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

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica C. Thompson ◽  
Alexander Mackay ◽  
Sheila Nightingale ◽  
David Wright ◽  
Jeong-Heon Choi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Ecological Risk ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Technological Complexity

scholarly journals Human social organization during the Late Pleistocene: Beyond the nomadic-egalitarian model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manvir Singh ◽  
Luke Glowacki
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Human History ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Social Variation

Many researchers assume that until 10-12,000 years ago, humans lived in small, mobile, relatively egalitarian bands composed mostly of kin. This “nomadic-egalitarian model” informs evolutionary explanations of behavior and our understanding of how contemporary societies differ from those of our evolutionary past. Here, we synthesize research challenging this model and propose an alternative, the diverse histories model, to replace it. We outline the limitations of using recent foragers as models of Late Pleistocene societies and the considerable social variation among foragers commonly considered small-scale, mobile, and egalitarian. We review ethnographic and archaeological findings covering 34 world regions showing that non-agricultural peoples often live in groups that are more sedentary, unequal, large, politically stratified, and capable of large-scale cooperation and resource management than is normally assumed. These characteristics are not restricted to extant Holocene hunter-gatherers but, as suggested by archaeological findings from 27 Middle Stone Age sites, likely characterized societies throughout the Late Pleistocene (until c. 130 ka), if not earlier. These findings have implications for how we understand human psychological adaptations and the broad trajectory of human history.

scholarly journals Late Pleistocene age and archaeological context for the hominin calvaria from GvJm-22 (Lukenya Hill, Kenya)

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (9) ◽  
pp. 2682-2687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian A. Tryon ◽  
Isabelle Crevecoeur ◽  
J. Tyler Faith ◽  
Ravid Ekshtain ◽  
Joelle Nivens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Morphological Variability ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Middle And Late Pleistocene ◽  
Age Range

Kenya National Museums Lukenya Hill Hominid 1 (KNM-LH 1) is a Homo sapiens partial calvaria from site GvJm-22 at Lukenya Hill, Kenya, associated with Later Stone Age (LSA) archaeological deposits. KNM-LH 1 is securely dated to the Late Pleistocene, and samples a time and region important for understanding the origins of modern human diversity. A revised chronology based on 26 accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dates on ostrich eggshells indicates an age range of 23,576–22,887 y B.P. for KNM-LH 1, confirming prior attribution to the Last Glacial Maximum. Additional dates extend the maximum age for archaeological deposits at GvJm-22 to >46,000 y B.P. (>46 kya). These dates are consistent with new analyses identifying both Middle Stone Age and LSA lithic technologies at the site, making GvJm-22 a rare eastern African record of major human behavioral shifts during the Late Pleistocene. Comparative morphometric analyses of the KNM-LH 1 cranium document the temporal and spatial complexity of early modern human morphological variability. Features of cranial shape distinguish KNM-LH 1 and other Middle and Late Pleistocene African fossils from crania of recent Africans and samples from Holocene LSA and European Upper Paleolithic sites.

Did Middle Stone Age Khargan Peoples Leave Structural Features? ‘Site J’, The Forgotten Settlement of the ‘Empty Desert’, Kharga Oasis, Egypt: 1933 and 2011

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary M.A. McDonald ◽  
Marcia F. Wiseman ◽  
Maxine R. Kleindienst ◽  
Jennifer R. Smith ◽  
Nicholas Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Survey Area ◽  
Kharga Oasis

