Implications of a new chronology for the interpretation of the Middle and Later Stone Age of the upper Zambezi Valley
Single grain OSL dating has been used to produce new chronologies for three previously investigated sites in the northern Kalahari basin in western Zambia containing both Middle and Later Stone Age material (Phillipson, 1975a, b). We find that Mode 3 (Middle Stone Age, MSA) assemblages in the Upper...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2018
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| Summary: | Single grain OSL dating has been used to produce new chronologies for three previously investigated sites in the northern Kalahari basin in western Zambia containing both Middle and Later Stone Age material (Phillipson, 1975a, b). We find that Mode 3 (Middle Stone Age, MSA) assemblages in the Upper Zambezi Valley pre-date the Last Glacial Maximum. The chronology produced here is consistent with age estimates from a handful of dated sites within the wider Kalahari basin. The Mode 3 to Mode 5 (Later Stone Age, LSA) relationship at one site, Chavuma, is unlikely to be a continuous transition as previously thought. Instead we find a significant chronological hiatus between MSA material deposited at 66.5 ± 9.9 ka and LSA material deposited at 16.7 ± 2.6 ka. We consider these dated archaeological finds within the context of current archaeological and palaeoenvironmental records for the region. The results demonstrate the highly variable climate history of the region and the limitations of the existing archaeological record for modelling human responses to habitat change. |
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