TY - JOUR
T1 - The Khormusan
T2 - Evidence for an MSA East African industry in Nubia
AU - Goder-Goldberger, Mae
N1 - Funding Information:
I would like to thank both the Ruth Amiran Foundation and The Leakey Foundation for financially supporting this research. Zelalem Assefa, Alison Brooks, John Fleagle, Erella Hovers, David Pleardeau, John Shea and Philip Van Peer who gave me permission to study the assemblages from their excavations. Many thanks to the staff both at the British Museum in London and the National Museum of Ethiopia for their help in accessing the collections. Thank you to Ariel Malinsky-Buller on his helpful comments on the first drafts and two anonymous readers for their helpful comments on the final draft. Thanks to Huw Groucutt and James Blinkhorn for inviting me to participate in the ‘Middle Paleolithic in the desert’ work shop as well as their review of the final draft. Most of all I would like to thank Erella Hovers for her support, insight and valuable comments throughout the process of writing.
PY - 2013/6/25
Y1 - 2013/6/25
N2 - There is clear evidence of lithic technological variability in Middle Paleolithic (MP) assemblages along the Nile valley and in adjacent desert areas. One of the identified variants is the Khormusan, the type-site of which, Site 1017, is located north of the Nile's Second Cataract. The industry has two distinctive characteristics that set it apart from other MP industries within its vicinity. One is the use of a wide variety of raw materials; the second is an apparent correlation between raw material and technology used, suggesting a cultural aspect to raw material management. Stratigraphically, site 1017 is situated within the Dibeira-Jer formation which represents an aggradation stage of the Nile and contains sediments originating from the Ethiopian Highlands. While it has previously been suggested that the site dates to sometime before 42.5ka, the Dibeira-Jer formation can plausibly be correlated with Nile alluvial sediments in northern Sudan recently dated to 83±24ka (MIS 5a). This stage coincides with the 81ka age of sapropel S3, indicating higher Nile flow and stronger monsoon rainfall at these times. Other sites which reflect similar raw material variability and technological traditions are the BNS and KHS sites in the Omo Kibish Formation (Ethiopia) dated to ~100ka and ~190ka respectively. Based on a lithic comparative study conducted, it is suggested that site 1017 can be seen as representing behavioral patterns which are indicative of East African Middle Stone Age (MSA) technology, adding support to the hypothesis that the Nile Valley was an important dispersal route used by modern humans prior to the long cooling and dry trend beginning with the onset of MIS 4. Techo-typological comparison of the assemblages from the Khormusan sites with other Middle Paleolithic sites from Nubia and East Africa is used to assess the possibility of tracing the dispersal of technological traits across the landscape and through time.
AB - There is clear evidence of lithic technological variability in Middle Paleolithic (MP) assemblages along the Nile valley and in adjacent desert areas. One of the identified variants is the Khormusan, the type-site of which, Site 1017, is located north of the Nile's Second Cataract. The industry has two distinctive characteristics that set it apart from other MP industries within its vicinity. One is the use of a wide variety of raw materials; the second is an apparent correlation between raw material and technology used, suggesting a cultural aspect to raw material management. Stratigraphically, site 1017 is situated within the Dibeira-Jer formation which represents an aggradation stage of the Nile and contains sediments originating from the Ethiopian Highlands. While it has previously been suggested that the site dates to sometime before 42.5ka, the Dibeira-Jer formation can plausibly be correlated with Nile alluvial sediments in northern Sudan recently dated to 83±24ka (MIS 5a). This stage coincides with the 81ka age of sapropel S3, indicating higher Nile flow and stronger monsoon rainfall at these times. Other sites which reflect similar raw material variability and technological traditions are the BNS and KHS sites in the Omo Kibish Formation (Ethiopia) dated to ~100ka and ~190ka respectively. Based on a lithic comparative study conducted, it is suggested that site 1017 can be seen as representing behavioral patterns which are indicative of East African Middle Stone Age (MSA) technology, adding support to the hypothesis that the Nile Valley was an important dispersal route used by modern humans prior to the long cooling and dry trend beginning with the onset of MIS 4. Techo-typological comparison of the assemblages from the Khormusan sites with other Middle Paleolithic sites from Nubia and East Africa is used to assess the possibility of tracing the dispersal of technological traits across the landscape and through time.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84878963547&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.quaint.2012.11.031
DO - 10.1016/j.quaint.2012.11.031
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84878963547
SN - 1040-6182
VL - 300
SP - 182
EP - 194
JO - Quaternary International
JF - Quaternary International
ER -
