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A Typological Study of the Final Middle Stone Age Stone Tools from Sibudu Cave, Kwazulu-NatalAuthor(s): Lyn WadleySource: The South African Archaeological Bulletin, Vol. 60, No. 182 (Dec., 2005), pp. 51-63Published by: South African Archaeological SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3889118 .

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

Research Article

A TYPOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE FINAL MIDDLE STONE AGE STONE TOOLS FROM SIBUDU CAVE, KWAZULU-NATAL

LYN WADLEY School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand,

P.O. WITS, 2050 South Africa. E-mail: [email protected]

(Received April 2005. Accepted September 2005)

ABSTRACT Thefinal Middle Stone Age (MSA) stone tool assemblage from Sibudu Cave is characterized by sidescrapers, bifacial and unifacial points, hollow-based points, bifacial cutting tools and backed tools, including large, wide segments. The assemblage has been dated to between c. 33 and 35 kyr by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), but a radiocarbon date of c. 42 000 BP is also available. This Sibudu lithic collection shows that large backed tools can be an integral part of the final MSA because no Later Stone Age (LSA) occupation occurs at the site. Sibudu data contribute to discussion of local traditions in thefinal MSA, of dating the final MSA, and of the presence of segments in non-Howiesons Poort and non-LSA assemblages.

Keywords: Sibudu Cave, stone tools, final Middle Stone Age.

INTRODUCTION Sibudu Cave is approximately 40 km north of Durban in

northern KwaZulu-Natal and it lies at an altitude of approximately 100 m amsl (above mean sea level) on the Tongati River, about 15 km inland of the Indian Ocean. The 55 m long cave floor slopes abruptly from north to south. The cave is about 18 m in breadth. A small trial trench of roughly one metre deep was excavated in 1983 by Aron Mazel of the Natal Museum. His excavation revealed that the uppermost layers of the cave contain Iron Age (IA) occupations and layers immediately below this contain Middle Stone Age (MSA) occupations (Natal Museum notes). He obtained two reversed radiocarbon dates for charcoal samples from MSA layers; the uppermost one was 26 000 ? 420 BP (Pta-3765) from layer MOD 2 at a depth of 200-300 mm from the surface; the second date of 24 200 ? 290 BP (Pta-3767) came from layer GAA2 at 790 to 880 mm below surface. This second, younger date is out of context and it must be rejected. The uppermost date of 26 000 BP was initially thought to be useful, although radiocarbon dates from MSA contexts are often minimum estimates; however, an equivalent MOD layer elsewhere in the excavation grid is now dated by OSL to about 50 kyr and this seems to be a more reliable date (Z. Jacobs, pers. comm., 2004).

The new excavations (Wadley 2001; Wadley & Jacobs 2004) are in a grid of twenty-four square metres (Fig. 1). Within the grid a two-metre trial trench is more than three metres deep, but it is estimated that several metres of deposit wait to be excavated. Eighteen of the remaining squares are on average 700 mm deep and the other squares are shallower than this. The deposit is excavated in 500 mm quadrants. Until 2003 deposit was screened through 2 mm mesh and, since then, it has been screened through 1 mm mesh. A permanent datum line is painted on the cave wall and the depth of each layer is measured from this datum. All stratigraphic depths are thus relative to the datum unless it is stated differently.

DATING AND STRATIGRAPHY The Sibudu stratigraphy is clear, but complex, and there are

many hearths and ash lenses. A sedimentological analysis

(Pickering 2002) of six samples shows that the sediments are poorly sorted and immature, largely comprising anthropo- genically derived material, for example, ash, bone and worked stone. The sediments also contain weathered roof-rock, wind- borne sand, debris from microfauna and owls, and calcium carbonate and gypsum nodules, which form during decalci- fication of the deposits. The poor sorting of the sediments implies that little or no waterborne transportation occurred within the cave, and mineralogy and sediment microscopy confirm this conclusion (Schiegl et al. 2004). Ash is a major component of, not only the hearths, but also the surrounding sediments in all MSA layers studied (Schiegl et al. 2004).

I now briefly describe the dating and stratigraphy of layers from an industry that I call the final MSA. By the final MSA I mean the layers and associated industries that are more recent than about 42 kyr. These must be distinguished from other post-Howiesons Poort layers and assemblages, with ages between about 60 and 50 kyr, which are called late MSA (Villa et al. 2005).

Two dating methods have been used: radiocarbon dating on charcoal samples and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of soil samples. Radiocarbon dating is not suitable for dating most of the MSA sequence because of the limits set by the half-life of carbon 14. OSL is more suited to the task. The OSL dates were obtained from a combination of single-aliquot and single-grain analysis (Wadley & Jacobs 2004).

Below the surface of the entire excavation grid there is brown silt with vegetal material (BSV) (Fig. 2). This contains Iron Age (IA) material culture items. The underlying brown sand with stones (BSS) also contains IA remains and charcoal from a pit in square E3 has been dated to 960 ? 25 BP (Pta-8015) (calibrated to 1044 [1069, 11571 1171 AD). No Later Stone Age (LSA) remains are present in Sibudu. A hiatus, which is not detectable in the stratigraphy, occurred between the final MSA occupations and the first IA occupations. The surface of the cave floor is presently scoured by wind in late winter/early summer and in the past wind may also have prevented the ac- cumulation of sterile deposits.

