Southern African Humanities 

About: Southern African Humanities is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Middle Stone Age & Rock art. It has an ISSN identifier of 1681-5564. Over the lifetime, 297 publications have been published receiving 5450 citations.

Sibudu Cave: background to the excavations, stratigraphy and dating

Abstract: Sibudu Cave contains a long sequence of Middle Stone Age (MSA) occupations; the lithic assemblages can be attributed to a pre-Still Bay phase, a Still Bay Industry, Howiesons Poort Industry, post-Howiesons Poort phase and late and final MSA phases. Ages for the older industries are not yet finalised, but it is clear that they fit within Oxygen Isotope Stage 4. Optically stimulated luminescence ages for 14 sediment samples from the three youngest lithic phases are reported here; these have weighted mean ages of 60.1 ± 1.5 ka (post-Howiesons Poort), 49.7 ± 1.2 ka (late MSA) and 36.9 ± 1.2 ka (final MSA). Long hiatuses of 10.4 ± 1.4 ka and 12.8 ± 1.4 ka occur between the three age clusters. The periods of non-occupation in Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 may be associated with arid environments.

Hunting weapons of the Middle Stone Age and the Middle Palaeolithic: spear points from Sibudu, Rose Cottage and Bouheben

Abstract: This paper compares Middle Stone Age points from two South African sites, Sibudu and Rose Cottage, with points from Bouheben, a Middle Palaeolithic/Final Acheulian site in SW France. The Sibudu unifacial and bifacial points, from post-Howiesons Poort assemblages dated between 60 and 37 ka, have been previously identified as spear points; their diagnosis is strongly supported by both morphometric and impact fracture analyses. Our paper shows: a) that the Rose Cottage unifacial points and the Mousterian points from Bouheben can also be interpreted as hand-delivered spear tips; b) that the range of throwing spears has been underestimated, and c) that there is no reason to restrict interpretation of early hunting behaviour to placing the prey in a disadvantaged position and killing at close quarters. We review recent research on the appearance of long-range projectile technology in Africa and in Europe and provide support to statements by John Shea that strong evidence of the use of spearthrower dart tips and arrowheads occurs only at sites younger than 50-40 ka.To cite this article: Villa, P. & Lenoir, M. 2006. Hunting weapons of the Middle Stone Age and the Middle Palaeolithic: spear points from Sibudu, Rose Cottage and Bouheben. Southern African Humanities 18 (1): 89-122.

People making history: the last ten thousand years of hunter-gatherer communities in the Thukela Basin

Abstract: The primary aim of this paper is to document and explain the 10000 BP - AD 1800 history of the Thukela Basin hunter-gatherers The primary information for this study comes from my excavation, between 1981 and 1984, of eight rock shelters in the upper Thukela catchment My aims and theoretical orientation have altered substantially since the project's inception They have changed from being concerned primarily with ecological phenomena to the reconstruction of a regional social history As part of this redefinition I have developed a critique of South African Later Stone Age (LSA) studies from the early 1960s, arguing that the predominant ecological approaches of this period are inadequate in dealing with past human societies My reason for adopting a socially orientated historical approach concern the social relevance of archaeology, and the need to generate the best possible insight into past societies I submit that historical materialism offers a very valuable framework for social historical analysis The theoretical and methodological propositions germane to this study are presented I then concentrate specifically on Thukela Basin hunter-gatherer history The periods dating to before and after 2000 BP are dealt with separately because of the arrival of farmers in the Thukela Basin around AD 500 A study of the 10000 - 2000 BP subsistence strategies and occupation density suggsts that this society experienced a process of intensification It is proposed that this phenomenon results from social structural changes An analysis of the material culture remains and the subsistence strategies suggests that the initial alliance network which covered most of the research area disintegrated before 4000 BP and was replaced by three such networks I submit further, that a gender related struggle was the main component informing this society's historical development I argue that women moved from a position of low status to higher status, principally by increasing their subsistence contribution, coupled with their control over the food they collected Considering the 2000 BP - AD 1800 period, emphasis is placed on hunter-gatherer/farmer relations and the social development of hunter-gatherer communities It appears that up to AD 1000, these groups enjoyed close, equitable relations Inadequate information inhibits our assessment of their relations after AD 1000, but it is suggested that the hunter-gatherers may have become clients of the farmers The conclusion highlights the advantages of my socially oriented approach, by comparing the knowledge generated by it and the ecological approaches used in South African LSA studies Finally, future avenues of research are suggested To cite this article: Mazel, A D 1989 People making history: the last ten thousand years of hunter-gatherer communities in the Thukela Basin Natal Museum Journal of Humanities 1 : 1-168

The Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter sequence: 100 000 years of Stone Age history

Abstract: Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter was excavated in 1985. A long and detailed sequence of Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA) stone artefacts were recovered. These provide important information on the MSA, MSA/LSA transition, the Robberg LSA, as well as the relationship between hunter-gatherers and farmers between AD 400-800. The excavation, stratigraphy, stone artefacts, animal and plant remains, worked bone tools, beads, pottery and ochre finds are described. Thereafter I interpret the remains from the site focusing on the following issues: 1. The MSA, which emphasis on the Howiesons Poort. 2. The MSA/LSA transition. 3. The origins of the Late Pleistocene LSA microlithic bladelet assemblages. 4. Interaction between hunter-gatherers and iron-producing farmers. Evidence is presented to show that the MSA/LSA transition occurred between 35000-20000 BP. This transition is gradual with MSA technology being replaced by increasing bladelet production. Pre-dating 18000 BP and post-dating 12000 BP, the bladelet-rich assemblages recovered from Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter are the first of their kind to be positively identified in Natal. They show that assemblages of this nature were produced earlier in Natal than elsewhere in southern Africa. The metrical results for bladelet cores and bladelets show a progressive decrease in their mean lengths from the MSA to the LSA, as well as within the LSA sequence. Consequently it is argued that the origins of the (Robberg) bladelet-rich assemblages are to be found in the local MSA. There is also evidence that suggests that a continuation of post-10000 BP bladelet production is centred in the north-east of the country. Hunter-gatherers and farmers interacted during the final phases of the site's history, while it is argued that the final occupants of the site were iron-producing farmers who fled the upheavals of the Mfecane in the 1800s. To cite this article: Kaplan, J. 1990. The Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter sequence: 100000 years of Stone Age history. Natal Museum Journal of Humanities 2 : 1-94.

A linguist's view: Khoe-Kwadi speakers as the earliest food-producers of southern Africa

Abstract: I propose that the spread of pastoralism into southern Africa is associated with a Pre-Bantu population that was originally characterized by the following profile: it spoke a language of the Khoe-Kwadi family which was structurally closer to Kwadi than to Proto-Khoe; had a stone-age food-producing culture with a focus on pastoralism; and did not have a typical southern African Khoisan genetic profile. This hypothesis implies that not all groups lumped together in the spurious category of 'southern African Khoisan' emerged within southern Africa and were 'pristine' hunter-gatherers. Several indications regarding the possible origin of this population in East Africa are also discussed. To cite this article: Guldemann, T. 2008. A linguist's view: Khoe-Kwadi speakers as the earliest food-producers of southern Africa. Southern African Humanities 20 : 93-132.