSA points from Pinnacle Point Cave 13B (PP13B), South Africa. The results indicate a frequency of edge damage consistent with heavier utilization of the dorsal surface over the ventral surface, and the left side over the right, with the dorsal left lateral margin being most heavily damaged. Additionally, the distribution of edge damage and low frequency of impact damage to the points suggest that PP13B represents a location where points were used for cutting activities and discarded. Applying the recording procedures advocated here to controlled edge damage replication experiments will help provide the interpretive linkages to site assemblage edge damage distributions.
vis-a-vis: Explorations in Anthropology, 2010
Drawing behavioral inferences from macroscopic edge damage observations on lithic assemblages rel... more Drawing behavioral inferences from macroscopic edge damage observations on lithic assemblages relies on linking observed damage patterns to behavioral processes identified during experimentation. Such methods have proven useful. However, critics frequently cite equifinality between different processes and wear traces on individual artifacts as well as inconsistent inter-observer agreement as problems with a ‘low-powered approach’ to lithic use-wear. One potential source of information that has received less attention is the patterns of edge damage detectable at the assemblage scale. Such patterns are only discernable by quantification of the collective distribution and frequency of edge damage on individual specimens. Here we use GIS to digitize and spatially reference artifacts to standardize and quantify edge damage. We applied this method to an assemblage of Middle Stone Age convergent flakes from Pinnacle Point Cave 13B, South Africa (165 - 90 ka) and a series of experimental flakes recreated for several tasks including use in a calibrated crossbow experiment. Assemblage results indicate that archaeological patterns of edge damage are unlikely to have a taphonomic origin. Moreover, the patterning does not appear to result from use as hafted spear armatures. Our results demonstrate the statistical and interpretive power gained by assemblage analyses compared to individual artifacts. The additional benefit of including microwear and residue analysis using a single cohesive GIS recording framework will enable rapid dissemination of results between analysts and create a record of experimental and archaeological wear-traces available to other researchers.
Plos One, Aug 2014
Stone-tipped weapons were a significant innovation for Middle Pleistocene hominins. Hafted huntin... more Stone-tipped weapons were a significant innovation for Middle Pleistocene hominins. Hafted hunting technology represents the development of new cognitive and social learning mechanisms within the genus Homo, and may have provided a foraging advantage over simpler forms of hunting technology, such as a sharpened wooden spear. However, the nature of this foraging advantage has not been confirmed. Experimental studies and ethnographic reports provide conflicting results regarding the relative importance of the functional, economic, and social roles of hafted hunting technology. The controlled experiment reported here was designed to test the functional hypothesis for stone-tipped weapons using spears and ballistics gelatin. It differs from previous investigations of this type because it includes a quantitative analysis of wound track profiles and focuses specifically on hand-delivered spear technology. Our results do not support the hypothesis that tipped spears penetrate deeper than untipped spears. However, tipped spears create a significantly larger inner wound cavity that widens distally. This inner wound cavity is analogous to the permanent wound cavity in ballistics research, which is considered the key variable affecting the relative ‘stopping power’ or ‘killing power’ of a penetrating weapon. Tipped spears conferred a functional advantage to Middle Pleistocene hominins, potentially affecting the frequency and regularity of hunting success with important implications for human adaptation and life history.
This paper explores the effect of taphonomic processes on 500-thousand-year-old stone points from... more This paper explores the effect of taphonomic processes on 500-thousand-year-old stone points from Kathu Pan 1, South Africa by statistically comparing archaeological edge damage distributions on the points to competing models of edge damage formation. We found that both taphonomic and behavioral processes influenced edge damage formation on the KP1 points, and the KP1 edge damage distribution is best explained by a combination of taphonomic effects and use as spear tips. The edge damage distribution method employed here advances studies of Stone Age weaponry because it can be used to quantitatively assess the effect of taphonomic and behavioral processes on stone tips without relying on subjective evaluations that attribute causation to individual wear features.
Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 2016
Journal of Human Evolution, 2014
Zooarchaeologists frequently use the relative abundance of skeletal elements in faunal assemblage... more Zooarchaeologists frequently use the relative abundance of skeletal elements in faunal assemblages in conjunction with foraging theory models to infer subsistence decisions made by prehistoric huntergatherers. However, foraging models applied to ethnoarchaeological cases have had variable success linking skeletal transport decisions with foraging predictions. Here, we approach this issue with the wellknown Hadza data to statistically model the skeletal element transport decisions in response to distance from the residential hub and the number of carriers available for carcass transport. We compare our modeling approach to the traditional skeletal element utility curves from Binford's work with the Nunamiut, and to the more recently proposed Shannon evenness measure. Our approach, based on standard yet powerful statistical modeling techniques, can help researchers gain increased insight into the prey part transport responses of hunter-gatherers. Our analyses treat individual prey skeletal elements by body size as the response variable. The results of this analysis suggest that utility curves, and the Shannon evenness approach as a proxy for utility curves, are problematic for making statements about prehistoric foraging from zooarchaeological data. Transport distance does not explain a significant portion of small prey (size class 2) skeletal element transport variation. However, distance explains a great deal of transport variation in large prey (size classes 4 and 5). Inferences from skeletal element profiles should be made relative to prey body size and the discard probability of individual elements. Understanding the influence of these variables allows construction of a framework for testing archaeological element profiles against ethnographically derived transport models.
Journal of Archaeological Science
Rots and Plisson (2014) question our conclusion that 500,000-year-old points from Kathu Pan 1, So... more Rots and Plisson (2014) question our conclusion that 500,000-year-old points from Kathu Pan 1, South Africa were used as spear tips (Wilkins et al., 2012). However, their reinterpretation of the fractures we identify as diagnostic impact fractures are incorrect. Despite the assertion, knapping processes alone do not explain the basal modifications on the KP1 points. Although Rots and Plisson are critical of the edge damage distribution method, it provides objective, quantitative and statistical comparisons of experimental and archaeological datasets. The data we present stand as reliable evidence for early hafted hunting technology. We suggest that the disagreement stems from a differing perspective on how lithic functional studies should deal with equifinality and the challenge of confidently assessing stone tool function.
Quaternary International, 2014
Open-air Middle Stone Age (MSA) contexts in southern Africa have received relatively little resea... more Open-air Middle Stone Age (MSA) contexts in southern Africa have received relatively little research attention compared to caves/rock-shelters. MSA caves/rock shelters can provide long sequences of MSA behaviors dominated by residential activities in circumscribed contexts but most procurement activities occurred on the landscape in uncircumscribed space. We have a limited understanding of these activities at present, making studies of open-air sites crucial. To alleviate this bias, the South African Coast Paleoclimate, Paleoenvironment, Paleoecology, Paleoanthropology (SACP4) project expanded its research scope to include MSA archaeology from open-air contexts. We report on a series of MSA open-air assemblages that are exposed on ancient land surfaces suggestive of intact paleosols at Vleesbaai and Visbaai, South Africa. Importantly, these sites occur in close proximity to the long cave/rock shelter sequences at Pinnacle Point. This presents the novel potential to study evidence of MSA behavior in closed and open settings where their proximity to each other approximates the typical hunteregatherer daily foraging radius documented in ethnography. We present a fabric and technological analysis of MSA stone tool assemblages from three "Areas". Analysis of total-station piece plotting of artifact bearing/plunge suggests that the lithic assemblages have undergone limited post-depositional disturbance. The technological analysis and exploratory comparisons between these open-air assemblages and MSA cave and rock shelter contexts at Pinnacle Point Cave 13B and 9, and Cape St. Blaize Cave suggest that the quartzite artifacts from Vleesbaai were procured from locally available sources and may have been field processed there before being transported elsewhere, perhaps to the caves/rock shelters. Further, the analysis suggests a dichotomous pattern of retouched tool discard, where quartzite tools are discarded similarly across the landscape. In contrast, non-quartzite tools may have been made primarily at the cave sites, and discarded or lost more frequently on the landscape.
