Technological and functional analysis of 80–60 ka bone wedges from Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)

Fully shaped, morphologically standardized bone tools are generally considered reliable indicators of the emergence of modern behavior. We report the discovery of 23 double-beveled bone tools from ~ 80,000–60,000-year-old archaeological layers at Sibudu Cave in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We analyzed the texture of use-wear on the archaeological bone tools, and on bone tool replicas experimentally used in debarking trees, processing rabbit pelts with and without an ochre compound, digging in sediment in and outside a cave, and on ethnographic artefacts. Debarking trees and digging in humus-rich soil produce use-wear patterns closely matching those observed on most Sibudu tools. This tool type is associated with three different Middle Stone Age cultural traditions at Sibudu that span 20,000 years, yet they are absent at contemporaneous sites. Our results support a scenario in which some southern African early modern human groups developed and locally maintained specific, highly standardized cultural traits while sharing others at a sub-continental scale. We demonstrate that technological and texture analyses are effective means by which to infer past behaviors and assess the significance of prehistoric cultural innovations.publishedVersio

Technological and functional analysis of 80–60 ka bone wedges from Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)

Fully shaped, morphologically standardized bone tools are generally considered reliable indicators of the emergence of modern behavior. We report the discovery of 23 double-beveled bone tools from ~ 80,000–60,000-year-old archaeological layers at Sibudu Cave in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We analyzed the texture of use-wear on the archaeological bone tools, and on bone tool replicas experimentally used in debarking trees, processing rabbit pelts with and without an ochre compound, digging in sediment in and outside a cave, and on ethnographic artefacts. Debarking trees and digging in humus-rich soil produce use-wear patterns closely matching those observed on most Sibudu tools. This tool type is associated with three different Middle Stone Age cultural traditions at Sibudu that span 20,000 years, yet they are absent at contemporaneous sites. Our results support a scenario in which some southern African early modern human groups developed and locally maintained specific, highly standardized cultural traits while sharing others at a sub-continental scale. We demonstrate that technological and texture analyses are effective means by which to infer past behaviors and assess the significance of prehistoric cultural innovations

Response to Thackeray (2016) – The possibility of lichen growth on bones of Homo naledi: Were they exposed to light?

Thackeray1 questions the hypothesis of deliberate body disposal in the Rising Star Cave by Homo naledi, as proposed by Dirks and colleagues2. Thackeray proposes that lichens produced mineral staining on the skeletal remains of H. naledi. As lichens require some exposure to light, in Thackeray’s opinion, the presence of mineral staining necessitates either a direct entrance deep into the Rising Star Cave that once admitted light into the Dinaledi Chamber, or relocation of mineral-stained bones from a location exposed to light. Here we consider multiple lines of evidence that reject Thackeray’s hypothesis that lichens deposited mineral staining upon the surface of these skeletal remains. We welcome the opportunity to address the inferences presented by Thackeray, and further hope that this response may dispel misinterpretations of our research2, and of other areas of the scientific literature that bear upon site formation processes at work within the Rising Star Cave system

Osseous projectile weaponry from Early to Late Middle Stone Age Africa

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The first use of bone tools: a reappraisal of the evidence from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

Purported early hominid bone tools from Olduvai Gorge are studied for microscopic traces of use-wear, and evidence of intentional flaking by knapping. Comparative microscopic analyses of the edges of the purported tools, and areas far from the potential functional zone, as well as edges of bone pieces from the remainder of the assemblage, show that possible modifications due to utilization are not distinguishable from features attributed to post-depositional abrasion. Taphonomic analysis of the bone tool collection, a control sample of bone shaft fragments from the remainder of the Olduvai assemblage, and experimentally broken elephant long bones, identifies significant differences in the size and type of mammals represented. The bone tool collection records an abundance of large to very large mammals, while the control sample comprises mostly medium-size bovids. Puncture and cut-marks occur on one third of the bone tool collection, and on only a few pieces in the control sample, suggesting hominids were the agent responsible for the breakage of most of the bones previously described as tools. Analysis of the number, location and length of flake scars in the three assemblages, reveals that a reduced proportion of purported bone tools bear invasive, contiguous, often bifacially arranged removals, not seen in the control or experimental collections. This makes these specimens good candidates for having been shaped and used by early hominids. Complete bones with tool-generated puncture-marks, previously interpreted as anvils, are interpreted here as hammers used on intermediate stone tools.University of the Witwatersrand, Palaeo-Anthropological Scientific Trust (PAST) Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Cultural Service of the French Embassy in South Africa, French Ministry for Education and Science OMLL/ESF Program, Human Sciences Research Council Nedcor Foundation and Palaeo-Anthropology Unit for Research and Exploratio

