Use-Wear Analysis of Central African

Stone Tools
Nick Taylor
School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, UK. njt88@liv.ac.uk
The Early – Middle Stone Age Transition in Central Africa The Kalambo Falls Prehistoric Site
While the Early Stone Age (ESA) archaeological record bears witness to the manufacture and use of Located on the border between Zambia and Tanzania at the southern end of Lake Tanganyika (see
stone tools intended for hand-held use, a significant shift occurred in the Middle Stone Age (MSA), when Figures 2 and 5), Kalambo Falls was excavated in the 1950s and 1960s under the direction of J.Desmond
hominins began to make distinctive tools used in conjunction with organic hafts (e.g. Figure 1). The Clark (Clark 1969, 2001, and Figure 5, inset).
invention of the handle was “the first significant step in prehistoric life towards the mechanisation of The rich archaeological sequence discovered by Clark spans the ESA – MSA transition, and includes
work” (Semenov 1964: 173). Radiometric dates published in the 1990s now place this transition at several exceptionally preserved Acheulean horizons, as well as the rare co-occurrence of both Sangoan
~300,000 years ago (Barham & Smart 1996). and Lupemban tool assemblages at a single locality.
In Central Africa, the new tools are associated with the Sangoan and Lupemban industries of the The Kalambo Falls assemblages present a great opportunity to undertake use-wear analysis on Sangoan
regional MSA, excavated samples of which correlate closely with the modern day extent of the African and Lupemban LCTs, since the deposits have been minimally disturbed compared to other Central African
tropical forest belt (Barham 2001 and Figure 2) Based on this observation, archaeologists have long archaeological sequences (Cahen & Moeyersons 1977), and many tools are in a very fresh condition.
speculated that the large cutting tools (LCTs) of the Sangoan and Lupemban were woodworking
implements that enabled foraging communities to exploit the forest resources of Central Africa (Clark An expedition to the Kalambo Falls in
1970 and Figure 3). This dispersal into the Congo basin may reflect the development of modern levels August 2006 will allow for the collection of
of cognition before the evolution of Homo sapiens. several kinds of stone used by hominins at
the site. These will then be used in a series
Rots (2002, 2003) has demonstrated that even though organic hafts are rarely preserved in the Stone of experiments, in which a variety of use-
Age archaeological record, it is possible to determine from the analysis of the tools themselves whether
motions and worked materials will be tested.
they were hafted. Although use-wear analysis has infrequently been applied to the African record, the
issue of hafting in the MSA is now receiving greater attention (Lombard 2005, Rots and Van Peer, in The low-power traces (edge-wear) will then
press). be analysed and compared to the
This project aims to determine; archaeological samples from the original
• Whether Sangoan and Lupemban LCTs were routinely hafted, rather than intended for hand-held use. Kalambo Falls excavations. By identifying
• If Sangoan and Lupemban stone working traditions can indeed be characterised as woodworking similar wear patterns present on the
industries aiding human dispersals into the forested Congo basin in the Middle Pleistocene. experimental and archaeological tools, it will
be possible to present an interpretation of
Figure 1. (right) Example of a ground Stone Axe made and used by the Kim-Yal people in
Sangoan and Lupemban LCT function that
modern day New Guinea. In this case the Axe has been hafted to the wooden shaft in a is based on empirical, rather than
juxtaposed latero-distal arrangement using split vines as a binding material. circumstantial, evidence.
This project will therefore shed much
needed light on the significance of Sangoan
and Lupemban toolkits, which may have
wide-ranging implications for our
understanding of the evolution of
behaviourally modern humans in the Middle
Pleistocene.

Figure 5. (above) Main: The Kalambo Falls, northern Zambia, are the 11th highest in Africa. The prehistoric site, created by the
periodic damming of the Kalambo river channel, lies behind the lip of the falls. The lake was used by hominins for toolmaking and
other activities. Inset: The excavations at Trench B2 in 1959, under the direction of J.Desmond Clark.

