The Fauresmith of South Africa

David Underhill-Stocks – supervised by Dr John McNabb

It is becoming clear that between 400-100,000 years ago major changes were happening in Southern Africa. Various lines of research over the past decade have begun to suggest proxy evidence for the initial evolution of Homo sapiens there; Skeletal, technological, and symbolic evidence are all pointing toward an earlier origin of Modern form and behaviour in South Africa than anywhere else in the world. The aim of the thesis is to examine the extant material culture in South Africa during this period, as it transformed from primarily core based to flake based technologies. The first industry identified as crossing this boundary is the so-called Fauresmith, originally thought to be restricted to the Northern Cape and Orange Free State, but now suggested as present all over South Africa. This industry is considered to contain methods of stone tool manufacture, amongst others, which until recently where thought to be restricted to Homo sapiens, namely technical blade production. All of the data for the thesis has been collected but analysis is still in its early stages, although no definite answers can yet be given initial investigations suggests the industry to be a fallacy of the archaeological record. It is hoped that by the end of this research we will have a better understanding of the true nature of this most enigmatic industry, potentially vital to our understanding of the emergence of modern humans.