Osseous projectile weaponry from Early to Late Middle Stone Age Africa

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Possible evidence of bone tool shaping by Swartkrans early hominids

International audienceEver since Dart (J. Phys. Anthrop. 7 (1949) 1) interpreted certain bones from Makapansgat as tools, scientific consensus has fluctuated as to whether some bone objects from early hominid sites should be interpreted as artefacts, or the result of non-human taphonomic processes, which are known to produce pseudo-bone tools morphologically similar to human modified or used artefacts. Here we present possible evidence of bone tool shaping from Swartkrans (Members 1–3; ca. 1.8–1.0 Mya). Four horncores and the proximal end of an ulna used as tools in digging activities also have facets covered by parallel spindle-shaped striations characteristic of grinding. Identification of these traces as possibly resulting from deliberate shaping or re-sharpening of the bone tools is based on the characterisation of the use-wear pattern and other taphonomic modifications observed on the Swartkrans bone tools. This interpretation is also supported by the study of the remainder of the horncores from Swartkrans, horncores from other southern African Plio-Pleistocene sites (Sterkfontein, Makapansgat, Gondolin), modern horncores affected by pre- and postmortem modification, ethnographic, LSA, African Iron Age and experimental bone tools shaped by grinding. These data suggest that early hominids had the cognitive ability to modify the functional area of bone implements to achieve optimal efficiency

Identifying regional variability in Middle Stone Age bone technology: the case of Sibudu Cave

A few pieces of worked bone were previously reported from Sibudu, a site from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa featuring a stratigraphic sequence with pre-Still Bay, Still Bay, Howiesons Poort, post-Howiesons Poort, late and final MSA cultural horizons. Here we describe an expanded collection of worked bones, including twenty-three pieces. Technological and use-wear analysis of these objects, and their comparison with experimental and ethnographic data, reveals that a number of specialised bone tool types (wedges, pièces esquillées, pressure flakers, smoothers, sequentially notched pieces), previously known only from the Upper Palaeolithic and more recent periods, were manufactured and used at least 30,000 years earlier at Sibudu Cave. These tools appear to be part of a local tradition because they are absent at contemporaneous or more recent southern African sites. Variability in Middle Stone Age material culture supports a scenario in which, beyond broad similarities in lithic technology, significant differences between regions, and trends of continuity at a local scale emerge in other aspects of the technical system, and in the symbolic domain. The archaeological record is revealing a complexity that prevents evaluation of the modern character of Middle Stone Age cultures in antinomic terms. We argue here that it is the detailed analysis of cultural variation that will inform us of the non-linear processes at work during this period, and contribute in the long run to explaining how and when crucial cultural innovations became established in human history

Taphonomic analysis of the faunal assemblage associated with the hominins (Australopithecus sediba) from the early Pleistocene cave deposits of Malapa, South Africa

Here we present the results of a taphonomic study of the faunal assemblage associated with the hominin fossils (Australopithecus sediba) from the Malapa site. Results include estimation of body part representation, mortality profiles, type of fragmentation, identification of breakage patterns, and microscopic analysis of bone surfaces. The diversity of the faunal spectrum, presence of animals with climbing proclivities, abundance of complete and/or articulated specimens, occurrence of antimeric sets of elements, and lack of carnivore-modified bones, indicate that animals accumulated via a natural death trap leading to an area of the cave system with no access to mammalian scavengers. The co-occurrence of well preserved fossils, carnivore coprolites, deciduous teeth of brown hyaena, and some highly fragmented and poorly preserved remains supports the hypothesis of a mixing of sediments coming from distinct chambers, which collected at the bottom of the cave system through the action of periodic water flow. This combination of taphonomic features explains the remarkable state of preservation of the hominin fossils as well as some of the associated faunal material

Ma'anshan cave an the origin of bone tool technology in China

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