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Introduction
Sarah Wurz currently works at the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, and is also associated with the 'SapienCE - Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SFF CoE) - Univ. of Bergen'. She is the principal investigator at Klasies River main site, and is also undertaking research on the evolutionary origins of music.
Additional affiliations
January 2019 - November 2019
January 2011 - present
Publications
Publications (99)
Klasies River is an important site for the study of the evolution of Homo sapiens, understanding modern behaviour and human interaction with the environment during the Middle Stone Age. The faunal sample from the RS sub-member in Cave 1B (MSA I), dating to ca. 115 000 years ago and older, was recently analysed. The results indicate that humans were...
Currently the concept of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) denotes the period between c . 300 and 25 ka. It is a phase marked by prepared core reduction methods used to knap predetermined flakes and blades that are occasionally retouched into various types of tools. Denticulates, notches, and scrapers occur regularly, and bifacial and unifacial points and...
Recent excavations at Olieboomspoort (OBP) in the Waterberg Mountains of South Africa confirmed previous research at the site that highlighted an abundance of ochre in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits. Here, we report on the results of an analysis of the ochre from the MSA deposits excavated in 2018–2019. Fossilised equid teeth from these deposi...
Cave 1B, in the Klasies River Main site complex (KRM), is best known for the recovery of the KRM 41815/ SAM-AP 6222 human mandible. After initial skepticism over the modernity of this specimen, it is accepted that the mix of archaic and modern traits it displays is characteristic of early Homo sapiens individuals. Different authors have associated...
Klasies River Main Site has produced rich cultural, human, and faunal remains that form part of the African Middle Stone Age (MSA). The MSA deposits relate primarily to the Late Pleistoene, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3-5, possibly extending into MIS 6. Throughout the later part of the twentieth century, the KRM finds have been prominent in the deba...
The archaeological record, particularly of shellfish, from the Klasies River main site (KRM) is important in understanding the fluctuating nature of coastal occupational patterns and changing coastal ecologies. In this paper, we provide new uranium–thorium (U-Th) dates for one of the earlier phases of coastal exploitation at KRM, and the microstrat...
Archaeologists spend a lot of time examining the remains of distant pasts, which includes the study of rock paintings. This is largely visual work – but sometimes we can “hear” the ancient past using acoustic methods.
In a new study we turned our ears to a rock painting in the Cederberg Mountains in South Africa’s Western Cape province. The human...
Based on my current masters research based on the Shellfish from Klasies River Main Site. Specifically the investigation of the species Turbo sarmaticus and there opercula
Even though music is inextricably part of the social fabric of past and present societies, it has not received in-depth attention in the archaeological literature from South Africa. This topic received the most attention in rock art studies, where images are mainly discussed concerning the trance dance and musical bow playing. Here we focus on flut...
Klasies River Main site, on South Africa’s southern Cape coast, has contributed significantly to understanding Late Pleistocene human evolution. Excavations across this complex of caves and rock shelters have uncovered important assemblages of human fossils, faunal remains and lithic artefacts which have allowed interpretations of human anatomy and...
Significance
DNA preserved in sediments has emerged as an important source of information about past ecosystems, independent of the discovery of skeletal remains. However, little is known about the sources of sediment DNA, the factors affecting its long-term preservation, and the extent to which it may be translocated after deposition. Here, we sho...
One of the conventional ways to construct Late Quaternary chronostratigraphic frameworks for archaeology in southern Africa is through archaeological technocomplexes. This practice is more developed in South Africa and Lesotho than in the northern areas of the region. The Still Bay, Howiesons Poort, Robberg, Oakhurst, and Wilton technocomplexes are...
This research investigates the palaeoenvironmental conditions at Klasies River main site using micromammal remains. The micromammal material was recovered from a 110 000 year old layer from the Witness Baulk located in Cave 1. The micromammal remains are associated with rare anatomically modern human fossils. The palaeoenvironmental conditions are...
Abstract: Even though music is inextricably part of the social fabric of past and present societies, it has not received in-depth attention in the archaeological literature from South Africa. This topic received the most attention in rock art studies, where images are mainly discussed concerning the trance dance and musical bow playing. Here we foc...
