#MiddleStoneAge

Homo heidelbergensis and The Origins of The Middle Stone Age: The Kabwe (Broken Hill) Lithic Assemblage - African Archaeological Review The Middle Stone Age (MSA) saw the emergence of novel behaviours in the archaeological record and is generally associated with our own species, Homo sapiens. Yet, most archaeological assemblages contain no fossil remains, with those rare assemblages with a fossil association giving a less than clear-cut picture. Here, we describe the lithic assemblage from Kabwe, Zambia, a cave site that was originally discovered in the early twentieth century and is most famous for the Kabwe cranium, an exceptionally well-preserved Middle Pleistocene Homo fossil. The nature of the assemblage’s excavation means that it is not well-provenanced. To address this issue, we draw on archival data related to the original excavations and discoveries during the 1920s and use the remains of original matrix still adhering to several of the lithic artefacts to separate out the assemblage stratigraphically. This indicates no significant difference in technological strategies across the assemblage. Whilst there is an Early Stone Age component to the assemblage in the form of spheroids, it is generally consistent with MSA technological strategies, including notably Levallois-like and laminar modes of production evident from cores and debitage. We thus interpret the Kabwe assemblage as a transitional ESA/MSA industry. Due to the possible association with Homo heidelbergensis sensu lato fossils in the form of both the Kabwe cranium and postcranial remains, this hints that the early MSA could have included other members of our clade rather than just Homo sapiens, complicating current models of MSA origins.

3 months ago

The #Kabwe lithic assemblage in #Zambia

#Hheidelbergensis and the origin of the #MiddleStoneAge

#archaeology #Africa #MiddlePleistocene

link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-0...

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3 months ago

Ngalue Cave, Mozambique (~105 ka): microscopic starch granules—including wild sorghum—on grinders and scrapers = early plant foods in the MSA. #PaleoPost #HumanOrigins #MiddleStoneAge #StarchResidues
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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Essaouira’s Bizmoune Cave Yields New Clues to Early Humans Morocco’s National Institute of Archaeology and Heritage has launched a month-long field season at Bizmoune Cave to refine the story of early humans in North Africa.

4 months ago

#Bizmoune Cave, Morocco, one of the most advanced of our entire species lifespan.

#MiddleStoneAge #Africa #NorthAfrica #shells #jewellery #ochre

www.moroccoworldnews.com/2025/11/267737/essaouira...

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4 months ago

Sibudu Cave (≥70 ka): compound hafting glue—plant gum + red ochre (often with coarse grit) mixed and heated near hearths to set—made stone points stick. #PaleoPost #HumanOrigins #Sibudu #MiddleStoneAge
Paper: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

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4 months ago

Blombos Cave, S. Africa (~100 ka): two abalone shells held an ochre-rich compound (ground ochre, bone, charcoal + liquid)—a stored pigment mix and early chemistry. #PaleoPost #HumanOrigins #Blombos #MiddleStoneAge
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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4 months ago

Pinnacle Point, South Africa (≥164 ka): early H. sapiens heated silcrete in hearths to improve flaking—pyrotechnology for better blades. #PaleoPost #HumanOrigins #MiddleStoneAge #PinnaclePoint
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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4 months ago

Katanda, DRC (~90 ka): uniserial barbed bone points from a Middle Stone Age fishery—among the earliest known harpoons. #PaleoPost #HumanOrigins #MiddleStoneAge #Katanda
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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4 months ago

Blombos Cave (~73 ka): silcrete flake L13 bears nine red-ochre lines (3 parallel, crossed by 6)—the oldest known drawing by Homo sapiens. #PaleoPost #HumanOrigins #Blombos #MiddleStoneAge
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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4 months ago

Networking before cities. Olorgesailie (Kenya) MSA sites dated ≥295–320 ka show nonlocal obsidian (≥25–50 km), prepared points, and ochre—evidence for early social exchange and technology. #PaleoPost #HumanOrigins #MiddleStoneAge #Olorgesailie doi.org/10.1126/scie...

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6 months ago

Stone Age drip: shell beads as identity + belonging. New evidence from Bizmoune Cave (Morocco) pushes it ≥142k years. Read: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC... #PaleoPost #HumanOrigins #SymbolicBehavior #MiddleStoneAge

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Original post on c.im

7 months ago

Exciting new article here on the uses of #Blombos #MiddleStoneAge #ochre:
'ochre tools from Blombos Cave, South Africa, found in Still Bay to pre–Still Bay layers dated 90 to 70,000 years ago. Seven ochre pieces were deliberately modified into lithic retouchers, showing clear use-wear patterns […]

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Abi Stone

@abistone.bsky.social

7 months ago

Really looking forward to heading to my first Society of African Archaeologists conference next week, talking about our group’s research out in the Namib Sand Seaz

#SANDS
#PANS
#archaeology
#safaconference2025
#lithics
#NamibSandSea
#EarlierStoneAge
#MiddleStoneAge

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Original post on c.im

8 months ago

Anyone who wants to know about the #archaeology and #anthropology of how we became human, follow my colleague @ochrewatts

He's a world expert on our earliest #symbolic record in the #African #MiddleStoneAge -- specifically the red #ochre pigment record -- and has encyclopedic knowledge of […]

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Anthropology.net

@anthropology.net

10 months ago

Climate, Chaos, and Cooperation: How Shifting Environments May Have Forged Early Human Solidarity New simulations suggest that environmental instability—not predictability—may have driven the evolution of human cooperation

How did chaos make us human? New research suggests environmental instability during the Middle Stone Age fostered cooperation across groups. #HumanEvolution #Anthropology #MiddleStoneAge #ClimateAdaptation

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TraceoLab

@traceolab.bsky.social

1 year ago

Lecture: A Cultural Turning Point – Join Viola Schmid on Feb 14, 2025, at 11:00 at ULiège - Musée de la Préhistoire to explore the Middle Stone Age of southern Africa. Discover cultural shifts and innovations from Bushman Rock Shelter, Rose Cottage Cave, and Sibudu Cave. #Archaeology #MiddleStoneAge

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Nicolas Teyssandier

@teyssand31.bsky.social

1 year ago

We just published together with a large team of colleagues a report paper on the fantastic Rose Cottage Cave (Free State, South Africa) #SouthAfricanArchaeologicalBulletin #MiddleStoneAge #LaterStoneAge

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