REVISING MODELS FOR THE CULTURAL STRATIGRAPHIC SEQUENCE OF THE MIDDLE STONE AGE Nicholas Conard, Guillaume Porraz To cite this version: Nicholas Conard, Guillaume Porraz. REVISING MODELS FOR THE CULTURAL STRATI- GRAPHIC SEQUENCE OF THE MIDDLE STONE AGE. South African Archaeological Bulletin, South African Archaeological Society, In press. halshs-02517763 HAL Id: halshs-02517763 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02517763 Submitted on 27 Mar 2020 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. South African Archaeological Bulletin 70 (201): 00–00, 2015 1 Discussion Forum REVISING MODELS FOR THE CULTURAL proposed by many scholars including Jacobs, Henshilwood STRATIGRAPHIC SEQUENCE OF THE and others (Jacobs et al. 2008; Henshilwood 2012), requires revision. This model, which represented a major break- MIDDLE STONE AGE through, came into clear focus in recent years and argued that the Still Bay (SB) and Howiesons Poort (HP) represented NICHOLAS J. CONARD1 & GUILLAUME PORRAZ2 well-defined cultural entities and periods of exceptional inno- 1Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology & vation. The Synthetic Model was significantly based on results Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, from excavations at sites including Blombos, Diepkloof, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Sibudu, Hollow Rock Shelter and Apollo 11, as well as on Germany Jacobs’ optically stimulated luminescence dates from MSA sites E-mail: [email protected] across southern Africa. Building on these observations many 2Institut Français d’Afrique du Sud, 62 Juta Street, Braamfontein, researchers argued that the SB and HP represented well-dated Johannesburg, and 2CNRS-UMR 7041-ArScAn/AnTET, Maison de episodes corresponding to c. 75–71 ka BP and 65–59 ka BP l’Archéologie et de l’Ethnologie, Université de Paris X, 92023 respectively (Fig. 1). Nanterre, France This synthesis of what had previously been rather unstruc- E-mail: [email protected] tured information met considerable support in the archaeolog- ical community, since it fit expectations and perhaps also the (Received . Revised) longing for order and clarity in what had previously been a complicated and uncertain cultural sequence. The Synthetic During recent decades, studies of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) Model had implications for many ideas under discussion related have moved from relative obscurity to become a central focus to the nature and tempo of cultural change and innovation of international research in Stone Age archaeology and during the MSA. The model, if valid, would also have major paleoanthropology. The MSA dates between c. 300 and 30 ka implications for our understanding of the relationships between BP and is characterised by the evolution of anatomically and environmental change, cultural change and population dynam- culturally modern humans in Africa. Here we comment briefly ics. Additionally, it had bearing on topics including claims for on the general state of research on the MSA of southern Africa. causal relationships between the Toba volcanic super-eruption, We draw on recent publications and meetings including an population bottlenecks and the spread of modern humans out international workshop entitled: Contextualizing technological of Africa (e.g. Mellars 2006; Mellars et al. 2013). This work also change and cultural evolution in the MSA of southern Africa, which led colleagues, including Lombard (Lombard & Parsons 2011), was held in September 2014 in Tübingen to address new devel- Conard (2008; Conard et al. 2012), Porraz (Porraz et al. 2013a) opments in the study of the MSA (Conard et al. 2014). and Will (Will et al. 2014), to question the hypothesis that the SB Based on current research, it is fitting to ask what new and HP represented periods of exceptional cultural innovation, directions could be followed in research on the MSA. First, it is and perhaps even the epicenter for the evolution of cultural becoming increasing clear that, what we refer to here as the modernity and behavioural patterns and populations that ‘Synthetic Model’ for the cultural chronology of the MSA, would later spread across the entire Old World. FIG. 1. Graphic representation of the ‘Synthetic Model’ for the cultural chronostratigraphy of the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa (after Henshilwood 2012). 