Evaluating the Effects of Human Disturbance on Middle Stone Age Surface Finds from Northern Malawi

Summary

Abundant surface scatters of Middle Stone Age artifacts are found throughout northern Malawi, eroding from remnant alluvial fan deposits (Chitimwe Beds). Surface surveys documenting these areas have guided the emplacement of 50+ archaeological test pits and excavations, many of which have yielded in situ MSA sites. However, the surficial evidence itself has been subject to less discussion and merits closer attention. At the Bruce site, surface artifacts were identified as part of an assemblage originally excavated in 1965, but which has since undergone significant disturbance from local development. Recent excavation and surface collecting by archaeologists has had an additional impact on the site. Bruce contrasts with localities like the similarly aged White Whale, ~40km to the south, where surface finds evidence a well-preserved knapping surface exposed by erosion near a cliff edge, that nevertheless retains spatial integrity. We use these case studies to discuss assumptions associated with surface finds, the role and influence of archaeological research on the integrity of surface and subsurface assemblages, and the relative stability of archaeological landscapes. Finally, we examine the potential for assessing landscapes modified by agrarianism—which may obscure or erase surficial archaeological materials—using declassified CORONA satellite imagery collected from 1959 to 1972.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20415