Human Evolution, Archaeology and the South African Stone Age Landscape During the Last 100,000 Years

Abstract

During the past 100,000 years the fluctuating climate that included two glacials and three interglacials resulted in a continuously changing South African landscape. The multitude of archaeological sites on the landscape shows that climate presented no obstacle to anatomically modern humans’ ability to flexibly adjust to a variety of ecoregions. Humans interacted dynamically with the environment throughout this time and changing population densities, fluctuating levels of cultural connectivity and variations in behavioural complexity occur. During interglacial Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 5 and 3 sites appear in regionally restricted areas on the landscape and the lithic technocomplexes indicate minimal cultural connections between the groups. By contrast, in the Howiesons Poort of glacial MIS 4, more sites on the landscape, homogeneity in lithic flaking systems, and an increase in the expressions of complex behaviours occur on a sub-continental scale. There is no straightforward relationship between such expanded archaeological signals and colder periods, as the glacial MIS 2 archaeological occurrences are largely similar to those from MIS 5 and 3. It is only with the Holocene interglacial Oakhurst and Wilton technocomplexes that the increases in site density and homogeneity in lithic systems over the entire South Africa landscape occur again. This is associated with an exponential increase in the complexity of behavioural expressions such as the use of pigments, bone and shell in Holocene assemblages. To further investigate these subtle links between climate, environment and human evolution, additional high resolution chronological frameworks, environmental proxies and archaeological cultural data with even geographical representation are needed.