Explaining the Howiesons Poort to post-Howiesons Poort transition: a review of demographic and foraging adaptation models

Abstract

The Howiesons Poort technocomplex exhibits archaeological evidence for sophisticated, ‘modern’ behaviour. Indications of such behaviour are less conspicuous in Middle Stone Age deposits post-dating the Howiesons Poort. Different explanations for the apparent technological regression have been put forward. This paper reviews interpretations proposing that demographic developments and behavioural ecological adaptations across the transition from the Howiesons Poort to the post-Howiesons Poort caused changes in human behaviour. It suggests that the available evidence does not support dramatic demographic developments. A more parsimonious explanation involves the combined effects of changing resource availability and changing mobility strategies.

Le technocomplexe du Howiesons Poort présente des indications archéologiques de comportements complexes et ‘modernes’. De telles indications sont moins évidentes dans les assemblages plus récents, du Middle Stone Age. Plusieurs hypothèses ont été proposées pour expliquer cette apparente régression technologique. Cette contribution examine les interprétations qui avancent que des changements démographiques, et des adaptations écologiques différentes entre le Howiesons Poort et le post-Howiesons Poort, causèrent des modifications dans le comportement des populations concernées. Nous avançons qu'il n'existe pas pour le moment de données qui soutiennent l'idée de fluctuations démographiques drastiques. Une explication plus acceptable serait que la technologie reflète les effets combinés de changements de disponibilité des ressources alimentaires et de stratégies de mobilité résidentielle.

Keywords:

• South Africa
• Late Pleistocene
• Middle Stone Age
• Howiesons Poort
• mobility strategies
• foraging strategies

Acknowledgements

I should like to thank the South African Weather Service for providing climatic data for their weather stations. The comments of two reviewers led to substantial improvements of the original manuscript. This work was supported by the NRF Micro-TrACKS programme, directed by Prof. M. Lombard.

Notes on contributor

Gerrit Dusseldorp completed a PhD focusing on Neanderthal foraging strategies at Leiden University. Following this, he took up a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of the Witwatersrand to research Middle Stone Age foraging strategies. He is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Johannesburg, where his research focuses on hunter-gatherer land-use during the South African Middle and Later Stone Ages.