Rock shelter with earliest examples of modern human technology in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Sibudu Cave
is a
rock shelter
in a
sandstone
cliff in northern
KwaZulu-Natal
, South Africa.
[1]
It is an important
Middle Stone Age
site occupied, with some gaps, from
77
000
years ago to
38
000
years ago.
Evidence of some of the earliest examples of modern human technology has been found in the shelter (although the earliest known
spears
date back
400
000
years). The evidence in the shelter includes the earliest bone arrow (
61
000
years old),
[2]
[3]
and the earliest stone arrows (64,000 years old),
[4]
[5]
the earliest needle (
61
000
years old),
[2]
the earliest use of heat-treated mixed compound gluing (
61
000
years ago),
[2]
and an example of the use of bedding (
77
000
years ago) which for a while was the oldest known example (an older example from
200
000
years ago was recently discovered at
Border Cave
, South Africa).
[6]
The use of glues and bedding are of particular interest, because the complexity of their creation and processing has been presented as evidence of continuity between early human cognition and that of modern humans.
[6]
[7]
[8]
Description
[
edit
]
Sibudu Cave is a
rock shelter
, located roughly 40 km (25 mi) north of the city of
Durban
and about 15 km (9 mi) inland, near the town of
Tongaat
. It is in a steep, forested cliff facing WSW that overlooks the Tongati River in an area that is now a
sugar cane
plantation. The shelter was formed by erosional
downcutting
of the Tongati River, which now lies 10 m (33 ft) below the shelter. Its floor is 55 m (180 ft) long, and about 18 m (59 ft) in width.
[1]
It has a large collection of
Middle Stone Age
deposits that are well preserved organically and accurately dated using
optically stimulated luminescence
.
[1]
The first excavations following its discovery in 1983 were carried out by Aron Mazel of the Natal Museum (unpublished work).
[9]
Lyn Wadley
of the
University of the Witwatersrand
started renewed excavations in September 1998.
Occupation
[
edit
]
The occupations at Sibudu are divided into pre-Still Bay,
Still Bay
(
72
000
?71
000
years ago),
Howiesons Poort
(before
61
000
years ago), post-Howiesons Poort (
58
500
years ago), late (
47
700
years ago), and final Middle Stone Age phases (
38
600
years ago). There were occupation gaps of approximately
10
000
years between the post-Howiesons Poort and the late
Middle Stone Age
stage, and the late and final Middle Stone periods. There was no
Late Stone Age
occupation, although there was an
Iron Age
occupation about 1000 B.C.
Evidence suggests these were dry periods and the shelter was occupied only during wet climatic conditions.
[10]
Technology
[
edit
]
The pre-Still Bay occupation had a
lithic flake
-based industry and made few tools. The Still Bay occupation, in addition to such flakes, made
bifacial
tools and
points
.
[11]
Trace use analysis on the tips of the points finds evidence of compound adhesives on their bases where they would once have been hafted to shafts.
[12]
Various examples of early human technology have been found:
- A bone point, a possible
arrowhead
that pushes back the origin of bow and bone arrow technology to
61
000
years ago, at least
20
000
years beyond the previous earliest example;
[2]
- The earliest known bone
needle
, dated to
61
000
years ago, with wear similar to that found in bone needles used to puncture animal
hide
;
[2]
- The earliest example of a compound glue (
plant gum
and red
ochre
), used for
hafting
stone points into wood handles to create spears ? dated no later than
71
000
years ago;
[2]
and
- Shell beads, although of a more recent date than those found at
Blombos cave
(
71
000
years ago for the Sibudu beads, versus
75
000
years ago for those at Blombos);
[13]
[14]
- An example of the use of bedding, dating back to approximately
77
000
years ago, with
Cape laurel
being used on top, probably for its
insecticidal
properties;
[6]
- The earliest use of milk (
casein
) as a paint binder in a milk-ochre mixture (
49
000
years ago).
[15]
- Dried fruits,
carbonised
and uncarbonised seeds (uncarbonised seeds consist of
Antidesma
venosum
,
Croton sylvaticus
,
Bridelia micrantha
, and many others) and nuts were found at Sibudu Cave belonging to the
Middle Stone Age
, from more than 60
ka
ago to approximately 37 ka ago.
[16]
The plant bedding consisted of
sedge
and other
monocotyledons
topped with aromatic leaves containing natural insecticidal and
larvicidal
chemicals. The leaves were all from Cape laurel (
Cryptocarya woodii
) which, when crushed, are aromatic and contain traces of α-
pyrones
,
cryptofolione
, and
goniothalamin
, chemicals that have insecticidal and larvicidal properties against, for example, mosquitoes.
Cryptocarya
species are still used extensively in traditional medicine.
The Howiesons Poort occupation manufactured
blade
tools. These blades are shaped like the segment of an orange, with a sharp cutting edge on the straight lateral and an intentionally blunted and curved back. These were attached to shafts or handles by means of ochre and plant adhesive or alternatively fat mixed with plant material.
