Behavioral ecological models of lithic technological change during the later Middle Stone Age of South Africa

McCall, Grant S.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2006.12.015

Cited by 114 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Although it is currently not possible to convincingly align the climate record of eastern Africa with the chronology of the site, we are working to clarify the paleoenvironmental context and age of cultural deposits at Magubike in order to test this hypothesis. In the interim, patterns visible in the lithic record of Magubike demonstrate that a significant shift occurred during the MSA, which is at least consistent with adaptation to decreased environmental productivity (Clarkson 2013;McCall 2007). If the environment around Magubike became less dependable, foragers would have needed to travel larger distances in search of food and water.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Large-scale climatic trends are thought to have spurred considerable changes in regional economic and settlement systems in many parts of the continent, resulting in the emergence of a range of new material behaviours, including stone technology (Marean et al 2007;McCall 2007). While climate forcing remains a plausible hypothesis for technological change in eastern Africa, little direct supporting evidence has emerged (Blome et al 2012;Douze and Delagnes 2016;Johnson et al 2016;Tryon and Faith 2013).…”

Section: Palaeoclimate Of Eastern Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the Late Pleistocene fluctuations in environmental and demographic pressure appear to have had significant impacts on the settlement behaviour of MSA humans across Africa (Blome et al 2012;Lane et al 2013;McCall 2007). The cascading effects of this shift likely transformed the ways in which early humans organized their subsistence strategies, social networks, and technology.…”

Section: Lithic Reduction Intensitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, the intensity with which materials were reduced is intimately linked to raw material requirements, availability and quality, and thus provides an effective means of recognizing Total 278 63 108 14 501 changes in mobility, home-range size, trade, raw material preferences and transport (Barut 1994;Dibble et al 2005;Marwick 2008). Archaeological and ethnographic research has demonstrated that humans largely make cost-effective decisions about lithic raw material procurement (Andrefsky 2005;Bamforth 1986;Barut 1994;Bicho 2002;Gould and Saggers 1985;McCall 2007). This tendency usually results in the preferred use of local materials over those located more distantly, especially if raw material quality is held constant.…”

Section: Lithic Reduction Intensitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…New adaptive and social strategies thus became required to cope with changing patterns of resource availability and distribution, as well as greater exposure to non-kin. The increasingly patchy and unpredictable distribution of food and water resources in some areas may have caused a shift towards greater residential or logistical mobility and a preference for technologies such as microliths that made more efficient use of cores and blanks, and were potentially more portable (McCall 2007). A general trend towards exoticism in lithic raw material preference during the late MSA in many areas is also thought to support the notion that individual groups became more mobile, or were increasingly embedded in far-reaching networks of exchange (Barut 1994;Clarkson 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Middle Stone Age Technology and Cultural Evolution at Magubike Rockshelter, Southern Tanzania

Werner

Willoughby

2017

Afr Archaeol Rev

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This paper contributes new information to the body of evidence for Middle Stone Age tool-use in Tanzania. Magubike rockshelter is located in an archaeologically unexplored region of the south-central part of the country, and thus fills a significant geographical gap between sites further to the north and those to the south in Zambia and Mozambique. Early analysis of a portion of the lithic materials demonstrates parallel changes in lithic reduction intensity, raw material preference and typology. This article explores possible explanations for this pattern, including the possibility that they reflect changes to local environment, and suggests avenues for future research.Résumé Cet article apporte de nouvelles informations à l'ensemble des preuves sur l'utilisationd'outille de l'âge de pierre moyen en Tanzanie. L'abris sous roches de Magubike est situé dansune région archéologique inexplorée de la partie sud-centrale du pays, et remplit ainsi unespace géographique entre les sites plus au nord et celles du sud en Zambie et au Mozambique. L'analyse préliminaire d'une partie des matériaux lithiques démontre des changementsparallèles dans l'intensité de réduction lithique, la préférence des matières premières et de latypologie. Cet article explore les explications possibles de ce modèle, y compris la possibilitéqu'elles reflètent des changements de l'environnement local, et propose des pistes pour larecherche future.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Palaeoclimate Of Eastern Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Lithic Reduction Intensitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Lithic Reduction Intensitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Middle Stone Age Technology and Cultural Evolution at Magubike Rockshelter, Southern Tanzania

Werner

Willoughby

2017

Afr Archaeol Rev

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Environmental change and raw material selection strategies at Taoshan: a terminal Late Pleistocene to Holocene site in north‐eastern China

Yang

Zhang

et al. 2017

J Quaternary Science

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The Lesser Khingan Mountains of north‐eastern China are heavily forested, making archaeological site identification difficult owing to poor ground surface visibility. Nevertheless, several prehistoric archaeological site discoveries have been made in recent years and a limited number of excavations have been initiated. One of the most important sites to emerge is Taoshan, which has yielded stratified stone tool assemblages dating from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the mid‐Holocene. Pollen profiles indicate significant changes in vegetation, fluctuating from steppe conditions during the LGM to forested conditions in the Bølling–Allerød interstadial (B–A) and the mid‐Holocene. The stone tool assemblages from Taoshan were primarily produced from varieties of volcanic tuff, rhyolite, hornfels and agate. Geological prospecting and petrological analyses were performed to document procurement sources and changes in raw material exploitation strategies. During the LGM, the predominant raw material was vitric tuff, available from a source ca. 5–10 km from Taoshan. In the B–A and mid‐Holocene layers, emphasis was on the exploitation of raw materials in gravel bars, although stone tool reduction techniques and raw material preferences changed considerably during this time interval. Diachronic changes in raw materials and exploitation strategies correspond to changes in vegetation and human adaptations.

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Ecological risk, demography and technological complexity in the Late Pleistocene of northern Malawi: implications for geographical patterning in the Middle Stone Age

Thompson

Mackay

Nightingale

et al. 2017

J Quaternary Science

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The Late Pleistocene Middle Stone Age (MSA) record of Africa provides early examples of standardised stone tool production and complex manufacturing sequences, superficially implying a long-term trend towards greater complexity in MSA technology at a continental scale. However, at this scale, spatial and temporal expressions of technological complexity are uneven. New lithic and chronometric data from the East-Central African record add further regional perspective to these patterns. Stone artefact assemblages from Karonga, northern, Malawi (92-22 ka), persistently lack the complexity demonstrated elsewhere in Africa at the same times, despite similar lithic raw materials. These new data provide an essential avenue for exploring hypotheses about the roles of environmental risk and demography in shaping the expression of MSA technology across the continent, not just at a local scale. When set within this framework, the simplicity of the Karonga MSA is best explained by its position in an environment that was persistently low in relative extrinsic subsistence risk. These results reinforce that motivations to invest in complex tools were variable through space and time, and that this variation, more than factors relating to behavioural capacity, may explain the patchy evidence for lithic complexity in the later MSA.

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Behavioral ecological models of lithic technological change during the later Middle Stone Age of South Africa

Cited by 114 publications

References 27 publications

Middle Stone Age Technology and Cultural Evolution at Magubike Rockshelter, Southern Tanzania

Middle Stone Age Technology and Cultural Evolution at Magubike Rockshelter, Southern Tanzania

Environmental change and raw material selection strategies at Taoshan: a terminal Late Pleistocene to Holocene site in north‐eastern China

Ecological risk, demography and technological complexity in the Late Pleistocene of northern Malawi: implications for geographical patterning in the Middle Stone Age

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