Heritage Cases

Expanded Motivation – purpose and rationale of application Extend of site: 43 x 6.5 m of which 7 m2 were previously excavated (Kaplan 1990). One m2 was first excavated by Rodney Maud (Geological Survey) in 1982 and in 1985 Jonathan Kaplan (University of Cape Town) excavated an additional 6 m2. Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter in context This permit application is part of a larger archaeological research project entitled ‘Switching to the Midlands: Late Pleistocene behavioral transitions in south-eastern South Africa’. The chronological sequences at Shongweni North and South Caves and Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter comprise Marine Isotope Stage 2 (MIS 2, 29-14 thousand years ago), the coldest part of the last glacial period. The transition from Middle to Later Stone transition is placed in MIS 2 and the impact of global cooling on local temperatures and precipitation regimes is becoming increasingly well-resolved. However, we know little about the occupation of South Africa during this time and well-dated and detailed archaeological excavations that cover this period are very rare (e.g. Mackay et al. 2014). In other words, the human responses to the MIS 2 climate changes are not well understood. Interestingly, archaeological sites from the previous warmer MIS 3 and the final MIS 2 are much more numerous and we have a good understanding of the transition to the current interglacial. By excavating MIS 2 sites we want to expand the site sample size. In addition, there is a hiatus in the fossil record between the morphologically robust Hofmeyr skull dated to 36 thousand years ago, and found without archaeological association, and 11 thousand years ago when morphologically gracile populations similar to modern San are in evidence (e.g. Dusseldorp et al. 2013). The development of the modern southern African anatomical morphology thus occurred during MIS 2. The appearance of the Later Stone Age is not uniform, and in the KwaZulu-Natal region this transition took place during MIS 3 and 2. The oldest Later Stone Age at Border Cave is dated to ~40 thousand years ago (Villa et al. 2012), yet the younger layers at the geographically proximate sites of Sibudu (~37 thousand) (Wadley & Jacobs 2006) and Umhlatuzana (~35 thousand) contain final Middle Stone Age assemblages (Kaplan 1990; Lombard et al. 2010). Moreover, to the East, Strathalan has yielded even more recent final Middle Stone Age dates between (~21 and 28 thousand years ago) (Opperman & Heydenrych 1990). The proposed project, with its multiple sites may shed some light on the date and placement of this transition and may help to explain why the transition does not appear (chronologically) uniform. Early Later Stone Age technological systems are not well understood. The earliest Later Stone Age is often characterised as ‘unstandardised’ and very poor in formal tools; its relation to the subsequent standardised Robberg technocomplex is unclear (cf. Lombard et al. 2012; Wadley 1993). Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter yielded dates that demonstrate that there was occupation during MIS 2, between ~29 and ~13 thousand years ago (Kaplan 1990). Additional excavation in smaller spits and controlled with more dating, will not only increase the sample of artefacts of this period, but will also allow a better culture-stratigraphic and chronologic characterisation of the occupations of the site. Our project is complementary to the work done by Lombard and colleagues on older Umhlatuzana levels (Lombard et al. 2010; Mohapi 2013). The location in the Midlands, close to other excavated sites with relevant deposits, such as the Shongweni Caves, Sibudu to the East and Sehonghong, Melikane and Belle View in the mountains to the West will allow us to contextualise the finds in a regional framework (Carter 1976; Carter & Vogel 1974; Davies 1975; Wadley & Whitelaw 2006). By combining environmental information, remains of subsistence activities with use-trace analysis of the stone artefact assemblages, new light will be shed on the technological organisation of groups inhabiting the area during MIS 2. In all, the additional excavation of Umhlatuzana has the potential to illuminate the genesis of modern southern African populations and their culture. Why re-excavate Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter? In 1985 Jonathan Kaplan excavated 6 m2 at Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter, in a 2x3 grid. The top Holocene layers 1 to 4 contained organic remains and also showed a natural stratigraphy. The Late Pleistocene levels 5 to 28, on the other hand contained very little organic remains and lacked natural stratigraphy (Kaplan 1990). Kaplan, however, did identify (depositional) shift between Red Brown Sand, present in levels 5-20, and Purple Brown Sand, present in levels 13-27. Four squares were excavated to bedrock at about 2.6 m and the two remaining squares were excavated to a depth of 1.5 m. The upper Holocene layers were excavated following the natural stratigraphy, but the deeper levels were excavated in 5-10 cm spits. The lithic assemblage from Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter is extensive and levels 5-28 yielded 1,009,933 artefacts, including flakes, bladelet, cores, and chips and chunks <20 mm. About 0.2% (n=1849) of the assemblage consists of formal tools, and about 0.1% (n=1141) consists of utilised pieces, such as