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Biomolecular exploration of compounds used on quartz segments during the Howiesons Poort at Umhlatuzana

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ProposalDescription: 

With this study, we aim to use state-of-the-art equipment and approaches to analyse the biomolecular composition of compounds used on a few backed quartz pieces that may have served as adhesives and/or poisons during the Howiesons Poort at Umhlatuzana, and to publish our methods and results.

Expanded_Motivation: 

Previous use-trace analyses conducted on Howiesons Poort backed pieces from Umhlatuzana dating to between 60 and 70 ka (Lombard et al. 2010), showed that some of them were hafted with complex adhesives (Lombard 2007), and that some were probably used to tip or barb arrows (Lombard & Phillipson 2010). Together with the stone and bone arrowheads from Sibudu Cave (Backwell et al. 2008; Bradfield & Lombard 2011; Lombard 2011; Backwell et al. 2018; de la Peña et al. 2018), and a bone point from Klasies River (Bradfield et al. submitted), the quartz pieces from Umhlatuzana may represent the world’s oldest known arrowheads. The next-oldest examples from Africa (d’Errico et al. 2012; Robbins et al. 2012), and Eurasia (Odar & Maver 2011; Sano et al. 2019), all date to less than 45 ka. Finding biomolecular trace evidence of compound adhesives and/or arrow poisons associated with the ancient artefacts from Umhlatuzana will strengthen considerably an interpretation for bow hunting at the site before 60 ka. On a theoretical level, artefacts associated with Middle Stone Age bow hunting play a key role in the reconstruction of the evolution of human cognition in southern Africa and globally (Lombard & Haidle 2012; Williams et al. 2014; Coodidge et al. 2017; Gärdenfors & Lombard 2018; Lombard 2019). Early evidence for bow hunting is also important in discussion about the successful spread of Homo sapiens out of Africa after ~60 ka (e.g., Shea & Sisk 2010; Garcea 2012; Sano et al. 2019). With this study, we aim to use state-of-the-art equipment and approaches to analyse the biomolecular composition of compounds used on a few backed quartz pieces that may have served as adhesives and/or poisons during the Howiesons Poort at Umhlatuzana, and to publish our methods and results. Providing such evidence for the use of compound adhesives/poisons will contribute to: 1. A biomolecular data-base for African ethno-historical and archaeological arrow poisons; 2. Scientific knowledge about the Umhlatuzana assemblage housed at the KwaZulu-Natal Museum; 3. The detailed understanding of ancient knowledge systems and techno-behaviours in KwaZulu-Natal before 60 ka; 4. Existing and new multi-disciplinary hypotheses about the evolution of human cognition during the Middle Stone Age of sub-Saharan Africa.

ApplicationDate: 

Tuesday, January 7, 2020 - 08:46

CaseID: 

14692

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ReferenceList: 

Citation
Backwell, L., Bradfield, J., Carlson, K.J., Jashashvili, T., Wadley, L. and d'Errico, F., 2018. The antiquity of bow-and-arrow technology: evidence from Middle Stone Age layers at Sibudu Cave. antiquity, 92(362), pp.289-303. Backwell, L., d'Errico, F. and Wadley, L., 2008. Middle stone age bone tools from the Howiesons Poort layers, Sibudu Cave, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35(6), pp.1566-1580. Bradfield, J. and Lombard, M., 2011. A macrofracture study of bone points used in experimental hunting with reference to the South African Middle Stone Age. South African Archaeological Bulletin, 66(193), p.67. Bradfield, J., Lombard, M., Reynard, J. & Wurz, S. Further evidence for bow hunting more than 60 000 years ago: results of a use-trace analysis of the bone point from Klasies River Main site, South Africa, and its implications. Quaternary International. Coolidge, F., Haidle, M., Lombard, M. & Wynn, T. 2016. Bridging theory and bow hunting: human cognitive evolution and archaeology. Antiquity 90: 209-228. de la Peña, P., Taipale, N., Wadley, L. and Rots, V., 2018. A techno-functional perspective on quartz micro-notches in Sibudu's Howiesons Poort indicates the use of barbs in hunting technology. Journal of Archaeological Science, 93, pp.166-195. d’Errico, F., Backwell, L., Villa, P., Degano, I., Lucejko, J.J., Bamford, M.K., Higham, T.F., Colombini, M.P. and Beaumont, P.B., 2012. Early evidence of San material culture represented by organic artifacts from Border Cave, South Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(33), pp.13214-13219. Garcea, E.A., 2012. Successes and failures of human dispersals from North Africa. Quaternary International, 270, pp.119-128. Gärdenfors, P. & Lombard, M. 2018. Causal cognition, force dynamics and early hunting technologies. Frontiers in Psychology 9: article 87. DOI: org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00087 Lombard, M., 2007. The gripping nature of ochre: the association of ochre with Howiesons Poort adhesives and Later Stone Age mastics from South Africa. Journal of Human Evolution, 53(4), pp.406-419. Lombard, M., 2011. Quartz-tipped arrows older than 60 ka: further use-trace evidence from Sibudu, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Journal of archaeological Science, 38(8), pp.1918-1930. Lombard, M. 2019. On the minds of bow hunters. In: Coolidge, F.L., Overmann, K.A. & Wynn, T. (eds) Squeezing Minds From Stones: 473-496. Oxford: University of Oxford Press. Lombard, M. and Haidle, M.N., 2012. Thinking a bow-and-arrow set: cognitive implications of Middle Stone Age bow and stone-tipped arrow technology. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 22(2), pp.237-264. Lombard, M. and Phillipson, L., 2010. Indications of bow and stone-tipped arrow use 64 000 years ago in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Antiquity, 84(325), pp.635-648. Lombard, M., Wadley, L., Jacobs, Z., Mohapi, M. and Roberts, R.G., 2010. Still Bay and serrated points from Umhlatuzana rock shelter, Kwazulu-Natal, south Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science, 37(7), pp.1773-1784. Odar, B. and MAVER, A., 2011. Archers at Potočka zijalka?. Arheološki vestnik, 62, pp.433-456. Robbins, L.H., Campbell, A.C., Brook, G.A., Murphy, M.L. and Hitchcock, R.K., 2012. The antiquity of the bow and arrow in the Kalahari Desert: bone points from White Paintings Rock Shelter, Botswana. Journal of African Archaeology, 10(1), pp.7-20. Sano, K., Arrighi, S., Stani, C., Aureli, D., Boschin, F., Fiore, I., Spagnolo, V., Ricci, S., Crezzini, J., Boscato, P. and Gala, M., 2019. The earliest evidence for mechanically delivered projectile weapons in Europe. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 3(10), pp.1409-1414. Shea, J.J. and Sisk, M.L., 2010. Complex projectile technology and Homo sapiens dispersal into western Eurasia. PaleoAnthropology, 2010, pp.100-122. Williams, V.M.E., Burke, A. & Lombard, M. 2014. Throwing spears and shooting arrows: preliminary results of a pilot neuroarchaeological study. South African Archaeological Bulletin 69: 199-207.
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  1. PDF icon Lombard Amafa Form E Umglatuzana resudues.pdf
 
 

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