Neandertals are the best-studied of all extinct hominins, with a rich fossil record sampling
hundreds of individuals, roughly dating from between 350,000 and 40,000 years ago. Their …

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 …

Hafting stone points to spears was an important advance in weaponry for early humans.
Multiple lines of evidence indicate that~ 500,000-year-old stone points from the …

Recent archaeological discoveries have revealed that pigment use, beads, engravings, and
sophisticated stone and bone tools were already present in southern Africa 75,000 y ago …

South Africa and Lesotho (SAL) have been inhabited by tool-producing hominins for at least
two million years. Most of the information we have about the activities and technological …

Crucial questions in the debate on the origin of quintessential human behaviours are
whether modern cognition and associated innovations are unique to our species and …

Projectiles have enjoyed a lot of attention over the last few years as an indication of the
existence of hafted hunting technology and as one of the arguments in discussions on …

Africa's Middle Stone Age (MSA) may have lasted almost half a million years, but its earliest
expression is not yet well understood. The MSA is best known for innovations that appear in …

The later Pleistocene archaeological record of southernmost Africa encompasses several
Middle Stone Age industries and the transition to the Later Stone Age. Through this period …

Pressure flaking has been considered to be an Upper Paleolithic innovation dating to~
20,000 years ago (20 ka). Replication experiments show that pressure flaking best explains …