SOURCING RIVER ROCK AND MIDDLE STONE AGE ARTEFACTS DISCOVERED ALONG THE CUNENE RIVER, ANGOLA-NAMIBIA BORDER, SOUTHERN AFRICA

Reconstructing the manufacture and utilization of stone tools -- as well as the original provenance and properties of the raw materials used -- are integral to archaeological research that informs theoretical frameworks for prehistoric human behavior. The discovery of Middle Stone Age (MSA) lithic artefacts along the Angola-Namibia border presents one case study. In a relict perched terrace of the perennial Cunene River near Serra Cafema, >30 lithic artifacts preserved in an open-air context include flakes, cores, and points, including the first Levallois-Mousterian points found in this part of Africa. Since the archaeology of this region is poorly known, these cultural assemblages enable initial correlations and reconstructions for procurement and tool manufacture during the Middle Pleistocene. A survey assessed the potential source areas for lithic raw materials in this region, using pebble count methods and compositional assessment of artefacts and cobble clasts in Quaternary alluvium (Qal) of the river terrace. Examination of geological outcrops was conducted to identify and define regional procurement areas where people could access raw materials at local (0-5 km), regional (6-20 km) and supra-regional (21-100 km) scales. Close potential primary sources of the dominant quartzite raw materials include: (1) local Qal itself and (2) Damara Sequence (Nda). One hypothesis is that Qal in the Cunene River terrace was the source of quartzite lithic raw materials by mobile hunter-gatherers during the MSA ~225 kyr. Scatters in the Cafema plein air site reflect the efficient activities of mining the alluvial river terraces, which are abundant resources of preferred raw materials for tool manufacture. This geoarchaeological study of the Cafema MSA artifact assemblage further underscores the importance of riparian corridors to hominin in the Middle Pleistocene, the timeframe marked by the first appearance and dispersal of the modern human species Homo sapiens.