Selection preferences for animal species used in bone-tool-manufacturing strategies in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

ABSTRACT: Animal symbolism is a prominent feature of many human societies globally. In some cases, these symbolic attributes manifest in the technological domain, influencing the decision to use the bones of certain animals and not others for tool manufacture. In southern Africa, animals feature prominently in the cosmogenic narratives of both hunter-gatherer and Bantu-speaking farmer groups. Whenever these two culturally distinct groups came into contact with each other there would be an assimilation of cosmogenic concepts of power and the adoption of certain symbolically important animals. In this paper, we report on which animals were selected to make bone tools during the first millennium AD contact period in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, and explore the extent to which this selection ma

SUBMITTER: Bradfield J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8016335 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature