J Wilkins
Biographic Data
| ID | 47128 |
|---|---|
| NAME | J Wilkins |
| GIVEN NAMES | J |
| FAMILY NAME | Wilkins |
| SIGNATURE | WILKINS J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Griffith University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2586-107X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 408 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 27 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
The Marine Isotope Stage 5 (∼105 ka) lithic assemblage from Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter and insights into social transmission across the Kalahari Basin and its environs
The social transmission of cultural information is widely acknowledged as a key factor in the survival of our species. This paper explores lithic technological systems to assess the presence and extent of cultural information transmission between early human groups in the Kalahari Basin and its environs during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 (∼130-74 ka). This period is crucial for understanding the development and expansion of complex behaviors in …
Did climate change make Homo sapiens innovative, and if yes, how? Debated perspectives on the African Pleistocene record
Our enhanced capacity to innovate is a key feature that sets Homo sapiens apart as a species. The Middle Stone Age archaeological record of Pleistocene Africa documents the emergence and elaboration of this capacity, and its relationship to changes in past climate and environments. However, the models and interpretations developed to understand the relationship between early Homo sapiens’ innovativeness and climate change are varied and often con…
The Pleistocene Stone Artifact Record of Africa
Flaked stone (lithic) artifacts are a ubiquitous cultural material at Pleistocene sites and first appear in the archaeological record 3.3 million years ago (Ma) in East Africa. The African stone artifact record thus covers the longest time span of human prehistory compared to other regions. Lithic artifacts preserve well, and they are often the only cultural materials remaining at a site. Archaeologists have therefore dedicated considerable effor…
Function, Style, and Standardization
Middle Stone Age (MSA) point styles may reflect the development of regional identities of human social groups. MSA people likely used these points for various functions including as weapon tips. Recent work in cultural evolution suggests that functional aspects of technology tend to be more standardized and subject to negative selective pressures, while stylistic aspects are highly visible and tend to be more variable. This study examines the pat…
The Drone, the Snake, and the Crystal
Creating and sharing 3D digital replicas of archaeological sites online has become increasingly common. They are being integrated in excavation workflows, used to foster public engagement with the site, and provide communication and outreach of research, which now happen on digital media platforms. However, there has been little introspection by the community involved in the 3D documentation field, which has resulted in problematic practices. We …
Homo sapiens origins and evolution in the Kalahari Basin, southern Africa
The Kalahari Basin, southern Africa preserves a rich archeological record of human origins and evolution spanning the Early, Middle and Late Pleistocene. Since the 1930s, several stratified and dated archeological sites have been identified and investigated, together with numerous open‐air localities that provide landscape‐scale perspectives. However, next to recent discoveries from nearby coastal regions, the Kalahari Basin has remained peripher…
New data from old collections
A Lithic Provisioning Model as a Proxy for Landscape Mobility in the Southern and Middle Kalahari
Lucy
Archaeological evidence for human social learning and sociality in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa
The Middle Stone Age record of southern Africa provides evidence for the origins and evolution of complex social relationships, and potentially qualities like humility, wisdom, and grace that helped humans navigate these complex social relationships. Homo sapiens first appear in Africa ~200,000–150,000 years ago during the Middle Stone Age. While there are anatomical changes that mark the speciation of Homo sapiens , they are not associated with …
Fabric Analysis and Chronology at Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter, Southern Kalahari Basin
Is it Time to Retire Nasties in Southern Africa? Moving Beyond the Culture-Historical Framework for Middle Stone Age Lithic Assemblage Variability
The Middle Stone Age (MSA) of southern Africa provides crucial insight on early Homo sapiens behavioral evolution. Archaeologists have traditionally presented lithic assemblage variability as a sequence of discrete Named Stone Tool Industries (“NASTIES”, Shea, 2014, Quaternary International) or techno-complexes. Many have highlighted the issues associated with the archaeological systematics of this time period in southern Africa and beyond, yet t…
Learner-driven innovation in the stone tool technology of earlyHomo sapiens
Current perspectives of stone tool technology tend to emphasize homogeneity in tool forms and core reduction strategies across time and space. This homogeneity is understood to represent shared cultural traditions that are passed down through the generations. This represents a top-down perspective on how and why stone tools are manufactured that largely restricts technological agency to experts, adults and teachers. However, just as bottom-up pro…
The African Middle Stone Age
The Middle Stone Age (MSA) is a period of African prehistory characterized by the production of flake-based assemblages, often with a focus on stone points and blades using prepared core reduction techniques. The MSA follows the Earlier Stone Age and precedes the Later Stone Age, although the boundaries between these periods are not as sharp as originally defined. The MSA is generally regarded as having started by at least three hundred thousand …
