South African Archaeological Bulletin 60 (182): 51–63, 2005 51

Research Article A TYPOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE FINAL STONE TOOLS FROM SIBUDU , KWAZULU-NATAL

LYN WADLEY School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, P.O. WITS, 2050 . E-mail: [email protected] (Received April 2005. Accepted September 2005)

ABSTRACT (Pickering 2002) of six samples shows that the sediments are The final Middle Stone Age (MSA) stone tool assemblage from Sibudu poorly sorted and immature, largely comprising anthropo- Cave is characterized by sidescrapers, bifacial and unifacial points, genically derived material, for example, ash, bone and worked hollow-based points, bifacial cutting tools and backed tools, including stone. The sediments also contain weathered roof-rock, wind- large, wide segments. The assemblage has been dated to between c. 33 borne sand, debris from microfauna and owls, and calcium and 35 kyr by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), but a carbonate and gypsum nodules, which form during decalci- radiocarbon date of c. 42 000 BP is also available. This Sibudu lithic fication of the deposits. The poor sorting of the sediments collection shows that large backed tools can be an integral part of the implies that little or no waterborne transportation occurred final MSA because no Later Stone Age (LSA) occupation occurs at the within the cave, and mineralogy and sediment microscopy site. Sibudu data contribute to discussion of local traditions in the final confirm this conclusion (Schiegl et al. 2004). Ash is a major MSA, of dating the final MSA, and of the presence of segments in component of, not only the hearths, but also the surrounding non- and non-LSA assemblages. sediments in all MSA layers studied (Schiegl et al. 2004). I now briefly describe the dating and stratigraphy of layers Keywords: , stone tools, final Middle Stone Age. from an industry that I call the final MSA. By the final MSA I INTRODUCTION mean the layers and associated industries that are more recent Sibudu Cave is approximately 40 km north of Durban in than about 42 kyr. These must be distinguished from other northern KwaZulu-Natal and it lies at an altitude of approxi- post-Howiesons Poort layers and assemblages, with ages mately 100 m amsl (above mean sea level) on the Tongati River, between about 60 and 50 kyr, which are called late MSA (Villa about 15 km inland of the Indian Ocean. The 55 m long cave et al. 2005). floor slopes abruptly from north to south. The cave is about Two dating methods have been used: radiocarbon dating 18 m in breadth. A small trial trench of roughly one metre deep on charcoal samples and optically stimulated luminescence was excavated in 1983 by Aron Mazel of the Natal Museum. His (OSL) dating of soil samples. Radiocarbon dating is not suitable excavation revealed that the uppermost layers of the cave for dating most of the MSA sequence because of the limits set by contain (IA) occupations and layers immediately the half-life of carbon 14. OSL is more suited to the task. The below this contain Middle Stone Age (MSA) occupations (Natal OSL dates were obtained from a combination of single-aliquot Museum notes). He obtained two reversed radiocarbon dates and single-grain analysis (Wadley & Jacobs 2004). for charcoal samples from MSA layers; the uppermost one was Below the surface of the entire excavation grid there is 26 000 ± 420 BP (Pta-3765) from layer MOD 2 at a depth of brown silt with vegetal material (BSV) (Fig. 2). This contains 200–300 mm from the surface; the second date of 24 200 ± Iron Age (IA) material culture items. The underlying brown 290 BP (Pta-3767) came from layer GAA2 at 790 to 880 mm sand with stones (BSS) also contains IA remains and charcoal below surface. This second, younger date is out of context and from a pit in square E3 has been dated to 960 ± 25 BP (Pta-8015) it must be rejected. The uppermost date of 26 000 BP was (calibrated to 1044 [1069, 1157] 1171 AD). No Later Stone Age initially thought to be useful, although radiocarbon dates from (LSA) remains are present in Sibudu. A hiatus, which is not MSA contexts are often minimum estimates; however, an detectable in the stratigraphy, occurred between the final equivalent MOD layer elsewhere in the excavation grid is now MSA occupations and the first IA occupations. The surface of dated by OSL to about 50 kyr and this seems to be a more the cave floor is presently scoured by wind in late winter/early reliable date (Z. Jacobs, pers. comm., 2004). summer and in the past wind may also have prevented the ac- The new excavations (Wadley 2001; Wadley & Jacobs 2004) cumulation of sterile deposits. are in a grid of twenty-four square metres (Fig. 1). Within the The final MSA occurs in Squares C2, D2, D3, E2 and E3 in grid a two-metre trial trench is more than three metres deep, the eastern part of the excavation (Fig. 1). Here, the stratigra- but it is estimated that several metres of deposit wait to be exca- phy is different from that in the northern part of the excavation vated. Eighteen of the remaining squares are on average grid (Fig. 2). The uppermost of the final MSA layers is Co, which 700 mm deep and the other squares are shallower than this. is a coffee-coloured, sandy deposit. It is preliminarily dated by The deposit is excavated in 500 mm quadrants. Until 2003 de- OSL to c. 33 kyr (Z. Jacobs, pers. comm., 2004). In the various posit was screened through 2 mm mesh and, since then, it has inventories (Tables 1–6), the reader will see not only layer Co, been screened through 1 mm mesh. A permanent datum line is but also H/Co; this is a hearth in layer Co that has been exca- painted on the cave wall and the depth of each layer is vated as a feature within the surrounding deposit. Co overlies measured from this datum. All stratigraphic depths are thus Bu, which is a light grey, sandy-silt with many tiny roof spalls. relative to the datum unless it is stated differently. A charcoal sample from square E2 in this layer was dated by radiocarbon to 42 300 ± 1 300 BP (Pta-8017). However,OSL pro- DATING AND STRATIGRAPHY vided a younger age of 35.2 ± 1.8 kyr for the same layer (Wadley The Sibudu stratigraphy is clear,but complex, and there are & Jacobs 2004). H/Bu and P/Bu are hearth and pit features many hearths and ash lenses. A sedimentological analysis within layer Bu. A thin, light-brown lens with white flecks of 52 South African Archaeological Bulletin 60 (182): 51–63, 2005 gypsum, LB MOD (and its associated hearth H/LB), is under Bu and over MC, which is a small, white ash lens that does not reach the eastern section wall and therefore does not feature in Fig. 2. H/MC is a hearth feature within MC. Under this are the small lenses Mou, D Mou and L Mou. In the northern part of the excavation grid the sequence is different and is older (Wadley & Jacobs 2004). The relationship between the stratig- raphy in the north and that in the east of the excavation grid is not yet fully understood and it is hoped that more dates from the younger layers will provide the necessary resolution. At this preliminary stage of dating, it seems that the eastern part of the excavation grid, which is close to the cave wall, contains a saucer-like series of lenses in which relatively young occupa- tion horizons occur. This series is missing from the northern part of the excavation grid where MOD, at the top of the sequence, has a preliminary OSL date of about 50 kyr (Z. Jacobs, pers. comm., 2004). The saucer-like lenses cover such a small area of the excavation grid that one could be persuaded to believe that, after c. 42 or 35 kyr (depending on which date is ac- cepted), only small groups camped against the wall of the cave.

