Richard Milo - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Richard Milo
Journal of Archaeological Science, Sep 1, 1999
In many archaeological faunas, relative to smaller ungulates, larger ones are more poorly represe... more In many archaeological faunas, relative to smaller ungulates, larger ones are more poorly represented by proximal limb bones (humeri, radioulnae, femora and tibiae) and better represented by bones of the feet and skull. In a recent issue of this journal, Bartram & Marean refer to the contrast as the ''Klasies Pattern'' for its occurrence at the Klasies River Mouth Middle Stone Age site in South Africa. However, they argue that it exists only because archaeologists often fail to identify small midshaft fragments to skeletal part and taxon. They believe that most archaeological faunas have been heavily ravaged by carnivores that selectively removed proximal limb bone epiphyses and left the associated shaft fragments behind. In support, they cite analyses by Marean and his co-workers in which proximal limb bone numbers increased significantly when shaft fragments were refitted to produce identifiable specimens. The dramatic increase in proximal limb bone numbers at Kobeh Cave, Iran is particularly compelling, but Bartram & Marean must spell out their procedure for identifying and counting shafts to ensure that others can produce comparable results and to exclude the possibility that the results are an artefact of their procedure. The refitting of small shaft fragments is extremely tedious and time-consuming, but may be justified wherever there is independent evidence for substantial carnivore ravaging. There is essentially no evidence for carnivore ravaging at Klasies River Mouth nor is there evidence that it can produce the contrast between smaller and larger ungulates that comprises the ''Klasies Pattern''. We conclude that the contrast mainly reflects differences in carcass size as these influence (1) the likelihood that particular skeletal elements will be transported from a carcass to a base camp and (2) the likelihood that parts will survive in identifiable condition.
International Journal of Primatology, Dec 1, 1995
From the proceedings of a conference in Portugal in 1990, Gibson and Ingold have assembled a stim... more From the proceedings of a conference in Portugal in 1990, Gibson and Ingold have assembled a stimulating collection of empirical and theoretical studies from primatology, developmental psychology, archaeology, and social anthropology that attempt to get at the heart of how human beings differ from nonhuman primates and in what circumstances those differences might have appeared in hominine evolution. The most salient difference seems to be that in the ontogeny of nonhuman primates, "physical" and "logical" (including symbolic and referential) cognitions develop consecutively, whereas in humans they develop in tandem and recursively. This synergistic development produces what Gibson calls "constructional intelligence": a species-specific interdependence of what otherwise are functionally dissassociable aspects of cognition. Kempler reports that lexical and pantomimic (i.e., symbolic) deficits in Alzheimer's victims are not paralleled by deficits in syntax or motor behavior. This implies that highly organized serial-order functions--implicated in stone toolmaking and language syntax--are disassociated from the symbolic, referential aspect of cognition. Thus, the component parts of human constructional intelligence may have evolved in a mosaic fashion, with the serial-motor component--as reflected, for example, in left-hemisphere cortical structures--substantially antedating the symbolic/referential component. Since it is in the latter component that modern humans differ radically from even the most precocious bonobo, the behavior of Oldowan hominines may have differed less from that of living apes than is commonly assumed. McGrew, in fact, suggests that the Oldowan archaeological record could have been produced by pongids. His assertion is supported by contributions that review the technical, symbolic, and learning capacities of nonhuman primates and by others that challenge the assumption that
Journal of Archaeological Science, Feb 1, 1998
I report the results of a microscopic study of the bone modification in the identified bovid asse... more I report the results of a microscopic study of the bone modification in the identified bovid assemblage from Cave 1 at Klasies River Mouth (KRM), in South Africa. The study was undertaken in an effort to resolve divergent interpretations of the predatory competence of the early modern humans there. The microscopic data suggest that the hominids had relatively unrestricted access to the choicest parts of bovids in all size classes. The carnivore damage signature is ephemeral; it does not support assertions that large carcasses were carnivore-ravaged before their appropriation by hominids or that carnivores contributed a meaningful number of smaller bovids to the faunal assemblage. The data therefore lead to the conclusion that hominids were the sole, regular accumulators of bovids in all size classes. That many of those bovids were obtained by active hunting is suggested by the tip of a stone point embedded in a cervical vertebra of the extinct giant buffalo, Pelorovis antiquus. Finally, some attributes of the butchering patterning hint that the Klasies hominids formed socially mediated task groups to accomplish labourintensive tasks. These results challenge the general perception that modern morphology pre-dated modern behaviour and the specific assertion that the KRM hominids were behaviourally very primitive. The KRM hominids were apparently active hunters who produced composite tools and who planned and executed complex tasks within a social framework. To the extent that these behaviours presage the modern condition, the KRM hominids were as behaviourally near-modern as they were anatomically near-modern.
John Benjamins Publishing Company eBooks, 1995
Journal of Human Evolution, 1999
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2003
Duinefontein 2 (DFT2) preserves at least two buried land surfaces within a 10-m thick dune plume ... more Duinefontein 2 (DFT2) preserves at least two buried land surfaces within a 10-m thick dune plume on the Atlantic Coast of South Africa, about 35 km north of Cape Town. Optically stimulated luminescence dating indicates that the sands enclosing the upper surface accumulated around 270 ky ago, while the sands between the two surfaces were accumulating about 290 ky ago. Excavation so far has focused on the upper buried surface, which is now exposed over 480 m 2. Historically, there was no body of fresh water nearby, and the surrounding vegetation was a variant of the regional fine-leafed shrub or fynbos. Pedogenic alteration of the sands and bones of water-loving mammals and amphibians indicate, however, that the bones and associated Acheulean artifacts accumulated near the edge of a large pond or marsh. In addition, the principal mammal species (buffalo, wildebeest, and kudu) imply a sharply different regional vegetation in which grass and broad-leafed bush were much more common. The artifacts are distributed across the upper buried surface in no apparent pattern, but the large mammal bones tend to occur as clusters of skulls, vertebrae, ribs, and other axial elements, often in near anatomical order. Limb bones are mostly missing, and the clusters appear to mark carcasses from which the limb bones were selectively removed. The bones rarely show marks from stone tools, but marks from carnivore teeth are common. Together with numerous hyena coprolites, the abundant tooth marks suggest that hyenas and perhaps other carnivores were largely responsible for carcass disarticulation. The human role appears to have been insignificant, which suggests that local Acheulean people obtained few large mammals, whether by hunting or scavenging. Among the small number of other Acheulean 'carcass' sites for which bone damage observations are available, the best-documented sites suggest the same limited human ability to acquire large mammals, but many additional sites will be necessary to determine if this was the Acheulean norm. Greatly expanded excavation of the lower buried surface at DFT2 can provide an additional, high-quality data point.
Current Anthropology, 1993
Current Anthropology Volume 34, Number 5, December 1993 © 1993 by The Wenner-Gren Foundation for ... more Current Anthropology Volume 34, Number 5, December 1993 © 1993 by The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. All rights reserved оои-3204/9з/з405-ооо!$з.50 Glottogenesis and Anatomically Modern Homo sapiens The Evidence for and Implications of a Late ...