hammerstones and scaled pieces. Kaplan’s lithic analysis showed some internal inconsistency within the Late Pleistocene Red Brown Sand levels, arguably caused by 10-15 cm slipping of the sediments (Kaplan 1990). Subsequent OSL dating of the Middle Stone Age levels 20, 22 and 25 (dated to 42, 60 and 70 thousand years ago respectively), confirmed that there is evidence for small-scale mixing. However, most of the sand grains were found in their original context; meaning that despite the lack of visible stratigraphy, the Uhmlatuzana sequence on the whole may be more reliable than previously thought. A similar study of levels covering MIS 3 and MIS 2 will resolve stratigraphic uncertainties for the Middle to Later Stone Age transition. In order to obtain a better understanding of the MIS 3 and 2 occupation of the Mhlatuzana Valley, we want to tighten the stratigraphic context at Umhlatuzana Shelter. In order to do so, we aim to re-date the site using ultra-filtration AMS dating and OSL dating; the chronology may also be improved by additional excavations in smaller spits. The lithic sequence from the well-controlled and newly excavated squares is to be compared to Kaplan’s sequence (1990) and in doing so the large lithics’ collection at the KwaZulu-Natal Museum becomes available for reliable re-analysis. Finally, it is our intention to synthesise all results from the Umhlatuzana and Shongweni excavations to come to a better understanding of the Middle to Later Stone Age transition in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands as outlined above. Excavation and sampling We aim to initiate a long-term research project focussing on the excavation of the Umhlatuzana and Shongweni sites. In order to successfully apply for funding, an excavation permit is required. The first step of this project is to secure funding. The second step is to re-date the sites using AMS and OSL techniques; we would sample from the profiles from previous excavations. Depending on these results up to 6 m2 will be newly excavated at Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter. We will focus on the section as rehabilitated by Lombard in 2007 and take this section one or two metres in. Our aim is to apply high-standard analytical methods to lithic analysis, including micro-wear analysis, and spatial analysis (EDM). We then will synthesise the results from these disparate analyses to obtain a complete picture of the sites’ occupation history and to answer the wider research questions. The sites will be excavated by the applicants and with the help of a (local) CRM company, following the requirements as outlined by ASAPA. In addition, Dr Carolyn Thorp (KwaZulu-Natal Museum), Prof Lyn Wadley (University of the Witwatersrand) and Prof Marlize Lombard (University of Johannesburg) have agreed to act as advisors and Dr Thorp will also assist with the excavation and sampling in the field. References Carter, P.L. 1976. The Effects of Climatic Change on Settlement in Eastern Lesotho during the Middle and Later Stone Age. World Archaeology 8: 197-206. Carter, P.L. & Vogel, J.C. 1974. The Dating of Industrial Assemblages from Stratified Sites in Eastern Lesotho. Man 9: 557-570. Davies, O. 1975. Excavations at Shongweni South Cave: the oldest evidence to date for cultigens in southern Africa. Southern African Humanities 22: 627-662. Dusseldorp, G., Lombard, M. & Wurz, S. Pleistocene Homo and the updated Stone Age sequence of South Africa. South African Journal of Science 109: 01-07. Kaplan, J. 1990. The Umhlatuzana rock shelter sequence: 100 000 years of Stone Age history. Southern African Humanities 2: 1-94. Lombard, M., Wadley, L., Deacon, J., Wurz, S., Parsons, I., Mohapi, M., Swart, J. & Mitchell, P. 2012. South African and Lesotho Stone Age sequence updated. South African Archaeological Bulletin 67: 120-144. Lombard, M., Wadley, L., Jacobs, Z., Mohapi, M. & Roberts, R.G. 2010. Still Bay and serrated points from Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science 37: 1773-1784. Mackay, A., Stewart, B.A., Chase, B.M. (2014). Coalescence and fragmentation in the late Pleistocene archaeology of southernmost Africa. Journal Of Human Evolution, 72, 26-51. Mohapi, M. 2013. The Middle Stone Age point assemblage from Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter: a morphometric study. Southern African Humanities 25: 25-51. Opperman, H. & Heydenrych, B. 1990. A 22 000 Year-Old Middle Stone Age Camp Site with Plant Food Remains from the North-Eastern Cape. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 45: 93-99. Stynder, D.D., Ackermann, R.R. & Sealy, J.C. 2007. Early to mid-Holocene South African Later Stone Age human crania exhibit a distinctly Khoesan morphological pattern : research letter. South African Journal of Science 103: 349-352. Villa, P., Soriano, S., Tsanova, T., Degano, I., Higham, T.F.G., d’Errico, F., Backwell, L., Lucejko, J.J., Colombini, M.P. & Beaumont, P.B. 2012. Border Cave and the beginning of the Later Stone Age in South Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109: 13208-13213. Wadley, L. 1993. The Pleistocene Later Stone Age south of the Limpopo River. Journal of World Prehistory 7: 243-296. Wadley, L. & Jacobs, Z. 2006. Sibudu Cave: Background to the excavations, stratigraphy and dating. Southern African Humanities 18: 1-26. Wadley, L. & Whitelaw, G. 2006. Middle Stone Age Research at Sibudu Cave. Southern African Humanities, 18 (2). Pietermaritzburg: Natal Museum.