ENVIRONMENTAL EVIDENCE: 45–25 KYR Drier as well as cooler conditions than at present may have prevailed from about 45 kyr in KwaZulu-Natal and there are proxy data to support this suggestion. Colluvial deposits accu- mulated in parts of KwaZulu-Natal during the Last Glacial and this colluviation developed during periods of increased aridity and reduced vegetation (Botha & Partridge 2000). Further sup- port for a dry phase comes from the western shores of Lake Sibayi, KwaZulu-Natal, where freshwater diatomite beds and calcareous clays developed between about 45 and 25 kyr, suggesting drying out of the lake (Maud & Botha 2000). During the Last Glacial Sibudu would, of course, have been FIG. 1. Plan of Sibudu Cave, showing the distribution of final MSA deposits. further from the coast than it is today because of the lowering of sea-levels. This is evidenced from the KwaZulu-Natal river Uken suggests that the origin is most likely to have been from a mouths that in the past were cut deeper into bedrock than contact zone where a dolerite sill intruded the Ecca Shales. they are today (Cooper & Flores 1991). The Tongati River Varying temperatures occur in the zone of thermal metamor- bedrock channel is cut back to –30 m (Orme 1976). At the height phism where a dolerite intrusion occurs. Consequently, there of the last glaciation the shoreline in the Durban region was 30 are different grades of metamorphic hornfels and igneous to 40 km offshore of its present position and similar distances dolerite and, on occasion, they are difficult to discriminate. could be expected for the coastline off the Tongati River. Both dolerite and ‘chilled dolerite’ (which looks like hornfels) occur locally in the Sibudu valley (R. Uken, pers. comm., 2004). GEOLOGY AND ROCK TYPES USED IN SIBUDU Since XRF cannot be performed on all the lithics, there will be a The geology of the area has, of course, influenced the raw margin of error in my hornfels and dolerite identifications. material components of the lithic assemblages at the site. The shelter, itself, has been carved by fluvial action from a Natal THE CULTURAL REMAINS Group sandstone cliff. Sandstone was occasionally used for Directly below the Iron Age occupation layers (described tool manufacture, but the rock used for knapping seems briefly in Wadley & Jacobs 2004) are traditional MSA material finer-grained than that from the shelter wall. A few hundred culture items, mostly made from stone. In the eastern part of metres from the site there is a dolerite intrusion into the the excavation, under discussion here, there are retouched sandstone cliff and this is likely to be the source of part of the tools that include bifacial and unifacial points, straight and dolerite that was used for knapping throughout the MSA. convex scrapers, backed tools, scaled pieces (pièces esquillées) Dolerite cobbles and rare quartzite and nodules also and notches. There are rare examples of small bifaces and occur on the banks of the Tongati River, below the cave. hollow-based points (Fig. 3). Neither bifaces nor hollow-based Hornfels of the quality generally used at Sibudu is not points are found elsewhere in the excavation grid; they are locally available today, but there is a chance that outcrops absent from all layers older than those discussed in this paper. exposed near to the cave in the past may now be covered with The bifaces are not points, but rather elliptical tools with sharp dune sand. Today the closest good-quality hornfels outcrop cutting edges and they have been worked invasively across that has been located is in the Verulum area, approximately both faces by removing small flakes from their perimeters. 20 km south of Sibudu. A piece of hornfels that eroded from the Hollow-based points are bifacial, triangular points that have talus slope of the shelter was subjected to an elemental analysis their bases thinned and shaped to a concave form, presumably by XRF (R. Uken, pers. comm., 2004). Its high silica content to facilitate hafting. The name hollow-based point is, perhaps, (63.8%) and low magnesium (1.4%) and calcium (0.7%) content not well chosen, but I use it in recognition of identical points, by (relative to that of dolerite) confirms that it is metamorphosed the same name, from the final MSA of Umhlatuzana (Kaplan shale (hornfels) from a contact zone with a dolerite intrusion. 1990), which is about 90 km, as the crow flies, from Sibudu. South African Archaeological Bulletin 60 (182): 51–63, 2005 53

FIG. 2. Stratigraphy of the eastern section of Sibudu Cave.

Points from Sibudu seem to have been hafted (Lombard greatest volume of deposit (485 litres), yet one of the lowest tool 2004, 2005; Wadley et al. 2004; Williamson 2004). Lombard’s densities (0.11) (Table 1). There are 219 whole retouched tools macro-fracture, use-wear analysis and replication work have and 157 broken retouched tools. convincingly shown that 24 Sibudu points (taken as a random Although they are relatively rare, the most distinctive re- sample) were hafted and that mastic and twine were probably touched tools in these upper layers are hollow-based points used together for the attachment of the stone to its haft. The (n = 6) and small bifaces (n = 6) (Table 1; Fig. 3). Microscopic concentration of faunal remains on the distal portions of points analysis and the morphology of the bifacial cutting tools shows that the tips were used on animals, although some of suggests that they were cutting implements. them may have also been used for the processing of plants Scrapers are the most common retouched type (whole (Lombard 2005). scrapers are 30.0% of the total of whole tools), with sidescrapers (Fig. 4) being the most prevalent scraper type (71%). Most of RESULTS OF THE TYPOLOGICAL STUDY these are straight sidescrapers (called knives in previous publi- cations on Rose Cottage Cave, for example, Wadley 1997; RETOUCHED TOOLS (Table 1) Wadley & Harper 1989). The highest frequency of retouch occurs in LB where there Points are the next most common retouched types in the are 0.47 tools per litre of deposit (Table 1). Layer Bu has the collection and the 51 whole points represent 26.4% of all whole

FIG. 3. Retouched tools from Sibudu Cave final MSA. (1) Hollow-based point, hornfels: square C2a, Co; (2) hollow-based point, hornfels: C2a, Mou; (3) bifacial cutting tool, hornfels: C2c, Es; (4) hollow-based point, hornfels: C2a, Bu. 54 South African Archaeological Bulletin 60 (182): 51–63, 2005

TABLE 1. Sibudu Cave: frequencies of retouched tools.