The Biology of Language, 1995
Journal of Human Evolution, 2007
Few Middle Stone Age sites have yielded convincing evidence for a complex bone technology, a beha... more Few Middle Stone Age sites have yielded convincing evidence for a complex bone technology, a behavior often associated with the emergence of modern cultures. Here, we review the published evidence for Middle Stone Age bone tools from southern Africa, analyze an additional nine bone artifacts recently recovered from Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, describe an unpublished bone tool from probable Middle Stone Age levels at Peers Cave, examine a single bone awl found at Blombosch Sands (an open site near Blombos Cave), and reappraise marked bone artifacts and a bone point recovered from Klasies River. To determine the chronological and cultural attribution of these artifacts, document bonemanufacturing techniques associated with the southern African MSA, and discuss the symbolic significance of the markings present on some of these objects we use (1) available contextual information; (2) morphometric comparison of Later Stone Age, Modern San, and purported Middle Stone Age projectile points; (3) analysis of the carbon/nitrogen content of bone tools and faunal remains from Peers and Blombos caves; and (4) microscopic analysis of traces of manufacture and use. Previously undescribed bone artifacts from Blombos Cave include a massive point manufactured on weathered bone, two complete awls and two awl tips manufactured on small-sized mammal and bird bone, a probable projectile point with a tang manufactured by knapping and scraping, a shaft fragment modified by percussion, used as retoucher and bearing a set of incised lines on the middle of the periosteal surface, and two fragments with possible engravings. The point from Peers Cave can be assigned to the Middle Stone Age and bears tiny markings reminiscent of those recorded on projectile points from Blombos and used as marks of ownership on San arrow points. The awl from Blombosch Sands and the bone point from Klasies River can be attributed to the Later Stone Age. Two notched objects from Klasies are attributed to the Middle Stone Age and interpreted as tools used on soft material; a third object bears possible deliberate symbolic engravings. Although low in number, the instances of bone artifacts attributable to the Middle Stone Age is increasing and demonstrates that the bone tools from Blombos Cave are not isolated instances. New discoveries of bone tools dating to this time period can be expected.
Journal of Human Evolution, 2001
Twenty-eight bone tools were recovered in situ from ca. 70 ka year old Middle Stone Age levels at... more Twenty-eight bone tools were recovered in situ from ca. 70 ka year old Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave between 1992 and 2000. These tools are securely provenienced and are the largest collection to come from a single African Middle Stone Age site. Detailed analyses show that tool production methods follow a sequence of deliberate technical choices starting with blank production, the use of various shaping methods and the final finishing of the artefact to produce ''awls'' and ''projectile points''. Tool production processes in the Middle Stone Age at Blombos Cave conform to generally accepted descriptions of ''formal'' techniques of bone tool manufacture. Comparisons with similar bone tools from the Later Stone Age at Blombos Cave, other Cape sites and ethnographic collections show that although shaping methods are different, the planning and execution of bone tool manufacture in the Middle Stone Age is consistent with that in the late Holocene. The bone tool collection from Blombos Cave is remarkable because bone tools are rarely found in African Middle or Later Stone Age sites before ca. 25 ka. Scarcity of early bone tools is cited as one strand of evidence supporting models for nonmodern behaviour linked to a lack of modern technological or cognitive capacity before ca. 50 ka. Bone artefacts are a regular feature in European sites after ca. 40 ka, are closely associated with the arrival of anatomically modern humans and are a key behavioural marker of the Upper Palaeolithic ''symbolic explosion'' linked to the evolution of modern behaviour. Taken together with recent finds from Klasies River, Katanda and other African Middle Stone Age sites the Blombos Cave evidence for formal bone working, deliberate engraving on ochre, production of finely made bifacial points and sophisticated subsistence strategies is turning the tide in favour of models positing behavioural modernity in Africa at a time far earlier than previously accepted.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 1999
In many archaeological faunas, relative to smaller ungulates, larger ones are more poorly represe... more In many archaeological faunas, relative to smaller ungulates, larger ones are more poorly represented by proximal limb bones (humeri, radioulnae, femora and tibiae) and better represented by bones of the feet and skull. In a recent issue of this journal, Bartram & Marean refer to the contrast as the ''Klasies Pattern'' for its occurrence at the Klasies River Mouth Middle Stone Age site in South Africa. However, they argue that it exists only because archaeologists often fail to identify small midshaft fragments to skeletal part and taxon. They believe that most archaeological faunas have been heavily ravaged by carnivores that selectively removed proximal limb bone epiphyses and left the associated shaft fragments behind. In support, they cite analyses by Marean and his co-workers in which proximal limb bone numbers increased significantly