Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Open-air preservation of miniaturised lithics: experimental research in the Cederberg Mountains, southern Africa

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

A Correction to this article was published on 12 April 2018

This article has been updated

Abstract

Open-air archaeology plays a limited role in southern African Late Pleistocene research, with most studies focused on rock shelter assemblages. Recently, archaeologists have noted discrepancies in the composition of Late Pleistocene lithic assemblages between some of the region’s open-air and rock shelter sites. For example, although relatively abundant in rock shelters, Late Pleistocene Later Stone Age (LSA, c. 44–12 kcal. BP) bipolar cores are rare in open-air contexts. In this paper, we assess this discrepancy by testing for differential preservation of specific artefact classes and sizes in semi-arid open-air conditions. We placed a replicated assemblage of miniaturised cores and flakes on an archaeologically sterile sediment surface in the Doring River Valley (South Africa) and recorded their movements over 22 months. Our results indicate that bipolar and freehand cores moved comparable distances within the study interval and that surface slope is the strongest predictor of miniaturised tool movement. We also show that (1) relatively flat lithics move disproportionately more and (2) random artefact orientations do not preclude local (i.e. metre) scale artefact transport. In terms of the archaeology of our study area, the observed clustering of surface artefacts on sediment bodies likely results from their recent exposure. Our data suggest that the paucity of open-air bipolar artefacts in Late Pleistocene LSA assemblages may have more to do with human behavioural variability at landscape scales than differential preservation. Southern Africa’s rich rock shelter record is, therefore, unlikely to represent the full suite of prehistoric hunter-gatherer behaviours.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17
Fig. 18
Fig. 19

Similar content being viewed by others

Change history

  • 12 April 2018

    The original version of this article, unfortunately, contained error. Modifications have been made to the Introduction, Results/observations, Figures and figure citations. The original article has been corrected.

References

  • Araujo AG, Feathers JK (2008) First notice of open-air Paleoamerican sites at Lagoa Santa: some geomorphological and paleoenvironmental aspects, and implications for future research. Curr Res Pleistocene 25:27–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Araujo AGM, Strauss AM, Feathers JK, Paisani JC, Schrage TJ (2013) Paleoindian open-air sites in tropical settings: a case study in formation processes, dating methods, and paleoenvironmental models in central Brazil. Geoarchaeology 28:195–220. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Attenbrow V, Robertson G, Hiscock P (2009) The changing abundance of backed artefacts in south-eastern Australia: a response to Holocene climate change? J Archaeol Sci 36:2765–2770

    Google Scholar 

  • Barberena R (2008) Arqueología y biogeografía humana en Patagonia meridional. Sociedad Argentina de Antropología Buenos Aires,

  • Barich BE, Garcea EA, Giraudi C (2006) Between the Mediterranean and the Sahara: geoarchaeological reconnaissance in the Jebel Gharbi. Libya Antiquity 80:567–582

    Google Scholar 

  • Barton CM, Bernabeu J, Aura JE, Garcia O, La Roca N (2002) Dynamic landscapes, artifact taphonomy, and landuse modeling in the western Mediterranean. Geoarchaeology 17:155–190. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.10008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beaumont P (1986) Where did all the young men go during 0-18 stage 2? Palaeoecology of Africa 17:79–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Benito-Calvo A, de la Torre I (2011) Analysis of orientation patterns in Olduvai Bed I assemblages using GIS techniques: implications for site formation processes. J Hum Evol 61:50–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.02.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benito-Calvo A, Martínez-Moreno J, Jordá Pardo JF, de la Torre I, Torcal RM (2009) Sedimentological and archaeological fabrics in Palaeolithic levels of the south-eastern Pyrenees: Cova Gran and Roca dels Bous sites (Lleida, Spain). J Archaeol Sci 36:2566–2577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2009.07.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertran P, Lenoble A, Todisco D, Desrosiers PM, Sørensen M (2012) Particle size distribution of lithic assemblages and taphonomy of Palaeolithic sites J Archaeol Sci 39:3148–3166

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertran P, Texier J-P (1995) Fabric analysis: application to paleolithic sites. J Archaeol Sci 22:521–535. https://doi.org/10.1006/jasc.1995.0050

