100th century BCE
Southern Africa
The Pietersburg Complex was a southern African Middle Stone Age techno-complex found mainly south of the Limpopo on the south coast and interior plateau. Its industries used Levallois, disc-core, and blade-core techniques, generally producing flakes and blades with limited secondary retouch. The excerpt places much of the complex within the Last Interglacial, while noting that its chronology and relationship with other traditions remain partly uncertain.
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The Story
The Pietersburg Complex is described as one of two principal techno-complexes in the southern savanna lands. It occurred on the south coast and interior plateau, mainly south of the Limpopo, and included three geographically distributed industries. Its makers employed Levallois, disc-core, and blade-core techniques, producing tools that generally received little secondary retouch.
The complex is believed to date to more than 40,000 years ago and to belong largely within the Last Interglacial, approximately 100,000–75,000 years ago. The excerpt presents this chronology cautiously, since individual assemblages and regional industries do not necessarily share identical histories. Some later or overlapping traditions may have coexisted with Pietersburg-related industries.
Living-site evidence associated with this technological world includes camp structures and repeated use of particular locations. On the Orange River, in the Van der Kloof Dam area, arcs and semicircles of stones were interpreted as the footings of family windbreaks. Another site, Zeekoegat 27, contained a larger semicircular stone arrangement that may have supported a thorn fence around a group activity area.
100th century BCE
Southern Africa
The Pietersburg Complex was a southern African Middle Stone Age techno-complex found mainly south of the Limpopo on the south coast and interior plateau. Its industries used Levallois, disc-core, and blade-core techniques, generally producing flakes and blades with limited secondary retouch. The excerpt places much of the complex within the Last Interglacial, while noting that its chronology and relationship with other traditions remain partly uncertain.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Pietersburg Complex is described as one of two principal techno-complexes in the southern savanna lands. It occurred on the south coast and interior plateau, mainly south of the Limpopo, and included three geographically distributed industries. Its makers employed Levallois, disc-core, and blade-core techniques, producing tools that generally received little secondary retouch.
The complex is believed to date to more than 40,000 years ago and to belong largely within the Last Interglacial, approximately 100,000–75,000 years ago. The excerpt presents this chronology cautiously, since individual assemblages and regional industries do not necessarily share identical histories. Some later or overlapping traditions may have coexisted with Pietersburg-related industries.
Living-site evidence associated with this technological world includes camp structures and repeated use of particular locations. On the Orange River, in the Van der Kloof Dam area, arcs and semicircles of stones were interpreted as the footings of family windbreaks. Another site, Zeekoegat 27, contained a larger semicircular stone arrangement that may have supported a thorn fence around a group activity area.