Middle Stone Age Comparative Analysis of (Mesolithic Period) Symbolic Material Culture in South Africa and Southern Asia

Contributors and Roles

Introduction: Andrea Lee, Ariel Ozdemir, Br'ante Cunningham, Shreya Alaparti

Site 1: Andrea Lee

Site 2: Ariel Ozdemir

Site 3: Br'ante Cunningham

Site 4: Shreya Alaparti

Conclusion: Andrea Lee, Ariel Ozdemir, Br'ante Cunningham, Shreya Alaparti

Map

SEE: <iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1JcrYNRrEnqMmW6rzesDQvqTLGID5EAqP" width="640" height="480"></iframe>


Location	Latitude	Longitude
Site 1: Town of Bagor	25.3594 N	74.3793 E
Site 2: Blombos cave	34º24.857’S	21º13.371’E
Site 3: Klasies River Caves	-34.1037'S	24.3856'E
Site 4: Attirampakkam	13.2322° N	79.8801° E

Introduction

The focus of this research project is a comparison of material cultural artifacts in South Africa and Southern Asia during the Middle Stone Age (MSA). The aim of this research is to compare and contrast symbolic material culture in two different regions of the world. Using the Mesolithic era as the time period for both regions allows for the cross-regional analysis of material culture and the examination of similarities in artifact evidence and reveals technological parallels between the chosen regions, namely the Kasies River assemblages and the Blombos cave (Wurz et Al, 2018).

This topic is relevant in the context of the broader anthropological discussion on cultural evolution in Homo sapiens. Previous academic research has proposed different theories on human cognitive evolution, one of the principal theories, purported by academics like Richard Klein, being the proposition of a cultural “revolution” in Europe approximately 40,000 years ago at the time of the first arrival of Homo sapiens in the region (Conard and Bolus 2003; d’Errico et al. 2005). The following exemplification of Mesolithic cultural material in two different continents is thus a clear disapproval of this theory since the evidence presented predates European material culture by more than 75 ka (Holden 2004).

Summaries of the four sites:

Bagor, a town located in the northeastern region of India is most known for its large archaic sites filled with mesolithic discoveries. The site had rich findings of microlithic and early copper tools, pottery, and evidence of burial practices. Each piece of evidence displayed cognitive growth within Homo sapiens as the artifacts exhibited the beginning of materialistic culture during the Mesolithic period.
Blombos cave in South Africa, has been the site of extensive Stone Age discoveries, including Nassarius kraussianus shell beads that are ~75 ka that show signs of purposeful transportation, perforation, threading and donning of by MSA Homo sapiens, clearly demonstrating symbolically mediated behaviour predating earliest previously known material culture.
The Klasies River caves are an anthropological site made up of 5 caves that hold evidence of artifacts from the middle stone age. It’s located in Africa and is about 125,000 million years old. Through the excavation, evidence of one of the earliest human fossils along with information and artifacts of Homo sapien culture in the Middle stone age.
Attirampakkam is an open-air palaeolithic site situated near a meandering tributary stream of the river Kortallaiyar, northwest of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, along the southeast coast of India. The site reveals hundreds of stone tools dating back to the middle stone age, containing cultural sequence. The middle Paleolithic culture of this region is exclusively acheulian in nature. This acheulian lithic tradition is probably the most unique technological phenomenon of the middle Paleolithic in south India.

Site 1: Bagor, India

Author: Andrea Lee

Location: Town of Bagor, Rajasthan, India (25.3594°N, 74.3793°E)

Age: Artifacts in the first phase/layer were dated to 5000-2800 B.C. (Misra,1973)

Context

The town of Bagor exists within the state of Rajasthan, located in the northern region of India. It is situated on the left bank of the Kothari River in the middle of the Mewar plain, a rocky plain 500 meters above sea level (Misra, 1973). Bagor remains to be the largest mesolithic archaeology sites, in addition to the exposure of the horizontal excavation sites (Misra, 1973). Due to its ecological environment, Bagor has a high radiocarbon date that preserved the organic material under the dunes. By analyzing the depth and layers of the sand, the artifacts found within the layer were each identified with three phases.

