The first lithic study of level VI-B at the Mumba site in Tanzania reveals Middle Stone Age industry (phys.org)
from recreationalplacebos@midwest.social to archaeology@mander.xyz on 21 May 2024 22:53
https://midwest.social/post/12448573

Irene Solano Megías, a predoctoral researcher at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), has just published the first techno-typological study of the most ancient lithic industry of level VI-B at the Mumba rockshelter in the journal African Archaeological Review. This site lies in the Lake Eyasi region in Tanzania, and the study has enabled better understanding of the activity of human groups in this region.

This is one of the most important sites in northern Tanzania from the period known as the Middle Stone Age (MSA). It was excavated in the 1930s and level VI-B was excavated between 1977 and 1981, but no data had been published until now.

According to the new study, the level VI-B lithic assemblage at Mumba is the result of settlement by groups of Homo sapiens present in the Lake Eyasi region between 109,000 and 131,000 years ago.

#archaeology

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happybadger@hexbear.net on 21 May 2024 22:59 collapse

Local raw materials such as quartz were employed at Mumba, although a small proportion of obsidian was recognized, originating from the Lake Naivasha basin in Kenya some 320 km away, which suggests that long-distance exchange networks between human groups already existed in this period.

That’s super neat. I wonder what those trade networks were like.