Journal of Taphonomy, 2009
Talks by Benjamin Schoville
Authors: Jayne Wilkins, Kyle S. Brown, Simen Oestmo, Telmo Pereira, Kathryn Ranhorn, Benjamin J. ... more Authors: Jayne Wilkins, Kyle S. Brown, Simen Oestmo, Telmo Pereira, Kathryn Ranhorn, Benjamin J. Schoville, and Curtis W. Marean. Abstract: Pinnacle Point Site 5-6 (PP5-6) on the south coast of South Africa provides a high resolution and nearly continuous record of Late Pleistocene occupation between ~90 and 50 ka. Fourteen meters of stacked occupation layers have been excavated with total station plotting and dated by 81 optically stimulated luminescence age estimates. We present the results of the analysis of more than 14,000 lithic artifacts from the sequence to examine aspects of change and continuity in raw material selection and heat-treatment, core reduction strategies, and tool types through time. At PP5-6, fine-grained raw materials (i.e., silcrete, quartz, chalcedony) dominate the assemblage after ~70 ka. Quartzite is more common ~90-70 ka, though some stratigraphic units during this period are silcrete-dominant. Quartz use peaks between ~70-63 ka. Based on the size-variability of lithic artifacts with remnant pre-heat treatment scars, silcrete nodules of various sizes and morphologies were heat-treated. Diverse core reduction methods were used throughout the sequence for blade, bladelet, and flake production, and these methods included the use of minimally-crested blades, pyramidal blade cores, and bipolar percussion. Backed pieces occur from ~70-50 ka, but with fluctuating frequencies and morphologies. Unretouched points are most common between ~90-80 ka and again at ~50 ka, and are rare between ~70 and 50 ka. These results are situated within the context of the African Middle and Later Stone Age to consider the nature of technological change and adaptation in the Late Pleistocene. Our comparative framework includes contemporary MSA sequences at Diepkloof Cave, Klasies River, Sibudu Cave, Border Cave, and younger Later Stone Age assemblages. The presented sequence is critical for understanding Late Pleistocene technological variability and how environmental change influenced the technological decisions of early modern humans.
Authors: Benjamin Schoville, Kyle Brown, and Simen Oestmo
Abstract: An occurrence of microlithic... more Authors: Benjamin Schoville, Kyle Brown, and Simen Oestmo
Abstract: An occurrence of microlithic backed blades from Pinnacle Point site 5-6 (PP5-6) has recently been described by Brown et al. (2012) beginning ~71,000 years ago and lasting for ~11,000 years. Ethnographic analogies of backed blades from Holocene contexts suggest they functioned as projectile tips. To assess whether the PP5-6 backed blades were used as projectile armatures, patterns of impact macrofractures and edge damage from 194 experimentally reproduced backed pieces shot using a calibrated crossbow are compared to the assemblage of pre-Howiesons Poort backed blades from Pinnacle Point. The location of each experimental shot on prey targets were combined into a prey body GIS model to construct a somatic distribution of point breakage probability. The experiment results suggest the PP5-6 backed blades would function effectively as projectile armatures in several hafting arrangement. Replicated backed tools were also subjected to long-term (~4 months) trampling in three different contexts to establish post-depositional breakage patterns on silcrete backed blades. The frequency of impact fractures and the frequency and distribution of edge damage on microlithic backed blades from PP5-6 are significantly different from trampling damage, and support the interpretation of the early backed blades as projectile tips.
Authors: Benjamin Schoville, Erik Otarola-Castillo, and Jayne Wilkins
Abstract: Recent genetic a... more Authors: Benjamin Schoville, Erik Otarola-Castillo, and Jayne Wilkins
Abstract: Recent genetic and fossil evidence places the origins of the modern human lineage and anatomy at ~200-150ka ago in Africa. This time period is encompassed by MIS6, a long-lasting glacial phase which is estimated to have caused widespread aridity in Africa. Archaeological sites that date to this time period are uncommon. A single population origin model presumes that one region in Africa had high probability of supporting a population during MIS6 that led to all humans alive today and predicts population separation. An alternative multiple populations model argues for population interconnection throughout Africa during the evolution of modern humans. This model predicts multiple connected regions of high probability for population occurrence. To test these competing models, a Maximum Entropy species distribution model (SDM) using presence of recent hunter-gatherers during the Holocene are projected to a glacial period in Africa (LGM) to approximate MIS6 conditions. The model performs well compared to a random prediction model (AUC=0.784). The predicted glacial SDM suggests that widespread areas in Africa during MIS6 were unlikely to support substantial populations, consistent with the single population model. However, several large isolated regions appear to have strong likelihood of population occurrence, consistent with the multiple populations model.