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bettis EA, Mandel RD (2002) The effects of temporal and spatial patterns of Holocene erosion and alluviation on the archaeological record of the Central and Eastern Great Plains, U.S.A. Geoarchaeology 17:141–154. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.10006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Binford LR (1978) Dimensional analysis of behavior and site structure: learning from an Eskimo hunting stand. Amer Antiq 43:330–361. https://doi.org/10.2307/279390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braun D, Levin NE, Stynder D, Pickering R, Forrest F, Roberts DL, Matthews T, Lehmann SB, Patterson DB, Herries AIH, Fitzsimmons K, Bishop LC, Archer W (2016) The context of hominin behaviour at Elandsfontien in the Mid-Pleistocene. Quat Int 404:206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.08.194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown KS et al (2012) An early and enduring advanced technology originating 71,000 years ago in South Africa. Nature 491:590–593

    Google Scholar 

  • Churchill SE et al (2000) Erfkroon: a new Florisian fossil locality from fluvial contexts in the western Free State, South Africa. South Afr J Sci 96:161–163

    Google Scholar 

  • Crema ER, Kerig T, Shennan S (2014) Culture, space, and metapopulation: a simulation-based study for evaluating signals of blending and branching. J Archaeol Sci 43:289–298

    Google Scholar 

  • d'Errico F et al (2017) Identifying early modern human ecological niche expansions and associated cultural dynamics in the South African Middle Stone Age. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1620752114

    Google Scholar 

  • Deacon HJ (1995) Two late Pleistocene-Holocene archaeological depositories from the Southern Cape, South Africa. South Afr Archaeol Bull 50:121–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Deacon HJ, Thackeray J (1984) Late Pleistocene environmental changes and implications for the archaeological record in southern Africa. In: Vogel J.C. (ed.) Late Cainozoic palaeoclimates of the southern hemisphere. Balkema, Rotterdam,pp. 375-390

  • Dibble HL, Chase PG, McPherron SP, Tuffreau A (1997) Testing the reality of a “living floor” with archaeological data. Amer Antiq 62:629–651. https://doi.org/10.2307/281882

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dibble HL, Rezek Z (2009) Introducing a new experimental design for controlled studies of flake formation: results for exterior platform angle, platform depth, angle of blow, velocity, and force. J Archaeol Sci 36:1945–1954. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2009.05.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dietl H, Kandel AW, Conard NJ (2005) Middle Stone Age settlement and land use at the open-air sites of Geelbek and Anyskop, South Africa. J Afr Archaeol 3:231–242. https://doi.org/10.3213/1612-1651-10052

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Douglass MJ, Lin SC, Braun DR, Plummer TW (2017) Core use-life distributions in lithic assemblages as a means for reconstructing behavioral patterns. J Archaeol Method Theory 25:254–288. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-017-9334-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunnell RC, Simek JF (1995) Artifact size and plowzone processes. J Field Archaeol 22:305–319. https://doi.org/10.2307/530178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ebert JI (1992) Distributional Archaeology. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque

  • Enloe JG (2006) Geological processes and site structure: assessing integrity at a Late Paleolithic open-air site in northern France. Geoarchaeology 21:523–540. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.20122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eren MI et al (2010) Experimental examination of animal trampling effects on artifact movement in dry and water saturated substrates: a test case from South India. J Archaeol Sci 37:3010–3021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.06.024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faith JT (2013) Taphonomic and paleoecological change in the large mammal sequence from Boomplaas Cave, western Cape, South Africa. J Hum Evol 65:715–730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.09.001

    Google Scholar 

  • Fanning P, Holdaway S (2001) Stone artifact scatters in western NSW Australia: geomorphic controls on artifact size and distribution. Geoarchaeology 16:667–686

    Google Scholar 

  • Fanning PC, Holdaway SJ, Rhodes EJ (2008) A new geoarchaeology of aboriginal artefact deposits in western NSW Australia: establishing spatial and temporal geomorphic controls on the surface archaeological record. Geomorphology 101:524–532

