Howiesons Poort backed artifacts provide evidence for social connectivity across southern Africa during the Final Pleistocene.

ABSTRACT: Examining why human populations used specific technologies in the Final Pleistocene is critical to understanding our evolutionary path. A key Final Pleistocene techno-tradition is the Howiesons Poort, which is marked by an increase in behavioral complexity and technological innovation. Central to this techno-tradition is the production of backed artifacts-small, sharp blades likely used as insets in composite tools. Although backed artifacts were manufactured for thousands of years before the Howiesons Poort, this period is marked by a phenomenal increase in their production. In this paper we test both social and environmental hypotheses to explain this phenomenon. We correlate environmental data with changing frequencies of backed artifact production at Sibudu and assess morphological sim

SUBMITTER: Way AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9184481 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature