Middle Stone Age Levels, Artefact Review

THE MIDDLE STONE AGE LEVELS

Artefact Review - Part 1

Lithics

The uppermost Middle Stone Age (MSA) levels named the M1 phase at Blombos Cave (BBC) contain high densities of bifacial points, the fossile directeur of the Still Bay Industry. Phase M1 dates to c. 75 000 years. Still Bay points can be defined as bifacially retouched, narrowly elliptic to lanceolate shaped tools, with two sharply pointed apices.

Finely made end- and circular scrapers suggest hide preparation took place at the site. There is a distinct preference for silcrete as a raw material in the uppermost M1 phase and the choice of fine-grained stone is one characteristic of the Still Bay.

The Still Bay provides evidence, additional to that of the later Howiesons Poort Industry, for a period of social and stylistic elaboration within the southern African MSA after about 70 - 80,000 years ago.

There are few retouched stone tools in the middle MSA phase, M2 dated at c. 78 000 years, compared to M1, but a few bifacial points in silcrete still occur. These may be intrusive and come from the upper younger levels. Aside from bifacial points, retouched tools are mostly made on quartz. In the lower phase, M3, provisionally dated at c. 100 000 - 140 000 years, the frequency of retouch declines further and, despite the large sample of lithics, there are no bifacial points. Retouch in M3 is mostly informal and, consistent with the absence of bifacial points, bifacial flaking is rare. A higher incidence of ventral flaking and denticulate or notched edges distinguish the retouched lithics in M3 from those above. Quartz is favoured markedly over other materials for retouch in M3. Dr. Marie Soressi & Prof. Paola Villa are studying the lithics from M1, M2 & M3 and will be publishing their findings in the near future. Their preliminary findings indicate the lithics in M3 do not conform with the typical MSA I or MSA II pattern observed at the Klasies River MSA site also located in the southern Cape.

Suggested reading

Henshilwood, C.S., Sealy, J.C., Yates, R.J., Cruz-Uribe, K., Goldberg, P., Grine, F.E., , Klein, R.G., Poggenpoel, C., van Niekerk, K.L., Watts, I. 2001a. Blombos Cave, southern Cape, South Africa: Preliminary report on the 1992 – 1999 excavations of the Middle Stone Age levels. Journal of Archaeological Science 28(5): 421-448.

Bone Tools

Regarded by some as one marker of modern behaviour, bone tools are one of the surprising technological innovations in the c. 82 000 year old levels at Blombos Cave. Although bone tools are recorded in the African MSA, for example in the Semliki Valley, D.R. Congo, they are generally rare and most are single occurrences.

At BBC more than 30 bone artefacts have been recovered. Most occur in the M2 phase although some are found in the lower part of the Still Bay levels in the M1 phase.

The bone tools include ‘awls’, perhaps used to pierce leather to make clothing and bags, and formal standardised ‘points’ , like the one at left, that may have been hafted and used as projectile points.

A random sample of these tools have been tested for age by chemical analysis, and the results show they unequivocally belong to the MSA levels.

A single engraved bone, a fragment of a mandible, was also discovered in the 75 000 year old levels. The markings made on this bone are deliberate but appear incomplete. Perhaps the rest of the bone will be found in future excavations.

Suggested readings

Henshilwood, C.S., d’Errico, F.E., Marean, C.W., Milo, R.G., Yates, R. 2001b. An early bone tool industry from the Middle Stone Age at Blombos Cave, South Africa: implications for the origins of modern human behaviour, symbolism and language. Journal of Human Evolution 41:631-678.

Henshilwood, C.S. & Sealy, J.C. 1997. Bone artefacts from the Middle Stone Age at Blombos Cave, southern Cape, South Africa. Current Anthropology 38(5):890-895.

d’Errico, F., Henshilwood, C.S., & Nilssen, P. 2001. An engraved bone fragment from ca. 75 kyr Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa: implications for the origin of symbolism . Antiquity. 75, 309-18.

Subsistence

The five most common faunal species in the MSA & LSA levels at Blombos Cave
(based on information provided by Richard Klein & Kathy Cruz-Uribe)

The faunal collection from BBC shows that MSA people practiced a subsistence strategy that included a very broad range of animals. This means they were able to hunt large animals, such as eland, but also gathered, collected or trapped small animals such as tortoises, hyraxes and dune mole rats. They also brought seal, dolphin and probably whale meat back to the cave. The latter two were almost certainly scavenged from beach wash-ups but seals may have been speared or clubbed.

The BBC shellfish provide early evidence for the use of sea foods. Shellfish were collected and brought back to the cave, and the M3 phase, dating to 100 000 - 140 000 years, is a particularly rich shell midden. The shellfish species present in the MSA levels are similar to those from the LSA. Common species include the alikreukel (Turbo sarmaticus), limpets (Patella sp.) and brown mussels (Perna perna). Species variations may, with larger sample sizes, inform us of past changes in ocean palaeo-temperatures.

More than 1200 fish bones have been recovered from the MSA and occur in all the phases M1, M2 & M3. This means that people living at Blombos Cave had probably started fishing at least 100 000 years ago. The fish species identified include, for example, the black musselcracker, Cymatoceps nasutus, red stumpnose, Chrysoblephus gibbiceps, the white sea catfish, Galeichthyes feliceps and kob, Argyrosomus japonicus. Karen van Niekerk, a Ph. D student at the University of Cape Town, South Africa is studying the fish bone collection as a part of her thesis

Chemical analysis of fishbone from the LSA and MSA levels using the carbon/nitrogen method confirms the antiquity of these specimens. It is possible the fish were lured close to shore by chumming with a local bait, perhaps red bait (Pyura stolonifera). The bait may have been thrown into the water to attract fish that were then netted or speared, possibly with bone or stone tipped projectiles. No equipment directly associated with fishing has been recovered so we cannot be certain how the fish were caught. Fish are seldom recorded at other southern African MSA sites, and by implication it was thought MSA people were unable to exploit coastal resources effectively.

Interestingly, the overall subsistence behaviour of the MSA people at BBC is not much different to that of the LSA inhabitants who used the same cave more than 70,000 years later.

Suggested readings

Henshilwood, C.S. 1997 Identifying the collector: Evidence for human consumption of the Cape dune mole-rat, Bathyergus suillus, from Blombos Cave, southern Cape, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science 24:659-662.