when shaft fragments were refitted to produce identifiable specimens. The dramatic increase in proximal limb bone numbers at Kobeh Cave, Iran is particularly compelling, but Bartram & Marean must spell out their procedure for identifying and counting shafts to ensure that others can produce comparable results and to exclude the possibility that the results are an artefact of their procedure. The refitting of small shaft fragments is extremely tedious and time-consuming, but may be justified wherever there is independent evidence for substantial carnivore ravaging. There is essentially no evidence for carnivore ravaging at Klasies River Mouth nor is there evidence that it can produce the contrast between smaller and larger ungulates that comprises the ''Klasies Pattern''. We conclude that the contrast mainly reflects differences in carcass size as these influence (1) the likelihood that particular skeletal elements will be transported from a carcass to a base camp and (2) the likelihood that parts will survive in identifiable condition.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 1996
Test excavations conducted at Drotsky's Cave have provided important new information on the paleo... more Test excavations conducted at Drotsky's Cave have provided important new information on the paleoenvironment and archaeology of the western Kalahari desert during the late and terminal Pleistocene. An occupation layer dated to the terminal Pleistocene was rich in Late Stone Age artefacts, pieces of ostrich egg shell, the remains of carnivorous bullfrogs, springhare, and other fauna. A detailed sediment study, along with the evidence of Angoni vlei rat, climbing mouse, an aquatic Xenopus frog, and side neck turtle confirms that conditions were for the most part, substantially more moist than at present between approximately 30,000 and 11,000 years ago. Analysis of a diatom assemblage dated to the terminal Pleistocene implies that the currently dry Gcwihaba Valley was most likely flowing for much of the year. Our evidence supports findings made at other localities in the Kalahari documenting the existence of especially moist conditions during the terminal Pleistocene.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2000
Excavations conducted at the White Paintings Rock Shelter (WPS) have uncovered 7 m of deposits ra... more Excavations conducted at the White Paintings Rock Shelter (WPS) have uncovered 7 m of deposits ranging in age from the historic period to at least 100,000 years at the base. Eleven stratigraphic units are described in relation to palaeoenvironmental conditions inferred from sediments and other data. These units contain seven major divisions in 1085 0305-4403/00/111085+29 $35.00/0 2000 Academic Press the cultural sequence highlighted by a lengthy record of Later and Middle Stone Age deposits. A wide variety of mammals as well as other animals were found in the upper 3 m. Numerous fish bones, wetland mammals and barbed bone points make this site especially interesting because of its desert location. The highest frequencies of fish bones are found between c. 80/90-130 cm (Upper Fish deposits) and between 210-280 cm below the surface (Lower Fish deposits). Most of the barbed bone points were recovered in the Upper Fish deposits. The Lower Fish deposits contain extinct Equus capensis and a microlithic industry as well as some bone points. A large blade industry is found beneath the Lower Fish deposits. This blade industry shows continuity with the underlying Middle Stone Age.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 1998
I report the results of a microscopic study of the bone modification in the identified bovid asse... more I report the results of a microscopic study of the bone modification in the identified bovid assemblage from Cave 1 at Klasies River Mouth (KRM), in South Africa. The study was undertaken in an effort to resolve divergent interpretations of the predatory competence of the early modern humans there. The microscopic data suggest that the hominids had relatively unrestricted access to the choicest parts of bovids in all size classes. The carnivore damage signature is ephemeral; it does not support assertions that large carcasses were carnivore-ravaged before their appropriation by hominids or that carnivores contributed a meaningful number of smaller bovids to the faunal assemblage. The data therefore lead to the conclusion that hominids were the sole, regular accumulators of bovids in all size classes. That many of those bovids were obtained by active hunting is suggested by the tip of a stone point embedded in a cervical vertebra of the extinct giant buffalo, Pelorovis antiquus. Finally, some attributes of the butchering patterning hint that the Klasies hominids formed socially mediated task groups to accomplish labourintensive tasks. These results challenge the general perception that modern morphology pre-dated modern behaviour and the specific assertion that the KRM hominids were behaviourally very primitive. The KRM hominids were apparently active hunters who produced composite tools and who planned and executed complex tasks within a social framework. To the extent that these behaviours presage the modern condition, the KRM hominids were as behaviourally near-modern as they were anatomically near-modern.
The question addressed by this volume is how human beings have evolved as creatures who can make ... more The question addressed by this volume is how human beings have evolved as creatures who can make and use more complex tools, communicate in more complex ways, and engage in more complex forms of social life, than any other species in the animal kingdom. Leading ...
