The Large Cutting Tools from Wonderboom, South Africa

Bibliographic Data

ID9394792
AuthorsMatt G Lotter (0000-0002-8257-2162, Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa, corresponding author), M Caruana (0000-0002-2095-5360, Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa), M Lombard (0000-0002-0675-0414, Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa)
Year2021
Volume47
Issue2
Pages117-132
Publication date2021-08-31
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueLithic Technology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0197-7261 • E-ISSN: 2051-6185
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01977261.2021.1973782
OpenAlexW3197998462
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited45

Wonderboom remains largely excluded from discussions about the Earlier Stone Age of southern Africa, despite having one of the largest Acheulean assemblages for the region. With this contribution, we revisit its large cutting tool assemblage (namely the handaxes, cleavers, picks and knives) and investigate some of the tool manufacturing preferences of the hominins who used the site during the Earlier Stone Age. We also provide an inter-site comparison of handaxes with another later and two early Acheulean sites from South Africa, wherein the Wonderboom assemblage clusters with the later Acheulean and is distinguished from the early Acheulean assemblages. This tentatively places Wonderboom within the South African Acheulean chronology and provides the first characterization of later Acheulean LCT production strategies for the region that includes the Cradle of Humankind

Acheulean · Archaeology · Assemblage (archaeology · Geography · Stone tool · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

Tools

Open DOI