The Role of Different Raw Materials in Lithic Technology and Settlement Patterns During the Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa

Afr Archaeol Rev https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-021-09446-6 ORIGINAL ARTICLE The Role of Different Raw Materials in Lithic Technology and Settlement Patterns During the Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa Manuel Will Accepted: 6 June 2021 © The Author(s) 2021 Abstract The study of raw materials is an essential step in lithic analysis, regardless of the age, provenance, and technology of the assemblages. As in many other contexts of the Paleolithic, researchers of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) in southern Africa have often focused their attention on fine-grained, nonlocal rock types, such as silcrete. Here, I spotlight raw materials considered to be of lower suitability for knapping and frequently acquired from local sources. Due to their coarse-grained nature, artifacts from rock types such as calcrete, sandstone, and quartzite might show attributes that are different from finer-grained materials. Some of these knapped stones even constitute the substrate of the sites they are from, at times resulting in their neglect or not being recognized as anthropogenic artifacts. Knapped vein quartz features sharp and durable edges, but its complicated fracture mechanics hamper comparative analysis and provide methodological challenges. In this study, raw materials from different transport distances and with Archaeological time period: Middle Stone Age/Stone Age Country and region discussed: South Africa, KwaZuluNatal/Western Cape M. Will (*) Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany e-mail: different presumed qualities are compared in terms of their roles in MSA lithic technology and settlement patterns. In the first step, the article focuses on the open-air special-purpose camp of Hoedjiespunt 1 (HDP1, Western Cape) and the rockshelter residential site of Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal), especially on assemblages dated between ~ 130–100 and ~ 58 ka. Subsequently, I review relevant materials for the southern African MSA. At HDP1 and Sibudu, local raw materials of lower knapping suitability assume several roles, from the “staple” material for all manufacturing stages to special-purpose and “add-on” functions. In the broader southern African region, MSA knappers also used these rock types in a flexible manner with gradual differences but also similarities to their use of finer-grained raw material. These differences depend on a complex interaction of raw material availability, differential site use, and the position of the localities in the settlement system. Resúmé L’étude des matières premières est une étape essentielle de l’analyse lithique, quels que soient l’âge, la provenance et la technologie des assemblages concernés. Comme dans de nombreux autres contextes du Paléolithique, les chercheurs du Middle Stone Age (MSA) en Afrique australe ont souvent concentré leur attention sur des types de roches non locales à grain fin, comme le silcrete. Ici, je mets en lumière les matières premières considérées comme moins aptes au taillage qui étaient fréquemment acquises auprès de sources locales. En raison de leur nature à Vol.:(0123456789) 13 Afr Archaeol Rev gros grains, les artefacts provenant de types de roches comme le calcaire, le grès et le quartzite peuvent montrer différentes expressions des attributs des matériaux à grains plus fins. Certaines de ces pierres taillées constituent même le substrat des sites d’où elles proviennent, ce qui entraîne parfois leur négligence ou leur non-reconnaissance comme des artefacts anthropiques. Le quartz veiné taillé présente des arêtes vives et durables, mais sa mécanique de rupture compliquée entrave les analyses comparatives et pose des défis méthodologiques. Dans cette étude, les matières premières de différentes distances de transport et de qualité présumée sont comparées en termes de leur rôle pour la technologie lithique MSA et les modèles de mobilité. D’abord, l’étude porte sur le campement à ciel ouvert de Hoedjiespunt 1 (Cap-Occidental) et le site résidentiel abri sous roche de Sibudu (KwaZuluNatal), sur des assemblages datés entre ~ 130–100 ka et ~ 58 ka. Par la suite, je passe en revue les documents pertinents pour la MSA d’Afrique australe. Chez HDP1 et Sibudu, les matières premières locales moins aptes à la taille jouent plusieurs rôles, du matériau « de base» pour toutes les étapes de fabrication aux fonctions spéciales et « complémentaires». Au niveau de l’Afrique australe, les tailleurs de MSA ont utilisé ces types de roches de manière flexible avec des différences et similitudes avec l’utilisation de matières premières plus fines. Ces différences dépendent d’une interaction complexe entre la disponibilité des matières premières, l’utilisation différentielle des sites et la position des localités dans le système de mobilité. Introduction Lithic raw material constitutes the physical source for stone tool technology. Therefore, the study of raw materials is an essential step in lithic analyses, regardless of the provenance, age, and technology of specific assemblages. Analyses of the natural distribution, accessibility, knapping quality, and package size of different rock types, as well as their consequent procurement, transport, use, and discard, provide manifold insights into past behaviors (e.g., Andrefsky, 1994; Bamforth, 1986; Binford, 1979, 1980; FéblotAugustins, 1997; Gould, 1980; Kelly, 1983; Kuhn, 1992, 1994; Nelson, 1991; Riel-Salvatore & Barton, 2004; Terradillos-Bernal & Rodríguez-Álvarez, 2017; Tomasso & Porraz, 2016). 13 In many spatial and temporal contexts of the Paleolithic, archaeologists have focused their attention on the role of fine-grained, “high-quality” rock types. In the European Paleolithic, this phenomenon is called “flint thinking” (Knutsson, 1998, 2014). This term refers to an underappreciation of nonflint materials, both in archaeological assemblages and from a methodological point of view. For over a century, scholars in Paleolithic Europe based their technological and typological classifications predominantly on flint assemblages and then imposed them on raw materials with different flaking properties. Knutsson (1998, 2014) explicates these problems for quartz assemblages, which have been frequently interpreted as “archaic” or “amorphous” due to their different appearances. Researchers in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) of southern Africa, a period dating between ~ 300 and 30 ka and associated with the early evolution of Homo sapiens, have not been exempt from this bias for fine-grained rocks. In southern Africa, numerous diverse raw materials appear in MSA assemblages, but none corresponds to the classic “flint” category of Europe. Yet, a similar focus on the role of “fine-grained” and often non-local raw materials (silcrete, in particular) can be observed in the past decades, mirroring some of the observations from Europe. The procurement and the use of silcrete have been associated with specific techno-complexes, (...truncated)