[7]
Segments often were made with a cutting edge along their entire length, which required that they be attached to their hafts without twine and so, calls for particularly strong adhesive glue.
[17]
Points were used in the period after the Howiesons Poort for hunting weapons, such as the tips of spears. Use?trace analysis suggests that many of these points were hafted with ochre-loaded adhesives.
[17]
Cognitive archaeology
[
edit
]
The replication of shafted tool manufacture using only methods and materials available at Sibudu has enabled the identification of the complexity of the thought processes that it required. The stone spear was embedded in the wood using a compound adhesive made up of plant gum, red ochre, and to aid the workability, possibly a small amount of beeswax, coarse particles, or fat.
[7]
This preliminary mixture had to have the correct ingredient proportions and then, before shafting, undergo a controlled heat treatment stage. This heating had to avoid boiling or dehydrating the mixture too much, otherwise it would weaken the resulting
mastic
. The maker also had to reduce its
acidity
. By experimentally recreating the fabrication of this adhesive, researchers concluded that the
Middle Stone Age
(MSA) humans at Sibudu would have required the multilevel mental operations and abstract thought capabilities of modern people to do this.
[7]
[8]
Artisans living in the MSA must have been able to think in abstract terms about properties of plant gums and natural iron products, even though they lacked empirical means for gauging them. Qualities of gum, such as wet, sticky, and viscous, were mentally abstracted, and these meanings counterpoised against ochre properties, such as dry, loose, and dehydrating. Simultaneously, the artisan had to think about the correct position for placing stone inserts on the shafts.... Although fully modern behaviour is recognisable relatively late in the MSA, the circumstantial evidence provided here implies that people who made compound adhesives in the MSA shared at least some advanced behaviours with their modern successors.
[7]
p. 9593.
In a commentary upon this research it has been suggested that instead of focusing upon language, with
activities that tax reasoning ability and are also visible archaeologically, such as shafting, archaeologists are in a better position to contribute to an understanding of the evolution of the modern mind.
[8]
p. 9545.
Some of these hafted points might have been launched from bows. While "most attributes such as micro-residue distribution patterns and micro-wear will develop similarly on points used to tip spears, darts or arrows" and "explicit tests for distinctions between thrown spears and projected arrows have not yet been conducted" the researchers find "contextual support" for the use of these points on arrows: a broad range of animals were hunted, with an emphasis on taxa that prefer closed forested niches, including fast moving, terrestrial and arboreal animals. This is an argument for the use of traps, perhaps including snares. If snares were used, the use of cords and knots, which also would have been adequate for the production of bows, is implied. The employment of snares also would demonstrate a practical understanding of the latent energy stored in bent branches, the main principle of bow construction.
[18]
The use of Cryptocarya leaves in bedding indicates that early use of herbal medicines may have awarded selective advantages to humans, and the use of such plants implies a new dimension to the behaviour of early humans at this time.
[6]
Interrupted technological development
[
edit
]
Artefacts
such as piecing needles, arrows, and shell
beads
[13]
at Sibudu and elsewhere occur in a pattern whereby innovations are not further and progressively developed, but arise and then disappear. For instance, the shell beads occur in the Still Bay layers, but are absent from the Howiesons Poort ones, in Sibudu, and elsewhere.
[13]
This challenges the idea that the early development of technology by early humans was a process of accumulation of improvements.
[2]
[13]
In discussing the findings of artefacts at Sibudu researchers have commented that they:
can hardly be used to support the "classic" out of Africa scenario, which predicts increasing complexity and accretion of innovations during the MSA, determined by biological change. Instead, they appear, disappear, and re-appear in a way that best fits a scenario in which historical contingencies and environmental, rather than cognitive, changes are seen as main drivers.
[2]
p. 1577.
The idea that environmental change was responsible for this pattern has been questioned, and instead it has been suggested that the driving factors were changes in the social networks related to changes in population density.
[19]
Tentative World Heritage Status
[
edit
]
In 2015, the South African government submitted a proposal to add the cave to the list of
World Heritage Sites
and it has been placed on the UNESCO list of tentative sites as a potential future 'serial nomination' together with
Blombos Cave
,
Pinnacle Point
,
Klasies River Caves
,
Border Cave
, and
Diepkloof Rock Shelter
.
[20]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Wadley, L; Jacobs, Z (2004).
"Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal: Background to the excavations of middle stone age and iron age occupations"
.
South African Journal of Science
.
100
: 145?151.
hdl
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.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Backwell, L; d'Errico, F; Wadley, L (2008). "Middle Stone Age bone tools from the Howiesons Poort layers, Sibudu Cave, South Africa".
Journal of Archaeological Science
.
35
(6): 1566?1580.
Bibcode
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.
doi
:
10.1016/j.jas.2007.11.006
.
- ^
Backwell, L; Bradfield, J; Carlson, KJ; Jashashvili, T; Wadley, L; d'Errico, F (2018).