MSA layers Co H/Co Bu H/Bu P/Bu LB H/LB MC H/MC Es Mou L Mou D Mou Total

Unifacial point 303007031102121 Bifacial point 403108060100124 Hollow-based point 10100101011006 Broken point 3040013010212026 Scraper End 001003140000211 Side, convex 3 01009000001014 Side, straight 2 031010020010019 Side, concave 0 0000100000001 Side, convergent 0 0100500000017 Side, double 0 0000003000003 End/side 1 0000000000001 Convergent 2 0000000000002 Bifacial cutting tool 00000200020004 Broken bifacial cutting tool 00000200000002 Denticulate 10000101000014 Notch 303107030002019 Graver/burin 2 000001000003 Bec 10000100000002 Borer 00000300000003 Adze 10000200000003 Scaled piece 502004010011014 Miscellaneous retouch 213104020001014 Broken retouch 23128314913002742151 Backed tool Segment 0 0000304000007 Backed blade 0 0000001000001 Obliquely backed 0 1000200000003 Other 0 0010200010105 Broken backed tool 01200102000006 Total 57 4 55 8 1 140 2 65 1 10 11 14 8 376 Litres deposit 260 5 485 50 5 295 7 165 10 30 30 30 10 Tools per litre 0.22 0.80 0.11 0.16 0.20 0.47 0.29 0.39 0.10 0.33 0.37 0.47 0.80 retouched tools. Bifacial points are slightly more common than The percentages of retouch are low (1.1%) when they are unifacial points and are 59.0% of the whole points, including calculated from the total of stone pieces in all layers. When hollow-based forms. All of the broken points (n = 26) are the chips are excluded from the calculation, retouch percentages distal tips of broken points. Several of these final MSA points increase to 3.0%. If the tools from hearths and pits are removed have been subjected to a residue analysis by Marlize Lombard. from the calculation, because of their low absolute frequencies One of these, a hollow-based point from Co, contained plant of retouch, then percentages of retouch in the various layers and residues on the proximal end and animal residues on range between 2.8 and 4.0%. the distal end (M. Lombard pers. comm., 2004, and Lombard 2005). In this instance it appears that the tool was hafted with GRINDSTONES (Table 2) plant twine and mastic loaded with ochre. The most obvious Only four grindstone fragments are present in the entire explanation for animal residues on the distal tip is that the final MSA. hafted point was used as a spear, but it may also have been used as a knife for cutting meat. CORES (Table 2) Concave notches are more numerous than adzes, suggest- Cores are not common in the Sibudu collection, an observa- ing that notches are not merely worn out adzes. There is no pat- tion that applies to all layers, not merely to the final MSA ones. tern to the residues in notches (B.S. Williamson, pers. comm., Of the 108 whole cores recorded here, minimal and bipolar 2004) and they may have been multi-purpose tools; however, a cores are the most common (29.0% each of the total cores). A larger sample is probably required in order to make useful minimal core is a chunk with two or three randomly placed comments about their function. In contrast, plant residues are removals. The core-reduced pieces may be worked-out bipolar common on the shattered edges of scaled pieces (pièces cores and, when combined with bipolar cores, they represent esquillées) that are tools not cores (B.S. Williamson, pers. comm., 46% of all cores. 2004) and this implies that they were used as wood-working Levallois and other prepared core techniques are notice- tools. They may have been used for preparing wooden handles ably rare, as are non-levallois cores that could have been used for the hafting of stone inserts, but this is presently surmised. for the production of blades. The low frequencies of core reju- Boomplaas specimens seem also to have been used for working venation/preparation flakes mirror the prepared core low wood (Binneman 1982). frequencies. Backed tools are uncommon (whole backed tools represent 7.3% of the total of whole retouch), but are present in small CHIPS, CHUNKS, FLAKES AND BLADES/BLADELETS frequencies in almost all of the final MSA layers. The seven (Table 3) segments occur only in LB and MC and, of these, several are In this study, chips are pieces 10 mm and smaller. They unusually wide (Fig. 4) compared to segments from the represent the largest percentage (64.6%) of the recovered stone Howiesons Poort layers. (Table 3). Chunks are manuports, or pieces larger than 10 mm South African Archaeological Bulletin 60 (182): 51–63, 2005 55

TABLE 2. Sibudu Cave: frequencies of grindstones and cores.

MSA layers Co H/Co Bu H/Bu P/Bu LB H/LB MC H/MC Es Mou L Mou D Mou

Grindstone 0000000000000 Grindstone fragment 1010010100000 Core Minimal 6 3720 60302000 Core-reduced 1 2120 90100010 Bipolar 4 0800110302100 Levallois 0 0000 31000000 Other prepared 1 0000 00000000 Radial 1 0010 10100000 Adjacent platform 1 1000 10000000 Change of orientation 0 0100 51100000 Single platform 0 0100 00001000 Opposed platform, same side 0 0000 10000000 Opposed platform, opposite side 0 0010 20000010 Opposed platform, same and 0 0000 00000010 opposite side Double platform 1 0000 00000000 Cylinder 0 0000 00101000 Blade 0 0100 00000000 Bifacial 0 0100 00000000 Core fragments 5 0200 10200000 Broken core 1 0210 00000000 that have one removal, and they represent 11.5% of all stone. comprise only 3.0% of the whole flakes. Side-struck flakes Flakes are divided by size into <20 mm, and 20 mm and larger. (flakes with breadth greater than length) are marginally more They are also separated into cortical (flakes with at least 50% of common than end-struck flakes. The final MSA at Sibudu is the ventral surface covered with rock cortex) and non-cortical typified by flake rather than blade production. Here, a blade categories, and into side- and end-struck classes. Given that is defined as a long flake with its length at least twice that of there are few cores at the site, it is unsurprising that the its breadth. A bladelet is a blade with a length smaller than frequencies of cortical flakes are low; indeed, cortical flakes 26 mm. Bladelets comprise 57.0% of the combined blade and

