Raw material procurement analyses at Olieboomspoort rock shelter and Mwulu’s cave (Limpopo)
Date
2022
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Abstract
The purpose of this study is to determine the provenance of Middle Stone Age lithics, and the procurement strategies employed to obtain them, at Olieboomspoort Rock Shelter (OBP) and Mwulu’s Cave. Macroscopic (and stereomicroscopic) analysis, portable X-ray fluorescence, thin section petrography, and Inductive Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry are used to achieve this purpose by identifying and comparing the lithics to the geological samples collected from formations around the sites. Quartzite, shale, sandstone, dolerite and quartz lithic raw materials from OBP may have been procured from the Mogalakwena Formation locally and non-locally although the provenance of chert lithics remains unknown. At Mwulu’s Cave, quartzite and quartz lithics were possibly made from raw materials procured from local outcrops in the Black Reef Quartzite Formation (BRQF) and chert lithics were possibly made from local or semi-local BRQF raw materials. Duitschland Formation shale raw materials may have been procured semi-locally from Mwulu’s Cave. These are preliminary hypotheses on the provenance and procurement of lithics at these sites and more petrography and ICP-MS analyses need to be conducted to verify them.
Description
A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022
Keywords
Middle Stone Age lithics, Olieboomspoort Rock Shelter (OBP), Macroscopic