The recent publication of previously unrecognised musical instruments from two South African Later Stone Age deposits has prompted us to relook at some of the bone tools from Klasies River Main site (KRM). Notched bones are enigmatic artefacts found throughout the world and attributed diverse functions, including sound-producing instruments. We re-...
The archaeological record of the Upper and Epi Paleolithic has produced several objects with sound-producing potential of the aerophone type, interpreted as bullroarers. Recently a similar implement was identified in the Later Stone Age of the southern Cape, in the Matjes River Wilton layers. In this paper we present a depiction from the Cederberg...
Coastal adaptation in the southern Cape can be seen around 100,000 years ago in sites such as Klasies River, Blombos Cave, and Pinnacle Point, representing the occupation of a new niche by early Homo sapiens in this region. However, there is relatively little information available on the details involved in fully entering this niche from a regional...
Given the large number of hominin and archaeological remains the site has yielded, Klasies River has contributed significantly to our understanding of how humans developed and behaved during the Middle Stone Age. Its extensive occupational sequence and the abundance of faunal remains recovered from the deposits also make it an important site in exp...
The bone point (SAM 42160) from >60 ka deposits at Klasies River Main Site, South Africa, is reassessed. We clarify the stratigraphic integrity of SAM 42160 and confirm its Middle Stone Age provenience. We find evidence that indicates the point was hafted and partially coated in an adhesive substance. Internal fractures are consistent with stresses...
This article appeared in Quest magazine, published by the Academy of Science of SA (ASSAf) and primarily distributed free to schools:
https://questonline.org.za/ (new dedicated website)
Background: Klasies River is a prominent archaeological site on the South African southern Cape coast, with a unique and continuous occupation spanning the Middle and Late Pleistocene into the Holocene. Ethnobotanical research was undertaken with the objective of enabling a deeper understanding and contextualisation of the palaeo-ethnobotanical fin...
Is there a pyrotechnical architecture of the African Middle Stone Age? We examine this question through ash features and potentially heated rocks from three contexts at Klasies River main site (KRM), South Africa. We compare these to actualistic fire experiments showing that a wood mass of 1.5-3 kg produces hearth areas of 300-440 cm2 and heat for...
Klipdrift Cave in the southern Cape, South Africa, provides new insights into shellfish harvesting during the Later Stone Age (14–9 ka) period associated with the Oakhurst techno-complex. Two shellfish species dominate: Turbo sarmaticus and Dinoplax gigas. An abrupt shift in the relative frequencies of these species occurs in the middle of the sequ...
Taphonomy of the lower Howiesons Poort layers at Klasies River site.
This report gives the results of our technical analysis of bone artefacts, excavated at archaeological sites in the southern Cape, South Africa. The purpose of the analysis was to establish if the artefacts were "pendants", or whether they were instruments for sound/music production.
https://theconversation.com/how-our-african-ancestors-made-sound-...
This research is based on inferring the palaeoenvironment at Klasies River main site during MIS 5d (115-106ka) using micromammal cranial remains. The micromammal assemblage was recovered from the Witness Baulk located in center of Cave 1, where occupation by anatomically modern humans occurred during this time. Three dominant taxa where identified...
Klasies River contains an extensive MIS 5 MSA sequence, mostly from what has been described as the MSA ll, MSA 2a or the Mossel Bay techno-complex. The current Witness Baulk excavations undertaken between 2015 and 2016 allows for a renewed and detailed investigation of the variability of the lithic technology from the
lowermost part of the MSA ll....
Preliminary results from my research during my first year of MSc. The poster reports on the preliminary results from a taphonomic analysis of the macrofaunal remains from the Middle Stone Age III layers at the Klasies River Main site.
A brief overview of my Hons research on MSA (MIS 5) ochre excavated from Klasies River Cave 1.
This paper describes possible sound-producing artefacts from two Later Stone Age deposits in the southern Cape, South Africa. Implements previously described as a 'wirra wirra' or 'pendant' from Klasies River main site (KRM), a 'woer woer' or 'bullroarer' and four 'pendants' from Matjes River (MR) are analysed and their sound producing qualities as...
This study investigates and compares methods to quantify color changes in quartzite rocks after repeated heating episodes. We collected quartzite samples from the southern Cape coast, South Africa, and heated them three times in experimental fires. We recorded the colors of the samples before and after heating using visual observation, Munsell colo...
During the past 100,000 years the fluctuating climate that included two glacials and three interglacials resulted in a continuously changing South African landscape. The multitude of archaeological sites on the landscape shows that climate presented no obstacle to anatomically modern humans’ ability to flexibly adjust to a variety of ecoregions. Hu...
Klasies River is arguably one of the most informative Middle Stone Age sites in Africa. Its extensive occupational sequence and the large quantity of faunal material, lithic artefacts, and Homo sapiens remains makes this a key site to explore modern human evolution. Two major excavations of the Klasies sequence-the first by Singer and Wymer in 1967...
Sound does not survive in the archaeological record, although acoustics and sound are integral to the evolution and expressive capacity of our species. This presentation draws on work with ATEM (Archaeological TransfrontiEr Music), a research group that is studying acoustics and music in pre-history. Our presentation looks at the ethnographic and a...
In this paper the new excavations at Klasies River main site are introduced and the first results presented and linked with previous work, establishing a baseline for future reporting. Data from the earliest phase of the SAS member, comprising the basal SASU and SASL sub-members from caves 1 and 1A are discussed. A new U-Th date of 126.0 ± 1.5 ka o...
Howiesons Poort (HP) sites, over the past decades, have provided exceptional access to anthropogenic remains that are enhancing our understanding of early modern human behaviour during the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa. Here, we analyse the technological and typological trends in the lithic record that form part of these behaviours, based on...
Dimensions of backed tools per type and raw material (expressed in mm).
Blanks: FL: Flake, BL: Blade, Indet.: Indeterminate.
(DOCX)
You can download the interview here:
https://soundcloud.com/user-806957364/arkeologi-pa-rappen-1-3-silje-evjenth-bentsen-og-sarah-wurz-om-matlaging-for-120000-ar-siden
The widespread use of ochre during Oxygen Isotope Stage 5 and 4 in South Africa has often been interpreted as reflecting complex behaviours amongst modern human populations. The Howiesons Poort is one of the most documented techno-complexes identified within this timeframe. It is associated with an intensification of a combination of innovative tec...
In the first part of this paper, we present the first review of cooking techniques in the African Middle Stone Age. We show that the current knowledge is based on a restricted number of studies and on zooarchaeology and archaeobotany and that the research implies that MSA cooking consisted of roasting meat, shellfish, fish, and perhaps plant food o...
Klasies River, a significant Middle Stone Age (MSA) site, preserves remains of anatomically modern humans and a 21 m sequence of human habitation that shows use of sophisticated lithic technology and systematic exploitation of marine and terrestrial resources. In this paper micromammals recovered from the lower MSA sequence (MSA I and MSA II) at Kl...
The archaeological site of Klasies River is famous for the richness of its Middle Stone Age deposits, which offer the opportunity to document behaviors of early modern humans in Africa, as well as the paleoenvironmental context of their occupation of the area during the late Pleistocene. The Main Site deposits (dated to ca. 115 to 55 ka) include bo...
Background and aims – The Klasies River cultural landscape, on the Tsitsikamma coast, south-eastern
Cape, South Africa, features prominently in modern human origins research. The archaeobotanical
information for the Klasies River landscape and its immediate environment is sparse. The aim of this
study is the collection of a taxonomically valid and...
The analysis of the lithics recovered from the layers dating between cal bp 10,700 and cal bp 13,700 at Klipdrift Cave, southern Cape, South Africa, provides new information on the Oakhurst techno-complex. A comparison with contemporary sites such as Matjes River Rock Shelter indicates not only technological similarities, but also unexpected differ...
Heating stone to enhance its flaking qualities is among the multiple innovative adaptations introduced by early modern human groups in southern Africa, in particular during the Middle Stone Age Still Bay and Howiesons Poort traditions. Comparatively little is known about the role and impact of this technology on early modern human behaviors and cul...
Sample of silcrete reference collection used for comparison.
A, B: illustration of experimental flakes struck before and after the heating of each block.
(PDF)
Silcrete cores from layer PBD.
A, B, C, D: Picture and technological drawing of each core. Caption for drawings: 1. knapping platform preparation, 2. convexity preparation, 3. blade removal without initiation, 4. blade removal with initiation, 5. indeterminate removal, 6. cortex or patina, 7. pre-heating surface, 8. heat-induced fracture, 9. post-h...
It is in the context of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) that characteristic modern human morphotypes and behaviours appeared. In this chapter, MSA technologies, subsistence and site maintenance behaviours and their cognitive and behavioural implications are discussed in broad terms. The earliest MSA stone tool technology already shows behavioural comple...
The Howiesons Poort, characterised by sophisticated lithic technologies and evidence of innovative behaviours, was a significant cultural phase in southern Africa during Marine Isotope Stage 4. It also coincided with substantial palaeoenvironmental and possible demographic changes in the southern Cape of South Africa, especially with regards to the...
Blombos Cave is well known as an important site for understanding the evolution of symbolically mediated behaviours among Homo sapiens during the Middle Stone Age, and during the Still Bay in particular. The lower part of the archaeological sequence (M3 phase) contains 12 layers dating to MIS 5 with ages ranging from 105 to 90 ka ago (MIS 5c to 5b)...
PowerPoint presentation at 14th PAA Conference
Teaching archaeology in southern Africa at all levels of education is characterised by a lack of resources (Segobye 2005).There has been much discussion on archaeological education in schools amongst professionals, but it remains more of a footnote than a fully-fledged direction in the national curriculum (King 2014:85). There is thus ample opportu...
Surveys for archaeological sites in the De Hoop Nature Reserve, southern Cape, South Africa resulted in the discovery of a cave complex comprising two locations, Klipdrift Cave and Klipdrift Shelter. Excavations commenced in 2010 with Later Stone Age deposits initially being recovered at the former site and Middle Stone Age deposits at the latter....
The range of technological elements that marks the Middle Stone Age originated more than 300,000 years ago and formed the basic tool kit for an extended period of time. No spatial and chronological patterns can be identified from the Early Middle Stone Age until marine isotope stage (MIS) 5, and there is no cumulative trend of increasing complexity...
Assessments of the complexity of lithic technologies coming from different time periods, regions, or hominid species are recurrent features of the literature on Paleolithic archaeology. Yet the notion of lithic complexity is often defined intuitively and qualitatively, which can easily lead to circular arguments and makes difficult the comparison o...
We provide a brief overview of how the rich South African Pleistocene Homo fossil record correlates with the recently revised Stone Age sequence. The overview and correlation of the data is intended to highlight gaps in the record and/or our understanding thereof, and to stimulate interdisciplinary research and debate on the Homo fossil and archaeo...
Hypotheses on the dispersal patterns of modern humans out of Africa have undergone much change in the past decade, with new ideas on the routes and geographic extent of movements proposed. New data and perspectives from the Nile Valley necessitate reassessment of the role of the Northern Route. Here, fossil evidence and technological strategies fol...
In this paper, lithic assemblages from two MIS 5 middens on the Cape coast, Klasies River main site and Ysterfontein 1 are compared. Klasies River, on the southern Cape coast, has provided an abundant sample of stone artefacts from MIS 5, the MSA 1 and MSA 11 techno-complexes. Recent work at Ysterfontein site has yielded the largest lithic sample s...
Hypotheses on the dispersal patterns of modern humans out of Africa have undergone much change in the past decade, with new ideas on the routes and geographic extent of movements proposed. New data and perspectives from the Nile Valley necessitate reassessment of the role of the Northern Route. Here, fossil evidence and technological strategies fol...
We present the results of a technological analysis of the Howiesons Poort and MSA III lithic artifacts from Cave 1A at Klasies River. We studied most of the debitage and retouched pieces from Deacon's excavations (about 3000 pieces) and all the cores and retouched pieces from three layers of Singer and Wymer excavations (640 pieces). Our analysis s...