Precious Chiwara-Maenzanise
Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Geological sciences & Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town
Biography
Precious Chiwara-Maenzanise completed her BA, BA Special Honours, and Master's in Archaeology at the University of Zimbabwe before joining the University of Cape Town (UCT) Archaeology Department and Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI), where she recently completed her doctoral studies. Her PhD focused on the cultural information exchange among groups inhabiting discrete Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites in the Kalahari Basin. This research was conducted under the supervision of Dr. Yonatan Sahle and Dr. Jayne Wilkins. Precious's PhD work was funded by several organizations, including GENUS. Her Genus Post-doctoral fellowship is a continuation of the work on human evolution in the Kalahari; hence, she is also part of the North of Kuruman Palaeoarchaeology Project, an interdisciplinary research initiative investigating the southern Kalahari of South Africa and drawing attention to the early record of human evolution that extends beyond the coastal regions.
Disciplines
Archaeology, Origins of Modern Humans, Stone Age archaeology, Lithic Functional Analysis, Early Human Cultural Transmission
Fields of study
Identifying behavioural differences between Earlier Stone Age (ESA) and Middle Stone Age (MSA) hominins is crucial for understanding the evolutionary pathways of our species. Previous research has suggested that ESA hominins primarily used coarser-grained raw materials, whereas MSA and 'transitional' assemblages exhibit evidence of an increased reliance on finer-grained raw materials. This study aims to investigate raw material procurement strategies during the ESA and MSA periods in the Tswalu reserve, southern Kalahari, South Africa, determining if the same patterns of raw material selection and improvement over time are observed in the Tswalu Kalahari region. The study focuses on two archaeological sites in Tswalu, namely Sonstraal (ESA) and Witberg 1 (MSA), both primarily composed of quartzite lithic assemblages. Geological research has revealed variations in the quality of quartzite raw materials, ranging from coarse-grained to fine-grained varieties. Survey work in the Tswalu Korannaberg Range has also shown that some quartzite hills near the Sonstraal and Witberg 1 archaeological sites are friable and possibly coarse-grained, while quartzite found in hills farther from the sites is fine-grained and knappable. Therefore, by contrasting ESA and MSA quartzite lithic assemblages from Tswalu, the study will test the hypothesis that there was improved raw material selection over time. The research will further identify the exact sources of ESA and MSA quartzite raw materials within the Tswalu Korannaberg Range using provenance analysis and systematic surveys. Pinpointing the precise quartzite sources for ESA and MSA lithic artifact production will significantly contribute to our understanding of hominin mobility patterns within the Kalahari Basin. While acknowledging existing research on the ESA and MSA in the southern Kalahari, there has been limited investigation into changes in raw material sourcing from the ESA to the MSA, as well as the identification of the exact sources of raw materials within these periods. Thus, Sonstraal and Witberg 1 have the potential to provide valuable insights into key aspects of behavioural evolution, how hominins interacted with their environment, and the transitions that occurred from the ESA to the MSA in the Kalahari region.
