Extrapolating Later Acheulian Handaxe Reduction Sequences in South Africa: A Case Study from the Cave of Hearths and Amanzi Springs

ABSTRACT

Studies investigating the production of later Acheulian handaxes in South Africa remain rare. Acheulian assemblages in this region are typically fragmented, which hinders our ability to investigate a full range of manufacturing stages at any one given site. Insights can therefore only be gained through comparative research involving multiple assemblages. To explore this issue, handaxes from Amanzi Springs and Cave of Hearths are contrasted to identify their position within a common reduction continuum. Results suggest that the Amanzi Springs handaxes represent early shaping phases focused on defining bifacial edges, while the Cave of Hearths reflects the later stages of thinning. Multivariate statistical analyses are used to extrapolate reduction trends that provide perspective on how later Acheulian handaxes in South Africa were shaped.

KEYWORDS:

• Handaxes
• reduction sequences
• Amanzi Springs
• Cave of Hearths
• later Acheulian
• South Africa

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Andy Herries and the Australian Archaeomagnetism Laboratory (La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia) for the use of the Artec Spider Scanner, and Dr Angie Leece and Mr Jesse Martin for scanning the handaxes analyzed in this research. The Artec Space Sider scanner was funded through the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship grant (FT120100399), awarded to Andy Herries. I also thank the two anonymous reviewers who provided constructive comments to improve the quality of this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data associated with this study will be made available by the author upon request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Matthew Caruana

Matthew Caruana is currently a lecturer at the Palaeo-Research Institute at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. He received a BA in cultural anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2000, an MA in archaeology from the University of Manchester, England and a PhD in archaeology from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa in 2015. His primary research interest is in the Earlier Stone Age archaeology of South Africa, focusing on stone tool production and reconstructing landscape use patterns.