FIG. 4. Retouched tools from Sibudu Cave final MSA. (1) segment, dolerite: square D3a, LB MOD; (2) segment, dolerite: D3c, LB MOD; (3) convergent scraper, hornfels: E3c, LB MOD; (4) incised flake, dolerite: D2a L Mou; (5) bifacial point, dolerite: E2c, LB MOD; (6) convergent scraper,hornfels: D3d, LB MOD; (7) side- scraper, hornfels: C2d, Bu. 56 South African Archaeological Bulletin 60 (182): 51–63, 2005

TABLE 3. Sibudu: frequencies of chips, chunks, flakes, blades and broken pieces.

MSA layers Co H/Co Bu H/Bu P/Bu LB H/LB MC H/MC Es Mou L Mou D Mou Total

Chip <1 cm 2 617 609 4 009 606 34 7 553 26 3 649 209 413 417 596 359 21 097 Chunk 470 83 675 55 6 1 373 9 722 29 102 124 96 11 3 755 Flake End non-cort <2 cm 77 26 161 12 4 506 6 177 2 26 25 43 11 1 076 End non-cort >2 cm 54 13 69 2 0 236 8 108 2 11 19 33 11 566 Side non-cort <2 cm 96 27 176 20 5 685 3 286 12 38 27 44 15 1 434 Side non-cort >2 cm 44 12 92 6 2 257 0 122 4 20 28 10 7 604 End cort <2 cm 1 0 10 2 0 7 0 4 0110026 End cort >2 cm 2 0 8 0 0 9 0 4 0000124 Side cort <2 cm 7 0 7 0 0 7 0 7 0020030 Side cort >2 cm 11 1 2 0 0 8 0 6 0022032 Core rejuvenation/prep. 3 0 3 0 0 11 0 2 0000019 Total flake 295 79 528 42 11 1 726 17 716 20 96 104 132 45 3 811 Broken flake Proximal 214 35 320 25 7 738 2 550 14 46 59 66 45 2 121 Fragments 126 18 175 9 5 641 3 252 7 28 39 49 68 1 420 Split 13 3 22 2 0 11 0 20 1222179 Blade 91142128070122067 Bladelet 651501421110306191 Crested blade 20000000000002 Broken blade Proximal 14 2 21 0 0 27 0 16 0130084 Fragments 20 4 15 0 2 40 0 13 01821106 Total 3 788 839 5 794 739 67 12 179 58 5 956 280 693 758 951 531 32 633 bladelet category. When blades and bladelets (160) are com- carbon dating on charcoal to 42 300 ± 1300 BP. The industry is bined with flakes (3811), then flakes comprise 96.0% of the 3971 characterized by flake rather than blade production, and scrap- pieces. ers and points (particularly bifacial examples) are the most common retouched classes. The 30 whole bifacial points are INCISED FLAKE particularly noteworthy when they are compared with the sin- A snapped, dolerite flake from layer L Mou is incised gle bifacial point and single partly bifacial point from RSp, (Fig. 4). There are two types of incisions: first, short cut marks dated c. 53 kyr. In total, RSp has 113 pointed forms (Villa et al. on the perimeter of the flake that make it look like a decorated 2005). Notches are also present and large, wide segments and piecrust and, secondly, several straight and curved lines cut other backed tools occur in low, but significant frequencies into the dorsal surface of the flake. (whole backed tools represent 7.3% of the whole retouched tools). Only one segment occurs in RSp at c. 53 kyr (Villa et al. ROCK TYPES USED FOR LITHIC MANUFACTURE 2005); thus it appears that backed tools are a small, but genuine, (Tables 4–6) part of the final MSA at Sibudu. Hornfels and dolerite are the main rock types used for tool The most distinctive formal tools, notwithstanding their manufacture. Quartzite, quartz and fine-grained sandstone are rarity,are the hollow-based points and the bifacial cutting tools. also used, but to a lesser extent. Although quartz tools are not No hollow-based points occur in deeper MSA layers. The high that common, there are more quartz cores than any other type proportion of quartz cores, yet the low proportion of quartz (65.7% of all whole cores). Minimal cores are 58.6% quartz and flakes and blades/bladelets, suggests that small quartz nodules only 13.8% hornfels; 91.3% of core-reduced/bipolar cores are were brought back to the site for knapping more regularly than made of quartz and 36.4% of the ‘other’ core classes are made of pieces of hornfels or dolerite. Hornfels and dolerite tools may quartz. Notwithstanding this high percentage of quartz cores, have been made or partially prepared elsewhere, for example, only 14.0% of whole flakes are quartz and only 16.2% of at the quarries where large blocks were obtained. Thus, partly blades/bladelets are quartz. Hornfels is most often used for prepared hornfels and dolerite flake and blade blanks may flakes (60.4%) and for blades/bladelets (57.0%). Hornfels is also have been brought to the cave where they were modified, the preferred rock type for most retouch in the final MSA: used, re-sharpened and curated. Dolerite could have been 66.2% points, 55.2% scrapers and 60.3% ‘other’ retouch are obtained just a few hundred metres from the site, but hornfels hornfels. Few points, scrapers, backed tools or ‘other’ retouch of the quality used by the Sibudu knappers was only available are made of quartz. Amongst backed tools 45.5% are made on about 20 km away. hornfels and 31.8% on dolerite. Dolerite is also favoured for Sibudu data can contribute to a broader discussion of, first, Howiesons Poort backed tools, notwithstanding the irregular local traditions in the final MSA, secondly, dating the final surface of this rock type. MSA and, thirdly, the occurrence of segments in non-Howie- sons Poort and non-LSA assemblages. THE SIBUDU FINAL MSA IN THE BROADER AFRICAN Sibudu’s final MSA is most like the contemporary assem- CONTEXT blage from Umhlatuzana, a rockshelter about 90 km from The Sibudu final MSA is dated by single-grained lumines- Sibudu, between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. The cence to c. 33 and 35 kyr in the upper two layers and by radio- Umhlatuzana final MSA, or MSA/LSA transition as Kaplan South African Archaeological Bulletin 60 (182): 51–63, 2005 57

TABLE 4. Sibudu Cave: frequencies of rock types of retouched tools.

