The archaeology of a rock shelter and a stone circle at Kuidas Spring, North-West Namibia

M.A. (Anthropology)Stone circle open-air settlements occur in Namibia and South Africa. Stone circles were occupied during the past 2000 years. It is during this time that livestock and pottery reached southern Africa via a process of either migration/diffusion or both. In southern Africa people have different subsistence strategies such as hunting, gathering and/or herding. In an anthropological context it is sometimes possible to differentiate between people based on linguistics, settlement layouts and ideology. Prior to the introduction of domestic goats/sheep and pottery, people with hunter-gatherer practices inhabited southern Africa. However, to differentiate between the „original‟ hunter-gatherer population, immigrant herders and hunter-gatherers that accepted livestock based on the archaeological record remains challenging. It has been proposed that hunter-gatherers abandoned rock shelters after acquiring caprines and built stone circle settlements to have more space for their flocks. Kuidas Spring is an archaeological site with rock shelters, stone circles, cairns and rock art. I excavated one rock shelter, a stone circle and a cairn, all features date within the last 2000 years. I conducted a typological and technological analyses of the lithics and ostrich eggshell beads. Based on the outcome there seems to be no differences between artefact assemblages. In addition no remains of caprines or cattle were found. The current evidence from Kuidas Spring suggest that it was a seasonal encampment that could have been utilised by both hunter-gatherers and herders, the latter probably reached Namibia through a process of migration and diffusion

Kuidas spring 1, Namibia : first impressions of a later Stone Age site complex

Abstract: Kuidas Spring 1 is a site within the larger Kuidas Spring Later Stone Age site complex, comprising a number of stone circles, several cairns and small shelters. Following recent small-scale excavations of a stone circle, rock shelter and cairn, we report on the first dates and artefact analyses from the site.We show that the shelter was occupied between ~2300 and 1500 years ago, and that people used the circle from ~900 years ago until recently. The cairn and most recent use of the circle appear to be roughly contemporary. Analysis of our limited lithic samples reveals both similarities and differences between the shelter and circle occupations. Small numbers of thin-walled pottery and copper fragments were retrieved from the circle only, while faunal remains from both the shelter and circle are restricted to wild species. Based on these findings, interpretations of changing behaviour over time are premature. It is clear, however, that Kuidas Spring 1 represented an important resource for groups of people living in this arid landscape

“Of Sheep and Men”: Earliest Direct Evidence of Caprine Domestication in Southern Africa at Leopard Cave (Erongo, Namibia)

International audienc

Later Stone Age sites of southern Africa with early evidence of caprines (after [<b>15]</b>–[17], [19], [30], [34], [57], [72], [83]–[87]).

<p>Later Stone Age sites of southern Africa with early evidence of caprines (after <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0040340#pone.0040340-Henshilwood2" target="_blank">[<b>15]</b></a>–<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0040340#pone.0040340-Robbins1" target="_blank">[17]</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0040340#pone.0040340-Albrecht1" target="_blank">[19]</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0040340#pone.0040340-Bousman1" target="_blank">[30]</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0040340#pone.0040340-Sandelowsky2" target="_blank">[34]</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0040340#pone.0040340-Jacobson1" target="_blank">[57]</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0040340#pone.0040340-Robbins2" target="_blank">[72]</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0040340#pone.0040340-Walker2" target="_blank">[83]</a>–<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0040340#pone.0040340-Schweitzer1" target="_blank">[87]</a>).</p

Location of Leopard Cave (Omandumba West, Erongo, Namibia).

<p>Plan of the cave and location of the excavated area.</p

Faunal list of the squares N7, M7 and O7 (layers 5 and 6) of Leopard Cave.

<p>Faunal list of the squares N7, M7 and O7 (layers 5 and 6) of Leopard Cave.</p

Measurements (in mm) of the caprines teeth from Leopard Cave (A: Upper M2; B: Lower M3) compared with modern african specimens from the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (MNHN).

<p>N: Number of specimens; min: minimum; max: maximum.</p

¹⁴C dates at Leopard cave (calibration curve: SHCal 04 [71], using OxCal 4.1).

<p>¹⁴C dates at Leopard cave (calibration curve: SHCal 04 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0040340#pone.0040340-McCormac1" target="_blank">[71]</a>, using OxCal 4.1).</p

Synthetic stratigraphic section E-W (transversal) of 7/8 band of Leopard Cave (in cm), with location of the dated samples.

<p>Examples of archaeological remains found in Layers 5, 6 and 7.</p