TheStillbayorStill Bayindustrywas named byarchaeologistsA. J. H. Goodwin and C. van Riet Lowe in 1929,[1]and is aMiddle Stone Agestone toolmanufacturing style after the site ofStilbaai(also called Still Bay) inSouth Africawhere it was first described. It may have developed from the earlierAcheuliantypes. In addition to Acheulian stone tools, bone and antler picks were also used.
Its start and end are calculated at 71.9kaand 71.0 ka. At present, too few data exist to limit the 95%confidence intervalsof these date to more than 4 to 5 ky. However, available data are consistent with a duration of less than 1 ky.[2]
Sampson in 1974 questioned its existence on the grounds that sites were not properly described and they lacked stratigraphic integrity[3]However, more recent work from sites such asBlombos Cave[4]andSibudu Cave[5]attest to its existence.
It is broadly analogous to theMousterianculture in Europe.
Olduvai Gorgehas within its many ages of tools, some of the Stillbay variety.[6]
Tools and fire
editResearchers have concluded that Stillbay people prepared thesilcretestone out of which they made their stone tools with preheating inhuman made fireto increase its workability.[7]Experiments involved slowly heating silcrete stones to ~350 °C.Thermoluminescenceconfirmed that all stones analysed (limited to 26 in number due this being a destructive process) had been heated to this temperature.[7]
Heat treatment not only increases the length of flakes that can be removed from about a half-inch to 2 inches but makes them thinner, and sharper as they can remove flakes at angles nearly parallel to the stone's surface. Heat treatment allows greater precision of fracture due to increasing the uniformity of the stone's fracture response when hit.[8]
This research identifies this not only with Stillbay sites dated to 72,000 BP but ones that could be as old as 164,000 BP.[7]
Kyle Brown, one of the scientists responsible for this research has been quoted as making a link with the existence of language: "These people were extremely smart... I don't think you could have passed down these skills from generation to generation without language."[9]
Stone tool industry
editA paper announcing the Still Bay Industry was published on January 5, 2007. This paper details the history of excavations at the site ofSibudu Cave,linking the levels of artifacts found beneath the higher level, theHowiesons Poort Industry,to sites in South Africa, such asBlombos Caveand Hollow Rock Shelter, establishing a wider geographic range to an industry that was once thought to be limited to the western areas of South Africa.[10]Another site,Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter,located in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa has been linked to the Still Bay Industry, this based on comparison to the recent descriptions of Blombos Cave and Sibudu Cave. Serrated pieces are found at this site as well, potentially older or a regional variation.[11]
References
edit- ^Goodwin, AJH; van Riet Lowe, C (1929). "The Stone Age cultures of South Africa".Ann. S. Afr. Mus.27:1–289.
- ^Jacobs, Z; Roberts, RG; Galbraith, RF; Deacon, HJ; Grün, R; Mackay, A; Mitchell, P; Vogelsang, R; Wadley, L (2008). "Ages for the Middle Stone Age of southern Africa: implications for human behavior and dispersal".Science.322(5902): 733–5.CiteSeerX10.1.1.469.1059.doi:10.1126/science.1162219.PMID18974351.
- ^Sampson GS. (1974). The Stone Age Archaeology of Southern Africa. Academic Press, New York.
- ^Grine, FE; Henshilwood, CS (2002). "Additional human remains from Blombos Cave, South Africa: (1999-2000 excavations)".J Hum Evol.42(3): 293–302.doi:10.1006/jhev.2001.0525.PMID11846532.
- ^Wadley, L (2007). "Announcing a Still Bay industry at Sibudu Cave, South Africa".J Hum Evol.52(6): 681–9.doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.01.002.PMID17337038.
- ^Langer, William L., ed. (1972).An Encyclopedia of World History(5th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. pp.9.ISBN978-0-395-13592-1.
- ^abcBrown, KS; Marean, CW; Herries, AI; Jacobs, Z; Tribolo, C; Braun, D; Roberts, DL; Meyer, MC; Bernatchez, J (2009). "Fire As an Engineering Tool of Early Modern Humans".Science.325(5942): 859–862.doi:10.1126/science.1175028.hdl:11422/11102.PMID19679810.
- ^Webb, J. Domanski M. (2009). "Fire and Stone".Science.325(5942): 820–821.doi:10.1126/science.1178014.PMID19679799.
- ^Callaway. E. (13 August 2009)Earliest fired knives improved stone age tool kit.New Scientist, online
- ^Wadley, Lyn (2007-06-01)."Announcing a Still Bay industry at Sibudu Cave, South Africa".Journal of Human Evolution.52(6): 681–689.doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.01.002.ISSN0047-2484.
- ^Lombard, Marlize; Wadley, Lyn; Jacobs, Zenobia; Mohapi, Moleboheng; Roberts, Richard G. (2010-07-01)."Still Bay and serrated points from Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa".Journal of Archaeological Science.37(7): 1773–1784.doi:10.1016/j.jas.2010.02.015.ISSN0305-4403.