Revisiting the Acheulean at Namib IV in the Namib Desert, Namibia
Revisiting the Acheulean at Namib IV in the Namib Desert, Namibia
Namib IV (S23° 44.829’, E14° 19.720’) is frequently cited, as it is one of few Earlier Stone Age sites in the Sand Sea of the Namib Desert. The site was first investigated in 1978 by Myra Shackley, who described 582 artifacts on the surface of a pan as representing an Acheulean butchery site. Descriptions of the artifacts, their number, and area were inconsistently reported. Recently rediscovered, the site of Namib IV is a rare example of a tool-rich and fossil fauna-bearing pan system in the Namib Sand Sea. This project aims to investigate when, how, and under what environmental conditions hominins utilized these landscapes. This article presents the first archaeological research conducted at the site in over 40 years. Typological and technological data was collected from surface-exposed artifacts and large cutting tools (LCTs) and compared to Shackley’s assemblage. Data demonstrate that her collection is representative of the Namib IV site and raise many new questions about the original research and the site.
380-394
Leader, George M.
be5bc690-00fe-4174-bcc6-0b5b5464a097
Bynoe, Rachel
21c246e1-0fa1-48ba-acdc-d29cac364027
Marks, Ted
74224369-ab2d-4c6d-ba0d-d090edb20a38
Stone, Abi
2ce54bc8-e380-48cd-91fe-f6c0fc8a34fd
Efraim, Kaarina
c8a61462-bf5a-409e-bb26-8a41c869fb31
Stratford, Dominic
b794183c-2c18-49a2-9f99-18b09a43fd13
Marais, Eugene
2a2a0845-a728-4331-9390-b92bc96b966a
Leader, George M.
be5bc690-00fe-4174-bcc6-0b5b5464a097
Bynoe, Rachel
21c246e1-0fa1-48ba-acdc-d29cac364027
Marks, Ted
74224369-ab2d-4c6d-ba0d-d090edb20a38
Stone, Abi
2ce54bc8-e380-48cd-91fe-f6c0fc8a34fd
Efraim, Kaarina
c8a61462-bf5a-409e-bb26-8a41c869fb31
Stratford, Dominic
b794183c-2c18-49a2-9f99-18b09a43fd13
Marais, Eugene
2a2a0845-a728-4331-9390-b92bc96b966a
Leader, George M., Bynoe, Rachel, Marks, Ted, Stone, Abi, Efraim, Kaarina, Stratford, Dominic and Marais, Eugene
(2023)
Revisiting the Acheulean at Namib IV in the Namib Desert, Namibia.
Journal of Field Archaeology, 48 (5), .
(doi:10.1080/00934690.2023.2219102).
Abstract
Namib IV (S23° 44.829’, E14° 19.720’) is frequently cited, as it is one of few Earlier Stone Age sites in the Sand Sea of the Namib Desert. The site was first investigated in 1978 by Myra Shackley, who described 582 artifacts on the surface of a pan as representing an Acheulean butchery site. Descriptions of the artifacts, their number, and area were inconsistently reported. Recently rediscovered, the site of Namib IV is a rare example of a tool-rich and fossil fauna-bearing pan system in the Namib Sand Sea. This project aims to investigate when, how, and under what environmental conditions hominins utilized these landscapes. This article presents the first archaeological research conducted at the site in over 40 years. Typological and technological data was collected from surface-exposed artifacts and large cutting tools (LCTs) and compared to Shackley’s assemblage. Data demonstrate that her collection is representative of the Namib IV site and raise many new questions about the original research and the site.
Text
JFA907_R1
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 15 May 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 4 June 2023
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 498323
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/498323
ISSN: 2042-4582
PURE UUID: 97ab43e2-7ef7-4599-adcb-620c0655c621
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 14 Feb 2025 17:54
Last modified: 21 Aug 2025 03:31
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
George M. Leader
Author:
Ted Marks
Author:
Abi Stone
Author:
Kaarina Efraim
Author:
Dominic Stratford
Author:
Eugene Marais
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics