100th century BCE
South Africa, especially Border Cave and the Transvaal
The Pietersburg Industry is a Middle Stone Age tradition represented in the Border Cave sequence at Ingwavuma and discussed in relation to the Cave of Hearths and southern coastal sequences. At Border Cave, its stages are described as Pietersburg, Epi-Pietersburg or Howieson's Poort, and post-Howieson's Poort. Lower levels contain rhyolite, quartz, and chalcedony artifacts, while later levels include backed blades, lunates, pressure-flaked points, trapezes, and hafting-related forms. The assemblages are associated with occupation sediments and human burials, including a marine conus shell found with an infant burial.
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The Story
The Pietersburg Industry is described through the stratified Middle Stone Age sequence at Border Cave, Ingwavuma, and by comparison with the Cave of Hearths and the south coast. At Border Cave, occupation sediments contain bone waste from meals, sandy and ashy deposits, and substantial roof spalling. The sequence is divided into Pietersburg, Epi-Pietersburg—equated with Howieson's Poort—and post-Howieson's Poort stages.
Lower Pietersburg levels show developmental trends and may correspond to Lower and Middle Pietersburg at the Cave of Hearths. The artifacts were made in rhyolite, quartz, and chalcedony. The succeeding Howieson's Poort component contains narrow ribbon-like blades and lunates made on fragments of Levallois blades, with small pressure-flaked points; the later post-Howieson's Poort assemblages contain few formal blades but include trapezes and forms with proximal reduction interpreted as related to hafting.
Two human burials, an adult and an infant, are believed to belong to the Pietersburg or Epi-Pietersburg occupation. A fragment of a marine conus shell was found with the infant skeleton in a shallow grave. The terminal assemblage at Border Cave has a radiocarbon value older than 49,100 BP, while the oldest Howieson's Poort date is older than 48,700 BP; the broader chronology is described as comparable with, or older than, coastal sequences.
100th century BCE
South Africa, especially Border Cave and the Transvaal
The Pietersburg Industry is a Middle Stone Age tradition represented in the Border Cave sequence at Ingwavuma and discussed in relation to the Cave of Hearths and southern coastal sequences. At Border Cave, its stages are described as Pietersburg, Epi-Pietersburg or Howieson's Poort, and post-Howieson's Poort. Lower levels contain rhyolite, quartz, and chalcedony artifacts, while later levels include backed blades, lunates, pressure-flaked points, trapezes, and hafting-related forms. The assemblages are associated with occupation sediments and human burials, including a marine conus shell found with an infant burial.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Pietersburg Industry is described through the stratified Middle Stone Age sequence at Border Cave, Ingwavuma, and by comparison with the Cave of Hearths and the south coast. At Border Cave, occupation sediments contain bone waste from meals, sandy and ashy deposits, and substantial roof spalling. The sequence is divided into Pietersburg, Epi-Pietersburg—equated with Howieson's Poort—and post-Howieson's Poort stages.
Lower Pietersburg levels show developmental trends and may correspond to Lower and Middle Pietersburg at the Cave of Hearths. The artifacts were made in rhyolite, quartz, and chalcedony. The succeeding Howieson's Poort component contains narrow ribbon-like blades and lunates made on fragments of Levallois blades, with small pressure-flaked points; the later post-Howieson's Poort assemblages contain few formal blades but include trapezes and forms with proximal reduction interpreted as related to hafting.
Two human burials, an adult and an infant, are believed to belong to the Pietersburg or Epi-Pietersburg occupation. A fragment of a marine conus shell was found with the infant skeleton in a shallow grave. The terminal assemblage at Border Cave has a radiocarbon value older than 49,100 BP, while the oldest Howieson's Poort date is older than 48,700 BP; the broader chronology is described as comparable with, or older than, coastal sequences.
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