Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Human Behaviour, Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal.
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2020 Oct 22;15(10):e0241068. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241068. eCollection 2020.
The Middle Stone Age record in southern Africa is recognising increasing diversity in lithic technologies as research expands beyond the coastal-montane zone. New research in the arid Tankwa Karoo region of the South African interior has revealed a rich surface artefact record including a novel method of point production, recognised as Nubian Levallois technology in Late Pleistocene North Africa, Arabia and the Levant. We analyse 121 Nubian cores and associated points from the surface site Tweefontein against the strict criteria which are used to define Nubian technology elsewhere. The co-occurrence of typically post-Howiesons Poort unifacial points suggests an MIS 3 age. We propose that the occurrence of this distinctive technology at numerous localities in the Tankwa Karoo region reflects an environment-specific adaptation in line with technological regionalisation seen more widely in MIS 3. The arid setting of these assemblages in the Tankwa Karoo compares with the desert context of Nubian technology globally, consistent with convergent evolution in our case. The South African evidence contributes an alternative perspective on Nubian technology removed from the 'dispersal' or 'diffusion' scenarios of the debate surrounding its origin and spread within and out of Africa.
非洲南部的中石器时代记录显示，随着研究范围超出沿海山地地带，石器技术的多样性不断增加。南非内陆干旱的坦卡瓦库鲁地区的新研究揭示了丰富的地表人工制品记录，包括一种新的尖状器制作方法，这种方法被认为是在更新世晚期北非、阿拉伯半岛和黎凡特的努比亚勒瓦娄哇技术。我们对 Tweefontein 地表遗址的 121 个努比亚核心和相关尖状器进行了分析，这些核心和尖状器符合在其他地方定义努比亚技术的严格标准。通常在豪伊森斯波特定居点之后出现的单侧尖状器的共存表明其年代为 MIS3 时期。我们提出，这种独特技术在坦卡瓦库鲁地区众多地点的出现反映了与更广泛的 MIS3 中所见的技术区域化一致的特定于环境的适应。这些坦卡瓦库鲁组合在干旱环境中的情况与努比亚技术在全球范围内的沙漠背景相媲美，在我们的案例中，这与趋同进化一致。南非的证据提供了一种替代视角来看待努比亚技术，这种技术与围绕其起源和在非洲内外传播的“传播”或“扩散”情景的争论无关。
