The Blombos Cave
Blombos Cave is an archaeological site located in Blombosfontein Nature Reserve, about 300 km east of Cape Town on the Southern Cape coastline, South Africa. The cave contains Middle Stone Age deposits currently dated at between c. 100,000 and 70,000 years before present (BP), and a Late Stone Age sequence dated at between 2,000 and 300 years BP. The cave site was first excavated in 1991 and field work has been conducted there on a regular basis since 1997 – and is on-going.[5]
The excavations at Blombos Cave has yielded important new information on the behavioural evolution of Homo sapiens. The archaeological record from this cave site has been central in the on-going debate on the cognitive and cultural origin of early humans and to the current understanding of when and where key behavioral innovations emerged among Homo sapiens in southern Africa during the Late Pleistocene. Archaeological material and faunal remains recovered from the Middle Stone Age phase in Blombos Cave - dated to ca. 100,000 – 70,000 years BP - are considered to represent greater ecological niche adaptation, a more diverse set of subsistence and procurements strategies, adoption of multi-step technology and manufacture of composite tools, stylistic elaboration, increased economic and social organisation and occurrence of symbolically mediated behavior.
The most informative archaeological material from Blombos Cave include: engraved ochre, engraved bone ochre processing kits, marine shell beads, refined bone and stone tools and a broad range of terrestrial and marine faunal remains, including shellfish, birds, tortoise and ostrich egg shell and mammals of various sizes. These findings from Blombos Cave, together with subsequent re-analysis and excavation of other Middle Stone Age sites in southern Africa, have resulted in a paradigm shift with regards to our understanding of the timing and location of the development of modern human behaviour.
Blombos Cave is an archaeological site located in Blombosfontein Nature Reserve, about 300 km east of Cape Town on the Southern Cape coastline, South Africa. The cave contains Middle Stone Age deposits currently dated at between c. 100,000 and 70,000 years before present (BP), and a Late Stone Age sequence dated at between 2,000 and 300 years BP. The cave site was first excavated in 1991 and field work has been conducted there on a regular basis since 1997 – and is on-going.[5]
The excavations at Blombos Cave has yielded important new information on the behavioural evolution of Homo sapiens. The archaeological record from this cave site has been central in the on-going debate on the cognitive and cultural origin of early humans and to the current understanding of when and where key behavioral innovations emerged among Homo sapiens in southern Africa during the Late Pleistocene. Archaeological material and faunal remains recovered from the Middle Stone Age phase in Blombos Cave - dated to ca. 100,000 – 70,000 years BP - are considered to represent greater ecological niche adaptation, a more diverse set of subsistence and procurements strategies, adoption of multi-step technology and manufacture of composite tools, stylistic elaboration, increased economic and social organisation and occurrence of symbolically mediated behavior.
The most informative archaeological material from Blombos Cave include: engraved ochre, engraved bone ochre processing kits, marine shell beads, refined bone and stone tools and a broad range of terrestrial and marine faunal remains, including shellfish, birds, tortoise and ostrich egg shell and mammals of various sizes. These findings from Blombos Cave, together with subsequent re-analysis and excavation of other Middle Stone Age sites in southern Africa, have resulted in a paradigm shift with regards to our understanding of the timing and location of the development of modern human behaviour.
No comments:
Post a Comment