2 South African Archaeological Bulletin 70 (201): 00–00, 2015 In recent years this model has come under considerable directeurs. The new results from Sibudu and Diepkloof dem- criticism. First, problems in reproducing the radiometric dates onstrate that previous models for the SB and HP were too sim- at Diepkloof raised questions about the model’s chronology plistic. MSA bifacial technology in South Africa is not bracketed (Tribolo et al. 2013). The sequence at Diepkloof also demon- between c. 75–71 ka BP, nor is backed-blade technology strated that the HP is less well focused in time and instead restricted to the period between c. 65–59 ka BP. represents a multi-stage period of cultural and technological Additionally, the impact of raw materials is universally development, rather than a homogeneous episode (Porraz et al. acknowledged as a source of variability, but rarely addressed 2008, 2013b). The work at Diepkloof raised a range of questions systematically. Discussions at the Tübingen meeting high- and indicated that the HP was not a uniform spatial and tempo- lighted recent advances made in studying the properties ral phenomenon. This point is underlined by results from Rose of South African lithic raw materials from technological and Cottage Cave (Soriano et al. 2007), Klein Kliphuis (MacKay functional perspectives (e.g. Wadley & Kempson 2011). In 2011), Klasies River Mouth (Wurz 2002; Villa et al. 2010), and this regard, Porraz and Mackay argued that the WestCoast rep- Klipdrift (Henshilwood et al. 2014). Furthermore, initial results resents one of the best places to discuss the role of lithic raw ma- suggest similarities between the later parts of the HP sequences terials and their availability in the context of functional at Diepkloof and Klipdrift, again implying that the HP reflects interpretations and territorial organisation during the MSA. a period of considerable cultural change rather than a mono- Other researchers, including members of the Role of Culture lithic golden age of sorts. The early phases of the HP are still less in Early Expansions of Humans (ROCEEH) team in Tübingen, well described, with results from Pinnacle Point PP5/6 showing point out the need to integrate larger datasets, such as features of an early HP dating to ca. 71 ka BP (Brown et al. 2012), archaeofauna and archaeoflora, to facilitate diachronic and which predates the expected age of the HP based on the expec- interregional comparisons. Interestingly, thus far studies have tations provided by the Synthetic Model. not shown a clear causal connection or even coincidental At the same time questions are emerging about the SB. relationships between climatic and technological change A critical look at Apollo 11 raised issues about the definition of (Clark & Kandel 2013). the SB and to what extent any assemblage with a few bifacial From east to west and north to south, South Africa is defined artefacts can be considered to belong to this cultural entity. by a mosaic of ecological niches and topographic settings. This Meanwhile excavations at Sibudu have continued beneath the fact alone makes it likely that researchers will encounter great horizons Wadley defined as ‘pre-Still Bay’ and which Jacobs regional variation in the archaeological record of the MSA. dated to greater than 77 ka BP (Wadley 2007). To the surprise of Since the time of Goodwin and Van Riet Lowe researchers have the current excavation team, the deepest stratigraphic units at successively refined and elaborated on models for cultural Sibudu: Adam, Annie, Bart and Bea, all yielded abundant evolution and chronostratigraphy in southern Africa (e.g. evidence for bifacial technology and assemblages that, based Conard et al. 2012; Lombard et al. 2012). Models have benefitted on all available arguments, must be placed within the SB com- from new excavations and lithic studies, and from studies of plex rather than belonging to the ‘pre-Still Bay’ (Conard et al. other classes of cultural materials. Yet,while great attention has 2014). Obviously, these observations are in no way a criticism of been given to symbolic artefacts over the last two decades, few Wadley’s outstanding work at Sibudu, since her excavation technological studies have been published. stopped in the overlying stratigraphic unit, BS (Brown Sand). We are currently working to develop new ways of explaining Another signature found in the deepest layers so far exca- the chronostratigraphic and cultural variability during the MSA vated at Sibudu, is the presence of bifacial points with serrated and are hopeful that work such as that presented at the work- edges produced by fine pressure flaking. Here and at