Evidence supporting a sophisticated level of flint knapping has been discovered in a Middle Stone Age cave on the south coast of Africa, 25,000 years earlier than previously known.
Blombos Cave is one of several rockshelters facing the Indian Coast of South Africa where scholars have traced early evidence of modern human behavior.
Tomorrow's publication in Science magazine is the latest in a string of finds---shell beads, engraved bone, heat-treatment of stone tools, red ochre, bone points---that suggest that Early Modern Humans flourished long before the "Creative Explosion" of the Upper Paleolithic.
The photo essay "Flint Knapping Technology at Blombos Cave" includes a description of the cave, a discussion of what pressure flaking is, and the evidence identified at Blombos for pressure flaking. Oh, and a bibliography, of course, with some great photos from the research team.
Mourre V, Villa P, and Henshilwood C. 2010. Early use of pressure flaking on lithic artifacts at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Science 330:659-662.
Comments