    Google Scholar 

  • Favier Dubois M Dinámica sedimentaria y cambios ambientales en relación al registro arqueológico y tafonómico del cerro Cabeza de León Bahía San Sebastián (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina). In: Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia, Serie Ciencias Humanas, 1998. pp 137–152

  • Fisher E et al (2013) Archaeological reconnaissance for Middle Stone Age sites along the Pondoland Coast, South Africa. Paleo Anthropology 2013:104–137

    Google Scholar 

  • Fitzsimmons KE, Stern N, Murray-Wallace CV (2014) Depositional history and archaeology of the central Lake Mungo lunette, Willandra Lakes, southeast Australia. J Archaeol Sci 41:349–364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2013.08.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forssman T, Pargeter J (2014) Assessing surface movement at Stone Age open-air sites: first impressions from a pilot experiment in northeastern Botswana. Southern African Humanities 26:157–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Good P (2013) Permutation tests: a practical guide to resampling methods for testing hypotheses, Berlin, Springer

  • Guo Y-J, Li B, Zhang J-F, Yuan B-Y, Xie F, Roberts RG (2016) Luminescence ages for three ‘Middle Palaeolithic’ sites in the Nihewan Basin, northern China, and their archaeological and palaeoenvironmental implications. Quat Res 85:456–470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2016.03.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hallinan E, Parkington J (2017) Stone Age landscape use in the Olifants River Valley, Clanwilliam, Western Cape, South Africa. Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa 52:1–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2017.1365438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hassan FA (1997) The dynamics of a riverine civilization: a geoarchaeological perspective on the Nile valley. Egypt Wld Archaeol 29:51–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Haynes CV (2001) Geochronology and climate change of the Pleistocene–Holocene transition in the Darb el Arba'in Desert. Eastern Sahara Geoarchaeology 16:119–141. https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6548(200101)16:1<119::aid-gea8>3.0.co;2-v

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hiscock P (2015) Making it small in the Palaeolithic: bipolar stone-working, miniature artefacts and models of core recycling. Wld Archaeol 47:158–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Hiscock P, Attenbrow V (1998) Early Holocene backed artefacts from Australia. Archaeol Oceania 33:49–62. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1834-4453.1998.tb00404.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Högberg A, Larsson L (2011) Lithic technology and behavioural modernity: new results from the Still Bay site, Hollow Rock Shelter, Western Cape Province, South Africa. J Hum Evol 61:133–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.02.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holdaway SJ, Douglass MJ, Fanning PC (2012) Landscape scale and human mobility: geoarchaeological evidence from Rutherfords Creek. In: Kluiving SJ, Guttmann-Bond EG (eds) Landscape archaeology between art and science: from a multi- to an interdisciplinary approach. Landscape and heritage series. Amsterdam University Press, New South Wales

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs Z (2010) An OSL chronology for the sedimentary deposits from pinnacle point cave 13B—a punctuated presence. J Hum Evol 59:289–305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.07.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarvis A, Reuter HI, Nelson A, Guevara E (2008) Hole-filled seamless SRTM data V4. International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)

  • Jerardino A, Yates R (1996) Preliminary results from excavations at Steenbokfontein cave: implications for past and future research. South Afr Archaeol Bull 51:7–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein RG, Avery G, Cruz-Uribe K, Halkett D, Parkington JE, Steele T, Volman TP, Yates R (2004) The Ysterfontein 1 Middle Stone Age site, South Africa, and early human exploitation of coastal resources. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:5708–5715. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0400528101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koopman A, Kluiving S, Holdaway S, Wendrich W (2016) The effects of Holocene landscape changes on the formation of the archaeological record in the Fayum Basin, Egypt. Geoarchaeology 31:17–33. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21538

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kovacevic M, Shennan S, Vanhaeren M, d’Errico F, Thomas MG (2015) Simulating geographical variation in material culture: were early modern humans in Europe ethnically structured? In: Learning strategies and cultural evolution during the Palaeolithic. Springer, pp 103–120

  • Kuman K (1989) Florisbad and =/Gi: the contribution of open-air sites to study of the Middle Stone Age in Southern Africa. Ph. D. thesis, University of Pennsylvania

