The Knapping of Quartz Crystals during the Later Stone Age at Matupi Cave, Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo

Mesfin, Isis

doi:10.1080/01977261.2023.2188342

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 84 publications

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“…In the Western Central Africa the LSA emerged between 40 ka and 20 ka with a combination of typical LSA characteristics (geometric microliths including segments) and often a low presence of large tools such as wide heavy scrapers, notches, drills and denticulates. In the lower unit of layer 3 at the Njuinye site, quartz debitage has been found, which is relatively unstandardized and of microlith affiliation [ 7 , 13 , 14 ]. For example in Senegal, the oldest LSA sites known so far are dated back to the Final Pleistocene-Early Holocene and are contemporaneous to some of the latest MSA contexts known from the region so far [ 15 – 18 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two new Later Stone Age sites from the Final Pleistocene in the Falémé Valley, eastern Senegal

Ndiaye,

Lespez,

Tribolo

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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The understanding of cultural dynamics at work at the end of the Final Pleistocene in West Africa suffers from a significant lack of excavated and dated sites, particularly in the Sahelian and Sudanian ecozones. While the Later Stone Age shows varied behavioral developments in different parts of the continent, the chrono-cultural framework of this period remains largely unknown in West Africa. We report on archaeological, geomorphological, and chronological research on two Final Pleistocene Later Stone Age sites in the Falémé Valley, eastern Senegal. Optically stimulated luminescence ages place the site of Toumboura I-2017 between 17 ± 1 and 16 ± 1 ka and the Ravin de Sansandé site between 13 ± 1 ka and 12 ± 1.1 ka. The excavated lithics show typical Later Stone Age industries, characterized by chaînes opératoires of core reduction mainly producing flakes and bladelets as well as blades and laminar flakes. Segments dominate the toolkits but a few backed bladelets and end-scrapers on flake blanks were recognized. Local raw materials were used, with a preference for chert and quartz, as well as greywacke. These Later Stone Age lithic assemblages are the oldest known in Senegal so far and add to the small number of sites known in West Africa for this period, which are mainly located farther south, in sub-tropical ecozones. The Later Stone Age sites of the Falémé Valley are contemporaneous with typical Middle Stone Age technologies in Senegal dated to at least the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. Our results thus provide new archaeological evidence highlighting the complex cultural processes at work during the Final Pleistocene in West Africa.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two new Later Stone Age sites from the Final Pleistocene in the Falémé Valley, eastern Senegal

Ndiaye,

Lespez,

Tribolo

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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‘Missing persons’: Ancient legacies of human–environment interaction in tropical natural properties inscribed under the 1972 World Heritage Convention

Rabett

2024

Archaeometry

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Cultural and natural values form the core of World Heritage designation. Properties displaying both values, however, comprise a fraction of inscriptions (currently c. 3%) to the World Heritage List. In 1992, when that fraction stood at c. 5%, adoption of the popular ‘cultural landscapes’ category of cultural heritage in 1992 was therefore hailed as a key development under the 1972 World Heritage Convention. This new designation provided, for the first time, a definitive bridge between humans and the environment, and was intended to open the door to World Heritage recognition for underrepresented parties to the Convention, particularly in the Global South, and to pave the way for a diverse range of landscape‐based inscriptions. As important and successful as this category has been in the three decades since its adoption, European sites in the Global North dominate the category and >90% of cultural landscape inscriptions recognise cultural heritage values alone rather than mixed values. This paper examines the largely hidden role of human–environment legacies in tropical World Heritage properties in the Global South, in some of the most biologically diverse and endangered ecosystems on the planet. Specifically, it highlights the long‐term interaction between people and tropical environments as revealed through palaeo science, pre‐recent (>200 years) history, Indigenous and traditional practices. Using exemplars internationally recognised as being wholly of natural outstanding universal value, it argues that limited reference to this evidence in World Heritage narratives potentially inhibits wider recognition of the role that humans have played in shaping the ecological development of contemporary environments.

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The Knapping of Quartz Crystals during the Later Stone Age at Matupi Cave, Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo

Cited by 2 publications

References 84 publications

Two new Later Stone Age sites from the Final Pleistocene in the Falémé Valley, eastern Senegal

Two new Later Stone Age sites from the Final Pleistocene in the Falémé Valley, eastern Senegal

‘Missing persons’: Ancient legacies of human–environment interaction in tropical natural properties inscribed under the 1972 World Heritage Convention

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