Figure 3. (right) Four

views of a bifacially
flaked Lanceolate Point
Figure 2. (above) Map of Africa (left) and Central Africa (right). Archaeologists have excavated from
recognised a geographical correlation between the Tropical Rainforest belt and the Kalambo Falls, Zambia.
distribution of Sangoan and Lupemban tool assemblages. Based on technological
and morphological
criteria, this piece can
Lithic Use-Wear Analysis be attributed to the
Lupemban toolmaking
The function of ancient stone tools has perplexed archaeologists for well over 100 years (Evans 1872). tradition, which is now
A breakthrough was made in the 1960s with the publication of ‘Prehistoric Technology’ (Semenov generally regarded as
1964), in which tiny modifications to the edges and surfaces of archaeological stone tools were being older than ~300
systematically examined using a microscope and compared to experimentally used tools. Semenov kyr. Current theories
posit that the tool would
identified 3 kinds of microscopic trace that could be used to infer tool function; striations, polishes and have tipped a wooden
edge-wear (Figure 4). spear shaft designed for
either throwing or
In the 1970s analysts focussed on interpreting tool function by examining edge-wear, typically employing thrusting into animal
stereoscopic microscopes (capable of ~100x) (e.g. Tringham et al 1974). In the latter part of the decade, prey, however this has
Keeley (1980) developed a new ‘microwear’ method using incident-light metallurgical microscopes. This yet to be empirically
was based principally on the interpretation of polishes at 200X magnification, at which scale it is possible tested.
to distinguish polishes according to specific worked materials (e.g. wood, bone).
Following a bitter argument between advocates of the low and high power methods in the 1980s,
analysts realised in the 1990s that each had advantages, and agreed that the best way to work was to
combine methods to suit the archaeological problem being investigated. Future Research
Recently, the analysis of organic residues adhering to tool surfaces has received a lot of attention, and
This research project will raise as many questions as it answers. Further work focussing on the problem of
is increasingly being combined with the other kinds of evidence to strengthen interpretations. This
technological change in the Middle Pleistocene may focus on such issues as:
technique is especially useful in parts of the world where archaeological tools are made from coarse raw
materials often unfavourable to use-wear, such as Australia, South-east Asia, and Africa (Kealhofer et al • the functional differences between the LCTs and Small Retouched Tools (SRTs) of the Sangoan/
1999). Lupemban industries.
• any differences in the functions performed using Sangoan and Lupemban LCTs of different sizes.
• use-wear on the handaxes and cleavers of the late Acheulean Industries at Kalambo Falls.
• use-wear on the Fauresmith industry.
Furthermore, it is intended that future work will look not only at the edge wear present on Central African
implements, but also any organic residues preserved on their edges and surfaces. When combined with
low-power information, residues may allow a more detailed and accurate interpretation to be presented.

Figure 4. (left) The four basic References:

kinds of microscopic trace that
analysts may use to determine
the function of prehistoric stone
tools; a) ‘striations’ indicate the
trajectory of implement
movement during use, b)
‘polishes’ c) ‘residues’ and d)
‘edge-wear’ often relate to the
used edge(s) of the tool and
can reflect the specific
material(s) worked during
utilisation.
Barham, L.S. 2001, ‘Central Africa and the emergence of regional identity in the Middle Pleistocene’, In Barham, L.S., and Robson-Brown, K., (eds), Human Roots: Africa and Asia in the Middle
Pleistocene, Western Academic and Specialist Press, Bristol.
Barham, L.S., and Smart, 1996, ‘An early date for the Middle Stone Age of central Zambia’, Journal of Human Evolution 30, 287-290.
Cahen, D., and Moeyersons, J., 1977, ‘Subsurface movements of stone artefacts and their implications for the prehistory of Central Africa’, Nature 266, 812-815.
Clark, J.D., 1969, Kalambo Falls Prehistoric Site I, the Geology, Palaeoecology and detailed stratigraphy of the excavations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Clark, J.D., 1970, The Prehistory of Africa, Thames and Hudson, London.
Clark, J.D., 2001, Kalambo Falls Prehistoric Site III, the Earlier Cultures: Middle and Earlier Stone Age, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Evans, J., 1872, The ancient stone implements, weapons and ornaments of Great Britain, Longmans, Green, Reader and Dyer, London.
Kealhofer, L., Torrence, R., and Fullagar, R., 1999, ‘Integrating Phytoliths within Use-Wear/Residue Studies of Stone Tools’, Journal of Archaeological Science 26: 527 – 546.
Keeley, L.H., 1980, Experimental Determination of Stone Tool Uses: A Microwear Analysis, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Lombard, M., 2005, ‘Evidence of Hunting and hafting during the Middle Stone Age at Sibidu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: a multianalytical approach’ Journal of Human Evolution, 48, 279 -
300.
Rots, V., 2002, ‘Hafting Traces on Flint Tools: Possibilities and Limitations of Macro- and Microscopic Approaches’, Unpublished PhD thesis, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.
Rots, V., 2003, ‘Towards an understanding of hafting: the macro and microscopic evidence’, Antiquity 77, 805 – 815.
Rots, V., and van Peer, P., in press, ‘Early Evidence of complexity in lithic economy: production and maintenance of hafted core axes at late middle Pleistocene site 8-B-11, Sai Island (Sudan),
Journal of Archaeological Science.
Semenov, S.A., 1964, Prehistoric Technology: An Experimental Study of the Oldest Tools and Artefacts from Traces of Manufacture and Wear, Cory, Adams & Mackay, London
Tringham, R., Cooper, G., Odell, G., Voytek, B., and Whitman, A., 1974, ‘Experimentation in the Formation of Edge Damage: A New Approach to Lithic Analysis’, Journal of Field Archaeology 1,
171 – 196.
Image Sources:
Figure 1: Images amalgamated from www.whrc.org and www.ipacc.org.za
Figure 2: Toth et al (1992)
Figure 3: Images courtesy of Cartographic Unit, Department of Geography, University of Liverpool. Combined by N.Taylor.
Figure 4: Main image: http://www.hf.uio.no/iakh/forskning/sarc/iakh/lithic/toolscan2.html#anchor254435. a) http://www.hf.uio.no/iakh/forskning/iakh/lithic/wood.html, b) and c) derived from Kealhofer
et al (1999), d) derived from Lombard (2005)).
Figure 5: Main image: http://imwanza.com/kalambo.htm
Acknowledgements:
Many thanks to Dr Larry Barham for his continued support and advice, Dr Veerle Rots at Katholieke Universite Leuven for specialist advice on Use-Wear, and the AHRC for their generous financial
support.