Abstract
This paper describes the results of the 1974 excavations at Porc Epic Cave, Dire Dawa. Following a summary of Dr M.A.J. Williams' interpretation of the stratigraphic succession and geological history of the cave and its contained deposits, the cultural sequence is described and an explanatory model presented. The 1974 excavation showed the Middle Stone Age layers to be sealed under a massive dripstone, except in the front part of the cave where erosion and later deposition had produced the seeming mixing of Middle and Later Stone Age artifacts observed by the 1933 excavators. Artifacts are associated with comminuted and often burnt bone round what appear to be hearths. Tools consist predominantly of points, scrapers and edge damaged blade and flake forms. The specialized nature of the retouched and utilized tools, together with the relative inaccessibility of the cave and the comminuted nature of the bone waste, suggest the possible use of the cave as a hunting camp at seasons when game migrated into the escarpment from the Afar Plains. The wide-ranging habits of the occupants are attested by the presence of obsidian and basalt artifacts, the raw material for which is not found in the immediate vicinity of the site. On the basis of the human jaw fragment discovered in 1933, the Middle Stone Age occupants of the cave are said to show both neanderthal and non-neanderthal features. Hydration dates for obsidian artifacts from the Middle Stone Age deposit indicate that the cave was occupied between about 61,000 and 77,500 bp. These results confirm that the Proc Epic occurrences are of comparable age to those from Middle Stone Age localities in other parts of the continent.
Résumé
Cet article décrit les résultats des fouilles de 1974 à la grotte du Porc Epic, à Dire Dawa. Suivant un résumé de l'interprétation de la succession stratigraphique compilé par M. A. J. Williams et l'histoire géologique de la grotte et de ses dépôts, la séquence culturelle est décrite et un modèle explicatif est présenté. La fouille de 1974 a révélé que les couches du Middle Stone Age ont été scellées sous une épaisse couche de concrétion calcaire, sauf dans la partie avant de la caverne où l'érosion et une déposition ultérieure ont produit le mélange apparent des outillages du Middle et du Later Stone Age observé par les fouilleurs en 1933. Les industries sont associés à des fragments d'os souvent brûlés, autour de ce qui semble être des foyers. Les outils consistent surtout de pointes, de grattoirs et de formes de lames et d'éclats à bords endommagés. La nature spécialisée des outils retouchés et utilisés, ainsi que l'inaccessibilité relative de la grotte et l'aspect fragmenté des restes osseux, suggèrent l'usage possible de la grotte comme camp de chasse durant les saisons de migration du gibier vers l'escarpement des plaines des Afars. Les déplacements des occupants sur un vaste terrain sont attestés par la présence d'outils en obsidienne et en basalte, deux matériaux qui ne sont pas trouvés dans les environs immédiats du site. En se fondant sur un fragment de mâchoire humaine découvert en 1933, les occupants de la grotte au Middle Stone Age semblent démontrer des traits néanderthaliens et non-néanderthaliens. Les dates obtenues par la méthode d'hydratation des pièces en obsidienne provenant du dépôt du Middle Stone Age indiquent que la grotte fut occupée entre environ 61,000 et 77,500 bp. Ces résultats confirment que les activités dans la grotte du Porc Epic sont d'un âge comparable à celles des localités du Middle Stone Age trouvées ailleurs dans le continent.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beadles, J. K. and Ingersol, R. H. 1968. An annotated check-list of the mammal fauna of the Chercher Highlands of Ethiopia present in the Museum at the College of Agriculture, HSIU.Experimental Station Bulletin #51, April, 1968. HSIU College of Agriculture, Dire Dawa and Oklahoma State University.
Breuil, H. 1934. Peintures rupestres préhistoriques du Harar (Abyssinie).L'Anthropologie 45:473–83.
Breuil, H., Teilhard de Chardin, P. and Wernert, P. 1951. Le paléolithique du Harar.L'Anthropologie 55:219–30.
Chavaillon, J. 1976. Evidence for the technical practices of early Pleistocene hominids, Shungura Formation, Lower Omo valley, Ethiopia. InEarliest man and environments in the Lake Rudolf basin (eds Y. Coppens, F. C. Howell, G. Ll. Isaac and R. E. F. Leakey): pp. 565–73. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Chavaillon, J. Chavaillon, N. Hours, F. and Piperno, M. 1979. From the Oldowan to the Middle Stone Age at Melka Kunture (Ethiopia): understanding cultural changes.Quaternaria 21:87–114.
Clark, J. D., Asfaw, B., Assefa, G., Harris, J. W. K., Kurashina, H., Walter, R. C., White, T. D., and Williams, M. A. J. 1984. Palaeoanthropological discoveries in the Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia.Nature. 307:423–428.