First Phase (5000-2800 B.C.): Depth of 50-80 centimeters. Homo sapiens exhibited vast cognitive growth with the establishment of a hunting, gathering, and herding economy, as well as building huts for shelter and rituals such as burning their dead (Misra, 1973).
Second Phase (2800-600 B.C.): Depth of 30-50 centimeters. During this period, Homo sapiens began to utilize bronze and copper tools, and pottery was made to enhance living qualities (Misra, 1973).
Third Phase (600 B.C.- A.D. 200) Depth of 35-70 centimeters. Glass beads are created as there is also a large increase in pottery. Mircolithic tools drastically decrease, as copper and iron tools become more accessible.

History

The site was first discovered by Dr. L. S. Leshnik, an author and professor at the University of Heidelberg in January 1967 with the help of Professor H.D. Sankaila and the Archeology Department of Poona University and Deccan College (Misra, 1973). Within the layers of the sand, they were able to find mesolithic artifacts that enriched the culture of Homo sapiens. Mircolithic tools were primarily found in the first phase, as the use of the stone tools decreased during the second and third phases (Misra, 2001). The region had a high number of differing stone tools as they were various in shapes and sizes (Misra, 1973). The mass production of these stone tools allowed technological advancement. With the creations of stone heads shaped as rhomboids and transverse arrow-heads, the parallel form on these stones exhibits a high level of craftsmanship during the period. Copper and bronze tools were created as Homo sapiens were able to craft advanced tools. All the tools that were found had two parallel holes at the base, which was used to secure the arrowhead to a long wooden shaft. Designed pottery was also excavated in the second and third phases. The pottery found in Bagor shows signs of acculturation of the Ahar Culture present in the Mewar region (Misra, 1973). The creation of the pottery was similar to the Ahar culture as it possessed shapes such as a shallow basin, large parallel bowls, and red coating that created a long-lasting effect (Misra, 1973). As culture began to emerge, Homo sapiens began to bury the dead. Five burial sites were found in Bagor; one in Phase one, three burials in Phase two, and one in Phase three (Misra, 1973).

Relevance

Burial from Rakhigarhi- Indus Vally

The archaeological excavations found in Bagor suggests growth in cognitive ability. The variety of microlithic and copper tools, as well as the creation of the clay pots, are pieces of evidence that show the complex cognitive ability to sustain oneself. With the advancement of tool technology, Homo sapiens were not only able to hunt larger animals, but they were able to adopt pastoral practices (Patel, 2009). Burials were the start of rituals. In addition, burials found in Bagor were filled with offerings such as pottery, pieces of meat, metal objects, and garnishes (Misra, 1973). Other human burials in the northeastern region were found with simple jewelry made out of animal bones and antlers, as wells as tools and small ornaments (Lukacs and Pal, 2003). The fossil evidence shows the evolution of humans in the Mesolithic period through the ability to adapt and create materialistic cultures.

Site 2: Blombos Cave, South Africa

Author: Ariel Ozdemir

Location: located 300 km east of Cape Town, South Africa (34º24.857’S, 21º13.371’E)

Age: Studied layers from the MSA and LSA have been dated to ~92/101 ka - 75 ka

View of the outside of Blombos cave, South Africa.

Context

The Blombos cave (BBC) is situated 300 km east of Cape Town, South Africa, and 100 km from the Indian ocean. The site lies 34.5 m above sea level (d’Errico et al. 2005). Prior to excavations that began in 1991, the opening of the cave was ~1-1.5m high, and today measures ~6-7 m from the drip line to the back wall (Douze, Wurz, and Henshilwood 2015). The BBC was formed in a wave-cut calcarenite cliff from the Plio-Pleistocene epoch (d’Errico et al. 2005; Douze, Wurz, and Henshilwood 2015). When excavating the site, Henshilwood and his team used optically stimulated luminescence, thermoluminescence, and uranium-thorium techniques to provide approximate dating of the M1 and upper M2 layers to ~75 ka, the oldest layer being M3 which was dated to ~92 to 101 ka (d’Errico et al. 2005; Douze, Wurz, and Henshilwood 2015; Holden 2004; Jacobs et al. 2013). The site is comprised of clearly stratified MSA levels which are divided into four phases: M1, M2, M3, and M4. M1 and M2 demonstrate evidence associated with the Still Bay tool industry which is dated to about ~77-73 ka.

Fossil evidence in BBC demonstrates that buffalo, elan, shellfish, porcupines, fish were among some of the animals present in the area and made up a significant portion of MSA human diet. Animal remains suggest drier conditions during M1 compared to M2 & M3 while also a wetter and grassier conditions during the MSA than LSA (C. S. Henshilwood et al. 2001).

Nassarius kraussianus shell beads with perforations from Blombos Cave.

History

Excavations began at Blombos in 1991 by a team led by Christopher S. Henshilwood. More than 10 field seasons have been conducted at BBC since 1991 (d’Errico et al. 2005; Grine, Henshilwood, and Sealy 2000). So far, several artifacts from the MSA and LSA layers have been discovered. Most notably are artifacts that serve as indicators of the Still Bay industry, including several bifacial foliate points of which some were heated in final shaping process using pressure flaking, ~10 bone awls and one bone fragment with distinct engraved lines, pieces of ochre engraved with geometric patterns, two of which exhibit cross hatching patterns (d’Errico et al. 2005; C. S. Henshilwood et al. 2001). One of the most significant findings at the BBC were 41 Nassarius kraussianus shell beads with distinct perforations. 39 of the shell beads are from the M1 phase, 2 are from M2 and the ones found in the LSA layers can most likely be attributed to the MSA layers (d’Errico et al. 2005). Analysis supports the proposed theory that the shells were anthropologically perforated, threaded and worn together. Henshilwood and his colleagues disprove alternative theories of the existence of the shells in BBC by demonstrating that their natural habitat (estuarine environments) is 20 km away from the cave and thus could not have ended up at BBC accidentally nor by non-human predation since their only predator lived in the same estuarine habitat, as well as the fact that large shells were deliberately chosen and actions involved in the perforation and wearing of the shells demonstrates that significant time and energy were spent on the making of the beads, meaning the beads found in BBC were very likely there for anthropological reasons. Moreover, the use-wear patterns of the shells suggests that they were worn daily and for significant amounts of time as beads. Consequently, the archeologists involved propose that the evidence supports the idea of a bead-making tradition among the MSA people of the Blombos cave (d’Errico et al. 2005; C. Henshilwood et al. 2004; Holden 2004).

Relevance

d’Errico et al. (2005) discuss 4 contradictory models of human cognitive evolution that are proposed to account for the emergence of modern traits. One of these models stipulates a cultural “revolution” linked to anatomically modern humans in Europe c. 40 ka, while another considers behavioural modernity as the outcome of a gradual process taking place in Africa. All four models accept that symbolically mediated behaviour is a marker of modernity which stores and displays information externally. Art and personal accessories are key expressions of said symbolism, and the BBC shells are a prime example. While evidence of early uses of symbolically mediated behaviour scarce in the past, the discovery of these shell beads from the MSA period, 75 thousand years ago at BBC provides definitive evidence of modern human behaviour (d’Errico et al. 2005).

Site 3: Klasies River Caves, South Africa.

Author: Br'ante Cunningham

Location:Latitude: -34.1037'S Longitude: 24.3856'E

This photo illustrates one of the five caves mouth, found at the Klasies River Caves site.

Age: It is 125,000 years old (or existed between 120,000 & 55,000 years ago) (Grimes, Wurz, Marean, 2016).