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Peer-reviewed Journal Articles by Benjamin Schoville
Talks by Benjamin Schoville
Abstract: An occurrence of microlithic backed blades from Pinnacle Point site 5-6 (PP5-6) has recently been described by Brown et al. (2012) beginning ~71,000 years ago and lasting for ~11,000 years. Ethnographic analogies of backed blades from Holocene contexts suggest they functioned as projectile tips. To assess whether the PP5-6 backed blades were used as projectile armatures, patterns of impact macrofractures and edge damage from 194 experimentally reproduced backed pieces shot using a calibrated crossbow are compared to the assemblage of pre-Howiesons Poort backed blades from Pinnacle Point. The location of each experimental shot on prey targets were combined into a prey body GIS model to construct a somatic distribution of point breakage probability. The experiment results suggest the PP5-6 backed blades would function effectively as projectile armatures in several hafting arrangement. Replicated backed tools were also subjected to long-term (~4 months) trampling in three different contexts to establish post-depositional breakage patterns on silcrete backed blades. The frequency of impact fractures and the frequency and distribution of edge damage on microlithic backed blades from PP5-6 are significantly different from trampling damage, and support the interpretation of the early backed blades as projectile tips.
Abstract: Recent genetic and fossil evidence places the origins of the modern human lineage and anatomy at ~200-150ka ago in Africa. This time period is encompassed by MIS6, a long-lasting glacial phase which is estimated to have caused widespread aridity in Africa. Archaeological sites that date to this time period are uncommon. A single population origin model presumes that one region in Africa had high probability of supporting a population during MIS6 that led to all humans alive today and predicts population separation. An alternative multiple populations model argues for population interconnection throughout Africa during the evolution of modern humans. This model predicts multiple connected regions of high probability for population occurrence. To test these competing models, a Maximum Entropy species distribution model (SDM) using presence of recent hunter-gatherers during the Holocene are projected to a glacial period in Africa (LGM) to approximate MIS6 conditions. The model performs well compared to a random prediction model (AUC=0.784). The predicted glacial SDM suggests that widespread areas in Africa during MIS6 were unlikely to support substantial populations, consistent with the single population model. However, several large isolated regions appear to have strong likelihood of population occurrence, consistent with the multiple populations model.
Abstract: An occurrence of microlithic backed blades from Pinnacle Point site 5-6 (PP5-6) has recently been described by Brown et al. (2012) beginning ~71,000 years ago and lasting for ~11,000 years. Ethnographic analogies of backed blades from Holocene contexts suggest they functioned as projectile tips. To assess whether the PP5-6 backed blades were used as projectile armatures, patterns of impact macrofractures and edge damage from 194 experimentally reproduced backed pieces shot using a calibrated crossbow are compared to the assemblage of pre-Howiesons Poort backed blades from Pinnacle Point. The location of each experimental shot on prey targets were combined into a prey body GIS model to construct a somatic distribution of point breakage probability. The experiment results suggest the PP5-6 backed blades would function effectively as projectile armatures in several hafting arrangement. Replicated backed tools were also subjected to long-term (~4 months) trampling in three different contexts to establish post-depositional breakage patterns on silcrete backed blades. The frequency of impact fractures and the frequency and distribution of edge damage on microlithic backed blades from PP5-6 are significantly different from trampling damage, and support the interpretation of the early backed blades as projectile tips.
Abstract: Recent genetic and fossil evidence places the origins of the modern human lineage and anatomy at ~200-150ka ago in Africa. This time period is encompassed by MIS6, a long-lasting glacial phase which is estimated to have caused widespread aridity in Africa. Archaeological sites that date to this time period are uncommon. A single population origin model presumes that one region in Africa had high probability of supporting a population during MIS6 that led to all humans alive today and predicts population separation. An alternative multiple populations model argues for population interconnection throughout Africa during the evolution of modern humans. This model predicts multiple connected regions of high probability for population occurrence. To test these competing models, a Maximum Entropy species distribution model (SDM) using presence of recent hunter-gatherers during the Holocene are projected to a glacial period in Africa (LGM) to approximate MIS6 conditions. The model performs well compared to a random prediction model (AUC=0.784). The predicted glacial SDM suggests that widespread areas in Africa during MIS6 were unlikely to support substantial populations, consistent with the single population model. However, several large isolated regions appear to have strong likelihood of population occurrence, consistent with the multiple populations model.