The final MSA occurs in Squares C2, D2, D3, E2 and E3 in the eastern part of the excavation (Fig. 1). Here, the stratigraphy is different from that in the northern part of the excavation grid (Fig. 2). The uppermost of the final MSA layers is Co, which is a coffee-coloured, sandy deposit. It is preliminarily dated by OSL to c. 33 kyr (Z. Jacobs, pers. comm., 2004). In the various inventories (Tables 1-6), the reader will see not only layer Co, but also H/Co; this is a hearth in layer Co that has been excavated as a feature within the surrounding deposit. Co overlies Bu, which is a light grey, sandy-silt with many tiny roof spalls. A charcoal sample from square E2 in this layer was dated by radiocarbon to 42 300 ? 1 300 BP (Pta-8017). However, OSL pro- vided a younger age of 35.2 ? 1.8 kyr for the same layer (Wadley & Jacobs 2004). H/Bu and P/Bu are hearth and pit features 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 stratigraphy 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 occupation 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 accepted), 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 support 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 further from the coast than it is today because of the lowering of sea-levels. This is evidenced from the KwaZulu-Natal river mouths that in the past were cut deeper into bedrock than

they are today (Cooper & Flores 1991). The Tongati River

bedrock channel is cut back to -30 m (Orme 1976). At the height of the last glaciation the shoreline in the Durban region was 30

to 40 km offshore of its present position and similar distances could be expected for the coastline off the Tongati River.

GEOLOGY AND ROCK TYPES USED IN SIBUDU The geology of the area has, of course, influenced the raw

material components of the lithic assemblages at the site. The

shelter, itself, has been carved by fluvial action from a Natal

Group sandstone cliff. Sandstone was occasionally used for

tool manufacture, but the rock used for knapping seems

finer-grained than that from the shelter wall. A few hundred

metres from the site there is a dolerite intrusion into the

sandstone cliff and this is likely to be the source of part of the

dolerite that was used for knapping throughout the MSA.

Dolerite cobbles and rare quartzite and quartz nodules also

occur on the banks of the Tongati River, below the cave.

Hornfels of the quality generally used at Sibudu is not

locally available today, but there is a chance that outcrops exposed near to the cave in the past may now be covered with

dune sand. Today the closest good-quality hornfels outcrop that has been located is in the Verulum area, approximately 20 km south of Sibudu. A piece of hornfels that eroded from the talus slope of the shelter was subjected to an elemental analysis by XRF (R. Uken, pers. comm., 2004). Its high silica content (63.8%) and low magnesium (1.4%) and calcium (0.7%) content (relative to that of dolerite) confirms that it is metamorphosed shale (hornfels) from a contact zone with a dolerite intrusion.

106

i04 90 Metres above sea level

Rock fall

_ L v ~~~~\\ ~0 2 4 6

metres 98

Excavation

96 Talus slope

0 2

M IIZ metres

FIG. 1. Plan of Sibudu Cave, showing the distribution offinal MSA deposits.

Uken suggests that the origin is most likely to have been from a

contact zone where a dolerite sill intruded the Ecca Shales.

Varying temperatures occur in the zone of thermal metamor-

phism where a dolerite intrusion occurs. Consequently, there

are different grades of metamorphic hornfels and igneous

dolerite and, on occasion, they are difficult to discriminate.

Both dolerite and 'chilled dolerite' (which looks like hornfels)

occur locally in the Sibudu valley (R. Uken, pers. comm., 2004).

Since XRF cannot be performed on all the lithics, there will be a

margin of error in my hornfels and dolerite identifications.

THE CULTURAL REMAINS

Directly below the Iron Age occupation layers (described

briefly in Wadley & Jacobs 2004) are traditional MSA material

culture items, mostly made from stone. In the eastern part of

the excavation, under discussion here, there are retouched

tools that include bifacial and unifacial points, straight and

convex scrapers, backed tools, scaled pieces (pieces esquillees)

and notches. There are rare examples of small bifaces and

hollow-based points (Fig. 3). Neither bifaces nor hollow-based

points are found elsewhere in the excavation grid; they are

absent from all layers older than those discussed in this paper.

The bifaces are not points, but rather elliptical tools with sharp

cutting edges and they have been worked invasively across

both faces by removing small flakes from their perimeters.

Hollow-based points are bifacial, triangular points that have

their bases thinned and shaped to a concave form, presumably to facilitate hafting. The name hollow-based point is, perhaps, not well chosen, but I use it in recognition of identical points, by

the same name, from the final MSA of Umhlatuzana (Kaplan 1990), which is about 90 kin, as the crow flies, from Sibudu.




160 C2 + D2 + 2

180-

220

260

RD ORE~~~~R < ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bq& Hearth

Hearth

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

Points from Sibudu seem to have been hafted (Lombard 2004, 2005; Wadley et al. 2004; Williamson 2004). Lombard's macro-fracture, use-wear analysis and replication work have convincingly shown that 24 Sibudu points (taken as a random sample) were hafted and that mastic and twine were probably used together for the attachment of the stone to its haft. The concentration of faunal remains on the distal portions of points shows that the tips were used on animals, although some of them may have also been used for the processing of plants (Lombard 2005).

RESULTS OF THE TYPOLOGICAL STUDY

RETOUCHED TOOLS (Table 1) The highest frequency of retouch occurs in LB where there

are 0.47 tools per litre of deposit (Table 1). Layer Bu has the

greatest volume of deposit (485 litres), yet one of the lowest tool densities (0.11) (Table 1). There are 219 whole retouched tools and 157 broken retouched tools.

Although they are relatively rare, the most distinctive retouched tools in these upper layers are hollow-based points (n = 6) and small bifaces (n = 6) (Table 1; Fig. 3). Microscopic analysis and the morphology of the bifacial cutting tools suggests that they were cutting implements.

Scrapers are the most common retouched type (whole scrapers are 30.0% of the total of whole tools), with sidescrapers (Fig. 4) being the most prevalent scraper type (71%). Most of these are straight sidescrapers (called knives in previous publications on Rose Cottage Cave, for example, Wadley 1997; Wadley & Harper 1989).

Points are the next most common retouched types in the collection and the 51 whole points represent 26.4% of all whole

0 30mm

1 2

3 4

FIG. 3. Retouched toolsfrom Sibudu Cavefinal 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.




TABLE 1. Sibudu Cave: frequencies of retouched tools.

MSA layers

Co H/Co Bu HBU P/Bu LB H/LB MC H/MC Es MoU L Mou D MoU Total

Unifacial point 3 0 3 0 0 7 0 3 1 1 0 2 1 21

Bifacialpoint 4 0 3 1 0 8 0 6 0 1 0 0 1 24

Hollow-basedpoint 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 6 Broken point 3 0 4 0 0 13 0 1 0 2 1 2 0 26

Scraper End 0 0 1 0 0 3 1 4 0 0 0 0 2 11

Side, convex 3 0 1 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 o 1 0 14

Side, straight 2 0 3 1 0 10 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 19

Side, concave 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Side, convergent 0 0 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 7

Side, double 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3

End/side 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Convergent 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

Bifacial cutting tool 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 Broken bifacial cutting tool 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Denticulate 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 4

Notch 3 0 3 1 0 7 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 19

Graver/burin 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3

Bec 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

Borer 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3

Adze 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Scaled piece 5 0 2 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 14

Miscellaneousretouch 2 1 3 1 0 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 14

Broken retouch 23 1 28 3 1 49 1 30 0 2 7 4 2 151

Backed tool Segment 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 7

Backed blade 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

Obliquely backed 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3

Other 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 5

Broken backed tool 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 6

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 unifacial points and are 59.0% of the whole points, including hollow-based forms. All of the broken points (n = 26) are the distal tips of broken points. Several of these final MSA points have been subjected to a residue analysis by Marlize Lombard. One of these, a hollow-based point from Co, contained plant and ochre residues on the proximal end and animal residues on the distal end (M. Lombard pers. comm., 2004, and Lombard 2005). In this instance it appears that the tool was hafted with plant twine and mastic loaded with ochre. The most obvious explanation for animal residues on the distal tip is that the hafted point was used as a spear, but it may also have been used as a knife for cutting meat.

Concave notches are more numerous than adzes, suggesting that notches are not merely worn out adzes. There is no pat- tern to the residues in notches (B.S. Williamson, pers. comm., 2004) and they may have been multi-purpose tools; however, a larger sample is probably required in order to make useful comments about their function. In contrast, plant residues are common on the shattered edges of scaled pieces (pieces esquilres) that are tools not cores (B.S. Williamson, pers. comm., 2004) and this implies that they were used as wood-working tools. They may have been used for preparing wooden handles for the hafting of stone inserts, but this is presently surmised. Boomplaas specimens seem also to have been used for working wood (Binneman 1982).

Backed tools are uncommon (whole backed tools represent 7.3% of the total of whole retouch), but are present in small frequencies in almost all of the final MSA layers. The seven segments occur only in LB and MC and, of these, several are unusually wide (Fig. 4) compared to segments from the Howiesons Poort layers.

The percentages of retouch are low (1.1%) when they are

calculated from the total of stone pieces in all layers. When

chips are excluded from the calculation, retouch percentages

increase to 3.0%. If the tools from hearths and pits are removed

from the calculation, because of their low absolute frequencies

of retouch, then percentages of retouch in the various layers

range between 2.8 and 4.0%.

GRINDSTONES (Table 2) Only four grindstone fragments are present in the entire

final MSA.

CORES (Table 2) Cores are not common in the Sibudu collection, an observa-

tion that applies to all layers, not merely to the final MSA ones.

Of the 108 whole cores recorded here, minimal and bipolar

cores are the most common (29.0% each of the total cores). A

minimal core is a chunk with two or three randomly placed

removals. The core-reduced pieces may be worked-out bipolar

cores and, when combined with bipolar cores, they represent

46% of all cores. Levallois and other prepared core techniques are notice-

ably rare, as are non-levallois cores that could have been used

for the production of blades. The low frequencies of core reju-

venation/preparation flakes mirror the prepared core low

frequencies.

CHIPS, CHUNKS, FLAKES AND BLADES/BLADELETS (Table 3)

In this study, chips are pieces 10 mm and smaller. They

represent the largest percentage (64.6%) of the recovered stone

(Table 3). Chunks are manuports, or pieces larger than 10 mm




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 LMou DMou

Grindstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grindstone fragment 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Core Minimal 6 3 7 2 0 6 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 Core-reduced 1 2 1 2 0 9 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Bipolar 4 0 8 0 0 11 0 3 0 2 1 0 0 Levallois 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Other prepared 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Radial 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Adjacent platform 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Changeof orientation 0 0 1 0 0 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Single platform 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Opposed platform,same side 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Opposed platform, opposite side 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Opposed platform, sameand 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 opposite side

Double platform 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Cylinder 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 Blade 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bifacial 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Core fragments 5 0 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 Brokencore 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

that have one removal, and they represent 11.5% of all stone. Flakes are divided by size into < 20 mm, and 20 mm and larger. They are also separated into cortical (flakes with at least 50% of the ventral surface covered with rock cortex) and non-cortical categories, and into side- and end-struck classes. Given that there are few cores at the site, it is unsurprising that the frequencies of cortical flakes are low; indeed, cortical flakes

comprise only 3.0% of the whole flakes. Side-struck flakes (flakes with breadth greater than length) are marginally more common than end-struck flakes. The final MSA at Sibudu is typified by flake rather than blade production. Here, a blade is defined as a long flake with its length at least twice that of its breadth. A bladelet is a blade with a length smaller than 26 mm. Bladelets comprise 57.0% of the combined blade and

) 4,~~~~~~ 1 2 3 4

5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~7

? 50mm

6

FIG. 4. Retouched toolsfrom Sibudu Cavefinal MSA. (1) segment, dolerite: square D3a, LB MOD; (2) segment, dolerite: D3c, LB MOD; (3) convergent scraper, hornfels: E3c, LB MOD; (4) incisedflake, dolerite: D2a L Mou; (5) bifacial point, dolerite: E2c, LB MOD; (6) convergent scraper, hornfels: D3d, LB MOD; (7) side- scraper, hornfels: C2d, Bu.




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 1373 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

Endcort <2cm 1 0 10 2 0 7 0 4 0 1 1 0 0 26

End cort >2 cm 2 0 8 0 0 9 0 4 0 0 0 0 1 24

Side cort <2 cm 7 0 7 0 0 7 0 7 0 0 2 0 0 30

Side cort >2 cm 11 1 2 0 0 8 0 6 0 0 2 2 0 32

Core rejuvenation/prep. 3 0 3 0 0 11 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 19

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 1420

Split 13 3 22 2 0 11 0 20 1 2 2 2 1 79

Blade 9 1 14 2 1 28 0 7 0 1 2 2 0 67

Bladelet 6 5 15 0 1 42 1 11 0 3 0 6 1 91

Crested blade 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

Broken blade

Proximal 14 2 21 0 0 27 0 16 0 1 3 0 0 84

Fragments 20 4 15 0 2 40 0 13 0 1 8 2 1 106

Total 3 788 839 5 794 739 67 12179 58 5 956 280 693 758 951 531 32 633

bladelet category. When blades and bladelets (160) are com-

bined with flakes (3811), then flakes comprise 96.0% of the 3971

pieces.

INCISED FLAKE A snapped, dolerite flake from layer L Mou is incised

(Fig. 4). There are two types of incisions: first, short cut marks

on the perimeter of the flake that make it look like a decorated piecrust and, secondly, several straight and curved lines cut

into the dorsal surface of the flake.

ROCK TYPES USED FOR LITHIC MANUFACTURE (Tables 4-6)

Hornfels and dolerite are the main rock types used for tool

manufacture. Quartzite, quartz and fine-grained sandstone are

also used, but to a lesser extent. Although quartz tools are not

that common, there are more quartz cores than any other type

(65.7% of all whole cores). Minimal cores are 58.6% quartz and

only 13.8% hornfels; 91.3% of core-reduced/bipolar cores are

made of quartz and 36.4% of the 'other' core classes are made of

quartz. Notwithstanding this high percentage of quartz cores,

only 14.0% of whole flakes are quartz and only 16.2% of

blades/bladelets are quartz. Hornfels is most often used for

flakes (60.4%) and for blades/bladelets (57.0%). Hornfels is also

the preferred rock type for most retouch in the final MSA:

66.2% points, 55.2% scrapers and 60.3% 'other' retouch are

hornfels. Few points, scrapers, backed tools or 'other' retouch

are made of quartz. Amongst backed tools 45.5% are made on

hornfels and 31.8% on dolerite. Dolerite is also favoured for

Howiesons Poort backed tools, notwithstanding the irregular

surface of this rock type.

THE SIBUDU FINAL MSA IN THE BROADER AFRICAN

CONTEXT The Sibudu final MSA is dated by single-grained lumines-

cence to c. 33 and 35 kyr in the upper two layers and by radio-

carbon dating on charcoal to 42 300 ? 1300 BP. The industry is

characterized by flake rather than blade production, and scrapers and points (particularly bifacial examples) are the most

common retouched classes. The 30 whole bifacial points are particularly noteworthy when they are compared with the sin-

gle bifacial point and single partly bifacial point from RSp,

dated c. 53 kyr. In total, RSp has 113 pointed forms (Villa et al. 2005). Notches are also present and large, wide segments and

other backed tools occur in low, but significant frequencies (whole backed tools represent 7.3% of the whole retouched tools). Only one segment occurs in RSp at c. 53 kyr (Villa et al. 2005); thus it appears that backed tools are a small, but genuine, part of the final MSA at Sibudu.

The most distinctive formal tools, notwithstanding their

rarity, are the hollow-based points and the bifacial cutting tools. No hollow-based points occur in deeper MSA layers. The high proportion of quartz cores, yet the low proportion of quartz

flakes and blades/bladelets, suggests that small quartz nodules were brought back to the site for knapping more regularly than pieces of hornfels or dolerite. Hornfels and dolerite tools may

have been made or partially prepared elsewhere, for example, at the quarries where large blocks were obtained. Thus, partly prepared hornfels and dolerite flake and blade blanks may

have been brought to the cave where they were modified,

used, re-sharpened and curated. Dolerite could have been

obtained just a few hundred metres from the site, but hornfels of the quality used by the Sibudu knappers was only available

about 20 km away. Sibudu data can contribute to a broader discussion of, first,

local traditions in the final MSA, secondly, dating the final

MSA and, thirdly, the occurrence of segments in non-Howie- sons Poort and non-LSA assemblages.

Sibudu's final MSA is most like the contemporary assemblage from Umhlatuzana, a rockshelter about 90 km from

Sibudu, between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. The

Umhlatuzana final MSA, or MSA/LSA transition as Kaplan




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/NIC Es Mou L Mou D Mou

Point/broken point Hornfels 9 0 10 1 0 15 0 5 1 4 2 3 1 Dolerite 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 Quartzite 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Sandstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Quartz 1 0 0 0 0 7 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Bifacial tool! broken bifacial tool Hornfels 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Dolerite 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quartzite 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sandstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quartz 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Scraper Hornfels 4 0 2 1 0 17 0 6 0 0 1 1 0 Dolerite 1 0 2 0 0 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 Quartzite 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sandstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quartz 2 0 2 0 0 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Other retouch Hornfels 5 1 8 0 0 15 1 7 0 0 1 2 1 Dolerite 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Quartzite 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Sandstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quartz 6 0 0 2 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Backed tool/broken backed Hornfels 0 1 2 0 0 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 Dolerite 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 1 0 1 0 Quartzite 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sandstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quartz 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

Broken retouch Hornfels 15 0 21 3 0 33 0 25 0 2 6 2 2 Dolerite 1 0 3 0 1 2 0 4 0 0 0 2 0 Quartzite 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sandstone 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quartz 6 1 4 0 0 7 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

(1990) calls it, dates (by the radiocarbon method on charcoal) to between 35 300 ? 930 BP (Pta-4663) and 27800 ? 780 BP (Pta-4389). The Umhlatuzana dates may be minimum estimates, although the date of c. 35 000 BP fits well with the luminescence dates of 33 and 35 kyr from Sibudu. Unfortunately, rotational slippage occurred at Umhlatuzana and this has caused some doubt about the site's stratigraphic integrity. LSA industries occur above the MSA and it is therefore possible that mixing occurred between MSA and LSA assemblages; a com- parison between the contemporary Sibudu and Umhlatuzana assemblages suggests that the latter may, indeed be mixed. Kaplan's MSA/LSA transition contains unifacial, bifacial and hollow-based MSA points together with bladelets and bladelet cores that are considered to be LSA. In contrast, Sibudu does not contain many bladelets in the final MSA assemblage and it has no bladelet cores. The unifacial, bifacial and hollow-based points from Umhlatuzana are almost identical to those from Sibudu, in part because they are also made of hornfels, and a local knapping tradition may be represented. At both sites, the hollow-based points, although not common, are useful time markers in the region because at neither site do they occur in layers older than 35 kyr, or c. 42 000 years ago if the Sibudu radiocarbon date is correct. In an African context, the hollow- based points appear to be unique to the KwaZulu-Natal region. They are only known from Umhlatuzana and Sibudu final

MSA layers; however, a single hollow-based point was found at Border Cave (on the border of KwaZulu-Natal and Swazi- land) in a Howiesons Poort layer (Beaumont et al. 1978). Since only one of these tools is reported from Border Cave it is difficult to assess its significance in the Howiesons Poort Indus- try. Although I do not know of other hollow-based points in Africa, they also occur in the Upper Palaeolithic of the USSR, where they are known as Pointe de Streletskaya in the sites of Streletskaya, Kostienki and Soungir (Demars & Laurent 1992: 126-127). The Pointe de Streletskaya are dated to between 35 and 42 kyr and are therefore comparable in age to the Sibudu hollow-based points (Villa et al. 2005).

Holley Shelter, in the Wartburg district of KwaZulu-Natal, is closer to Sibudu than Umhlatuzana, but its MSA assemblages are unlike Sibudu's late MSA and more like Sibudu assemblages that date between 50 and 60 kyr. Hollow-based points are not represented at Holley Shelter; instead, the assemblages are characterized by long hornfels blades, unifacial points made on blades and large, hornfels outils 6cailljs (sometimes known as pieces esquillies) (Cramb 1952, 1961, and personal observation). The British Museum Laboratory date of 18 200 + 500 BP from charcoal collected in the 24-30-inch spit (Cramb 1961) is at best a minimum age, but is more likely to be completely inappropriate for the industry represented in Holley Shelter. Another late date for a MSA tradition was




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 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Dolerite 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Quartzite 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Sandstone 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

Quartz 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Core Minimal core Hornfels 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

Dolerite 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

Quartzite 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Sandstone 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Quartz 5 3 4 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0

Core-reduced/bipolar Hornfels 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Dolerite 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Quartzite 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Sandstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Quartz 5 2 9 2 0 18 0 4 0 0 1 1 0

Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0

Other core Hornfels 0 0 2 1 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Dolerite 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 0

Quartzite 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

Sandstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Quartz 3 1 1 1 0 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0

Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0

Broken core/ core fragments Hornfels 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0

Dolerite 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Quartzite 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Sandstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Quartz 1 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Other 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

obtained from the important KwaZulu-Natal site of Shong- weni (Davies 1975). The uppermost MSA layer here, with a radiocarbon date (on charcoal) of 22 990 ? 310 BP (Pta-966), contains scrapers, points and segments and the dominant raw material is hornfels with quartz, dolerite and quartzite less well represented. No hollow-based points are present here, perhaps because the period represented is not the same as that in the final MSA of Sibudu, or perhaps because I am wrong in thinking that hollow-based points represent time-related re- gional traditions in the final MSA. Perhaps the hollow-based points are simply part of a tool-kit that was not appropriate for the activities carried out at Shongweni. Holley and Shongweni need to be re-dated before their lithic assemblages can be meaningfully compared with those from Sibudu and Umhlatuzana.

Malan (1945, 1949) described several open MSA sites in KwaZulu-Natal. Two of these, at Izotsha, about a kilometre from the ocean, contain a large segment, broken backed blades, bifacial and unifacial points, and scrapers (Malan 1945). Few tools were reported, and surface collections from open sites are potentially mixed, so it is difficult to draw any conclusions about the two assemblages, other than to point out that the combination of many bifacial points with segments points to the final MSA in Sibudu; no other Sibudu assemblage has this combination of tool classes. Malan's (1949,1952) descriptions of 'Magosian' sites in KwaZulu-Natal and elsewhere in South Africa, have added to the general confusion surrounding this term, because he does not distinguish between collections with or without backed tools, nor between collections that are pre-

or post-Howiesons Poort. His description of the open scatter of MSA tools (with scrapers and small unifacial points, but no backed tools) at Tayside, Dundee (Malan 1949), suggested that the site does not have a 'Magosian' or final MSA industry, but that a late MSA of the kind found at c. 53 kyr at Sibudu (Villa et al. 2005) is represented.

The dates of c. 33-42 kyr for the MSA layers discussed here place the Sibudu final MSA industry within the later part of MSA 3 as it was described by Volman more than twenty years ago (1981, 1984). So much variability occurs within the typologies and technologies of MSA 3 that this catch-all category is probably not useful without further subdivision. One problem is that the MSA 3 is used to embrace all MSA assemblages dating from about 60 to 25 kyr. A second problem is that some of the radiocarbon dates in this period may be minimum ages for the strata from which they were taken. Without a reliable chronology it is impossible to make informative comparisons between sites and their industries. With the advent of dependable OSL dating techniques the situation is now far better than it was a decade ago; several of South Africa's long-sequence sites have been well dated, but a major dating programme is still required to re-date sites where radiocarbon dating was initially used. My experience at Sibudu suggests that radiocarbon dates may often be minimum ages in MSA contexts. Thirdly, and importantly, there is lack of agree- ment among archaeologists about what constitutes MSA, LSA and transitional industries.

As I have already intimated, literature dealing with lithic industries from the period 40-25 kyr is as navigable as a




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 HIMC 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 MSA/LSA transition at 50 kyr, Beaumont (1978) and Grun & Beaumont (2001) placed the beginning of the LSA at 40 kyr, but others suggest that the LSA begins much later, between 30 and 23 kyr (Wadley 1993, 1997; Mitchell 1994, 2002; Deacon 1995; Clark 1997a,b). Beaumont (1978) situates the Border Cave 1WA assemblage in the early LSA because it has high frequencies of outils &cailhes, low frequencies of formal tools, low frequencies of faceted platforms (10%) and a lack of prepared core technology. A recent re-assessment of the 1WA chronology provides an age estimate of between 42 and 35 kyr (Grun & Beaumont 2001). Border Cave's 1 WA assemblage seems enigmatic in the light of other contemporary South African assemblages, but Mitchell (1988) and Barham (1989) both pointed out that there may be an admixture of MSA core technology in 1 WA. It is not presently possible to explain why, within this same time-frame, bifacial and unifacial points were still being manufactured in quantities at Sibudu, which is only 250 km south of Border Cave. At Sibudu there is no question about the typologically MSA nature of the assemblage even as late as 42 or 33 kyr because bifacial and unifacial points comprise 30.2% of the retouched tools. Both Border Cave and Sibudu are now securely dated by means other than radiocarbon and there seems a strong likelihood that the dates for both sites are correct within the range of their respective standard devia- tions. This chronological security does not apply to some of the other sites that I now discuss.

MSA tool classes appear to continue late in the South Afri- can sites of Rose Cottage Cave (Wadley & Vogel 1991; Wadley 1993, 1997; Clark 1997a,b; Valladas et al. 2005), Florisbad

(Kuman et al. 1999), Strathalan Cave B (Opperman & Heydenrych 1990), Driekoppen Shelter (Wallsmith 1990), Highlands Rock Shelter (Deacon 1976), Boomplaas (Deacon 1995), Umhlatuzana (Kaplan 1990) and Grassridge (Opperman 1987). MSA tools also continue late at Sehonghong in Lesotho (Carter et al. 1988; Mitchell 1994), at Sibebe, Swaziland (Price-Williams 1981), and Apollo 11, Namibia (Wendt 1976). At Sehonghong and at Rose Cottage the final MSA contains a variety of scrapers (especially straight scrapers, known as 'knives' in some of the South African literature) and several unifacial points, but there are low frequencies of formal tools. At Strathalan Cave B (Opperman & Heydenrych 1990) the small lithic assemblage has a predominance of blades with few (21) formal tools and it is difficult to compare this assemblage with those from other sites. The youngest MSA layer at Boomplaas is dated by radiocarbon on charcoal to 32 000 years ago (Deacon 1979, 1995). This lithic assemblage is rich in long blades as is the one at Highlands (Volman 1981, 1984). The MSA 4 of Klasies River, Cave 1, (Singer & Wymer 1982: 67), notwithstanding its name, predates the period under discussion here and belongs to an early MSA 3 phase in the Volman scheme. The final MSA from Florisbad, Free State, is one of the most informal of the late MSA collections; it contains only flakes with a few triangular flakes and ten flakes with faceted platforms (Kuman et al. 1999). The date of 19 530 t 650 BP for this final MSA at Florisbad may be a minimum age. The final MSA assemblage from the Western Cape site of Ysterfontein, dated 33 470 + 510 BP (Beta-169978) and >46 400 BP (Beta-171202), contains many denticulates, but few other retouched pieces (Halkett et al. 2003). Southwestern Namibian




final MSA sites also have few formal tools and an apparent lack

of standardization among other lithics (Vogelsang 1996). Further afield, the situation is equally complex. In Egypt, at

Sodmein Cave in the Red Sea Mountains, the oldest Upper

Palaeolithic (defined partly by a lack of Levallois technique) is

dated 25 200 ? 500 BP (UtC-3313), while the Middle Palaeolithic

level 2 is dated 29 950 ? 900 (GrN-16782) and >30 000 BP

(Lv-2084) (Van Peer et al. 1996). In the Horn and East Africa

there is also a confusion of MSA artefact types and technolo-

gies, some with and others without Levallois technology and it

is not known whether the differences are age-related (Gresham

& Brandt 1996). In central Africa, at Matupi, Congo, microlithic

cores predate 40 kyr, whereas, at Kalemba, Zambia, radial and

disc cores persist as late as 25 kyr (McBrearty & Brooks 2000).

Since the post-Howiesons Poort assemblages labelled

MSA 3 span the period c. 60-30 kyr, it is not surprising that

a great deal of variability is evident. As Deacon (1995) pointed

out, the mid-late Pleistocene is generally a period of low

archaeological visibility and important sites such as

Nelson Bay Cave and Klasies River do not have occupation for

much of this period. Thus it seems inappropriate to compare

the earlier part of MSA 3, dating older than 45 kyr, with the late

MSA 3 at Sibudu and other like-aged sites. The presence of some backed tools (7.3% of all whole re-

touched classes - broken tools are excluded from the calcula-

tion) in the final MSA of Sibudu is noteworthy, but it does not

imply that a Howiesons Poort Industry is represented here.

Nor does their presence imply contamination from above be-

cause there is no LSA occupation in Sibudu; the backed tools in

the final MSA cannot therefore be the result of downward

movement of LSA material through the deposits. Small fre-

quencies of backed tools appear to be an integral part of the late

MSA at Sibudu, as they are at Shongweni and Umhlatuzana.

Backed tools were also found in the Alfred County Cave,

KwaZulu-Natal, but their context is unknown (Mitchell 1998).

Although backed tools, particularly segments, are the ac-

knowledged fossiles directeurs of Howiesons Poort industries,

we should not assume that a Howiesons Poort Industry is signi-

fied when a few backed tools are present in an assemblage.

Howiesons Poort assemblages removed from sites that have

been carefully excavated in small stratigraphic layers usually

contain very high percentage frequencies of backed tools rela-

tive to other tool classes. Rose Cottage Cave is a good case

study. Here, the Howiesons Poort layers, excavated in minute

stratigraphic lenses by Harper (1997), contained high percent-

ages of backed tools and a near absence of other tool classes.

In contrast, the Rose Cottage post-Howiesons Poort layers

contain quantities of points and scrapers together with a few

backed tools (Wadley & Harper 1989; Harper 1997). Villa (in

prep.) estimates that only 3.7% of backed tools occur in the late

MSA Rose Cottage layers BYR, THO, ELA, LYN and KAR,

whereas between 32 and 77.7% backed tools occur in the

Howiesons Poort layers. Low frequencies of backed tools also occur in several

non-Howiesons Poort MSA assemblages north of South Africa.

In the Songwe Valley, Tanzania, MSA sites with denticulates

contain up to 5.4% of backed elements (Willoughby 1996).

While open sites in the area might have LSA contamination,

Willoughby comments that it is likely that some of the

segments are genuinely associated with the MSA occurrences because they are large and are made of flint or chert, whereas segments from unmixed LSA sites are smaller and made of quartz. Unfortunately, the Songwe Valley sites are undated. Also in Tanzania, the late MSA Mumba Industry, described from Mumba Rockshelter, has a number of backed elements in

a unit dated by amino-acid racemization on ostrich eggshell to

between 65 and 45 kyr (McBrearty & Brooks 2000). In Botswana, at White Paintings Shelter, there is an indus-

try dated c. 30 000 years ago (by ostrich eggshell protein

diagenesis) that contains large blades that are occasionally

retouched to form large segments and scrapers; Robbins &

Murphy (1998: 59) call the industry an early LSA or the

"Botswana counterpart to the South African Howiesons Poort

industry". If this late industry in Botswana can be shown to

have MSA elements, it may have similarities to the Tshangula

Industry of Zimbabwe. Here, Cooke recognized the Tshangula as an industry that combined MSA Levallois elements with

backed tools, including segments (Cooke 1971, 1978; Volman

1981, 1984; Larsson 1996). As such, the Tshangula was seen as a

transitional industry, not unlike the Magosian Industry, that is,

the 'Second Intermediate' recognized in the first half of the

twentieth century (Cooke 1971, 1978; Volman 1981). At

Pomongwe the final MSA seems to postdate 35 000 years ago

and it contains backed tools with points (Walker 1995). Several

different industries may be represented by the term Tshangula

(Walker & Wadley 1984) and it is possible that, amongst these

sites, only Duncombe Farm (Hitzeroth 1973; Walker & Wadley

1984) contains a true transitional industry. A date of 18 970 ?

275 BP (SR-243), which is possibly a minimum age, was

obtained from the middle of the Tshangula at this site and all of

the site's large segments were obtained within the Tshangula. Included within the Tshangula assemblages are ostrich

eggshell beads, worked bone artefacts and occasionally bored

stones. It is tempting to suggest that the Tshangula bears a

resemblance to the 'early LSA', dated 39 900 ? 1600 BP, that

Ambrose (1998) has recognized at Enkapune ya Muto, Kenya.

This assemblage contains ostrich eggshell beads, outils ecailles

and thumbnail endscrapers, low frequencies of backed blades

and large segments that are within the size range of MSA

segments, and low frequencies of discoidal forms and

discoidal cores and faceted platform flakes (Ambrose 1998:

382). Other East African sites dating more recently than 40 000

years ago also have a variety of organic artefacts and seem

transitional in their combination of MSA and LSA tool classes.

In Tanzania there is Kisese 11, dated 31480 BP and Mumba has

an MSA/LSA industry dating 27 000 and 33 200 BP (Ambrose

1998). It now seems fashionable to refer to these industries as

LSA, perhaps partly as a reaction against the term 'Magosian'.