Context

The Klasies River Caves are located on a 2.5 km stretch on Tsitsikamma coast in South Africa. It is 125,000 years old (or existed between 120,000 & 55,000 years ago) (Grimes, Wurz, Marean, 2016). The site comprises 5 caves or rock shelters located 0.5 km from the mouth of the Klasies River. The main site is a series of caves (1, 1A, 1B & 2) along the coastal region which faces the Indian ocean. Currently 6 meters above sea level, at the time of its use it would have been 2 km away from the coast. Situated at the easternmost extent of the Paleo-Agulhas plain, the landscape is made up of mountains (of sandstone and quartzite) and a mosaic of vegetation (forest and coastal vegetation)(Wurz et al, 2018). Faunal remains are a valuable means of accessing paleoenvironmental changes in the region. There is a higher diversity in low-medium rainfall which declines yearly, decreasing the richness in the Cape. This relates to the loss of available grassland in the area now. The Cape area where the Klasies river caves are located has changed over the year because of the altered rainfall and shifting sea levels as a result of climate and glacial changes. The present-day vegetation consists of fynbros (shrubs) and stranveld (grass). The river is a highly thicketed valley dominated by the southernmost afrotemperate forest. Sea level fluctuations between glacial and interglacial periods resulted in major landscape changes. (Renard, Wurz, 2020)

History

The initial discovery of the site was made by Paul Haslem and Ludwig Abel. Ludwig and Abel reported to a museum in port Elizabeth the artefacts consisting of bone cemented to a cliff wall at a main site. Hilary Deacon reported in her Guide to Klasies, Ronald Singer, a South African anthropologist, had visited the museum and appreciated the artifacts from being from the stone age. From this he saw the potential to resolve the issues of what humans were associated with this age (Deacon,2008). The westernmost main site was discovered by Ronald Singer and John Wymer. They began the very first excavation in 1967 which lasted 14 months and came to a conclusion in 1968. The excavation of these caves came about in the 1960’s as Rondald Singer was doing research on the Khoisan people. Singer highlighted the lack of information on the ancestry of Khoisan people where archaic hominin specimens were known. However, there wasn’t any evidence of ancestry, this motivated Singer to initiate excavations at Klasies River Caves (Grine, Wurz, Mareen, 2016). Since their initial discovery and excavation, the caves have been seasonally excavated by Hilary Deacon from 1984-1995.The most recent excavation took place in 2013 by Sarah Wurz.

Relevance

The Excavation from the Klasies River cave brought exponential evidence and information on the Hominin species that existed in the Middle stone ages. The original discovery of the bones cemented to a cliff wall prompted for an official excavation process which led to the findings of:

Human Bone Remains
Mammal Remains
Early evidence of shellfish collection
Artifacts of technology
Human fossils dated 110,000 years old
Information on how they gathered food and held social settlement hierarchy.

The excavation of the site didn’t just bring individual evidence and artifact collection but also information that would explain how they used the earliest their skills to craft the earliest of technology, and how they gathered food and existed socially in their settlement creating a culture. These are symbolic cultural materials that provide an insight into a way of life that existed in the middle stone age. The human bone remains show evidence of cuts, tearing, and burning which suggest evidence of cannibalism among the people which is not unheard of in Africa to the present day. Mammal remains were found along the cliff sides which suggest that their method of killing animals was to run them off the cliff. The evidence of bones collected suggests that they targeted animals at specific ages, primarily younger or older animals.

These findings relate to the wider story of human evolution through the ability of the homo sapiens species to constantly evolve but also support a traditional aspect of where certain cultural traits that exist today may derive from, such as cannibalism among African tribes. It also shows that we as homo sapiens have evolved at an early age with skills of creating new technology to survive and create social systems. This evolution also shows that throughout time much like our ancestors' other species such as fish do evolve as well, as fish that were eaten by these homos sapiens in the stone age still exist along the Cape today. We can establish this by the bones that were found at the excavation site.

Site 4: Attirampakkam, Tamil Nadu, India

Author: Shreya Alaparti

Location: Latitude: 13.2322° N, Longitude: 79.8801° E

Age: 385 + 64 thousand years ago (Ka). Stone tools are 385,000 years old

General view of Acheulian site in Attirampakkam.