Journal of Archaeological Science, Sep 1, 1999
In many archaeological faunas, relative to smaller ungulates, larger ones are more poorly represe... more In many archaeological faunas, relative to smaller ungulates, larger ones are more poorly represented by proximal limb bones (humeri, radioulnae, femora and tibiae) and better represented by bones of the feet and skull. In a recent issue of this journal, Bartram & Marean refer to the contrast as the ''Klasies Pattern'' for its occurrence at the Klasies River Mouth Middle Stone Age site in South Africa. However, they argue that it exists only because archaeologists often fail to identify small midshaft fragments to skeletal part and taxon. They believe that most archaeological faunas have been heavily ravaged by carnivores that selectively removed proximal limb bone epiphyses and left the associated shaft fragments behind. In support, they cite analyses by Marean and his co-workers in which proximal limb bone numbers increased significantly when shaft fragments were refitted to produce identifiable specimens. The dramatic increase in proximal limb bone numbers at Kobeh Cave, Iran is particularly compelling, but Bartram & Marean must spell out their procedure for identifying and counting shafts to ensure that others can produce comparable results and to exclude the possibility that the results are an artefact of their procedure. The refitting of small shaft fragments is extremely tedious and time-consuming, but may be justified wherever there is independent evidence for substantial carnivore ravaging. There is essentially no evidence for carnivore ravaging at Klasies River Mouth nor is there evidence that it can produce the contrast between smaller and larger ungulates that comprises the ''Klasies Pattern''. We conclude that the contrast mainly reflects differences in carcass size as these influence (1) the likelihood that particular skeletal elements will be transported from a carcass to a base camp and (2) the likelihood that parts will survive in identifiable condition.
International Journal of Primatology, Dec 1, 1995
From the proceedings of a conference in Portugal in 1990, Gibson and Ingold have assembled a stim... more From the proceedings of a conference in Portugal in 1990, Gibson and Ingold have assembled a stimulating collection of empirical and theoretical studies from primatology, developmental psychology, archaeology, and social anthropology that attempt to get at the heart of how human beings differ from nonhuman primates and in what circumstances those differences might have appeared in hominine evolution. The most salient difference seems to be that in the ontogeny of nonhuman primates, "physical" and "logical" (including symbolic and referential) cognitions develop consecutively, whereas in humans they develop in tandem and recursively. This synergistic development produces what Gibson calls "constructional intelligence": a species-specific interdependence of what otherwise are functionally dissassociable aspects of cognition. Kempler reports that lexical and pantomimic (i.e., symbolic) deficits in Alzheimer's victims are not paralleled by deficits in syntax or motor behavior. This implies that highly organized serial-order functions--implicated in stone toolmaking and language syntax--are disassociated from the symbolic, referential aspect of cognition. Thus, the component parts of human constructional intelligence may have evolved in a mosaic fashion, with the serial-motor component--as reflected, for example, in left-hemisphere cortical structures--substantially antedating the symbolic/referential component. Since it is in the latter component that modern humans differ radically from even the most precocious bonobo, the behavior of Oldowan hominines may have differed less from that of living apes than is commonly assumed. McGrew, in fact, suggests that the Oldowan archaeological record could have been produced by pongids. His assertion is supported by contributions that review the technical, symbolic, and learning capacities of nonhuman primates and by others that challenge the assumption that
Journal of Archaeological Science, Feb 1, 1998
I report the results of a microscopic study of the bone modification in the identified bovid asse... more I report the results of a microscopic study of the bone modification in the identified bovid assemblage from Cave 1 at Klasies River Mouth (KRM), in South Africa. The study was undertaken in an effort to resolve divergent interpretations of the predatory competence of the early modern humans there. The microscopic data suggest that the hominids had relatively unrestricted access to the choicest parts of bovids in all size classes. The carnivore damage signature is ephemeral; it does not support assertions that large carcasses were carnivore-ravaged before their appropriation by hominids or that carnivores contributed a meaningful number of smaller bovids to the faunal assemblage. The data therefore lead to the conclusion that hominids were the sole, regular accumulators of bovids in all size classes. That many of those bovids were obtained by active hunting is suggested by the tip of a stone point embedded in a cervical vertebra of the extinct giant buffalo, Pelorovis antiquus. Finally, some attributes of the butchering patterning hint that the Klasies hominids formed socially mediated task groups to accomplish labourintensive tasks. These results challenge the general perception that modern morphology pre-dated modern behaviour and the specific assertion that the KRM hominids were behaviourally very primitive. The KRM hominids were apparently active hunters who produced composite tools and who planned and executed complex tasks within a social framework. To the extent that these behaviours presage the modern condition, the KRM hominids were as behaviourally near-modern as they were anatomically near-modern.
