Varsche Rivier 003: A Middle and Later Stone Age Site with Still Bay and Howieson's Poort Assemblages in Southern Namaqualand, South Africa

Southern Africa presents the best-documented Middle and Later Stone Age (MSA and LSA) records in Africa, and yet significant uncertainties still exist concerning the sequence and timing of behavioral and occupational changes in the region. A recent surge in research has provided a suite of new results that indicate more intricate and complex patterns than those previously considered. This paper describes recent excavations at the archaeological site of Varsche Rivier (VR) 003 located in the poorly-researched southern Namaqualand (Knersvlakte) region of South Africa (Western Cape Province). Two seasons of excavations have revealed a long sequence of MSA and LSA cultural materials, including lithics, fauna, ostrich eggshell, marine mollusks, beads, and pigments; bedrock has yet to be reached anywhere in our excavations. Within the shelter, we have uncovered probable Howiesons Poort material, with overlying late MSA and capped by late Holocene LSA. On the slope, the deepest materials are earlier MSA, overlain by assemblages with affinities to the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort. In addition to providing descriptions of the lithic, faunal, and pigment assemblages, we report on the results of micromorphological analysis of the sediments and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating of the sequence. Based on the analysis of single-grain samples from both parts of the excavation, OSL age estimates suggest that the putative Howiesons Poort assemblages at VR003 were deposited 45.7–41.7 kya. While our results are stratigraphically consistent, they are substantially younger than any previously published Howiesons Poort chronologies. We discuss the implications of these results in detail. When presenting the results of our analyses, we compare the VR003 assemblages to those from other sites in the region to address questions concerning lithic technology, stone material exploitation, chronology, ecology, and the significance of “complex” behaviors, such as early bead production and long distance transport of marine mollusks.