Abstract:
Studies into the Later Stone Age sequence of the Mapungubwe region show several
important changes in forager toolkits. Notable shifts include the appearance of ceramics,
glass beads and metal, and changes in stone tool preference patterns in some contexts. Few
studies have considered stone tool technological shifts from pre-contact into contact
periods when farmers arrived in the landscape. By studying forager stone tools, we can
examine the manner in which forager groups deployed their own technologies and
innovations in contact scenarios to aid and assist with social relations and exchange or
trade patterns. In this study, we present the results of a detailed stone tool analyses of an
excavation sample from Little Muck Shelter that highlights several continuities and
discontinuities over time, from the pre-contact period into the contact phase but also at
key moments in the valley’s sequence. It demonstrates the role forager technology played
in the local economy and how it was used to facilitate social relations.