  • Kuper R, Kröpelin S (2006) Climate-controlled Holocene occupation in the Sahara: motor of Africa’s evolution. Science 313:803–807

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenoble A, Bertran P (2004) Fabric of Palaeolithic levels: methods and implications for site formation processes. J Archaeol Sci 31:457–469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2003.09.013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lombard M, Wadley L, Jacobs Z, Mohapi M, Roberts RG (2010) Still Bay and serrated points from Umhlatuzana rock shelter, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. J Archaeol Sci 37:1773–1784

    Google Scholar 

  • Lotter MG, Gibbon RJ, Kuman K, Leader GM, Forssman T, Granger DE (2016) A geoarchaeological study of the Middle and Upper Pleistocene levels at Canteen Kopje, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Geoarchaeology 31:304–323

    Google Scholar 

  • Low M, Mackay A (2016) The late Pleistocene microlithic at Putslaagte 8 rockshelter in the Western Cape, South Africa. S Afr Archaeol Bull 71:146

    Google Scholar 

  • Low M, Mackay A, Phillips N (2017) Understanding Early Later Stone Age technology at a landscape-scale: evidence from the open-air locality Uitspankraal 7 (UPK7) in the Western Cape, South Africa. Azania: Archaeol Res Africa 52:1–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2017.1343431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mackay A (2010) The late Pleistocene archaeology of Klein Kliphuis rock shelter, Western Cape, South Africa: 2006 excavations. South Afr Archaeol Bull 65:132–147. https://doi.org/10.2307/41408506

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mackay A (2016) Three arcs: observations on the archaeology of the Elands Bay and northern Cederberg landscapes. South Afr Humanit 29:1–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Mackay A, Hallinan E, Steele TE (2018) Provisioning responses to environmental change in South Africa’s winter rainfall zone: MIS 5-2. In: Robinson E, Sellet F (eds) Lithic technological organization and paleoenvironmental change: global and diachronic perspectives. Springer, Cham, pp 13–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64407-3_2

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mackay A, Orton J, Schwortz S, Steele TE (2010) Soutfontein (SFT)-001: preliminary report on an open-air site rich in bifacial points, southern Namaqualand, South Africa. South Afr Archaeol Bull 65:84–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Mackay A, Stewart BA, Chase BM (2014a) Coalescence and fragmentation in the late Pleistocene archaeology of southernmost Africa. J Hum Evol 72:26–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.03.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mackay A, Sumner A, Jacobs Z, Marwick B, Bluff K, Shaw M (2014b) Putslaagte 1 (PL1), the Doring River, and the later Middle Stone Age in southern Africa’s Winter Rainfall Zone. Quat Int 350:43–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Mackay A, Will M, Phillips N (2015) What stone tools found in southern tip of Africa tell us about the human story. theconversation.com

  • Manhire A (1993) A report on the excavations at Faraoskop Rock Shelter in the Graafwater district of the south-western Cape Southern African field. Archaeology 2:3–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Marean CW (2010) Pinnacle point cave 13B (Western Cape Province, South Africa) in context: the Cape Floral kingdom, shellfish, and modern human origins. J Hum Evol 59:425–443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.07.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marks TP, McCall GS (2011) New approaches to the study of surface Palaeolithic artefacts: a pilot project at Zebra River. Lithic Technol 39:200–202. https://doi.org/10.1179/0197726114Z.00000000048

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin FM (2006) Carnívoros y huesos humanos de Fuego-Patagonia: aportes desde la tafonomía forense. Sociedad Argentina de Antropología,

  • Marwick B, Hayes E, Clarkson C, Fullagar R (2017) Movement of lithics by trampling: an experiment in the Madjedbebe sediments, northern Australia. J Archaeol Sci 79:73–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2017.01.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McBrearty S, Bishop L, Plummer T, Dewar R, Conard N (1998) Tools underfoot: human trampling as an agent of lithic artifact edge modification. Am Antiq 63:108–129. https://doi.org/10.2307/2694779

