Shadrach, Kelita2019-05-142019-05-142018Shadrach, Kelita, (2018) Investigating the Fauresmith stone tool industry from Pit 4 West at Canteen Kopje, Northern Cape Province, South Africa, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, https://hdl.handle.net/10539/26891.https://hdl.handle.net/10539/26891A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, Faculty of Science University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2018Canteen Kopje has yielded rare in-situ assemblages of the Fauresmith, a poorly defined industry often associated with the later Acheulean. The Fauresmith contains precocious developments in technology as early as ~0.5 Ma–features which only become widespread in the ensuing Middle Stone Age. The Fauresmith as a regional industry provides insight into technological practices during the period of significant behavioural diversification associated with archaic Homo sapiens. Previous excavations were conducted with relatively low spatial resolution. A new excavation, Pit 4 West, was conducted to investigate the spatial, stratigraphic and contextual association of the Fauresmith horizon in more detail. A multi-disciplinary fineresolution geoarchaeological approach was applied. A nuanced assessment of the Fauresmith’s context was developed, with macroscopic and microscopic analyses allowing for the identification of site formation processes influencing assemblages. The artefact sample size for the site was increased and the presence of diagnostic tools has aided in formally defining the Fauresmith at Canteen Kopje.Online resource (120 leaves)enSedimentologySedimentation and deposition--South Africa--Northern CapeMining geology--Statistical methodsThesis