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Fauresmith (industry)
In archaeology, Fauresmith industry is a stone tool Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a ... industry that is transitional between the Acheulian and the Middle Stone Age. It is at the end of the Acheulian or beginning of the Middle Stone Age. It is named after the town of Fauresmith in South Africa. The Fauresmith is found at a number of other archaeological sites such as Wonderwerk Cave and Kathu Pan where it is potentially dated to at least 420,000 years ago. The Fauresmith consists of Middle Stone Age technology such as blades, points and prepared core technology as well as retaining handaxes from the Acheulian. The type sites are Brakfontein 321 and Riverview Estates Site VI. The Fauresmith culture shows Levalloisean influence, with hand-axes and flakes with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stone Tool
Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a craftsman called a flintknapper. Stone has been used to make a wide variety of tools throughout history, including arrowheads, spearheads, hand axes, and querns. Knapped stone tools are nearly ubiquitous in pre-metal-using societies because they are easily manufactured, the tool stone raw material is usually plentiful, and they are easy to transport and sharpen. The study of stone tools is a cornerstone of prehistoric archaeology because they are essentially indestructible and therefore a ubiquitous component of the archaeological record. Ethnoarchaeology is used to further the understanding and cultural implications of stone tool use and manufacture. Knapped stone tools are made from cryptocrystalline materials such as chert, f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeological Industry
In the archaeology of the Stone Age, an industry or technocomplex is a typology (archaeology), typological classification of stone tools. An industry consists of a number of lithic Assemblage (archeology ), assemblages, typically including a range of different types of tools, that are grouped together on the basis of shared technological or Morphology (archaeology), morphological characteristics. For example, the Acheulean industry includes Hand axe, hand-axes, Cleaver (tool), cleavers, Scraper (archaeology), scrapers and other tools with different forms, but which were all manufactured by the symmetrical Lithic reduction, reduction of a Biface, bifacial Lithic core, core producing large flakes. Industries are usually named after a type site where these characteristics were first observed (e.g. the Mousterian industry is named after the site of Le Moustier). By contrast, Neolithic axeheads from the Langdale axe industry were recognised as a type well before the centre at Great L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acheulian
Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated with ''Homo erectus'' and derived species such as ''Homo heidelbergensis''. Acheulean tools were produced during the Lower Palaeolithic era across Africa and much of West Asia, South Asia, East Asia and Europe, and are typically found with ''Homo erectus'' remains. It is thought that Acheulean technologies first developed about 2 million years ago, derived from the more primitive Oldowan technology associated with ''Homo habilis''. The Acheulean includes at least the early part of the Middle Paleolithic. Its end is not well defined; if Sangoan (also known as Epi-Acheulean) is included, it may be taken to last until as late as 130,000 years ago. In Europe and Western Asia, early Neanderthals adopted Acheulean technology, transitioning to Moust ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Stone Age
The Middle Stone Age (or MSA) was a period of African prehistory between the Early Stone Age and the Late Stone Age. It is generally considered to have begun around 280,000 years ago and ended around 50–25,000 years ago. The beginnings of particular MSA stone tools have their origins as far back as 550–500,000 years ago and as such some researchers consider this to be the beginnings of the MSA. The MSA is often mistakenly understood to be synonymous with the Middle Paleolithic of Europe, especially due to their roughly contemporaneous time span; however, the Middle Paleolithic of Europe represents an entirely different hominin population, Neanderthal, ''Homo neanderthalensis'', than the MSA of Africa, which did not have Neanderthal populations. Additionally, current archaeological research in Africa has yielded much evidence to suggest that modern human behavior and cognition was beginning to develop much earlier in Africa during the MSA than it was in Europe during the M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fauresmith
Fauresmith is located 130 km south west of Bloemfontein, South Africa. The town, named after Rev Phillip Faure and Sir Harry Smith, is the second oldest town in the Free State. Fauresmith is the only town in South Africa, and one of only three in the world, where the railway line runs down the centre of the main road. The town is well known in equestrian circles for the annual National Equestrian Endurance Race, during which the horses and riders must complete a grueling 205 km course during the three days of the event. Winters are extremely cold with temperatures often below freezing. History With the settlement of Europeans in the region, there was a need for a church. They wanted a farm for this purpose. After much negotiation (without success) with the British Government, a temporary church was built on the farm "Sannahspoort" – currently Fauresmith. The church council later bought Sannahspoort for 14 000 rixdollars (£1050). Immediately stands were sold to ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wonderwerk Cave
