Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
Africa was a critical player in human evolutionary history and therefore is a pivotal continent for conducting research into our origins. Current theoretical debates concerning the origin of stone tool technology, advanced hominin brain, and modern human behavior remain anchored in the continent’s fossil and archaeological records. Funding opportunities that used to be bound to a few "iconic" localities are now supporting research initiatives in previously understudied regions of Africa. In addition to the progress in expanding field projects, human evolutionary research in the continent has greatly benefited from recent methodological advances in geochronology, isotope geochemistry and archaeometry. The goal of this session is to provide a forum for archaeologists and paleo-scientists whose research in Africa contributes new methodological insights, and archaeological, chronological and paleoclimatic datasets related to Pleistocene hominin adaptations. With these contributions, we hope to celebrate recent advances in Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa, and identify common issues hindering research in the continent.
Other Keywords
Paleolithic •
Lithic Analysis •
Middle Stone Age •
Coastal and Island Archaeology •
Hunter-Gatherers/Foragers •
Dating Techniques •
Survey •
Migration •
Chronology •
Zooarchaeology
Geographic Keywords
Africa (Continent) •
Republic of Kenya (Country) •
United Republic of Tanzania (Country) •
Republic of Uganda (Country) •
Territorial Collectivity of Mayotte (Country) •
Union of the Comoros (Country) •
Republic of Rwanda (Country) •
Republic of Burundi (Country) •
Glorioso Islands (Country) •
Republic of Mozambique (Country)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-15 of 15)
- Documents (15)
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Calibrating the Chronology of Late Pleistocene Climate Change and Archaeology with Geochemical Isochrons (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Chronometric dating of Late Pleistocene environmental changes and archaeological sites can be refined by correlations with precisely dated volcanic isochrons, stalagmites, and marine isotope stages (MIS). Lake Malawi cores have volcanic ash from the Toba super-eruption, dated ~74 ka at levels previously dated to ~62.5...
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Charting Late Pleistocene Social Networking in Southern Africa Using Strontium Isotope Geochemistry (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The roots of long-distance social networking run deeper than Facebook. At some point in the Pleistocene, hunter-gatherers began exchanging ‘non-utilitarian’ artifacts like beads and other ornaments over hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of kilometers. Among ethnographically documented foragers these networks...
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Coastal Occupation and Foraging During the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene at Waterfall Bluff, Eastern Pondoland, South Africa (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The P5 Project is an international and interdisciplinary team of researchers studying hunter-gatherer adaptations in persistent coastal contexts in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Since 2015, excavations at the site of Waterfall Bluff (A2SE-1) have revealed stratified and well-preserved remains of coastal...
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Construction of Pleistocene Geochronologies in Central Africa: Luminescence Dating in Northern Malawi (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Advances in understanding the Pleistocene archaeology of Africa depend on well-dated models of human behavioral change. Portions of southern Africa with limestone caves and eastern Africa with volcanic tephra have datable materials (uranium and argon, respectively) beyond the limit of the radiocarbon clock (50ka)....
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Cryptotephra Studies in Africa: A Tool for Precise Dating and Continental Correlation of Archaeological Sites (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Placing archaeological sites on the same timeline across the African continent is essential for determining the initial appearance of key human behaviors and cultural features. Analytical error associated with traditional dating techniques makes these determinations difficult. Cryptotephra, which are small (<80 micron)...
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The EAST Typology: A Remedy for Eastern Africa’s "Lithics Systematics Anarchy" (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Eastern Africa boasts the world’s longest archaeological record, more than 3,4 million years so far. And yet, that record defies easy synthesis due to "lithics systematic anarchy." Archaeologists working in Eastern Africa describe and measure stone tools in so many different ways, that detailed comparisons within...
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Investigating Human Origins in the Kalahari Basin: New Results from Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Investigations of the southern African Middle Stone Age archaeological record are transforming our understanding of Homo sapiens origins and evolution, however, the intensity of research on coastal and near-coastal Middle Stone Age (MSA) records has outweighed that on the deep interior record. The North of Kuruman...
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Landscape Technological Strategies in the Southern Kalahari Basin: North of Kuruman Archaeological Survey, South Africa (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The southern Kalahari Basin in the northern interior of South Africa has provided evidence for early use of fire, Mode 3 technological developments, early stone-tipped spears and pigment use. Innovations seen in the southern Kalahari Basin early in the Middle Stone Age may represent changes in how human populations...
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Late Pleistocene Archaeofauna from the Kasitu Valley of Northern Malawi: Palaeoenvironments and Evolution of Faunal Communities in the Zambezian Ecozone (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Zambezian Ecozone of east-central Africa comprises faunal communities that include elements from both southern and eastern Africa. The region has long served as an important crossroads for faunal exchange, but its timing and implications for hunter-gatherer behavior are unknown. Late Pleistocene faunal assemblages...
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Microremains on Stone (Tools): Discriminating Function-Related from Natural Residues (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Plant microremains from stone tools speak to ancient hominin behaviour if genuinely related to usage. Residues, however, attach to rock surfaces naturally. My objectives are to identify pathways for microremain adherence prior to and after burial; study residue abundance in relation to petrography, microstructure, and...
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The Middle Stone Age at Gona, Afar, Ethiopia: Implications for Regionalization and Migrations (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Tentatively dated to MIS 5/4, the YAS-1 (Ya’alu South 1) site at Gona, Ethiopia is a high-density open-air archaeological site preserving classic Middle Stone Age (MSA) stone tools such as Levallois cores, Nubian cores, points, and blades in addition to a variety of fossil fauna, some with bone modifications including...
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The Middle Stone Age Record in Egypt and Sudan: Implications for Out of Africa 2 (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Africa is the continent of origin for Homo sapiens and thus is the source for human colonization of the Old (and eventually New) World. Out of Africa 2 (anatomically, then behaviorally, modern humans) is supported archaeologically by African stone artifact industries found outside of Africa. Two routes widely...
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Mochena Borago Rockshelter and the Southwest Ethiopian Highlands as a Late Pleistocene Hunter-Gatherer Refugium: The Current State of Research (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. One of the long-term goals of the Southwest Ethiopia Archaeological Project (SWEAP) is to test the hypothesis that the SW Ethiopian highlands were a major refugium for plants, animals, and hunter-gatherer groups during the very arid periods of MIS 4 (~72-59 ka) and MIS 2 (~27-12 ka). In highland Wolaita, SW Ethiopia,...
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The Msikaba Red Sand Dunes: Middle Pleistocene Lithic Technological Variability in Pondoland, South Africa (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Msikaba Red Sand Dunes along South Africa's Pondoland coast are a recently discovered open-air site complex that documents Middle Pleistocene lithic technological and morphological change. The deposit comprises ancient dune surfaces stacked over time with repeated sea-level highstand events. Initial excavations and...
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Revealing Hominin Occupation of the Western Margin of the Red Sea Basin: Recent Progress (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances and Debates in the Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The western periphery of the Red Sea (WPRS) occupies a pivotal location as a potential biogeographic corridor for hominin movement between Africa and Southwest Asia. Its long, coastal niche that once extended into the Danakil Depression would have made the WPRS a natural destination for hominins dispersing from the...