A Regional Perspective on the Final MSA in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Summary

This is an abstract from the "From Veld to Coast: Diverse Landscape Use by Hunter-Gatherers in Southern Africa from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The final MSA of southern Africa (~40–28ka) represents one of the most understudied technocomplexes in this part of the world. Researchers often focused on earlier time periods or those shortly after, encompassing the transition between Middle and Later Stone Age. Thus, the final MSA remains poorly understood. In KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) only few chrono-cultural markers called hollow-based points are known. Since 2016 Umbeli Belli in KZN has revealed new insights on the final MSA and demonstrated that this period features a clear archaeological signal comprising an elaborate method of tool production with a strong emphasis on shaping technology and a well-standardized core reduction method. Here we extend our research on the final MSA on a regional scale. We present a comparative analysis with the final MSA layers Co–Es at Sibudu, dating to ~38 ka BP. Our results indicate that broad terms such as final MSA must be used thoughtfully, to take account of diachronic variability within relatively short time frames at the same site. Despite this variability, the final MSA in KZN provides a clear cultural signal that is distinct from other periods and regions in southern Africa.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• From Veld to Coast: Diverse Landscape Use by Hunter-Gatherers in Southern Africa from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene   •
• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33233