Wonderwerk Cave is an archaeological site, formed originally as an ancient solution cavity in dolomite rocks of the Kuruman Hills, situated between Danielskuil and Kuruman in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It is a National Heritage Site, managed as a satellite of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley. Geologically, hillside erosion exposed the northern end of the cavity, which extends horizontally for about into the base of a hill. Accumulated deposits inside the cave, up to in-depth, reflect natural sedimentation processes such as water and wind deposition as well as the activities of animals, birds, and human ancestors over some 2 million years. The site has been studied and excavated by archaeologists since the 1940s and research here generates important insights into human history in the subcontinent of Southern Africa. Evidence within Wonderwerk cave has been called the oldest controlled fire. Wonderwerk means "miracle" in the Afrikaans language. Archaeologica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kathu Pan
The Kathu Archaeological Complex is a cluster of significant archaeological, principally Stone Age, exposures situated in and near Kathu, a mining town in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. The sites include a suite of sinkhole exposures, the Kathu Pan sites, north west of the town, the immensely rich spread of artefacts at what is referred to as Kathu Townlands on the eastern side of Kathu (now surrounded by urban development), and surface and subsurface horizons including handaxes on farms further eastward. These are subject to on-going archaeological research. Kathu Pan At Kathu Pan, north west of the town, evidence of early hominin occupation has been observed at multiple sinkhole sites within the pan. The locality known as Kathu Pan 1 has Earlier Stone Age deposits (Stratum 4b) characterised by well-made handaxes. Above it, Stratum 4a is dated by a combination of OSL and ESR/U-series dating to circa 500 000 years Before Present. The stone artifact assemblage from Stratu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Levalloisean
The Levallois technique () is a name given by archaeologists to a distinctive type of stone knapping developed around 250,000 to 400,000Shipton, C. (2022). Predetermined Refinement: The Earliest Levallois of the Kapthurin Formation. *Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology*, 5, 4. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41982-021-00109-1 years ago during the Middle Palaeolithic period. It is part of the Mousterian stone tool industry, and was used by the Neanderthals in Europe and by modern humans in other regions such as the Levant. It is named after 19th-century finds of flint tools in the Levallois-Perret suburb of Paris, France. The technique was more sophisticated than earlier methods of lithic reduction, involving the striking of lithic flakes from a prepared lithic core. A striking platform is formed at one end and then the core's edges are trimmed by flaking off pieces around the outline of the intended lithic flake. This creates a domed shape on the side of the core, known as a tortoise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hand-axe
A hand axe (or handaxe or Acheulean hand axe) is a prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history. It is made from stone, usually flint or chert that has been "reduced" and shaped from a larger piece by knapping, or hitting against another stone. They are characteristic of the lower Acheulean and middle Palaeolithic (Mousterian) periods, roughly 1.6 million years ago to about 100,000 years ago, and used by ''Homo erectus'' and other early humans, but rarely by ''Homo sapiens''. Their technical name (biface) comes from the fact that the archetypical model is a generally bifacial (with two wide sides or faces) and almond-shaped (amygdaloidal) lithic flake. Hand axes tend to be symmetrical along their longitudinal axis and formed by pressure or percussion. The most common hand axes have a pointed end and rounded base, which gives them their characteristic almond shape, and both faces have been knapped to remove the natural cortex, at least par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sangoan
__TOC__ The Sangoan is a prehistoric lithic industry of sub-Saharan Africa, broadly dated to the later part of the Early Stone Age (ESA) and the transition to the Middle Stone Age (MSA), approximately between 500,000 and 300,000 years ago. First identified in the 1920s at Sango Bay in Uganda, the industry is characterized by heavy-duty core tools such as picks, core axes, choppers, and scrapers, often produced on large cobbles or blocks of coarse-grained stone. These minimally shaped tools were likely used for woodworking, digging, or other subsistence tasks. Archaeology, Archaeological sites associated with the Sangoan have been found across a broad ecological and geographical range, including rainforest, woodland, and savanna environments. This distribution extends from Central and East Africa to parts of southern and possibly northern Africa, with debated evidence even reaching the Mediterranean. The Sangoan is noted for its technological variability, its lack of consistent dia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
