No One Home? New Evidence for MIS 3 Occupations in the Western Cape (South Africa) from Mertenhof Rock Shelter

Bibliographic Data

ID9378014
AuthorsM Will (0000-0001-8116-2543, University of Johannesburg, corresponding author), Zenobia Jacobs (0000-0001-5424-5837, University of Wollongong), A Mackay (0000-0002-6396-0821, University of Cape Town)
Year2024
Volume7
Issue1
Publication date2024-12-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Paleolithic Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2520-8217 • E-ISSN: 2520-8217
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s41982-024-00199-7
OpenAlexW4405129233
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited99

Southern Africa features an intensively studied Stone Age sequence, though one with geographical and temporal gaps. The archaeology of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 remains understudied, particularly between ~ 50 and 25 ka. This period encompasses important ecological, demographic and cultural changes, most notably the transition from Middle Stone Age (MSA) to Later Stone Age (LSA) technologies. In western South Africa, previous research postulated a demographic hiatus during the second half of MIS 3, potentially due to hyperarid climatic conditions. Here, we provide evidence of occupation during this period at Mertenhof Rock Shelter (MRS) in the form of new chronometric and technological data. OSL estimates suggest two pulses of low-intensity occupations at ~ 50 ka and 41–37 ka, allowing for a diachronic assessment of technological changes. These sporadic MSA occupations complement the more widespread occurrence of open-air settlements along the Doring River during ~ 50–35 ka. At MRS, knappers procured local rock types and produced small flakes and some laminar elements via platform, bipolar and Levallois reduction. The retouched elements feature splintered pieces and denticulates but mostly lack points. Differences to contemporaneous sites in eastern southern Africa underscore ongoing technological regionalisation and demographic partitioning during MIS 3. The temporal changes in the sequence show some antecedents of Early LSA technological systems, which appear in the region around 25 ka, but not in a unidirectional manner. Lithic and chronometric evidence from MRS supports scenarios of a long MSA persistence within MIS 3 in southern Africa and a late emergence of the LSA sometime after 35 ka

Archaeology · Cape · Geography · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Medicine · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Optometry

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