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCall GS (2007) Behavioral ecological models of lithic technological change during the later Middle Stone Age of South Africa. J Archaeol Sci 34:1738–1751. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2006.12.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McPherron SJP (2005) Artifact orientations and site formation processes from total station proveniences. J Archaeol Sci 32:1003–1014

    Google Scholar 

  • McPherron SP (2018) Additional statistical and graphical methods for analyzing site formation processes using artifact orientations. PLoS One 13:e0190195. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell P (1988) The late Pleistocene early microlithic assemblages of southern Africa. Wld Archaeol 20:27–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell PJ (1995) Revisiting the Robberg: new results and a revision of old ideas at Sehonghong Rock Shelter, Lesotho. South Afr Archaeol Bull 50:28–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Moeyersons J (1978) The behaviour of stones and stone implements, buried in consolidating and creeping Kalahari sands. Earth Surf Process 3:115–128. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3290030203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mourre V, Villa P, Henshilwood CS (2010) Early use of pressure flaking on lithic artifacts at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Science 330:659–662

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagelkerke NJ (1991) A note on a general definition of the coefficient of determination. Biometrika 78:691–692

    Google Scholar 

  • Nash DT, Petraglia MD, Society for American Archaeology Meeting (1987) Natural formation processes and the archaeological record. BAR international series, vol 352. B.A.R., Oxford, England

  • Neeley MP (2002) Going microlithic: a Levantine perspective on the adoption of microlithic technologies. Archeol Papers Am Anthropol Assoc 12:45–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Newcomer MH, Sieveking GG (1980) Experimental flake scatter-patterns: a new interpretative technique. J Field Archaeol 7:345–352. https://doi.org/10.2307/529596

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen AE (1991) Trampling the archaeological record: an experimental study. Am Antiq 56:483–503. https://doi.org/10.2307/280897

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oestmo S, Schoville BJ, Wilkins J, Marean CW (2014) A Middle Stone Age Paleoscape near the Pinnacle Point caves, Vleesbaai, South Africa. Quat Int 350:147–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.07.043

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orton J (2008) A late Pleistocene microlithic Later Stone Age assemblage from coastal Namaqualand, South Africa. Before Farming 2008:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Ozán IL (2017) Gravity and the formation of the archaeological record: main concepts and methodological tools. Geoarchaeology 32:1–16. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21620

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ozán IL, Borrero LA, Borrazzo K, LHeureux GL (2015) Tafonomía en pendientes: el caso de Cerro Sin Nombre (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina) Geoarqueologia da Ámerica do Sul:285–330

  • Palmison ME (2014) Excavation, analysis, and intersite comparison of the Robberg industry components at the open-air site of Erfkroon, South Africa. Texas State University

  • Pargeter J (2016) Lithic miniaturization in Late Pleistocene southern Africa. J Archaeol Sci Rep 10:221–236

    Google Scholar 

  • Pargeter J, Bradfield J (2012) The effects of class I and II sized bovids on macrofracture formation and tool displacement: results of a trampling experiment in a southern African Stone Age context. J Field Archaeol 37:238–251. https://doi.org/10.1179/0093469012Z.00000000022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pargeter J, Eren MI (2017) Quantifying and comparing bipolar versus freehand flake morphologies, production currencies, and reduction energetics during lithic miniaturization. Lithic Technol 42:90–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/01977261.2017.1345442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petraglia M, Clarkson C, Boivin N, Haslam M, Korisettar R, Chaubey G, Ditchfield P, Fuller D, James H, Jones S, Kivisild T, Koshy J, Lahr MM, Metspalu M, Roberts R, Arnold L (2009) Population increase and environmental deterioration correspond with microlithic innovations in South Asia ca. 35,000 years ago. Proc Natl Acad Sci 106:12261–12266

    Google Scholar 

  • Petraglia MD, Potts R (1994) Water flow and the formation of Early Pleistocene artifact sites in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. J Anthrop Archaeol 13:228–254. https://doi.org/10.1006/jaar.1994.1014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips N, Pargeter J, Mackay A, Low M (2018) Open-air preservation of miniaturised lithics: experimental research in the Cederberg Mountains, Southern Africa. Open Science Framework. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/CXTA4

