Middle Stone Age Bedding Construction and Settlement Patterns at Sibudu, South Africa
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Publication Date
December 2011
Publication Title
Science
Volume Number
334
Issue Number
6061
Abstract
The Middle Stone Age (MSA) is associated with early behavioral innovations, expansions of modern humans within and out of Africa, and occasional population bottlenecks. Several innovations in the MSA are seen in an archaeological sequence in the rock shelter Sibudu (South Africa). At ~77,000 years ago, people constructed plant bedding from sedges and other monocotyledons topped with aromatic leaves containing insecticidal and larvicidal chemicals. Beginning at ~73,000 years ago, bedding was burned, presumably for site maintenance. By ~58,000 years ago, bedding construction, burning, and other forms of site use and maintenance intensified, suggesting that settlement strategies changed. Behavioral differences between ~77,000 and 58,000 years ago may coincide with population fluctuations in Africa.
Keywords
Middle Stone Age, Msa, Sibudu, Plant Bedding
Geographic Subject
South Africa
Document Type
Article
Language
English
Notes
Science, Vol. 334, no. 6061 (2011-12-09).
Identifier
SFS0045406_00001
Recommended Citation
Wadley, Lyn; Sievers, Christine; and Bamford, Marion, "Middle Stone Age Bedding Construction and Settlement Patterns at Sibudu, South Africa" (2011). KIP Articles. 3157.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/3157
