Preliminary analysis of forager stone technology at Little Muck Shelter: Pre- to contact levels

Abstract

Studies into the Later Stone Age sequence of the Mapungubwe region show several important changes in forager toolkits. Notable shifts include the appearance of ceramics, glass beads and metal, and changes in stone tool preference patterns in some contexts. Few studies have considered stone tool technological shifts from pre-contact into contact periods when farmers arrived in the landscape. By studying forager stone tools, we can examine the manner in which forager groups deployed their own technologies and innovations in contact scenarios to aid and assist with social relations and exchange or trade patterns. In this study, we present the results of a detailed stone tool analyses of an excavation sample from Little Muck Shelter that highlights several continuities and discontinuities over time, from the pre-contact period into the contact phase but also at key moments in the valley’s sequence. It demonstrates the role forager technology played in the local economy and how it was used to facilitate social relations.