  • Porraz G, Igreja M, Schmidt P, Parkington JE (2016) A shape to the microlithic Robberg from Elands Bay Cave (South Africa). South Afr Humanit 29:203–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Porraz G, Parkington J, Rigaud J-P, Miller CE, Poggenpoel C, Tribolo C (2013) The MSA sequence of Diepkloof and the history of southern African Late Pleistocene populations. J Archaeol Sci 40:3542–3552

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell A, Shennan S, Thomas MG (2009) Late Pleistocene demography and the appearance of modern human behavior. Science 324:1298–1301. https://doi.org/10.2307/20494090

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price-Williams D, Barham LS (1982) Swaziland archaeological research association. Nyame Akuma 21

  • R Core Team (2015) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna https://www.R-project.org/

    Google Scholar 

  • Rick JW (1976) Downslope movement and archaeological intrasite spatial analysis. Am Antiq 41:133–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Rigaud JP, Texier PJ, Parkington J, Poggenpoel C (2006) Le mobilier Stillbay et Howiesons Poort de l’abri Diepkloof. Comptes Rendus Palevol 5:839–849

    Google Scholar 

  • Schick KD (1986) Stone Age sites in the making: experiments in the formation and transformation of archaeological occurrences. British Archaeological Reports Ltd, Oxford, England

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiffer MB (1983) Toward the identification of formation processes. Am Antiq 48:675–706. https://doi.org/10.2307/279771

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schiffer MB (1987) The identification of formation processes. In: Schiffer MB (ed) Formation processes of the archaeological record. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, pp 265–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Schild R, Wendorf F (2001a) Geoarchaeology of the Holocene climatic optimum at Nabta Playa, southwestern desert, Egypt. Geoarchaeology 16:7–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Schild R, Wendorf F (2001b) Geomorphology, lithostratigraphy, geochronology and taphonomy of sites. In: Wendorf F, Schild R (eds) Holocene settlement of the Egyptian Sahara: the archaeology of Nabta Playa, vol 1. Kluwer Academic/Plenum, New York, pp 11–50

    Google Scholar 

  • Shea JJ, Klenck JD (1993) An experimental investigation of the effects of trampling on the results of lithic microwear analysis. J Archaeol Sci 20:175–194. https://doi.org/10.1006/jasc.1993.1013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sitzia L, Bertran P, Boulogne S, Brenet M, Crassard R, Delagnes A, Frouin M, Hatté C, Jaubert J, Khalidi L, Messager E, Mercier N, Meunier A, Peigné S, Queffelec A, Tribolo C, Macchiarelli R (2012) The paleoenvironment and lithic taphonomy of Shi’Bat Dihya 1, a Middle Paleolithic site in Wadi Surdud, Yemen. Geoarchaeology 27:471–491. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steele TE, Mackay A, Orton J, Schwortz S (2012) Varsche Rivier 003, a new Middle Stone Age site in southern Namaqualand. South Africa S Afr Archaeol Bull 67:108–119

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern N (1994) The implications of time-averaging for reconstructing the land-use patterns of early tool-using hominids. J Hum Evol 27:89–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern N, Bunn HT, Kroll EM, Haynes G, McBrearty S, Sept J, Willoughby PR (1993) The structure of the lower Pleistocene archaeological record: a case study from the Koobi Fora Formation. Curr Anthrop 34:201–225

    Google Scholar 

  • Tang H, Zhou C, Li Y, Liang Z (2013) A new discovery of microlithic information at the entrance to the Northern Qingzang Plateau of the Kunlun Mountains of Qinghai. 科学通报 58:247. https://doi.org/10.1360/972012-550

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson JC, Mackay A, de Moor V, Gomani-Chindebvu E (2014) Catchment survey in the Karonga District: a landscape-scale analysis of provisioning and core reduction strategies during the Middle Stone Age of northern Malawi. Afr Archaeol Rev 31:447–478. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-014-9167-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toth N (1987) Behavioral inferences from Early Stone artifact assemblages: an experimental model. J Hum Evol 16:763–787. https://doi.org/10.1016/0047-2484(87)90023-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Villa P, Soriano S, Teyssandier N, Wurz S (2010) The Howiesons Poort and MSA III at Klasies River main site, Cave 1A. J Archaeol Sci 37:630–655. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2009.10.028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vogelsang R, Richter J, Jacobs Z, Eichhorn B, Linseele V, Roberts RG (2010) New excavations of Middle Stone Age deposits at Apollo 11 Rockshelter, Namibia: stratigraphy, archaeology, chronology and past environments. J Afr Archaeol 8:185–218