Context

The archaeological site Attirampakkam is situated 47 km inland from the North banks in Tamil Nadu. The site is close to an ephemeral stream which starts 2 km upstream at Aryathur and 1 km to the north of the river Kortallaiyar (Pappu, Kumar. 2019). The site is overlain by satyavedu formation, which serves as a sediment and raw material to this acheulian site. Furthermore, the satyavedu formation served as the primary source for quaternary gravel beds, gravel formation, and raw materials (quartzites, sandstones) for the acheulian site. This acheulian site occurs at elevations between 20 and 120 m above sea level with a peak concentration between 20 and 40 m (Pappu, Kumar. 2019). Attirampakkam archaeological site is concentrated within an area of ~814 km in the northern part of the region. Climatically, the region falls in an area of seasonally dry tropical conditions, receiving 105 to 125 cm of annual rainfall with a major peak occurring from September to November. These geo-morphological processes have led to the differential preservation of middle Pleistocene deposits, as the acheulian site was buried and exposed only due to quarrying and erosion (Chauhan. 2009).

In 1999, evacuation of the site was led by Fotte and team and continued by Pappu and team. Five test pits (22 m) were dug up, one of the test pits was excavated to a depth of 7.30 m and yielded a total of 646 artifacts. Layers 1, 3, and 4 were archaeologically sterile and the horizons bearing the artifacts were layers 2, 5, and 6. Layer 2 yielded middle palaolithic tools and a transitional middle acheulian palaeolithic artifacts occurred in layer 5 (Pappu et al. 2003). Large amount of paleoanthropological data was discovered and accumulated during this process in the form of lithic assemblages. These included, hand axes, cleavers, borers, scrapers, knives, debitage and cores (Pappu et al. 2003).

History

The picture portrays large cores and bifaces.

The discovery of tools at Attirampakkam was not a matter of chance but of careful observation by Robert Bruce Foote and colleague William King, during their geological surveys in 1999 (Pappu et al. 2003). They documented hundreds of stone tools eroding out of laterites in dry gully beds, in the tiny hamlet of Attirampakkam. The fresh condition of artifacts lying in the gully, prompted Foote to trace their origin to nearby lateritic gravels seen in the gully sections; within which he was able to locate in-situ tools. This was confirmed by a small test pit excavated in the lateritic gravels, which yielded bivalve shell impressions, bovid footprints in laminated clay at Attirampakkam and fossilized tree fragments (Pappu. 2007). Furthermore, there also were some significant discoveries such as cleavers, which were made on the flake surface. These cleavers were rectangular with straight handles and were triangular with pointed handles. There were also hand axes which were made through flaking, although in this case, the flaked surface was wholly or partially trimmed (Pappu. 2007). The discovery of hand axes helped researchers understand the technique of flaking, which was done in small, and concise steps with small retouches mainly at the edges. These hand axes measured from 6 to 8 inches and the smallest one was measured to be about 2 x 2 inches. Both large and small sized axes were found in equal numbers. Another major discovery were the cores, this category mainly consisted of discoidal shaped implements, with the same kind of alternate flaking mainly used as tools. Some of them were more oval, again with alternate flaking, looking very similar to unfinished hand axes. A few were retouched and shaped to form either notched, steep or ordinary side scrapers (Pappu. 2007). During this time there were also few implements which had a blunt or truncated edge, such as pointed weapons like spear heads, as well as wedge shaped weapons such as axes and hatchets. The tools discovered showed indications of cultural sequences in Attirampakkam and this acheulian lithic tradition is probably the most unique technological phenomenon of the middle paleolithic in South India.