John Benjamins Publishing Company eBooks, 1995
Journal of Human Evolution, 1999
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2003
Duinefontein 2 (DFT2) preserves at least two buried land surfaces within a 10-m thick dune plume ... more Duinefontein 2 (DFT2) preserves at least two buried land surfaces within a 10-m thick dune plume on the Atlantic Coast of South Africa, about 35 km north of Cape Town. Optically stimulated luminescence dating indicates that the sands enclosing the upper surface accumulated around 270 ky ago, while the sands between the two surfaces were accumulating about 290 ky ago. Excavation so far has focused on the upper buried surface, which is now exposed over 480 m 2. Historically, there was no body of fresh water nearby, and the surrounding vegetation was a variant of the regional fine-leafed shrub or fynbos. Pedogenic alteration of the sands and bones of water-loving mammals and amphibians indicate, however, that the bones and associated Acheulean artifacts accumulated near the edge of a large pond or marsh. In addition, the principal mammal species (buffalo, wildebeest, and kudu) imply a sharply different regional vegetation in which grass and broad-leafed bush were much more common. The artifacts are distributed across the upper buried surface in no apparent pattern, but the large mammal bones tend to occur as clusters of skulls, vertebrae, ribs, and other axial elements, often in near anatomical order. Limb bones are mostly missing, and the clusters appear to mark carcasses from which the limb bones were selectively removed. The bones rarely show marks from stone tools, but marks from carnivore teeth are common. Together with numerous hyena coprolites, the abundant tooth marks suggest that hyenas and perhaps other carnivores were largely responsible for carcass disarticulation. The human role appears to have been insignificant, which suggests that local Acheulean people obtained few large mammals, whether by hunting or scavenging. Among the small number of other Acheulean 'carcass' sites for which bone damage observations are available, the best-documented sites suggest the same limited human ability to acquire large mammals, but many additional sites will be necessary to determine if this was the Acheulean norm. Greatly expanded excavation of the lower buried surface at DFT2 can provide an additional, high-quality data point.
Current Anthropology, 1993
Current Anthropology Volume 34, Number 5, December 1993 © 1993 by The Wenner-Gren Foundation for ... more Current Anthropology Volume 34, Number 5, December 1993 © 1993 by The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. All rights reserved оои-3204/9з/з405-ооо!$з.50 Glottogenesis and Anatomically Modern Homo sapiens The Evidence for and Implications of a Late ...