"The antiquity of bow-and-arrow technology: evidence from Middle Stone Age layers at Sibudu Cave"
.
Journal of Archaeological Science
.
92
(362): 289?303.
doi
:
10.15184/aqy.2018.11
.
- ^
Lombard M, Phillips L (2010). "Indications of bow and stone-tipped arrow use 64,000 years ago in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa".
Antiquity
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84
(325): 635?648.
doi
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10.1017/S0003598X00100134
.
S2CID
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- ^
Lombard M (2011). "Quartz-tipped arrows older than 60 ka: further use-trace evidence from Sibudu, Kwa-Zulu-Natal, South Africa".
Journal of Archaeological Science
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38
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doi
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10.1016/j.jas.2011.04.001
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Wadley L, Sievers C, Bamford M, Goldberg P, Berna F, Miller C. (2011).
Middle Stone Age Bedding Construction and Settlement Patterns at Sibudu, South Africa
. Science 9 December 2011: Vol. 334 no. 6061 pp. 1388?1391. An older example is now known:
Lyn Wadley; et al. (14 August 2020).
"Fire and grass-bedding construction 200 thousand years ago at Border Cave, South Africa"
.
Science
.
369
(6505): 863?866.
Bibcode
:
2020Sci...369..863W
.
doi
:
10.1126/science.abc7239
.
PMID
32792402
.
S2CID
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.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Wadley, L; Hodgskiss, T; Grant, M (2009).
"Implications for complex cognition from the hafting of tools with compound adhesives in the Middle Stone Age, South Africa"
.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
.
106
(24): 9590?9594.
doi
:
10.1073/pnas.0900957106
.
PMC
2700998
.
PMID
19433786
.
- ^
a
b
c
Wynn, T (2009).
"Hafted spears and the archaeology of mind"
.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
.
106
(24): 9544?9545.
Bibcode
:
2009PNAS..106.9544W
.
doi
:
10.1073/pnas.0904369106
.
PMC
2701010
.
PMID
19506246
.
- ^
Wadley L. (2001).
[Excavations at Sibudu Cave, Kwazulu-Natal
[
permanent dead link
]
, The Digging Stick, 18, Dec, (3) 1?7.
- ^
Jacobs, Z; Wintle, AG; Duller, GAT; Roberts, RG; Wadley, L (2008). "New ages for the post-Howiesons Poort, late and final Middle Stone Age at Sibudu, South Africa".
Journal of Archaeological Science
.
35
: 1790?1807.
doi
:
10.1016/j.jas.2008.04.017
.
- ^
Wadley, L (June 2007). "Announcing a Still Bay industry at Sibudu Cave, South Africa".
J. Hum. Evol
.
52
(6): 681?9.
doi
:
10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.01.002
.
PMID
17337038
.
- ^
Lombard, M (2006).
"First impressions on the functions and hafting technology of Still Bay pointed artefacts from Sibudu Cave"
.
S Afr Hum
.
18
: 27?41.
- ^
a
b
c
d
d'Errico, F; Vanhaeren, M; Wadley, L (2008). "Possible shell beads from the Middle Stone Age layers of Sibudu Cave, South Africa".
Journal of Archaeological Science
.
35
(10): 2675?2685.
doi
:
10.1016/j.jas.2008.04.023
.
- ^
d'Errico, F; Henshilwood, C; Vanhaeren, M; van Niekerk, K (January 2005). "Nassarius kraussianus shell beads from Blombos Cave: evidence for symbolic behaviour in the Middle Stone Age".
J. Hum. Evol
.
48
(1): 3?24.
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:
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.
PMID
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.
- ^
Villa, Paola; et al. (30 June 2015).
"A Milk and Ochre Paint Mixture Used
49
000
Years Ago at Sibudu, South Africa"
.
PLOS One
.
10
(6): e0131273.
Bibcode
:
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.
doi
:
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.
PMC
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.
PMID
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.
- ^
Sievers, Christine (2006).
"Seeds from the Middle Stone Age layers at Sibudu Cave"
.
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.
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.
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.
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a
b
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(PDF)
.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
.
106
(24): 9590?9594.
doi
:
10.1073/pnas.0900957106
.
PMC
2700998
.
PMID
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.
- ^
Lombard, Marlize; Phillipson, Laurel (2010).
"Indications of bow and stone-tipped arrow use 64 000 years ago in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa"
.
Antiquity
.
84
(325): 635?648.
doi
:
10.1017/s0003598x00100134
.
S2CID
162438490
.
- ^
Jacobs, Z; Roberts, RG (2009).
"Catalysts for Stone Age innovations: What might have triggered two short-lived bursts of technological and behavioral innovation in southern Africa during the Middle Stone Age?"
.
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- ^
"The Emergence of Modern Humans: The Pleistocene occupation sites of South Africa"
.
UNESCO
. Retrieved
3 April
2015
.
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