A quantitative analysis of wear distributions on Middle Stone Age marine shell beads from Blombos Cave, South Africa
The Point Is the Point
The performance of heat-treated silcrete backed pieces in actualistic and controlled complex projectile experiments
Edge Damage on 500-Thousand-Year-Old Spear Tips from Kathu Pan 1, South Africa
Human-–environment interaction through the Late Pleistocene on the South Coast, South Africa
Middle Pleistocene lithic raw material foraging strategies at Kathu Pan 1, Northern Cape, South Africa
Early Evidence for Brilliant Ritualized Display
Earth pigments figure prominently in debates about signal evolution among later Homo. Most archaeologists consider such behavior to postdate ~300 Ka. To evaluate claims for Fauresmith and Acheulean pigments in South Africa's Northern Cape Province, extending back 1.1 Ma (Beaumont and Bednarik 2013), we reexamined collections from Kathu Pan 1, Wonderwerk Cave, and Canteen Kopje. We report and describe materials where we are confident as to a pigme…
A Middle Stone Age Paleoscape near the Pinnacle Point caves, Vleesbaai, South Africa
Kathu Pan 1 points and the assemblage-scale, probabilistic approach
Blade production ∼500 thousand years ago at Kathu Pan 1, South Africa
Prepared core reduction at the site of Kudu Koppie in northern South Africa
Blade production ∼500 thousand years ago at Kathu Pan 1, South Africa
Early Evidence for Brilliant Ritualized Display
Earth pigments figure prominently in debates about signal evolution among later Homo. Most archaeologists consider such behavior to postdate ~300 Ka. To evaluate claims for Fauresmith and Acheulean pigments in South Africa's Northern Cape Province, extending back 1.1 Ma (Beaumont and Bednarik 2013), we reexamined collections from Kathu Pan 1, Wonderwerk Cave, and Canteen Kopje. We report and describe materials where we are confident as to a pigme…
Prepared core reduction at the site of Kudu Koppie in northern South Africa
Is it Time to Retire Nasties in Southern Africa? Moving Beyond the Culture-Historical Framework for Middle Stone Age Lithic Assemblage Variability
The Middle Stone Age (MSA) of southern Africa provides crucial insight on early Homo sapiens behavioral evolution. Archaeologists have traditionally presented lithic assemblage variability as a sequence of discrete Named Stone Tool Industries (“NASTIES”, Shea, 2014, Quaternary International) or techno-complexes. Many have highlighted the issues associated with the archaeological systematics of this time period in southern Africa and beyond, yet t…
Site formation at Kudu Koppie
The performance of heat-treated silcrete backed pieces in actualistic and controlled complex projectile experiments
A Lithic Provisioning Model as a Proxy for Landscape Mobility in the Southern and Middle Kalahari
Middle Pleistocene lithic raw material foraging strategies at Kathu Pan 1, Northern Cape, South Africa
Fabric Analysis and Chronology at Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter, Southern Kalahari Basin
Kathu Pan 1 points and the assemblage-scale, probabilistic approach
The Eastern Periphery of the Yoruba Cultural Sphere
Numerous societies throughout subSaharan Africa supported strong political systems prior to European colonization. Seldom, however, are the boundaries of large, dominant polities sharply delineated, making it difficult to identify the extent of their influence on neighbouring, peripheral communities. In this report, we present ceramic evidence from the lowland rain forest of southwest Cameroon suggesting macroregional interactions that, during th…
Learner-driven innovation in the stone tool technology of earlyHomo sapiens
Current perspectives of stone tool technology tend to emphasize homogeneity in tool forms and core reduction strategies across time and space. This homogeneity is understood to represent shared cultural traditions that are passed down through the generations. This represents a top-down perspective on how and why stone tools are manufactured that largely restricts technological agency to experts, adults and teachers. However, just as bottom-up pro…
A quantitative analysis of wear distributions on Middle Stone Age marine shell beads from Blombos Cave, South Africa
New data from old collections
Function, Style, and Standardization
Middle Stone Age (MSA) point styles may reflect the development of regional identities of human social groups. MSA people likely used these points for various functions including as weapon tips. Recent work in cultural evolution suggests that functional aspects of technology tend to be more standardized and subject to negative selective pressures, while stylistic aspects are highly visible and tend to be more variable. This study examines the pat…
The Drone, the Snake, and the Crystal
Creating and sharing 3D digital replicas of archaeological sites online has become increasingly common. They are being integrated in excavation workflows, used to foster public engagement with the site, and provide communication and outreach of research, which now happen on digital media platforms. However, there has been little introspection by the community involved in the 3D documentation field, which has resulted in problematic practices. We …
The Eastern Periphery of the Yoruba Cultural Sphere
Numerous societies throughout subSaharan Africa supported strong political systems prior to European colonization. Seldom, however, are the boundaries of large, dominant polities sharply delineated, making it difficult to identify the extent of their influence on neighbouring, peripheral communities. In this report, we present ceramic evidence from the lowland rain forest of southwest Cameroon suggesting macroregional interactions that, during th…
Site formation at Kudu Koppie
Prepared core reduction at the site of Kudu Koppie in northern South Africa