Relevance

The concentration of acheulian in Attirampakkam palaeolithic site suggests the ease of access to quartzite clasts, cleavers, borers, scrapers and biological resources were stable, predictable, and accessible enough to repeatedly attract populations throughout the Pleistocene (Pappu et al. 2003). Previously there were specific planned activities that used to take place based on the predictability of resources at the site, knowledge of which was shared over successive generations of hominids over the years. The evidence of fossils in Attirampakkam show the reflecting transitional process of the Indian middle palaeolithic, these processes are marked by an obsolescence of acheuliam large flake technologies and adoption of strategies for small tool production and use (Pappu, Kumar. 2019). Gathering all the evidence, it was concluded that tools found at Attirampakkam were complex in design and bear the markings of technologies used by middle palaeolithic cultures and Attirampakkam became the type site for the Madrasian culture in South India.

Conclusion

The focus of this research project was a comparison of material cultural artifacts in South Africa and Southern Asia during the Middle Stone Age. Using the Mesolithic era as the time period for both regions allowed for the cross-regional analysis of material culture and the examination of similarities in artifact evidence and revealed technological parallels between the chosen regions, namely the town of Bagor, Blombos cave, Klasies River assemblages and Attirampakkam. Microlithic and early copper tools, pottery and evidence of burial practices in Bongor, Nassarius kraussianus shell beads, bifacial foliate points, bone owls and engraved bone and ochre fragments in Blombos cave, human remains and evidence of early shellfish collection in the Klasies river and hand axes, cleavers, borers, scrapers, knives, debitage, cores in Attirampakkam all provide a compelling depiction of Mesolithic cultural practices. The exemplification of Mesolithic cultural materials in two different continents clearly disapproves the theory of a European cultural “revolution” 40 ka since the evidence presented predates European material culture by more than 75 ka. Consequently, other models of the evolution of human modernity present alternative and perhaps more plausible theories, generating critical analyses of their own. Therefore, these artifacts, looked at in unison provide a broader anthropological discussion on cultural evolution in Homo sapiens, necessary for a deeper understanding of our origins as humans and our cultural roots.

References

Introduction:

Conard, Nicholas J., and Michael Bolus. 2003. “Radiocarbon Dating the Appearance of Modern Humans and Timing of Cultural Innovations in Europe: New Results and New Challenges.” Journal of Human Evolution 44 (3): 331–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0047-2484(02)00202-6.

Deacon, H.J., 2001. Guide to Klasies River 2001. http://academic.sun.ac.za/ archaeology/KRguide2001.PDF

Errico, Francesco d’, Christopher Henshilwood, Marian Vanhaeren, and Karen van Niekerk. 2005. “Nassarius Kraussianus Shell Beads from Blombos Cave: Evidence for Symbolic Behaviour in the Middle Stone Age.” Journal of Human Evolution 48 (1): 3–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.09.002.

Holden, Constance. 2004. “Oldest Beads Suggest Early Symbolic Behavior.” Science 304 (5669): 369–369.

Misra, V. N. 1973. "Bagor -A Late Mesolithic Settlement in North-West India." World Archaeology: Colonization 5 (1): 92-110.

Wurz, Sarah, et al. "Connections, Culture and Environments around 100?000 Years Ago at Klasies River Main Site." Quaternary International (2018).

Site 1:

LUKACS, JOHN R. and J. N. PAL. 2003. "Skeletal Variation among Mesolithic People of the Ganga Plains: New Evidence of Habitual Activity and Adaptation to Climate." Asian Perspectives 42 (2): 329-351.

Misra, V. N. 1973. "Bagor -A Late Mesolithic Settlement in North-West India." World Archaeology: Colonization 5 (1): 92-110.

Misra, V. N. 2001. "Prehistoric Human Colonization of India." Journal of Biosciences 26 (4): 491-531.

Patel, Ajita K. 2009. "Occupational Histories, Settlements, and Subsistence in Western India: What Bones and Genes can Tell Us about the Origins and Spread of Pastoralism." Anthropozoologica 44 (1): 173-188.

Site 2:

Douze, Katja, Sarah Wurz, and Christopher Stuart Henshilwood. 2015. “Techno-Cultural Characterization of the MIS 5 (c. 105 - 90 Ka) Lithic Industries at Blombos Cave, Southern Cape, South Africa.” PloS One 10 (11): e0142151. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0142151.