Clark, J. D. and Kurashina, H. 1979. Hominid occupation of the east-central highlands of Ethiopia in the Plio-Pleistocene.Nature 282:33–39.
Clark, J. D. and Williams, M. A. J., 1979. Recent archaeological research in south-eastern Ethiopia (1974–1975): preliminary results.Annales d'Ethiopie 11:19–44.
Corvinus, G. 1976. Prehistoric exploration at Hadar, Ethiopia.Nature 261:571–72.
Corvinus, G. and Roche, H. 1976 La préhistoire dans la région d'Hadar (Bassin de l'Awash, Afar (Ethiopie): premiers résultats.L'Anthropologie 80:315–24.
Friedman, I. and Smith, R. L. 1960. A new dating method using obsidian. Part I: The development of the method.American Antiquity 25(4):476.
Harris, J. W. K. 1983. Cultural beginnings: Plio-Pleistocene archaeological occurrences from the Afar, Ethiopia.African Archaeological Review 1:3–31.
Hours, F. 1976. Le Middle Stone Age de Melka Kunture. InActes, VIIe Congrès Panafricain de Préhistoire et de l'Étude du Quaternaire (eds B. Abebe, J. Chavaillon and J. E. G. Sutton): pp. 99–104. Addis Ababa: Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs.
Kazmin, V. 1973.Geological map of Ethiopia. Geological Survey of Ethiopia.
Kurashina, H. 1978.An examination of prehistoric lithic technology in east-central Ethiopia. Ph.D. Thesis, University of California, Berkeley.
Laursen, T. and Lanford, W. A. 1978. Hydration of obsidian.Nature 276(5684):153.
Leakey, L. S. B. 1943. The industries of the Gorgora rockshelter, Lake Tana.Journal of the East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society 17:199–203.
Lee, R. 1969. Chemical temperature integration.Journal of Applied Meteorology 8(3):423.
Merrick, H. V. and Merrick, J. P. S. 1976. Archaeological occurrences of earlier Pleistocene age from the Shungura Formation. InEarliest man and environments in the Lake Rudolf basin (eds Y. Coppens, F. C. Howell, G. Ll. Isaac and R. E. F. Leakey): pp. 574–84. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Mohr, P. A. 1971.The geology of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa: Haile Sellassie I University Press.
Moysey, F. 1943. Excavation of a rockshelter at Gorgora, Lake Tana, Ethiopia.Journal of the East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society 17:196–98.
Perlès, C. 1974. Ré-examen typologique de l'industrie du Porc Epic (Ethiopie): les pointes et pièces pointues.L'Anthropologie 78:529–52.
Robertson, I. J. M. n.d. Awash National Park, Working Plan, 1970–75. Ms.
Roche, H. and Tiercelin, J. J. 1977. Découverte d'une industrie lithique anciennein situ dans la formation d'Hadar, Afar central, Ethiopie.C. R. Acad. Sci (D) Paris 284:1871–74.
Singer, R. and Wymer, J. 1982.The Middle Stone Age at Klassies River Mouth in South Africa. Chicago.
Teilhard de Chardin, P. 1930. Le paléolithique en Somalie française et en Abyssinie.L'Anthropologie 40:331–34.
Tringham, R., Cooper, G., Odell, G., Voytek, B. and Whitman, A. 1974. Experimentation in the formation of edge damage: a new approach to lithic analysis.Journal of Field Archaeology 1:171–96.
Vallois, H. V. 1951. La mandibule humaine fossile de la grotte du Porc Epic, près Dire Daoua (Abyssinie).L'Anthropologie 55:231–38.
Wendorf, F., Laury, R. L., Albritton, C. C., Schild, R., Haynes, C. V., Damon, P. E., Shafiqullah, M. and Scarborough, R. 1975. Dates for the Middle Stone Age of East Africa.Science 187:740–42.
Wendorf, F. and Schild, R. 1974.A Middle Stone Age sequence from the central Rift Valley, Ethiopia, Warsaw: Polska Akademia Nauk Instytut Historii Kultury Materialnej.
Wernstedt, F. L. 1972.World climatic data. State College, PA: Climatic Data Press.
Williams, M. A. J., Bishop, P. M. and Dakin, F. M. 1977. Late Quaternary lake levels in southern Afar and the adjacent Ethiopian Rift.Nature 267:690–93.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Clark, J.D., Williamson, K.D., Michels, J.W. et al. A Middle Stone Age occupation site at Porc Epic Cave, Dire Dawa (east-central Ethiopia). Afr Archaeol Rev 2, 37–71 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01117225
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01117225