The Biology of Language, 1995
Journal of Human Evolution, 2007
Few Middle Stone Age sites have yielded convincing evidence for a complex bone technology, a beha... more Few Middle Stone Age sites have yielded convincing evidence for a complex bone technology, a behavior often associated with the emergence of modern cultures. Here, we review the published evidence for Middle Stone Age bone tools from southern Africa, analyze an additional nine bone artifacts recently recovered from Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, describe an unpublished bone tool from probable Middle Stone Age levels at Peers Cave, examine a single bone awl found at Blombosch Sands (an open site near Blombos Cave), and reappraise marked bone artifacts and a bone point recovered from Klasies River. To determine the chronological and cultural attribution of these artifacts, document bonemanufacturing techniques associated with the southern African MSA, and discuss the symbolic significance of the markings present on some of these objects we use (1) available contextual information; (2) morphometric comparison of Later Stone Age, Modern San, and purported Middle Stone Age projectile points; (3) analysis of the carbon/nitrogen content of bone tools and faunal remains from Peers and Blombos caves; and (4) microscopic analysis of traces of manufacture and use. Previously undescribed bone artifacts from Blombos Cave include a massive point manufactured on weathered bone, two complete awls and two awl tips manufactured on small-sized mammal and bird bone, a probable projectile point with a tang manufactured by knapping and scraping, a shaft fragment modified by percussion, used as retoucher and bearing a set of incised lines on the middle of the periosteal surface, and two fragments with possible engravings. The point from Peers Cave can be assigned to the Middle Stone Age and bears tiny markings reminiscent of those recorded on projectile points from Blombos and used as marks of ownership on San arrow points. The awl from Blombosch Sands and the bone point from Klasies River can be attributed to the Later Stone Age. Two notched objects from Klasies are attributed to the Middle Stone Age and interpreted as tools used on soft material; a third object bears possible deliberate symbolic engravings. Although low in number, the instances of bone artifacts attributable to the Middle Stone Age is increasing and demonstrates that the bone tools from Blombos Cave are not isolated instances. New discoveries of bone tools dating to this time period can be expected.
Journal of Human Evolution, 2001
Twenty-eight bone tools were recovered in situ from ca. 70 ka year old Middle Stone Age levels at... more Twenty-eight bone tools were recovered in situ from ca. 70 ka year old Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave between 1992 and 2000. These tools are securely provenienced and are the largest collection to come from a single African Middle Stone Age site. Detailed analyses show that tool production methods follow a sequence of deliberate technical choices starting with blank production, the use of various shaping methods and the final finishing of the artefact to produce ''awls'' and ''projectile points''. Tool production processes in the Middle Stone Age at Blombos Cave conform to generally accepted descriptions of ''formal'' techniques of bone tool manufacture. Comparisons with similar bone tools from the Later Stone Age at Blombos Cave, other Cape sites and ethnographic collections show that although shaping methods are different, the planning and execution of bone tool manufacture in the Middle Stone Age is consistent with that in the late Holocene. The bone tool collection from Blombos Cave is remarkable because bone tools are rarely found in African Middle or Later Stone Age sites before ca. 25 ka. Scarcity of early bone tools is cited as one strand of evidence supporting models for nonmodern behaviour linked to a lack of modern technological or cognitive capacity before ca. 50 ka. Bone artefacts are a regular feature in European sites after ca. 40 ka, are closely associated with the arrival of anatomically modern humans and are a key behavioural marker of the Upper Palaeolithic ''symbolic explosion'' linked to the evolution of modern behaviour. Taken together with recent finds from Klasies River, Katanda and other African Middle Stone Age sites the Blombos Cave evidence for formal bone working, deliberate engraving on ochre, production of finely made bifacial points and sophisticated subsistence strategies is turning the tide in favour of models positing behavioural modernity in Africa at a time far earlier than previously accepted.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 1999
In many archaeological faunas, relative to smaller ungulates, larger ones are more poorly represe... more In many archaeological faunas, relative to smaller ungulates, larger ones are more poorly represented by proximal limb bones (humeri, radioulnae, femora and tibiae) and better represented by bones of the feet and skull. In a recent issue of this journal, Bartram & Marean refer to the contrast as the ''Klasies Pattern'' for its occurrence at the Klasies River Mouth Middle Stone Age site in South Africa. However, they argue that it exists only because archaeologists often fail to identify small midshaft fragments to skeletal part and taxon. They believe that most archaeological faunas have been heavily ravaged by carnivores that selectively removed proximal limb bone epiphyses and left the associated shaft fragments behind. In support, they cite analyses by Marean and his co-workers in which proximal limb bone numbers increased significantly