Blade production ∼500 thousand years ago at Kathu Pan 1, South Africa
A Middle Stone Age Paleoscape near the Pinnacle Point caves, Vleesbaai, South Africa
Kathu Pan 1 points and the assemblage-scale, probabilistic approach
Edge Damage on 500-Thousand-Year-Old Spear Tips from Kathu Pan 1, South Africa
Human-–environment interaction through the Late Pleistocene on the South Coast, South Africa
Middle Pleistocene lithic raw material foraging strategies at Kathu Pan 1, Northern Cape, South Africa
Early Evidence for Brilliant Ritualized Display
Earth pigments figure prominently in debates about signal evolution among later Homo. Most archaeologists consider such behavior to postdate ~300 Ka. To evaluate claims for Fauresmith and Acheulean pigments in South Africa's Northern Cape Province, extending back 1.1 Ma (Beaumont and Bednarik 2013), we reexamined collections from Kathu Pan 1, Wonderwerk Cave, and Canteen Kopje. We report and describe materials where we are confident as to a pigme…
The performance of heat-treated silcrete backed pieces in actualistic and controlled complex projectile experiments
The Point Is the Point
The African Middle Stone Age
The Middle Stone Age (MSA) is a period of African prehistory characterized by the production of flake-based assemblages, often with a focus on stone points and blades using prepared core reduction techniques. The MSA follows the Earlier Stone Age and precedes the Later Stone Age, although the boundaries between these periods are not as sharp as originally defined. The MSA is generally regarded as having started by at least three hundred thousand …
A quantitative analysis of wear distributions on Middle Stone Age marine shell beads from Blombos Cave, South Africa
Lucy
Archaeological evidence for human social learning and sociality in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa
The Middle Stone Age record of southern Africa provides evidence for the origins and evolution of complex social relationships, and potentially qualities like humility, wisdom, and grace that helped humans navigate these complex social relationships. Homo sapiens first appear in Africa ~200,000–150,000 years ago during the Middle Stone Age. While there are anatomical changes that mark the speciation of Homo sapiens , they are not associated with …
Fabric Analysis and Chronology at Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter, Southern Kalahari Basin
Is it Time to Retire Nasties in Southern Africa? Moving Beyond the Culture-Historical Framework for Middle Stone Age Lithic Assemblage Variability
The Middle Stone Age (MSA) of southern Africa provides crucial insight on early Homo sapiens behavioral evolution. Archaeologists have traditionally presented lithic assemblage variability as a sequence of discrete Named Stone Tool Industries (“NASTIES”, Shea, 2014, Quaternary International) or techno-complexes. Many have highlighted the issues associated with the archaeological systematics of this time period in southern Africa and beyond, yet t…
Learner-driven innovation in the stone tool technology of earlyHomo sapiens
Current perspectives of stone tool technology tend to emphasize homogeneity in tool forms and core reduction strategies across time and space. This homogeneity is understood to represent shared cultural traditions that are passed down through the generations. This represents a top-down perspective on how and why stone tools are manufactured that largely restricts technological agency to experts, adults and teachers. However, just as bottom-up pro…
Homo sapiens origins and evolution in the Kalahari Basin, southern Africa
The Kalahari Basin, southern Africa preserves a rich archeological record of human origins and evolution spanning the Early, Middle and Late Pleistocene. Since the 1930s, several stratified and dated archeological sites have been identified and investigated, together with numerous open‐air localities that provide landscape‐scale perspectives. However, next to recent discoveries from nearby coastal regions, the Kalahari Basin has remained peripher…
New data from old collections
A Lithic Provisioning Model as a Proxy for Landscape Mobility in the Southern and Middle Kalahari
The Drone, the Snake, and the Crystal
Creating and sharing 3D digital replicas of archaeological sites online has become increasingly common. They are being integrated in excavation workflows, used to foster public engagement with the site, and provide communication and outreach of research, which now happen on digital media platforms. However, there has been little introspection by the community involved in the 3D documentation field, which has resulted in problematic practices. We …
The Pleistocene Stone Artifact Record of Africa
Flaked stone (lithic) artifacts are a ubiquitous cultural material at Pleistocene sites and first appear in the archaeological record 3.3 million years ago (Ma) in East Africa. The African stone artifact record thus covers the longest time span of human prehistory compared to other regions. Lithic artifacts preserve well, and they are often the only cultural materials remaining at a site. Archaeologists have therefore dedicated considerable effor…
Function, Style, and Standardization
Middle Stone Age (MSA) point styles may reflect the development of regional identities of human social groups. MSA people likely used these points for various functions including as weapon tips. Recent work in cultural evolution suggests that functional aspects of technology tend to be more standardized and subject to negative selective pressures, while stylistic aspects are highly visible and tend to be more variable. This study examines the pat…
Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (23 works) · Archaeology (22 works) · Geography (21 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (17 works) · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies (15 works) · Geology (14 works) · Pleistocene (14 works) · Paleontology (13 works) · Middle Stone Age (12 works) · Biology (10 works)