The end of the later Stone Age in the Middle Limpopo Valley, Central Southern Africa

Abstract

Later Stone Age industries are often applied pan-regionally despite having been defined in specific environments that possess their own set of underlying conditions. Archaeologists have expressed concern with this approach as it may generate an appearance of homogeneity when in fact technological industries are variable. This study examines the middle Limpopo Valley’s mid- to late Holocene Later Stone Age cultural sequence and compares its various attributes to more broadly defined Later Stone Age industries from that period. Specific attention is given to the formal tool and core components as these are typically used to ascribe industries to assemblages along with chronology. Contrasting the valley’s Later Stone Age sequence with stone tool industries brings into question the influence that socio-economic systems had over stone tool producers and whether stone tool forms and preferences reflect social change. The middle Limpopo Valley is ideally suited for such an assessment as it was here that southern Africa’s earliest state-level society arose, Mapungubwe at c. AD 1220, several centuries after farmer groups settled the region. During these developments, stone tool-producing foragers were present, and they interacted with farmer groups in several ways. However, the analysis presented here fails to identify confidently regular change in forager stone tool assemblages linked to social developments and shows reasonable alignment with stone tool industry definitions. Examining change in late Holocene society of this landscape, and perhaps others, may need to consider a variety of cultural indicators in combination with stone tools.