MSA layers Co H/Co Bu H/Bu P/Bu LB H/LB MC H/MC Es Mou L Mou D Mou

Point/broken point Hornfels 9 0 10 1 0 15 0514231 Dolerite 1 0 1 0 0 2 0201010 Quartzite 0 0 0 0 0 5 0000001 Sandstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0100000 Quartz 1 0 0 0 0 7 0300000 Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000000 Bifacial tool/ broken bifacial tool Hornfels 0 0 0 0 0 3 0002000 Dolerite 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000000 Quartzite 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000000 Sandstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000000 Quartz 0 0 0 0 0 1 0000000 Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000000 Scraper Hornfels 4 0 2 1 0 17 0600110 Dolerite 1 0 2 0 0 4 0200001 Quartzite 1 0 0 0 0 1 0000000 Sandstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000000 Quartz 2 0 2 0 0 6 0100000 Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000000 Other retouch Hornfels 5 1 8 0 0 15 1700121 Dolerite 3 0 0 0 0 0 0100000 Quartzite 1 0 0 0 0 1 0000020 Sandstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000000 Quartz 6 0 0 2 0 6 0000000 Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000000 Backed tool/broken backed Hornfels 0 1 2 0 0 5 0200000 Dolerite 0 0 0 0 0 1 0401010 Quartzite 0 0 0 0 0 2 0000000 Sandstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000000 Quartz 0 1 0 1 0 0 0000000 Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0100000 Broken retouch Hornfels 15 0 21 3 0 33 0 2502622 Dolerite 1 0 3 0 1 2 0400020 Quartzite 0 0 0 0 0 7 0000000 Sandstone 1 0 0 0 0 0 0000000 Quartz 6 1 4 0 0 7 1100100 Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000000

(1990) calls it, dates (by the radiocarbon method on charcoal) to MSA layers; however, a single hollow-based point was found between 35 300 ± 930 BP (Pta-4663) and 27 800 ± 780 BP at Border Cave (on the border of KwaZulu-Natal and Swazi- (Pta-4389). The Umhlatuzana dates may be minimum esti- land) in a Howiesons Poort layer (Beaumont et al. 1978). Since mates, although the date of c. 35 000 BP fits well with the lumi- only one of these tools is reported from Border Cave it is nescence dates of 33 and 35 kyr from Sibudu. Unfortunately, difficult to assess its significance in the Howiesons Poort Indus- rotational slippage occurred at Umhlatuzana and this has try. Although I do not know of other hollow-based points in caused some doubt about the site’s stratigraphic integrity. LSA Africa, they also occur in the Upper Palaeolithic of the USSR, industries occur above the MSA and it is therefore possible that where they are known as Pointe de Streletskaya in the sites of mixing occurred between MSA and LSA assemblages; a com- Streletskaya, Kostienki and Soungir (Demars & Laurent 1992: parison between the contemporary Sibudu and Umhlatuzana 126–127). The Pointe de Streletskaya are dated to between 35 and assemblages suggests that the latter may, indeed be mixed. 42 kyr and are therefore comparable in age to the Sibudu Kaplan’s MSA/LSA transition contains unifacial, bifacial and hollow-based points (Villa et al. 2005). hollow-based MSA points together with bladelets and bladelet Holley Shelter, in the Wartburg district of KwaZulu-Natal, cores that are considered to be LSA. In contrast, Sibudu does is closer to Sibudu than Umhlatuzana, but its MSA assemblages not contain many bladelets in the final MSA assemblage and it are unlike Sibudu’s late MSA and more like Sibudu assem- has no bladelet cores. The unifacial, bifacial and hollow-based blages that date between 50 and 60 kyr. Hollow-based points points from Umhlatuzana are almost identical to those from are not represented at Holley Shelter; instead, the assemblages Sibudu, in part because they are also made of hornfels, and a are characterized by long hornfels blades, unifacial points local knapping tradition may be represented. At both sites, the made on blades and large, hornfels outils écaillés (sometimes hollow-based points, although not common, are useful time known as pièces esquillées) (Cramb 1952, 1961, and personal markers in the region because at neither site do they occur in observation). The British Museum Laboratory date of 18 200 ± layers older than 35 kyr, or c. 42 000 years ago if the Sibudu 500 BP from charcoal collected in the 24–30-inch spit (Cramb radiocarbon date is correct. In an African context, the hollow- 1961) is at best a minimum age, but is more likely to be based points appear to be unique to the KwaZulu-Natal region. completely inappropriate for the industry represented in They are only known from Umhlatuzana and Sibudu final Holley Shelter. Another late date for a MSA tradition was 58 South African Archaeological Bulletin 60 (182): 51–63, 2005

TABLE 5. Sibudu: rock types of grindstones and cores.

