Een onderkaak die in 1887 in Spanje is gevonden, is niet van een neanderthaler maar hoogstwaarschijnlijk van een homo sapiens. Het is een nieuw puzzelstukje in de geschiedenis van de mens. En die... Show moreEen onderkaak die in 1887 in Spanje is gevonden, is niet van een neanderthaler maar hoogstwaarschijnlijk van een homo sapiens. Het is een nieuw puzzelstukje in de geschiedenis van de mens. En die wordt door moderne DNA-technieken ook steeds duidelijker. Show less
Analysis of Late Pleistocene fauna exploitation (~130,000–12,000 years ago) in southern Africa is of global academic relevance. Faunal analyses from southern African sites have led to the... Show moreAnalysis of Late Pleistocene fauna exploitation (~130,000–12,000 years ago) in southern Africa is of global academic relevance. Faunal analyses from southern African sites have led to the development of influential hypotheses on the evolution of modern human hunting methods and subsistence economies. In the 1970s and 1980s, analysis of faunal remains from the Middle Stone Age site Klasies River informed the hypothesis that Middle Stone Age humans were less effective hunters than ethnographically documented huntergatherers. This was based on the underrepresentation of dangerous prey species in the bone assemblages. The development of detailed taphonomic research in the 1990s and 2000s demonstrated that the accumulation of faunal assemblages was the result of complex processes involving both human and nonhuman agents. These studies helped establish that Middle Stone Age hunters were as capable as those in ethnographically documented societies. Since then, important progress has been made in the identification of the weapons systems that were used to hunt animals. Analyses of lithic implements indicate bow-and-arrow use in southern Africa going back to at least 65,000 years ago. Animal exploitation strategies do change over time. Hunting strategies probably focused on large antelope during the Middle Pleistocene, and the importance of smaller animals increased This change was likely caused by a shift in prey populations that stemmed from a combination of environmental change and perhaps human population pressure. Late Pleistocene archaeological sites show increasing evidence for intensification; that is, an increase in the amount of food extracted from the environment by more thorough processing of prey, exploitation of new prey types, and development of new exploitation strategies. This pattern is usually linked to animal overexploitation and may be a result of human population expansion or environmental change if decreasing productivity limits the supply of animal prey. Notable examples of this are shellfish middens at coastal sites, the abundance of tortoises, and the presence of large numbers of small mammals that were likely snared instead of pursued. Show less
A destructive force across entire landscapes, mining at times threatens the preservation of priceless archaeological sites across southern Africa. The UNESCO World Heritage site of the Mapungubwe... Show moreA destructive force across entire landscapes, mining at times threatens the preservation of priceless archaeological sites across southern Africa. The UNESCO World Heritage site of the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape is one of the recent legal battlegrounds pitting the interests of the natural world and archaeological heritage against mining. Mineral resource extraction carries within its destruction creative potential too. In southern Africa mining has been instrumental in illuminating human history and in the creation of archaeological landmarks.The relationship between archaeology and mining is a complex one. The gold industry and associated lime-mining has specifically been instrumental in the development of palaeoanthropology in South Africa (Bonner 2007). With the discovery of gold, lime was required for the desulfurization process. This was obtained locally and many lime works were exploited during the 1890s (Esterhuysen 2019). The miners drew attention to fossils found within the deposits leading to the discovery of hominins at Taung, Makapan and Sterkfontein in the early 20th century. Mining may thus be seen as crucial to the genesis of the Cradle of Humankind UNESCO World Heritage site in South Africa. Similarly guano, zinc and vanadium mining have yielded important palaeoanthropological finds in southern Africa.In the 19th and early 20th century, scientific focus was on discovering unknown objects. In this context, the efficient removal of great quantities of overburden was a great asset. With increasing scientific rigour in the 20th century, archaeological focus shifts from objects to their interrelationships and their context. The documentation of finds and find contexts requires time that is not available in the context of industrial resource extraction. Fruitful collaboration now becomes more difficult. As the early lime works closed down in the first half of the 20th century, archaeologists were free to continue work at a comparative snail’s pace but yielding far greater insight in the human past.In active mining operations, collaboration is difficult. While mining still exposes valuable sites and materials that would otherwise be inaccessible, this is of limited value in current archaeological practice. Current ethical standards emphasise in situ preservation of archaeological remains over excavation. When finds are documented, the time-pressure from mining companies makes these situations ambiguous in value. Examples are the discovery of Pleistocene