G. Caton-Thompson and E. W. Gardner designated new Pleistocene cultural units at Kharga Oasis in the 1930’s: both were originally termed ‘pre-Sebilian’, but were later locally named the ‘Levalloiso-Khargan’ and ‘Khargan’ industries. High on the Bulaq scarp face, a puzzling cluster of stone ‘alignments’ was discovered in 1931–32, with a reported, but discounted, association with ‘Levalloiso-Khargan’ artefacts. Gardner excavated some features in 1933. Members of the Kharga Oasis Prehistory Project relocated ‘Site J’ in January 2011, and verified the reported Khargan associations with the features. In 2008, the project found structural features associated with Khargan artefacts in the northern Gebel Yebsa survey area, confirming earlier finds in the southern oases of Kurkur and Dungul. Evidence there, and that found in Kharga and Dakhleh oases, is now designated as the Khargan Complex. The associated built stone features of the included cultural units appear to be unique in Late Pleistocene Africa, especially at Bulaq.

scholarly journals Pleistocene Archaeology and Chronology of Putslaagte 8 (PL8) Rockshelter, Western Cape, South Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Mackay ◽  
Zenobia Jacobs ◽  
Teresa E. Steele
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Material Selection ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Before Present ◽  
Later Stone Age ◽  
Occupational Patterns ◽  
Chronological Sequence ◽  
Mis 5

We report on excavations of a small rock shelter — Putslaagte 8 (PL8) — located on the arid interior fringe of South Africa’s Fynbos biome. The shelter preserves a long sequence of Holocene and late Pleistocene occupation dating back beyond 75,000 years BP. This paper presents data on the technological, faunal and chronological sequence. Occupation is markedly pulsed and includes three late Pleistocene Later Stone Age (LSA) units (macrolithic, Robberg and early LSA), as well as several distinct Middle Stone Age (MSA) components from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3–5. Pulsing may reflect the arid and possibly marginal environments in which the shelter is situated, and to that end some elements of the sequence contrast with occupational patterns towards the coast. Viewed in a regional setting PL8 suggests: 1) complementarity of resource movements between the coast and interior in terminal MIS 2; 2) distinctions in material selection, and possibly technology, between the coast and interior in earlier MIS 2; 3) an MSA lasting to at least 40,000 years before present; 4) a weak Howiesons Poort and post-Howiesons Poort in the interior; 5) possibly distinct periods of denticulate manufacture within the MIS 5 MSA; 6) highly localised patterns of material acquisition in the earlier MSA.

Uncovering the Late Pleistocene LSA of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa: Early Results from Iron Pig Rock Shelter

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregor D. Bader ◽  
Jörg Linstädter ◽  
Maria H. Schoeman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Lithic Analysis ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Rock Shelter ◽  
Mpumalanga Province ◽  
Early Results ◽  
Comparative Review

Abstract South Africa is one of the best-studied regions in terms of Stone Age research in the last few decades. Considerable progress has been made, especially for the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Recently the late Pleistocene Later Stone Age (LSA) has come back into focus. However, there are still large understudied areas such as northeastern South Africa. Here we present the first data from an archaeological site containing late Pleistocene occupations associated with the Robberg techno-complex in this region. Iron Pig rock shelter provides a well-dated sequence spanning from >16000 cal BP to <9000 cal BP. A lithic analysis of the Robberg occupations of the lowermost layers 5 and 6 provided here implies gradual temporal shifts in technology indicating short-term changing traditions. A comparative review of other LSA sites in the wider region suggests considerable research gaps and the necessity of intensified work in this area.

THE STRATIGRAPHIC CONTEXT OF THE MIDDLE STONE AGE IN THE KOOBI FORA FORMATION: MID-LATE PLEISTOCENE BASIN HISTORY OF THE NORTHERN TURKANA BASIN

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silindokhule S. Mavuso ◽  
◽  
Debra Colarossi ◽  
Brady Kelsey ◽  
Chris Ssebuyungo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Koobi Fora ◽  
Turkana Basin ◽  
History Of

Stable isotope paleoecology of Late Pleistocene Middle Stone Age humans from the Lake Victoria basin, Kenya

2015 ◽  
Vol 82 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole D. Garrett ◽  
David L. Fox ◽  
Kieran P. McNulty ◽  
J. Tyler Faith ◽  
Daniel J. Peppe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Lake Victoria ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Lake Victoria Basin
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