MSA layers Co H/Co Bu H/Bu P/Bu LB H/LB MC H/MC Es Mou L Mou D Mou

Grindstone/Grindstone fragment Hornfels 0 000010000000 Dolerite 0 000000000000 Quartzite 0 000000000000 Sandstone 1 010000100000 Quartz 0 000000000000 Other 0 000000000000 Core Minimal core Hornfels 1 010010100000 Dolerite 0 000010100000 Quartzite 0 010010000000 Sandstone 010010000000 Quartz 5 342020100000 Other 0 000000002000 Core-reduced/bipolar Hornfels 0 000010000000 Dolerite 0 000000000000 Quartzite 0 000010000000 Sandstone 0 000000000000 Quartz 5 2920180400110 Other 0 000000002000 Other core Hornfels 0 021070000000 Dolerite 1 010002100010 Quartzite 0 000020000010 Sandstone 0 000000000000 Quartz 3 111040200000 Other 0 000000002000 Broken core/ core fragments Hornfels 3 010010200000 Dolerite 1 000000000000 Quartzite 0 000000000000 Sandstone 0 000000000000 Quartz 1 031000000000 Other 1 000000000000 obtained from the important KwaZulu-Natal site of Shong- or post-Howiesons Poort. His description of the open scatter of weni (Davies 1975). The uppermost MSA layer here, with a MSA tools (with scrapers and small unifacial points, but no radiocarbon date (on charcoal) of 22 990 ± 310 BP (Pta-966), backed tools) at Tayside, Dundee (Malan 1949), suggested that contains scrapers, points and segments and the dominant raw the site does not have a ‘Magosian’ or final MSA industry, but material is hornfels with quartz, dolerite and quartzite less well that a late MSA of the kind found at c. 53 kyr at Sibudu (Villa represented. No hollow-based points are present here, per- et al. 2005) is represented. haps because the period represented is not the same as that in The dates of c. 33–42 kyr for the MSA layers discussed here the final MSA of Sibudu, or perhaps because I am wrong in place the Sibudu final MSA industry within the later part of thinking that hollow-based points represent time-related re- MSA 3 as it was described by Volman more than twenty years gional traditions in the final MSA. Perhaps the hollow-based ago (1981, 1984). So much variability occurs within the points are simply part of a tool-kit that was not appropriate for typologies and technologies of MSA 3 that this catch-all the activities carried out at Shongweni. Holley and Shongweni category is probably not useful without further subdivision. need to be re-dated before their lithic assemblages can be One problem is that the MSA 3 is used to embrace all meaningfully compared with those from Sibudu and MSA assemblages dating from about 60 to 25 kyr. A second Umhlatuzana. problem is that some of the radiocarbon dates in this period Malan (1945, 1949) described several open MSA sites in may be minimum ages for the strata from which they were KwaZulu-Natal. Two of these, at Izotsha, about a kilometre taken. Without a reliable chronology it is impossible to make from the ocean, contain a large segment, broken backed blades, informative comparisons between sites and their industries. bifacial and unifacial points, and scrapers (Malan 1945). Few With the advent of dependable OSL dating techniques the tools were reported, and surface collections from open sites are situation is now far better than it was a decade ago; several of potentially mixed, so it is difficult to draw any conclusions South Africa’s long-sequence sites have been well dated, but a about the two assemblages, other than to point out that the major dating programme is still required to re-date sites where combination of many bifacial points with segments points to radiocarbon dating was initially used. My experience at Sibudu the final MSA in Sibudu; no other Sibudu assemblage has this suggests that radiocarbon dates may often be minimum ages in combination of tool classes. Malan’s (1949, 1952) descriptions of MSA contexts. Thirdly, and importantly, there is lack of agree- ‘Magosian’ sites in KwaZulu-Natal and elsewhere in South ment among archaeologists about what constitutes MSA, LSA Africa, have added to the general confusion surrounding this and transitional industries. term, because he does not distinguish between collections with As I have already intimated, literature dealing with lithic or without backed tools, nor between collections that are pre- industries from the period 40–25 kyr is as navigable as a South African Archaeological Bulletin 60 (182): 51–63, 2005 59

TABLE 6. Sibudu: frequencies of rock types of chips, chunks, flakes, blades and broken tools.