when shaft fragments were refitted to produce identifiable specimens. The dramatic increase in proximal limb bone numbers at Kobeh Cave, Iran is particularly compelling, but Bartram & Marean must spell out their procedure for identifying and counting shafts to ensure that others can produce comparable results and to exclude the possibility that the results are an artefact of their procedure. The refitting of small shaft fragments is extremely tedious and time-consuming, but may be justified wherever there is independent evidence for substantial carnivore ravaging. There is essentially no evidence for carnivore ravaging at Klasies River Mouth nor is there evidence that it can produce the contrast between smaller and larger ungulates that comprises the ''Klasies Pattern''. We conclude that the contrast mainly reflects differences in carcass size as these influence (1) the likelihood that particular skeletal elements will be transported from a carcass to a base camp and (2) the likelihood that parts will survive in identifiable condition.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 1996
Test excavations conducted at Drotsky's Cave have provided important new information on the paleo... more Test excavations conducted at Drotsky's Cave have provided important new information on the paleoenvironment and archaeology of the western Kalahari desert during the late and terminal Pleistocene. An occupation layer dated to the terminal Pleistocene was rich in Late Stone Age artefacts, pieces of ostrich egg shell, the remains of carnivorous bullfrogs, springhare, and other fauna. A detailed sediment study, along with the evidence of Angoni vlei rat, climbing mouse, an aquatic Xenopus frog, and side neck turtle confirms that conditions were for the most part, substantially more moist than at present between approximately 30,000 and 11,000 years ago. Analysis of a diatom assemblage dated to the terminal Pleistocene implies that the currently dry Gcwihaba Valley was most likely flowing for much of the year. Our evidence supports findings made at other localities in the Kalahari documenting the existence of especially moist conditions during the terminal Pleistocene.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2000
Excavations conducted at the White Paintings Rock Shelter (WPS) have uncovered 7 m of deposits ra... more Excavations conducted at the White Paintings Rock Shelter (WPS) have uncovered 7 m of deposits ranging in age from the historic period to at least 100,000 years at the base. Eleven stratigraphic units are described in relation to palaeoenvironmental conditions inferred from sediments and other data. These units contain seven major divisions in 1085 0305-4403/00/111085+29 $35.00/0 2000 Academic Press the cultural sequence highlighted by a lengthy record of Later and Middle Stone Age deposits. A wide variety of mammals as well as other animals were found in the upper 3 m. Numerous fish bones, wetland mammals and barbed bone points make this site especially interesting because of its desert location. The highest frequencies of fish bones are found between c. 80/90-130 cm (Upper Fish deposits) and between 210-280 cm below the surface (Lower Fish deposits). Most of the barbed bone points were recovered in the Upper Fish deposits. The Lower Fish deposits contain extinct Equus capensis and a microlithic industry as well as some bone points. A large blade industry is found beneath the Lower Fish deposits. This blade industry shows continuity with the underlying Middle Stone Age.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 1998
I report the results of a microscopic study of the bone modification in the identified bovid asse... more I report the results of a microscopic study of the bone modification in the identified bovid assemblage from Cave 1 at Klasies River Mouth (KRM), in South Africa. The study was undertaken in an effort to resolve divergent interpretations of the predatory competence of the early modern humans there. The microscopic data suggest that the hominids had relatively unrestricted access to the choicest parts of bovids in all size classes. The carnivore damage signature is ephemeral; it does not support assertions that large carcasses were carnivore-ravaged before their appropriation by hominids or that carnivores contributed a meaningful number of smaller bovids to the faunal assemblage. The data therefore lead to the conclusion that hominids were the sole, regular accumulators of bovids in all size classes. That many of those bovids were obtained by active hunting is suggested by the tip of a stone point embedded in a cervical vertebra of the extinct giant buffalo, Pelorovis antiquus. Finally, some attributes of the butchering patterning hint that the Klasies hominids formed socially mediated task groups to accomplish labourintensive tasks. These results challenge the general perception that modern morphology pre-dated modern behaviour and the specific assertion that the KRM hominids were behaviourally very primitive. The KRM hominids were apparently active hunters who produced composite tools and who planned and executed complex tasks within a social framework. To the extent that these behaviours presage the modern condition, the KRM hominids were as behaviourally near-modern as they were anatomically near-modern.
The question addressed by this volume is how human beings have evolved as creatures who can make ... more The question addressed by this volume is how human beings have evolved as creatures who can make and use more complex tools, communicate in more complex ways, and engage in more complex forms of social life, than any other species in the animal kingdom. Leading ...