The Magosian began to lose favour after Cole (1967) questioned its integrity and suggested that many Magosian sites were

contaminated mixtures of MSA and LSA. Subsequently Clark

et al. (1979, 1984) were able to demonstrate that the so-called

Magosian at Porc Epic in Ethiopia was merely a mixture of

slumped LSA artefacts into MSA layers. The segment-rich Howiesons Poort was, furthermore, shown to be sandwiched

within MSA traditions. The Magosian and Second Intermedi-

ate disappeared into a Black Hole. In more recent years the

concept of a transitional MSA/LSA industry was reintroduced

by some archaeologists (see, for example, Wadley 1993;

Mitchell 1994; Clark 1997a,b). The transition implies that there

are both technological and typological continuities between

the final expression of the MSA and the introduction of the

earliest LSA tools. Detailed and standardized technological studies need to be carried out on many African sites dating between 40 000 and 20 000 years ago in order to resolve the issue of the MSA and LSA interface.

Notwithstanding the demise of the Magosian, it is patent that segments are not the sole prerogative of either Howiesons Poort or LSA industries. Indeed, segments are not a Howiesons Poort innovation for, at some sites, they pre-date the




Howiesons Poort Industry by several hundreds of thousands of years. The earliest backed tools in Africa, dating to about 300 kyr, have been found in the Lupemban Industry of Twin Rivers in Zambia (Clark & Brown 2001; Barham 2002). At Twin Rivers, backing accounts for up to 15% of the Lupemban retouched tools (Barham 2002). Backed tools, probably also part of the Lupemban industry, were associated with fossil remains of Homo heidelbergensis (elsewhere called Homo rhodesiensis) at Kabwe, Zambia (Barham 2002). If these anatomi- cally pre-modern humans were the makers of the backed tools at Kabwe, we have a fascinating association between them and tools that some archaeologists (for example, Deacon 1995; Wurz 1999) consider to be hallmarks of modern behaviour that embody symbolic expression. The choice of name H. heidelbergensis or H. rhodesiensis for the African fossils has other far-reaching implications for Out-of-Africa interpretations because H. heidelbergensis is either ancestral to or part of the Neanderthal lineage (Stringer 1996; McBrearty & Brooks 2000). No Neanderthals have yet been found in Africa.

The strong typological variability among lithic assemblages within the 15 000-20 000 years directly before the Last Glacial Maximum was noted by Volman (1984) more than twenty years ago when the chronology of the MSA was less well known than it is today. Notwithstanding the rather confusing data in the available literature, it may be possible to recognize a few trends between about 40 and 25 kyr. First, it seems that sites with very late dates (c. 25 000 years ago) for MSA occurrences (for example, Rose Cottage, Sehonghong, Florisbad, Strathalan Cave B and Apollo 11) are characterized by few formal tools. This makes them difficult to assess on typological evidence alone, a point that I discuss later. Secondly, there may be a local tradition in part of KwaZulu-Natal for a few thousand years, centring on about 35 kyr: Sibudu and Umhlatuzana have hollow-based points that may represent a stylistic, time-related variation of points elsewhere in South Africa. Thirdly, the presence in Sibudu, Umhlatuzana and Shongweni of segments in the final MSA, from 40 kyr to more recently, seems significant in the light of late or final MSA or early LSA occurrences of segments and other backed elements in Botswana, Zimbabwe and East Africa. I speculate that segments are reliably associated with final MSA tools at some sites and that, in some instances; the 'Magosian' could claim unfair dismissal. This comment does not imply that I favour the reintroduction of this term, but it does imply that not all of the pre-1960s excavations of sites containing segments in late MSA should be discredited. At Sibudu there is no LSA and the segments in the final MSA cannot represent mixing with LSA. The final MSA segments also cannot represent mixing with the earlier Howiesons Poort Industry, which is two metres deeper than the final MSA industry.

The issue of whether contemporary sites contain comparable industries may be best resolved through detailed technological, rather than typological, studies of the sort that Wurz et al. (2003) used to discriminate between MSA 1 and MSA 2 at Klasies River. Such technological studies are currently being undertaken by Paola Villa and collaborators (Villa et al. 2005) at Sibudu and Rose Cottage Cave and similar studies are planned for Border Cave and other sites (P Villa, pers. comm., 2004). Villa will, amongst other assemblages, examine LB MOD artefacts. Perhaps these new studies will resolve the conundrum of the final MSA in Africa. It is also necessary to hold an African workshop where assemblages dating between 40-25 kyr can be directly compared and discussed. This is the only way to resolve disparities in terminology and to discover the real similarities and differences between assemblages that

are variously described as final MSA, LSA or transitional MSA/LSA.

KEY FOR TABLES H/Co = hearth in Co H/Bu = hearth in Bu P/Bu = pit in Bu H/LB = hearth in LB H/MC = hearth in MC

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The entire ACACIA team is to be thanked for its hard work

and enthusiasm. Amelia Clark assisted with the excavation of the final MSA reported here. I thank Tammy Hodgskiss for loading the Sibudu data onto Excel. Zenobia Jacobs is to be especially thanked for the unpublished OSL dates quoted here. I thank members of the Geological Survey, Pietermaritzburg, for showing the ACACIA team the hornfels outcrop at Verulum. I thank Ron Uken, School of Geological Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal for conducting the XRF analysis of hornfels. I am also grateful to Bonny Williamson and Marlize Lombard for unpublished residue data. Paola Villa, Sarah Wurz and Peter Mitchell made useful comments on the first draft of this paper. The School of Geography, Archaeology and Envi- ronmental Studies provide space and support for the ACACIA project. The Sibudu research is funded by the NRF Opinions expressed here cannot necessarily be attributed to the NRE

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