Abstract: It is frequently suggested that MSA points were hafted and used as spear tips, but so far only a limited number of use wear and residue analyses of MSA points support this view. There have been no functional studies of points securely dated to >250 ka. However, the manufacture and use of lithic-tipped hunting weapons, which changes the efficiency of prey acquisition and foraging, has important implications for hominin evolution. At Kathu Pan 1 (KP1), South Africa, points were recovered from sediments dated by OSL to 464±47 and combined U-series/ESR to 542 +140/-107. Based on the co-occurrence of blades, points, and handaxes, the assemblage has been attributed to the 'Fauresmith' industry, variably designated as early MSA, late Earlier Stone Age, or 'transitional.' Here we report results from a functional analysis of 210 points and point fragments from KP1 and replication experiments using hafted points and a calibrated crossbow. Edge damage was identified with 10-50x magnification, and systematically mapped using GIS software. Three hypotheses for edge damage formation on KP1 points were evaluated: use as
armature tips, use as cutting tools, and post-depositional processes. Multiple lines of evidence support the hypothesis that KP1 points were used as spear tips. Edge damage distribution on ventral lateral margins is inconsistent with a distribution resulting
solely from post-depositional processes. Damage on KP1 points increases significantly at the tip, and the left and right sides have
equivalent distributions, consistent with experimental spear points but inconsistent with cutting tools and taphonomic patterning.
'Diagnostic impact fractures,' proximal modification, and point morphometrics provide additional supporting evidence for the
spear tip hypothesis. This study documents the earliest evidence for hafted hunting weapons.
diversity of resources, resulting in a potentially rich Late Pleistocene archaeological record. Despite earlier reports of Stone Age sites in this area (Goodwin and Van Riet Lowe 1929; Deacon 1979), none have been systematically studied. We present several previously undocumented Stone Age localities near the Knysna headlands, where the estuary meets the Indian Ocean. An open-air Earlier Stone Age site on top of the Western Head (~200m asl) includes large bifaces and casual cores made on local quartzite. Later sites, with deposits typical of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA), are located in caves on both sides of the Heads. On the Western Head, we surveyed three low-lying caves that face the straits. In two of these caves, MSA material is eroding out beneath a partially cemented aeolian layer. Preserved hearth features include lithic, shell, and bone finds. The third cave preserves a shell midden (likely LSA). The Eastern Head holds an equally rich Stone Age record. We recently initiated test excavations at Knysna Eastern Heads Cave 1 (KEH-1), a sea cave at ~23m asl. This deposit is above the last interglacial high sea stand and thus could potentially contain a record older than 125,000 years BP. KEH-1 has an upper shell midden component (likely LSA). Underlying this, a deep non-shelly deposit includes a rich sequence of hearth features with ochre, lithic artifacts, and processed faunal remains. Here we report initial technological observations of the Western Heads caves and KEH-1, as well as preliminary age estimates for the latter. At Knysna, we have a unique opportunity to investigate a long record of early human adaptation at the intersection of three very different habitats―marine, riverine, and terrestrial.
greater diversity and complexity within each of them, often hard to justify as only related to site-function. The growth of
multidisciplinary data suggests that this complexity can be due to local evolutionary ecological, economic and social adaptations
to climatic shifts, changes in the landscape and resource availability.
Pinnacle Point 5-6 is located on the shore of the southern coast of South Africa, but due to morphology of the continental
platform, it was adjacent to an expansive plain during glacial periods. Its location resulted in continuous transformations of the
landscape, ecological niches, and availability of resources. Nevertheless, technological adaptations, such as the use of diverse
lithic raw materials, was resilient through ~40 thousand years. Some technological adaptations exhibit continuity through time,
whereas others change in response to paleoenvironmental fluctuations.
Thus, Pinnacle Point 5-6 has the perfect conditions for relating continuous change in local ecological settings with both
conservative and innovative technological choices, by presenting a dataset congruent with dynamic adaptive processes based
on learning with continuity instead of the collapse of a strategy and replacement by a different one as happened in Europe
during the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic transition.