Southern Africa plays an important role in the study of human history, especially in the successful global spread of Homo sapiens, i.e. modern humans. More than 100,000 years ago, during the so-called Middle Stone Age of marine isotope stage 5, a critical phase in the cultural evolution of humans took place, among others, in South Africa: Early innovations from this time prove that the groups of hunter-gatherers already possessed abilities such as planning depth, multitasking and abstract thinking that are comparable to those of modern humans.
Ingenuity of the Stone Age people
However, it is still unclear how, when and why these development processes unfolded. Archaeologist Viola Schmid from the Austrian Archaeological Institute (OeAI) at the OeAW is addressing these questions as part of her FWF project "Time of essential change in human history". Together with an international research team, she is investigating the three sites of Bushman Rock Shelter, Rose Cottage Cave and Sibhudu Cave in the Republic of South Africa. The three sites are located in three different vegetation zones and in regions that have so far been little explored.
Viola Schmid: "All three sites show cultural layers from the so-called Middle Stone Age of marine isotope stage 5, which includes the time from 135,000 to 75,000 years ago. This is a period with favourable climatic conditions, namely warmer and more humid overall than in the phases directly before and after. At this time, new behaviours increasingly emerge and the beginning of recognisable, regionally organised hunter-gatherer societies with different skills and ideas becomes apparent. Thus, marked developments manifest themselves in the cultural evolution of humankind. Archaeological evidence shows that humans were testing new ideas at this time and that their behavioural complexity increased due to various internal and external circumstances. We are trying to identify the possible trigger mechanisms for this and are analysing the networking and transfer of knowledge between the three sites."
In particular, the researchers are investigating the supply of raw materials, the production of tools, the procurement of food, land use strategies and technological innovations.
Finds reveal early technological achievements
The team led by Viola Schmid and Will Archer, Head of the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the National Museum in Bloemfontein, South Africa, is working at the Rose Cottage Cave, which lies at an altitude of 1,676 metres and served as a residence. It is not so much a cave as a rock shelter. In addition to a nearby perennial stream, the site also offered a panoramic view of the surrounding grassland and the abundant wildlife that existed at the time. It is the only 'sheltered site' in the area from the Middle Stone Age, while the other sites are open-air sites. A sequence of cultural layers of up to seven metres has been preserved, ranging from the oldest layers, which date to around 100,000 years before present, to the occupation horizons of the last foragers with an age of approximately 500 years.
Previous analyses of the oldest stone artefacts from earlier excavations, such as specially manufactured points that may have served as spearheads and pieces that demonstrate the use of new ways of processing raw materials into stone tools, point to a Homo sapiens with complex cognitive abilities similar to those of modern humans. The inhabitants were good hunters using advanced hunting weapons and strategies.
New excavations at Rose Cottage Cave at 1,600 metres
This year, surveys are planned in the surrounding area and an extended radius. The archaeologists will gather information about the types of rocks used, their provenance, resource management and the strategies used by the Stone Age groups to procure the raw materials. Following initial fieldwork at the end of 2023, a new excavation will take place in November this year. The new findings and targeted dating of the features will provide further answers to the history of the site.
In order to present the latest results, an "Austrian Archaeology in South Africa Day" will be held at the Origins Centre in Johannesburg at the beginning of December together with the cooperation partners from the University of Witwatersrand and the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