    Google Scholar 

  • Wadley L (1993) The Pleistocene Later Stone Age south of the Limpopo River. J World Prehist 7:243–296

    Google Scholar 

  • Wandsnider L, Camilli EL (1992) The character of surface archaeological deposits and its influence on survey accuracy. J Field Archaeol 19:169–188. https://doi.org/10.2307/529977

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson GS (1982) Circular statistics in biology. Taylor & Francis Group

    Google Scholar 

  • Weedman KJ (2000) An Ethnoarchaeological Study of Stone Scrapers Among the Gamo People of Southern Ethiopia. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Florida

  • Wells LE (2001) A geomorphological approach to reconstructing archaeological settlement patterns based on surficial artifact distribution. In: Earth sciences and archaeology. Springer, pp 107–141

  • White JP (1968) Fabricators, Outils ŕcaillŕs or scalar cores? Aust J Anthrop 6:658–666

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson TJ (1999) Holocene Valley fills of southern Turkey and northwestern Syria: recent geoarchaeological contributions. Quat Sci Rev 18:555–571. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(98)00097-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Will M, Mackay A, Phillips N (2015) Implications of Nubian-like core reduction systems in southern Africa for the identification of early modern human dispersals. PLoS One 10:e0131824. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0131824

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright DK, Thompson JC, Schilt F, Cohen AS, Choi JH, Mercader J, Nightingale S, Miller CE, Mentzer SM, Walde D, Welling M, Gomani-Chindebvu E (2017) Approaches to Middle Stone Age landscape archaeology in tropical Africa. J Archaeol Sci 77:64–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2016.01.014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zwyns N, Gladyshev SA, Gunchinsuren B, Bolorbat T, Flas D, Dogandžić T, Tabarev AV, Gillam JC, Khatsenovich AM, McPherron S, Odsuren D, Paine CH, Purevjal KE, Stewart JR (2014) The open-air site of Tolbor 16 (northern Mongolia): preliminary results and perspectives. Quat Int 347:53–65

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Ben Marwick for his help with the R code; the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cape Town for providing access to field equipment and storage space; Brian Jones for his analysis of our assemblage’s mineral composition; and Blair McPhee, Brian Jones, Aurore Val and Alex Blackwood for their assistance with the experiment’s data collection. A special thank you goes to the Pretorius family and Lilly Hough for their welcoming hospitality and land access in and around Uitspankraal 7.

Funding

Funding for this research was provided by a University of Wollongong PhD Scholarship (Phillips), an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship (Low) and an Australian Research Council’s DECRA grant (Mackay, DE130100068).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia

    Natasha Phillips, Marika Low & Alex Mackay

  2. Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Beattie Building, 3rd Floor, University Avenue, Upper Campus, Rondebosch, South Africa

    Natasha Phillips, Marika Low & Alex Mackay

  3. Department of Anthropology, Emory University Centre for Anthropological Research, 1557 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

    Justin Pargeter

  4. Centre for Anthropological Research & Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, GP, 2006, South Africa

    Justin Pargeter

Authors
  1. Natasha Phillips
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Justin Pargeter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marika Low
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Alex Mackay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Natasha Phillips.

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Controlled experiments in lithic technology and function

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(R 28.7 kb)

ESM 2

(CSV 44.4 kb)

ESM 3

(CSV 65.3 kb)

ESM 4

(CSV 15.6 kb)

ESM 5

(CSV 6.92 kb)

ESM 6

(PDF 1.23 mb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Phillips, N., Pargeter, J., Low, M. et al. Open-air preservation of miniaturised lithics: experimental research in the Cederberg Mountains, southern Africa. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 11, 5851–5877 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-018-0617-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-018-0617-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation