Hollow Rock Shelter

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Hollow Rock Shelter is a Middle Stone Age archaeological site in the Western Cape Province of South Africa , around 15 kilometers northeast of Clanwilliam . In this Abri numerous projectile points and hand axes were discovered, which were assigned to the so-called " Still Bay Industry " and were dated to an age of around 80,000 to 72,000 years. On the basis of the numerous unfinished stone tools that were broken during processing , references to the manufacturing technology in the epoch of these early modern humans ( Homo sapiens ) could be reconstructed. Excavations were first carried out in 1993 and then again in 2008.

The Hollow Rock Shelter is located in the northern part of the Cedar Mountains in the area of ​​the Sevilla Farm . From here it was possible to overlook the valley, on the slope of which it lay about 70 meters above the valley floor. The cavity created by erosion has an area of ​​just over 30 square meters and a maximum height of two meters. A hole in the ceiling of this rock overhang apparently served as a smoke outlet in the past: Exactly under this hole an arrangement of stones was discovered which - due to the remains of charcoal found - was interpreted as a fireplace; some of the stone tools discovered also show traces of intense heating. This fireplace was apparently also a frequent place of residence for the people who worked here, because most of the tools and tool fragments were found in its immediate vicinity.

The production of the tools followed a standardized procedure that differs from other sites, which was assessed as confirmation that the "Still Bay Industry" can be distinguished from other Stone Age cultures.

literature

  • U. Evans 1994: Hollow Rock Shelter, a Middle Stone Age site in the Cederberg. In: Southern African Field Archeology. Volume 3, No. 2, 1994, pp. 63-73 ( ISSN  1019-5785 )

See also

Web links

  • Anders Högberg and Lars Larsson: Lithic technology and behavioral modernity: New results from the Still Bay site, Hollow Rock Shelter, Western Cape Province, South Africa. In: Journal of Human Evolution. Volume 61, No. 2, 2011, pp. 133–155, doi : 10.1016 / j.jhevol.2011.02.006 , full text (PDF; 3.8 MB)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Anders Högberg and Lars Larsson: Lithic technology and behavioral modernity: New results from the Still Bay site, Hollow Rock Shelter, Western Cape Province, South Africa. In: Journal of Human Evolution , Volume 61, No. 2, 2011, pp. 133–155, doi: 10.1016 / j.jhevol.2011.02.006
    Cutting edge training developed the human brain 80,000 years ago. On: eurektalert.com from June 21, 2011

Coordinates: 32 ° 4 ′ 42.5 ″  S , 19 ° 5 ′ 40.5 ″  O