MSA lithic assemblages from Hoedjiespunt 1 and the evolution of coastal adaptations in the Western Cape of Southern Africa
Manuel Will 2012 PA Soc.abstracts Memphis 17-18.4.12

The earliest systematic exploitation of shellfish by Hs in the MSA has been the focus of recent research.
New excavations at the MSA open-air shell midden HDP1 (W.Coast SA) shed light on the evolution of these coastal adaptations.
HDP1 dates to the last interglacial, it consists of 3 occupation phases, each containing abundant lithic artifacts, shellfish, terrestrial fauna, ostrich eggshell & ground ochre.
The site provides an excellent case study to analyze behavioral adaptations linked to early exploitation of marine resources.
We reconstructed activity patterns through an in-depth study of the lithic assemblages, combining analyses of the reduction sequences, artifact attributes & quartz fracturing.
These methods allow insights into raw material procurement, lithic reduction sequences, site use, mobility patterns & foster comparison with other MSA coastal sites.
The basic features of the assemblages remain constant throughout the sequence.
Quartz dominates silcrete & other raw materials by almost 4 to 1. Flakes produced by various non-systematic core reduction strategies are the dominant blank type (>90 %).
Denticulates represent the most frequent tool form.
The assemblages show complete, bipolar & hard hammer reduction sequences for the locally available quartz, but highly truncated reduction sequences with many isolated end-products for silcrete (a material with a minimum transport distance of 10-30 km).
This pattern suggests "provisioning of individual", and anticipated coastal settlement shifts for shellfish exploitation.
The simultaneous occurrence of flexible raw material use, anticipated long-distance transport, systematic gathering of shellfish & pigment use is probably the most important behavioral observation at the site.
While the HDP1 lithic assemblages show a distinctive signal, the results enhance comparisons with early MSA coastal sites, e.g. Ysterfontein & Pinnacle Point.
In summary, HDP1 adds new facets to our knowledge about early coastal adaptations of Hs.

_____

New Dates Confirm a 1.1 Million Year Long Life History for Coastal Sea Caves at Pinnacle Point, S. Africa:
a Presentation of the Geology, Geochronology, Paleontology, and Archaeology
Andy Herries cs 2012 PA Society abstracts Memphis 17-18.4.12

SA coastal caves preserve temporally long & rich PA sequences, crucial to human origins research,
but to date, they have not been shown to hold sediments dating to the Acheulian.
This has been hypothesized to result from
- short cave-life histories,
- high sea-levels washing out sediments,
- lack of interest from Acheulian hominins.
We investigate these hypotheses through a combined petro-graphic, palaeo-magnetic, thermally transferred optically stimulated luminescence (TT-OSL) & U-Pb analysis of a series of deposits preserved in a set of caves at Pinnacle Point.
Results:
the caves were formed over 1 Ma, far earlier than previously thought.
The oldest deposits are a series of raised beaches, that date to the unusu.long Marine Isotope Stage 31, MIS 31.
At PP13G, the lowest of these beaches is capped by a flow-stone (between 1.11 & 0.96 Ma).
The PP13G flowstone records a normal magnetic polarity and at Opera House Cave the reversal at the end of the Jaramillo Normal Polarity Sub-Chron (~1.07–0.99 Ma).
After ~1 Ma a series of caves (PP13B, PP5-6, PP9, Crevice Cave, Opera House Cave, Staircase Cave) at Pinnacle Point record evidence for a 1-My-long sporadic deposition of raised beaches, speleothem fm, fossil accumulations & human habitation.
The heights & form of the PP caves are typical for caves across the SA coast:
likely, many of these caves share this ancient origin.
Despite their age, the caves have yet to reveal evidence for Acheulian occupation, which is abundant on the surrounding landscape.
The age of the coastal caves
- shows their potential for providing a much longer archaeological & fossil record than previously imagined,
- eliminates 1 hypothesis for the lack of Acheulian occupation of SA coastal caves.

On Friday, July 30, 2021 at 6:15:55 PM UTC-4, littor...@gmail.com wrote:
> MSA lithic assemblages from Hoedjiespunt 1 and the evolution of coastal adaptations in the Western Cape of Southern Africa
> Manuel Will 2012 PA Soc.abstracts Memphis 17-18.4.12
>
> The earliest systematic exploitation of shellfish by Hs in the MSA has been the focus of recent research.
> New excavations at the MSA open-air shell midden HDP1 (W.Coast SA) shed light on the evolution of these coastal adaptations.
> HDP1 dates to the last interglacial, it consists of 3 occupation phases, each containing abundant lithic artifacts, shellfish, terrestrial fauna, ostrich eggshell & ground ochre.
> The site provides an excellent case study to analyze behavioral adaptations linked to early exploitation of marine resources.
> We reconstructed activity patterns through an in-depth study of the lithic assemblages, combining analyses of the reduction sequences, artifact attributes & quartz fracturing.
> These methods allow insights into raw material procurement, lithic reduction sequences, site use, mobility patterns & foster comparison with other MSA coastal sites.
> The basic features of the assemblages remain constant throughout the sequence.
> Quartz dominates silcrete & other raw materials by almost 4 to 1. Flakes produced by various non-systematic core reduction strategies are the dominant blank type (>90 %).
> Denticulates represent the most frequent tool form.
> The assemblages show complete, bipolar & hard hammer reduction sequences for the locally available quartz, but highly truncated reduction sequences with many isolated end-products for silcrete (a material with a minimum transport distance of 10-30 km).
> This pattern suggests "provisioning of individual", and anticipated coastal settlement shifts for shellfish exploitation.
> The simultaneous occurrence of flexible raw material use, anticipated long-distance transport, systematic gathering of shellfish & pigment use is probably the most important behavioral observation at the site.
> While the HDP1 lithic assemblages show a distinctive signal, the results enhance comparisons with early MSA coastal sites, e.g. Ysterfontein & Pinnacle Point.
> In summary, HDP1 adds new facets to our knowledge about early coastal adaptations of Hs.
>
> _____
>
> New Dates Confirm a 1.1 Million Year Long Life History for Coastal Sea Caves at Pinnacle Point, S. Africa:
> a Presentation of the Geology, Geochronology, Paleontology, and Archaeology
> Andy Herries cs 2012 PA Society abstracts Memphis 17-18.4.12
>
> SA coastal caves preserve temporally long & rich PA sequences, crucial to human origins research,
> but to date, they have not been shown to hold sediments dating to the Acheulian.
> This has been hypothesized to result from
> - short cave-life histories,
> - high sea-levels washing out sediments,
> - lack of interest from Acheulian hominins.
> We investigate these hypotheses through a combined petro-graphic, palaeo-magnetic, thermally transferred optically stimulated luminescence (TT-OSL) & U-Pb analysis of a series of deposits preserved in a set of caves at Pinnacle Point.
> Results:
> the caves were formed over 1 Ma, far earlier than previously thought.
> The oldest deposits are a series of raised beaches, that date to the unusu.long Marine Isotope Stage 31, MIS 31.
> At PP13G, the lowest of these beaches is capped by a flow-stone (between 1.11 & 0.96 Ma).
> The PP13G flowstone records a normal magnetic polarity and at Opera House Cave the reversal at the end of the Jaramillo Normal Polarity Sub-Chron (~1.07–0.99 Ma).
> After ~1 Ma a series of caves (PP13B, PP5-6, PP9, Crevice Cave, Opera House Cave, Staircase Cave) at Pinnacle Point record evidence for a 1-My-long sporadic deposition of raised beaches, speleothem fm, fossil accumulations & human habitation.
> The heights & form of the PP caves are typical for caves across the SA coast:
> likely, many of these caves share this ancient origin.
> Despite their age, the caves have yet to reveal evidence for Acheulian occupation, which is abundant on the surrounding landscape.
> The age of the coastal caves
> - shows their potential for providing a much longer archaeological & fossil record than previously imagined,
> - eliminates 1 hypothesis for the lack of Acheulian occupation of SA coastal caves.

Thanks. Note ostrich eggshell present. Note Homo not present. Note: Sea caves harbor California sea lions which have dense body fur, while Homo is noted for near-nakedness. Note: Ostriches do not dive, but their ancestors probably walked along shorelines (streams? coasts? lakes?) based on their snout anatomy.