CNRS, UMR 7041, ArScAn-AnTET, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Paris, France.
Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
PLoS One. 2018 Oct 10;13(10):e0202853. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202853. eCollection 2018.
In the past few decades, a diverse array of research has emphasized the precocity of technically advanced and symbolic practices occurring during the southern African Middle Stone Age. However, uncertainties regarding the regional chrono-cultural framework constrain models and identification of the cultural and ecological mechanisms triggering the development of such early innovative behaviours. Here, we present new results and a refined chronology for the Pietersburg, a techno-complex initially defined in the late 1920's, which has disappeared from the literature since the 1980's. We base our revision of this techno-complex on ongoing excavations at Bushman Rock Shelter (BRS) in Limpopo Province, South Africa, where two Pietersburg phases (an upper phase called '21' and a lower phase called '28') are recognized. Our analysis focuses on the '28' phase, characterized by a knapping strategy based on Levallois and semi-prismatic laminar reduction systems and typified by the presence of end-scrapers. Luminescence chronology provides two sets of ages for the upper and lower Pietersburg of BRS, dated respectively to 73±6ka and 75±6ka on quartz and to 91±10ka and 97±10ka on feldspar, firmly positioning this industry within MIS5. Comparisons with other published lithic assemblages show technological differences between the Pietersburg from BRS and other southern African MIS5 traditions, especially those from the Western and Eastern Cape. We argue that, at least for part of MIS5, human populations in South Africa were regionally differentiated, a process that most likely impacted the way groups were territorially and socially organized. Nonetheless, comparisons between MIS5 assemblages also indicate some typological similarities, suggesting some degree of connection between human groups, which shared similar innovations but manipulated them in different ways. We pay particular attention to the end-scrapers from BRS, which represent thus far the earliest documented wide adoption of such tool-type and provide further evidence for the innovative processes characterizing southern Africa from the MIS5 onwards.
在过去的几十年里，大量研究强调了发生在南非中石器时代的技术先进和象征性实践的早熟。然而，区域年代文化框架的不确定性限制了模型的建立，也限制了识别引发这种早期创新行为的文化和生态机制。在这里，我们提供了新的结果和一个经过改进的年代学框架，用于 Pietersburg，这是一个在 20 世纪 20 年代后期首次定义的技术复杂体，自 20 世纪 80 年代以来已经从文献中消失。我们对这个技术复杂体的修订是基于南非林波波省布什曼岩棚（BRS）的正在进行的挖掘，那里有两个 Pietersburg 阶段（一个称为'21'的上阶段和一个称为'28'的下阶段）得到了认可。我们的分析集中在'28'阶段，其特点是基于 Levallois 和半棱柱层状缩减系统的剥片策略，并以存在端刮器为特征。发光年代学为 BRS 的上 Pietersburg 和下 Pietersburg 提供了两组年龄，分别在石英上为 73±6ka 和 75±6ka，在长石上为 91±10ka 和 97±10ka，这将该工业确定在 MIS5 内。与其他已发表的石器组合的比较显示，BRS 的 Pietersburg 与其他南非 MIS5 传统之间存在技术差异，尤其是与西开普和东开普的传统之间。我们认为，至少在 MIS5 的一部分时间里，南非的人类群体在区域上是分化的，这一过程很可能影响了群体在地域和社会上的组织方式。尽管如此，MIS5 组合之间的比较也表明存在一些类型上的相似性，这表明人类群体之间存在一定程度的联系，他们共享类似的创新，但以不同的方式对其进行了操作。我们特别关注来自 BRS 的端刮器，它们代表了迄今为止记录的最早广泛采用这种工具类型的情况，并为从 MIS5 开始的南非创新过程提供了进一步的证据。