Errico, Francesco d’, Christopher Henshilwood, Marian Vanhaeren, and Karen van Niekerk. 2005. “Nassarius Kraussianus Shell Beads from Blombos Cave: Evidence for Symbolic Behaviour in the Middle Stone Age.” Journal of Human Evolution 48 (1): 3–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.09.002.

Grine, Frederick E., Christopher S. Henshilwood, and Judith C. Sealy. 2000. “Human Remains from Blombos Cave, South Africa: (1997–1998 Excavations).” Journal of Human Evolution 38 (6): 755–65. https://doi.org/10.1006/jhev.1999.0379.

Henshilwood, C. S., J. C. Sealy, R. Yates, K. Cruz-Uribe, P. Goldberg, F. E. Grine, R. G. Klein, C. Poggenpoel, K. [van Niekerk, and I. Watts. 2001. “Blombos Cave, Southern Cape, South Africa: Preliminary Report on the 1992–1999 Excavations of the Middle Stone Age Levels.” Journal of Archaeological Science 28 (4): 421–48. https://doi.org/10.1006/jasc.2000.0638.

Henshilwood, Christopher, Francesco d’Errico, Marian Vanhaeren, Karen van Niekerk, and Zenobia Jacobs. 2004. “Middle Stone Age Shell Beads from South Africa.” Science 304 (5669): 404–404.

Holden, Constance. 2004. “Oldest Beads Suggest Early Symbolic Behavior.” Science 304 (5669): 369–369.

Jacobs, Zenobia, Elspeth H. Hayes, Richard G. Roberts, Rex F. Galbraith, and Christopher S. Henshilwood. 2013. “An Improved OSL Chronology for the Still Bay Layers at Blombos Cave, South Africa: Further Tests of Single-Grain Dating Procedures and a Re-Evaluation of the Timing of the Still Bay Industry across Southern Africa.” Journal of Archaeological Science 40 (1): 579–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.06.037.

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Vanhaeren, Marian, Francesco d’Errico, Karen L. van Niekerk, Christopher S. Henshilwood, and Rudolph M. Erasmus. 2013. “Thinking Strings: Additional Evidence for Personal Ornament Use in the Middle Stone Age at Blombos Cave, South Africa.” Journal of Human Evolution 64 (6): 500–517. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.02.001.

Site 3:

Deacon, H.J., 2001. Guide to Klasies River 2001. http://academic.sun.ac.za/ archaeology/KRguide2001.PDF

Grine, Frederick E., Sarah Wurz, and Curtis W. Marean. "The Middle Stone Age Human Fossil Record from Klasies River Main Site." Journal of Human Evolution 103 (2017): 53–78.

Reynard, J. P., & Wurz, S. (2020). The palaeoecology of klasies river, south africa: An analysis of the large mammal remains from the 1984–1995 excavations of cave 1 and 1A. Quaternary Science Reviews, 237, 106301. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106301

Wurz, Sarah, et al. "Connections, Culture and Environments around 100?000 Years Ago at Klasies River Main Site." Quaternary International (2018).

Site 4:

Pappu, Shanti and Kumar Akhilesh. 2019. "Tools, Trails and Time: Debating Acheulian Group Size at Attirampakkam, India." Journal of Human Evolution 130: 109-125.

Pappu, Shanti, Yanni Gunnell, Maurice Taieb, Jean-Philippe Brugal, and Yannick Touchard. 2003. "Excavations at the Palaeolithic Site of Attirampakkam, South India: Preliminary Findings." Current Anthropology 44 (4): 591-598.

Pappu, Shanti. 2007. "Changing Trends in the Study of a Paleolithic Site in India: A Century of Research at Attirampakkam." In, 121-135. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

Chauhan, Parth R. 2009. "The Lower Paleolithic of the Indian Subcontinent." Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews 18 (2): 62-78.