shell middens after their partial destruction, or the recovery of lithic materials from conveyor belts in diamond plants.In the late 20th century and 21st century, the discipline of archaeology has been included in legal frameworks on environmental planning. Archaeological contractors conduct Heritage impact assessments and advise on mitigation measures for large-scale environmental projects such as mining operation and the building of large dams of infrastructure works.Highlighting human history was an unintended consequence for large mining operations. Yet both on a grand level, the activity of mining, as well as on a personal level, the activities of miners and foremen have played a crucial role in uncovering ancient humans and their world in southern Africa. I argue that the insights produced as a result of early resource extraction are one (albeit often minor) consideration in the network of values, stakeholders and resources that embed mining operations in society. Show less
Van collega’s hoor ik wel eens dat archeologie zo’n witte discipline is omdat we ‘ons’ verleden opgraven. Dat zou voor mensen wier voorouders recent naar Nederland emigreerden oninteressant zijn....Show moreVan collega’s hoor ik wel eens dat archeologie zo’n witte discipline is omdat we ‘ons’ verleden opgraven. Dat zou voor mensen wier voorouders recent naar Nederland emigreerden oninteressant zijn. Maar volgens mij gaan dit soort verhalen over de prehistorie niet helemaal op, en laten we belangrijke mogelijkheden liggen om juist onze gezamenlijke oorsprong te bestuderen.Show less
Here we evaluate the hypothesis that during cold climatic phases, people and resources became increasingly packed along highland Lesotho's riverine corridors as the viability of palatable... Show moreHere we evaluate the hypothesis that during cold climatic phases, people and resources became increasingly packed along highland Lesotho's riverine corridors as the viability of palatable grasslands for large mammal hunting on the upland plateaus declined. These intensification efforts resulted in increased reliance on lower-ranked aquatic (fish) resources with knock-on effects for lithic technological organization. We compare data on the relative contributing of fishing to the diets of highland hunter-gatherers at Sehonghong rockshelter with a faunal proxy widely argued to correlate with subsistence intensification (faunal assemblage evenness). In addition, we compare these data with two measures of lithic technological intensification (cutting edge production and core reduction intensity) to test whether diet intensification tracks technological intensification. We show that at Sehonghong, aquatic resource exploitation is not always correlated with faunal assemblage evenness. We find that some layers (i.e. RF) show spikes in aquatic resource use irrespective of changes in mammal hunting. Other layers (i.e. layer RBL/CLBRF) were intensively occupied, but they do not have many fish. Our data also demonstrate that aquatic resource use is not associated with lithic technological intensification. These results suggest that while aquatic resource exploitation was a ‘fallback’ option for some of Lesotho's highland hunter-gatherers, there is considerable variability. Our data show that multiple intensification dimensions were variably combined through the Late Pleistocene at Sehonghong as they were elsewhere in southern Africa. Show less
Dusseldorp, G.L.; Raczynski-Henk, Y.; Amkreutz, L. 2022
De afgelopen 20 jaar wordt steeds duidelijker hoe de eerste Europeanen eruitzagen en dat die mensen waarschijnlijk al vanaf 800.000 jaar geleden sporadisch in onze streken komen. Uitgerekend in... Show moreDe afgelopen 20 jaar wordt steeds duidelijker hoe de eerste Europeanen eruitzagen en dat die mensen waarschijnlijk al vanaf 800.000 jaar geleden sporadisch in onze streken komen. Uitgerekend in Nederland is een vindplaats opgegraven die een uniek kijkje in de wereld van die vroegste Europeanen geeft. Die vindplaats, Maastricht-Belvédère, staat internationaal in alle handboeken, maar in Nederland kent niemand haar. Je kan er bijna tot op de seconde nauwkeurig een episode reconstrueren in het leven van mensen die hier 250.000 jaar geleden leefden. Een beeld van een voor ons vrijwel onvoorstelbare manier van leven verschijnt, waarin geleidelijk een aantal prominente menselijke kenmerken verschijnen, zoals complexe planning en de ontwikkeling van verfijnde technologische snufjes. Daaruit wordt duidelijk dat die hele vroege ‘Nederlanders’ alleen vanuit een pan-Europees perspectief begrepen kunnen worden. Show less
Lombard, M.; Bradfield, J.; Caruana, M.V.; Makhubela, T.V.; Dusseldorp, G.L.; Kramers, J.D.; Wurz, S. 2022
A decade ago, we summarised the South African and Lesotho Stone Age technocomplex sequence as a heuristic exercise, anchored in 242 dated assemblages (Lombard et al. 2012). Following Clarke (1968),... Show moreA decade ago, we summarised the South African and Lesotho Stone Age technocomplex sequence as a heuristic exercise, anchored in 242 dated assemblages (Lombard et al. 2012). Following Clarke (1968), Sampson (1974) and Deacon (1980), we defined a technocomplex as a group of industries characterised by assemblages that have many, but not all, properties in common. Spatiotemporal changes and shifts in artefact design and frequencies owing to material use/availability and socio-economic factors are built into the framework. The accompanying dataset was intended to serve as a useful resource to both students and professionals, and to fuel research and debate. Show less
