‘What sort of thing is an elephant?’ Reviewing the evidence for a ‘generic’ MSA in Central Africa

ABSTRACT

Despite a 100-year scientific research legacy, the Middle Stone Age (MSA) record of Central Africa remains poorly known and is stubbornly peripheral to debates on the timing, pace and nature of technological change in relation to the evolutionary origins of Homo sapiens. The MSA Lupemban industry is often characterised as the singular representative of the MSA across the region, but the details of its chrono-stratigraphic relationship with preceding and particularly succeeding industries are still unclear. To archaeologists working with longer records on the margins of Central Africa, the Lupemban has been principally conceptualised in relation to the preceding Acheulean/MSA transition, and as a specifically early MSA, late Middle Pleistocene (MIS 7?) entity. Evidence presented here suggests that it was subsequently replaced or graded into a ‘generic’ or ‘undifferentiated’ MSA, or into a sub-regional ‘Lupembo-Tshitolian’ industry. By contrast, the shorter records of Lowland Atlantic Central Africa mean that there archaeologists have instead reported the Lupemban as a probably late-persisting Upper Pleistocene (MIS 3/2?) industry that temporally abuts the Later Stone Age (LSA) without any ‘generic MSA’. This paper reviews key sequences from the periphery and core of Central Africa and explores these differing perspectives to address the reality and complexities of a Central African ‘generic MSA’.

RÉSUMÉ

Malgré un héritage de recherche scientifique de 100 ans, l’histoire de l’Afrique centrale de l’âge de pierre moyen (MSA) reste mal connue et reste obstinément périphérique aux débats sur le calendrier, le rythme et la nature du changement technologique en relation avec les origines évolutives de l’Homo sapiens. L’industrie MSA Lupembien est souvent caractérisée comme le seul représentant de la MSA dans la région, mais les détails de sa relation chrono-stratigraphique avec les industries précédentes et particulièrement successives ne sont toujours pas clairs. Pour les archéologues travaillant avec des archives plus longues en marge de l’Afrique centrale, le Lupembien a été principalement conceptualisé en relation avec la transition Acheuléen/MSA précédente, et comme une entité spécifiquement MSA précoce au fin du Pléistocène moyen (MIS 7?). Les éléments présentés ici suggèrent qu’elle a ensuite été remplacée ou passée à une MSA ‘générique’ ou ‘indifférenciée’, ou en une industrie sous-régionale ‘Lupembo-Tshitolian’. En revanche, les enregistrements plus courts des basses terres de l’Afrique centrale atlantique signifient que les archéologues ont plutôt signalé là le Lupembien comme une industrie probablement persistante du Pléistocène supérieur (MIS 3/2?) qui jouxte temporellement l’âge de pierre ultérieur (LSA) sans aucune ‘MSA générique’. Cet article passe en revue les séquences clés de la périphérie et du centre de l’Afrique centrale en explorant ces différentes perspectives pour aborder la réalité et les complexités d’un ‘MSA générique’ d’Afrique centrale.

KEYWORDS:

• Congo Basin
• Middle Stone Age
• Lupemban
• chronostratigraphy

Acknowledgements

I thank Ellie Scerri and Manuel Will for their interest in this paper as part of the session ‘The generic MSA: fact or fiction?’ at the 16^th Congress of the PanAfrican Archaeological Association of Prehistory and Related Studies in Zanzibar, 2022, and for their patience in supporting its publication. I extend my thanks to the other participants of the congress, especially those in the ‘generic MSA: fact or fiction’ session, for fruitful discussions that have enhanced this contribution, as well as to two anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments on an earlier manuscript. Thanks also go to Vincent Mourre for introducing me to the analogy of the ‘Four Blind Men and the Elephant’ that inspired aspects of this paper. Finally, I dedicate this paper to the late Sally McBrearty in recognition of her critical research contributions to the archaeology of equatorial Africa.

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Notes on contributors

Nicholas Taylor

Nicholas Taylor is a post-doctoral researcher based in Kenya. He has worked extensively on the Lupemban Middle Stone Age of Central Africa and has conducted fieldwork and specialist lithic analyses in Zambia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Australia. His primary research interest is in understanding the emergence of novel technologies in the African Early and Middle Stone Ages.