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Hunting Technologies During the Howiesons Poort at Sibudu Cave: What They Reveal About Human Cognition in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Between ~65 and 62 ka

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Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Stone Age Weaponry

Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology ((VERT))

Abstract

Encounter hunting , especially of big game, is an activity firmly associated with people who lived in the Middle Stone Age. Most hunting is assumed to have taken place in groups, using spears of varying complexity. Recent data suggest that various meat-acquisition techniques were used, at least within the last 65 ka. Bow-and-arrow sets as well as snares appear to have complemented spear hunting. Many archaeologists have devoted a great deal of time to the study of lithic technologies required for the creation of spearheads and arrow tips. Rarely, however, have the cognitive correlates of Middle Stone Age meat-acquisition technologies been considered. Here we show that the mental concepts behind the meat-acquisition strategies are equally, or perhaps, more important than the technological complexity involved in manufacturing the necessary equipment. Notwithstanding this claim, it is also true that the longer the chain of operations involved in making composite weapons, the more likely it is that complex cognition was a prerequisite.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the editors for inviting us to contribute to this volume. We also thank friends and colleagues who worked with us on the presented material and/or ideas, as well as those who reviewed the manuscript. The research of both authors was funded by grants received from the South African National Research Foundation (NRF). Opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by the NRF and any errors in the paper are ours.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, PO Box 524, Johannesburg, 2006, South Africa

    Marlize Lombard

  2. Evolutionary Studies Institute, Centre of Excellence, Palaeosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, PO WITS 2050, South Africa

    Lyn Wadley

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  1. Marlize Lombard
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Correspondence to Marlize Lombard .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution,, MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre, Neuwied, Germany

    Radu Iovita

  2. University Museum, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Katsuhiro Sano

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Lombard, M., Wadley, L. (2016). Hunting Technologies During the Howiesons Poort at Sibudu Cave: What They Reveal About Human Cognition in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Between ~65 and 62 ka. In: Iovita, R., Sano, K. (eds) Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Stone Age Weaponry. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7602-8_19

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