“A Survey of Surveys” Revisited: Current Approaches to Landscape and Surface Archaeology in Southern Africa

Hallinan, Emily

doi:10.1007/s10437-021-09469-z

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…The Stone Age record of southern Africa remains best known from rock shelter and cave sites, despite the established importance of open landscapes for people with a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Recent research efforts in the Western Cape, Northern Cape, and Free State underscore the importance and feasibility of open-air work (Sampson et al 2015;Hallinan & Parkington 2017;Mackay et al 2018;Shaw et al 2019;Ecker et al 2021;Hallinan 2022;Wroth et al 2022;Bousman et al 2023a, b). Until today, however, no comparable studies have been undertaken in KZN.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Notable research has come from Elandsfontein (Klein 1978;Braun et al 2013), Geelbek and Anyskop (Kandel et al 2005;Kandel & Conard 2012) as well as Hoedjiespunt (Berger & Parkington 1995;Will et al 2013). More recent work in the Tankwa Karoo and Cederberg regions has demonstrated flexible inhabitation of landscapes by highly mobile hunter-gatherer groups from various chronological periods in arid, marginal environments (Hallinan & Parkington 2017;Mackay et al 2018;Shaw et al 2019;Hallinan 2022). Since the 1990s, intense research at open-air sites has also been carried out in the Free State (see summaries in de Ruiter et al 2011;Bousman et al 2023a, b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Jojosi Dongas: An interdisciplinary project to study the evolution of human behaviour and landscapes in open-air contexts

Will,

Blessing,

Möller

et al. 2024

safa

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Hunter-gatherer groups conduct most of their activities in open landscapes as they provide drinking water, food, and raw materials, and offer spaces for social gatherings. The remains left behind at such sites allow for unique archaeological insights into the spatial patterning of prehistoric behaviour. The Stone Age record in southern Africa remains best-known from sheltered sites. A paucity of stratified open-air localities precludes understanding the full spectrum of past hominin activities. Here we introduce an interdisciplinary project in KwaZulu-Natal to study the evolution of human behaviour and landscape dynamics during the Pleistocene in the open-air context of a stratified hillslope with sediments exposed in so-called dongas, a landform created by gully erosion. The project encompasses field and laboratory approaches, combining archaeological, geographical, geological, chronometric, and palaeoenvironmental data. After reviewing relevant open-air research in archaeology and geography, we identify the Jojosi Dongas as a promising research area. Our fieldwork results from 2022-2023 demonstrate the high archaeological, geographical, and geological potential of this landscape. Foot surveys found abundant MSA artefacts spread throughout the dongas, one area with ESA tools, but little to no traces of LSA or later material. Most finds lie on the surface with rarer stratified material occurring in exposed profiles. The surface MSA material is characterised by almost exclusive hornfels use, frequent cortical pieces, many large blanks and cores, and rare retouched tools. These features differ markedly from lithic trends observed in well-known shelter sites, likely the result of differences in site function. Based on the nature of the surface assemblages and the presence of a large outcrop of high-quality hornfels, we hypothesise that the Jojosi Dongas may have been a specialised quarry and workshop area. The stratified MSA occupations are the focus of ongoing excavations and further studies will aim to test our preliminary interpretations provided here.

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