Diachronic Changes in Late Pleistocene Ochre Technology at Mochena Borago Rockshelter, SW Ethiopia

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Excavations of the Late Pleistocene levels at Mochena Borago Rockshelter in SW Ethiopia, dating >50–35ka, have revealed one of the densest concentrations of modified ochre in eastern Africa. Here we consider technological variations of ochre and associated processing tools through studies of use-wear, trace elemental signatures, and artifact spatial distributions. Excavations in the shelter’s central area have uncovered over 2 m of stratified pre-MIS 3 (>~72ka) deposits containing more than 3,000 artifacts. The areas have yielded over 500 ochre pieces weighing nearly 5 kg. The ochre is associated with light to dense concentrations of stone artifacts of highly variable modes of technology (“Modes 1–6”). The ochre also displays considerable technological variability, with the greatest variation occurring in stratigraphic levels of early MIS 3–MIS 4 age. Common ochre-processing techniques include "rubbing" ochre against soft materials and powder-extraction of ochre against harder materials. These along with other ochre technologies are described with an "artifact life-cycle" framework in the poster to gain a broader understanding of ochre technological variabilit. Understanding the influences and implications of ochre technology will help to discern behavioral changes in early human hunter-gatherer populations prior to and during their “successful” migration through and out of Africa after 60ka.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33552