MSA layer Co H/Co Bu H/Bu P/Bu LB H/ LB MC H/MC Es Mou L Mou D Mou

Chunk Hornfels 95 22 176 15 3 443 2 242 9 27 50 34 9 Dolerite 136 26 131 15 0 92 2 280 16 44 12 12 2 Quartzite 4 0 0 0 0 209 0 10 1 0 18 20 0 Sandstone 18 0 15 2 0 21 0 13 1 3 0 0 0 Quartz 186 32 344 23 2 431 5 172 2 25 35 13 0 Other 31 3 9 0 1 177 0 5 0 3 9 17 0 Flake Hornfels 142 43 288 18 8 1121 9 425 13 59 66 80 22 Dolerite 90 19 76 4 1 158 7 192 4 32 23 13 13 Quartzite 6 0 9 1 1 187 1 12 1 1 4 31 8 Sandstone 12 1 28 4 0 8 0 27 2 1 1 2 0 Quartz 44 16 127 15 1 251 0 57 0 3 10 4 2 Other 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 Broken flake Hornfels 174 32 349 24 7 877 3 496 16 39 69 65 33 Dolerite 112 19 80 3 4 145 2 228 5 28 14 21 20 Quartzite 7 0 3 1 0 151 0 12 0 0 10 26 22 Sandstone 4 0 3 0 0 1 0 17 1 1 0 0 2 Quartz 55 5 82 8 1 216 0 68 0 8 7 4 10 Other 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 27 Blade/bladelet Hornfels 8 3 17 2 1 42 0 10 0 2 1 4 1 Dolerite 4 0 5 0 0 7 0 5 0 2 0 1 0 Quartzite 1 0 0 0 1 8 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 Sandstone 3 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quartz 1 3 5 0 0 12 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Broken blade/bladelet Hornfels 21 5 27 0 1 53 0 24 0 1 9 1 1 Dolerite 10 1 3 0 1 5 0 5 0 1 1 0 0 Quartzite 1 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Sandstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quartz 2 0 5 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 labyrinth. For example, McBrearty & Brooks (2000) placed the (Kuman et al. 1999), Strathalan Cave B (Opperman & MSA/LSA transition at 50 kyr, Beaumont (1978) and Grün & Heydenrych 1990), Driekoppen Shelter (Wallsmith 1990), Beaumont (2001) placed the beginning of the LSA at 40 kyr, but Highlands (Deacon 1976), Boomplaas (Deacon others suggest that the LSA begins much later, between 30 and 1995), Umhlatuzana (Kaplan 1990) and Grassridge (Opperman 23 kyr (Wadley 1993, 1997; Mitchell 1994, 2002; Deacon 1995; 1987). MSA tools also continue late at Sehonghong in Clark 1997a,b). Beaumont (1978) situates the Border Cave 1WA (Carter et al. 1988; Mitchell 1994), at Sibebe, Swaziland assemblage in the early LSA because it has high frequencies of (Price-Williams 1981), and Apollo 11, (Wendt 1976). At outils écaillés, low frequencies of formal tools, low frequencies of Sehonghong and at Rose Cottage the final MSA contains a faceted platforms (10%) and a lack of prepared core technol- variety of scrapers (especially straight scrapers, known as ogy. A recent re-assessment of the 1WA chronology provides ‘knives’ in some of the South African literature) and several an age estimate of between 42 and 35 kyr (Grün & Beaumont unifacial points, but there are low frequencies of formal tools. 2001). Border Cave’s 1 WA assemblage seems enigmatic in the At Strathalan Cave B (Opperman & Heydenrych 1990) the light of other contemporary South African assemblages, but small lithic assemblage has a predominance of blades with few Mitchell (1988) and Barham (1989) both pointed out that there (21) formal tools and it is difficult to compare this assemblage may be an admixture of MSA core technology in 1 WA. It is not with those from other sites. The youngest MSA layer at presently possible to explain why, within this same time-frame, Boomplaas is dated by radiocarbon on charcoal to 32 000 years bifacial and unifacial points were still being manufactured in ago (Deacon 1979, 1995). This lithic assemblage is rich in long quantities at Sibudu, which is only 250 km south of Border blades as is the one at Highlands (Volman 1981, 1984). The Cave. At Sibudu there is no question about the typologically MSA 4 of Klasies River, Cave 1, (Singer & Wymer 1982: 67), not- MSA nature of the assemblage even as late as 42 or 33 kyr withstanding its name, predates the period under discussion because bifacial and unifacial points comprise 30.2% of the here and belongs to an early MSA 3 phase in the Volman retouched tools. Both Border Cave and Sibudu are now scheme. The final MSA from Florisbad, Free State, is one of the securely dated by means other than radiocarbon and there most informal of the late MSA collections; it contains only seems a strong likelihood that the dates for both sites are flakes with a few triangular flakes and ten flakes with faceted correct within the range of their respective standard devia- platforms (Kuman et al. 1999). The date of 19 530 ± 650 BP for tions. This chronological security does not apply to some of the this final MSA at Florisbad may be a minimum age. The final other sites that I now discuss. MSA assemblage from the Western Cape site of Ysterfontein, MSA tool classes appear to continue late in the South Afri- dated 33 470 ± 510 BP (Beta-169978) and >46 400 BP can sites of Rose Cottage Cave (Wadley & Vogel 1991; Wadley (Beta-171202), contains many denticulates, but few other 1993, 1997; Clark 1997a,b; Valladas et al. 2005), Florisbad retouched pieces (Halkett et al. 2003). Southwestern Namibian 60 South African Archaeological Bulletin 60 (182): 51–63, 2005 final MSA sites also have few formal tools and an apparent lack a unit dated by amino-acid racemization on ostrich eggshell to of standardization among other lithics (Vogelsang 1996). between 65 and 45 kyr (McBrearty & Brooks 2000). Further afield, the situation is equally complex. In , at In , at White Paintings Shelter, there is an indus- Sodmein Cave in the Red Sea Mountains, the oldest Upper try dated c. 30 000 years ago (by ostrich eggshell protein Palaeolithic (defined partly by a lack of Levallois technique) is diagenesis) that contains large blades that are occasionally dated 25 200 ± 500 BP (UtC-3313), while the Middle Palaeolithic retouched to form large segments and scrapers; Robbins & level 2 is dated 29 950 ± 900 (GrN-16782) and >30 000 BP Murphy (1998: 59) call the industry an early LSA or the (Lv-2084) (Van Peer et al. 1996). In the Horn and East Africa “Botswana counterpart to the South African Howiesons Poort there is also a confusion of MSA artefact types and technolo- industry”. If this late industry in Botswana can be shown to gies, some with and others without Levallois technology and it have MSA elements, it may have similarities to the Tshangula is not known whether the differences are age-related (Gresham Industry of . Here, Cooke recognized the Tshangula & Brandt 1996). In central Africa, at Matupi, Congo, microlithic as an industry that combined MSA Levallois elements with cores predate 40 kyr, whereas, at Kalemba, , radial and backed tools, including segments (Cooke 1971, 1978; Volman disc cores persist as late as 25 kyr (McBrearty & Brooks 2000). 1981, 1984; Larsson 1996). As such, the Tshangula was seen as a Since the post-Howiesons Poort assemblages labelled transitional industry, not unlike the Magosian Industry, that is, MSA 3 span the period c. 60–30 kyr, it is not surprising that the ‘Second Intermediate’ recognized in the first half of the a great deal of variability is evident. As Deacon (1995) pointed twentieth century (Cooke 1971, 1978; Volman 1981). At out, the mid-late is generally a period of low Pomongwe the final MSA seems to postdate 35 000 years ago archaeological visibility and important sites such as and it contains backed tools with points (Walker 1995). Several and Klasies River do not have occupation for different industries may be represented by the term Tshangula much of this period. Thus it seems inappropriate to compare (Walker & Wadley 1984) and it is possible that, amongst these the earlier part of MSA 3, dating older than 45 kyr, with the late sites, only Duncombe Farm (Hitzeroth 1973; Walker & Wadley MSA 3 at Sibudu and other like-aged sites. 1984) contains a true transitional industry. A date of 18 970 ± The presence of some backed tools (7.3% of all whole re- 275 BP (SR-243), which is possibly a minimum age, was touched classes – broken tools are excluded from the calcula- obtained from the middle of the Tshangula at this site and all of tion) in the final MSA of Sibudu is noteworthy, but it does not the site’s large segments were obtained within the Tshangula. imply that a Howiesons Poort Industry is represented here. Included within the Tshangula assemblages are ostrich Nor does their presence imply contamination from above be- eggshell beads, worked bone artefacts and occasionally bored cause there is no LSA occupation in Sibudu; the backed tools in stones. It is tempting to suggest that the Tshangula bears a the final MSA cannot therefore be the result of downward resemblance to the ‘early LSA’, dated 39 900 ± 1600 BP, that movement of LSA material through the deposits. Small fre- Ambrose (1998) has recognized at Enkapune ya Muto, . quencies of backed tools appear to be an integral part of the late This assemblage contains ostrich eggshell beads, outils écaillés MSA at Sibudu, as they are at Shongweni and Umhlatuzana. and thumbnail endscrapers, low frequencies of backed blades Backed tools were also found in the Alfred County Cave, and large segments that are within the size range of MSA KwaZulu-Natal, but their context is unknown (Mitchell 1998). segments, and low frequencies of discoidal forms and Although backed tools, particularly segments, are the ac- discoidal cores and faceted platform flakes (Ambrose 1998: knowledged fossiles directeurs of Howiesons Poort industries, 382). Other East African sites dating more recently than 40 000 we should not assume that a Howiesons Poort Industry is signi- years ago also have a variety of organic artefacts and seem fied when a few backed tools are present in an assemblage. transitional in their combination of MSA and LSA tool classes. Howiesons Poort assemblages removed from sites that have In there is Kisese 11, dated 31 480 BP and Mumba has been carefully excavated in small stratigraphic layers usually an MSA/LSA industry dating 27 000 and 33 200 BP (Ambrose contain very high percentage frequencies of backed tools rela- 1998). It now seems fashionable to refer to these industries as tive to other tool classes. Rose Cottage Cave is a good case LSA, perhaps partly as a reaction against the term ‘Magosian’. study. Here, the Howiesons Poort layers, excavated in minute The Magosian began to lose favour after Cole (1967) questioned stratigraphic lenses by Harper (1997), contained high percent- its integrity and suggested that many Magosian sites were ages of backed tools and a near absence of other tool classes. contaminated mixtures of MSA and LSA. Subsequently Clark In contrast, the Rose Cottage post-Howiesons Poort layers et al. (1979, 1984) were able to demonstrate that the so-called contain quantities of points and scrapers together with a few Magosian at Porc Epic in Ethiopia was merely a mixture of backed tools (Wadley & Harper 1989; Harper 1997). Villa (in slumped LSA artefacts into MSA layers. The segment-rich prep.) estimates that only 3.7% of backed tools occur in the late Howiesons Poort was, furthermore, shown to be sandwiched MSA Rose Cottage layers BYR, THO, ELA, LYN and KAR, within MSA traditions. The Magosian and Second Intermedi- whereas between 32 and 77.7% backed tools occur in the ate disappeared into a Black Hole. In more recent years the Howiesons Poort layers. concept of a transitional MSA/LSA industry was reintroduced Low frequencies of backed tools also occur in several by some archaeologists (see, for example, Wadley 1993; non-Howiesons Poort MSA assemblages north of South Africa. Mitchell 1994; Clark 1997a,b). The transition implies that there In the Songwe Valley, Tanzania, MSA sites with denticulates are both technological and typological continuities between contain up to 5.4% of backed elements (Willoughby 1996). the final expression of the MSA and the introduction of the While open sites in the area might have LSA contamination, earliest LSA tools. Detailed and standardized technological Willoughby comments that it is likely that some of the studies need to be carried out on many African sites dating segments are genuinely associated with the MSA occurrences between 40 000 and 20 000 years ago in order to resolve the because they are large and are made of flint or , whereas issue of the MSA and LSA interface. segments from unmixed LSA sites are smaller and made of Notwithstanding the demise of the Magosian, it is patent quartz. Unfortunately, the Songwe Valley sites are undated. that segments are not the sole prerogative of either Howiesons Also in Tanzania, the late MSA Mumba Industry, described Poort or LSA industries. Indeed, segments are not a Howiesons from Mumba Rockshelter, has a number of backed elements in Poort innovation for, at some sites, they pre-date the South African Archaeological Bulletin 60 (182): 51–63, 2005 61

Howiesons Poort Industry by several hundreds of thousands are variously described as final MSA, LSA or transitional of years. The earliest backed tools in Africa, dating to about MSA/LSA. 300 kyr, have been found in the Lupemban Industry of Twin Rivers in Zambia (Clark & Brown 2001; Barham 2002). At Twin KEY FOR TABLES Rivers, backing accounts for up to 15% of the Lupemban H/Co = hearth in Co retouched tools (Barham 2002). Backed tools, probably also H/Bu = hearth in Bu part of the Lupemban industry, were associated with fossil P/Bu = pit in Bu remains of Homo heidelbergensis (elsewhere called Homo H/LB = hearth in LB rhodesiensis) at Kabwe, Zambia (Barham 2002). If these anatomi- H/MC = hearth in MC cally pre-modern were the makers of the backed tools at Kabwe, we have a fascinating association between them and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS tools that some archaeologists (for example, Deacon 1995; The entire ACACIA team is to be thanked for its hard work Wurz 1999) consider to be hallmarks of modern behaviour that and enthusiasm. Amelia Clark assisted with the excavation of embody symbolic expression. The choice of name H. heidel- the final MSA reported here. I thank Tammy Hodgskiss for bergensis or H. rhodesiensis for the African fossils has other loading the Sibudu data onto Excel. Zenobia Jacobs is to be far-reaching implications for Out-of-Africa interpretations especially thanked for the unpublished OSL dates quoted here. because H. heidelbergensis is either ancestral to or part of the I thank members of the Geological Survey, Pietermaritzburg, Neanderthal lineage (Stringer 1996; McBrearty & Brooks 2000). for showing the ACACIA team the hornfels outcrop at No Neanderthals have yet been found in Africa. Verulum. I thank Ron Uken, School of Geological Sciences, The strong typological variability among lithic assemblages University of KwaZulu-Natal for conducting the XRF analysis within the 15 000–20 000 years directly before the Last Glacial of hornfels. I am also grateful to Bonny Williamson and Marlize Maximum was noted by Volman(1984) more than twenty years Lombard for unpublished residue data. Paola Villa, Sarah Wurz ago when the chronology of the MSA was less well known than and Peter Mitchell made useful comments on the first draft of it is today. Notwithstanding the rather confusing data in the this paper. The School of Geography, Archaeology and Envi- available literature, it may be possible to recognize a few trends ronmental Studies provide space and support for the ACACIA between about 40 and 25 kyr. First, it seems that sites with very project. The Sibudu research is funded by the NRF. Opinions late dates (c. 25 000 years ago) for MSA occurrences (for exam- expressed here cannot necessarily be attributed to the NRF. ple, Rose Cottage, Sehonghong, Florisbad, Strathalan Cave B and Apollo 11) are characterized by few formal tools. This REFERENCES makes them difficult to assess on typological evidence alone, Ambrose, S.H. 1998. Chronology of the Later Stone Age and food pro- duction in East Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science 25: 377–392. a point that I discuss later. Secondly, there may be a local Barham, L. 1989. The Later Stone Age of Swaziland. 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