Research Article
Renewed Geoarchaeological Investigations of Mwanganda’s
Village (Elephant Butchery Site), Karonga, Malawi
David K. Wright,1 ,* Jessica Thompson,2 Alex Mackay,3 Menno Welling,4 Steven L. Forman,5 Gilbert Price,6
Jian-xin Zhao,6 Andrew S. Cohen,7,8 Oris Malijani,9 and Elizabeth Gomani-Chindebvu9
1
Department of Archaeology and Art History, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Archaeology Program, School of Social Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
3
Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
4
African Heritage: Research and Consultancy, Zomba, Malawi
5
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
6
School of Earth Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
7
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
8
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
9
Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Culture, Tourism House, Lilongwe, Malawi
2
Correspondence
Corresponding author;
E-mail: msafiri@snu.ac.kr
*
Received
06 August 2013
Accepted
18 December 2013
Scientific editing by Steve Kuhn
Published online in Wiley Online Library
(wileyonlinelibrary.com).
doi 10.1002/gea.21469
The site of Mwanganda’s Village, located along a paleochannel in northern
Malawi, is one of only a few sites that have characterized the Middle Stone
Age (MSA) of Malawi for decades (Clark & Haynes, 1970; Clark et al., 1970;
Kaufulu, 1990). The Malawi Earlier-Middle Stone Age Project has re-examined
the site using new mapping and chronometric tools in order to reinterpret the
site’s significance within the context of current debates surrounding human
origins and the potential role the environment played in shaping human behavior. The new data do not support the previous hypothesis that the site was
an elephant butchery location (contra Clark & Haynes, 1970; Clark et al., 1970;
Kaufulu, 1990). Instead, the evidence shows successive colonization of riparian
corridors by MSA hunter-gatherers focused on exploiting localized resources
during periods of generally humid climates while other lakes desiccated across
Africa. We challenge the hypothesis that stable and intermediately high lake
levels within the African Rift Valley System (sensu Trauth et al., 2010) catalyzed the evolution of regional interaction networks between 42 and 22 ka.
Instead, we interpret the evidence to suggest that regional variants of technology persist into the late MSA as foragers focused on exploiting resources from
C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
local catchments. The first regular evidence for traits associated with modern human cognition and behavior has been traced to
the African Middle Stone Age (MSA). During this time
period, there is evidence for expanded social networks;
increased technological complexity (including tool manufacture with multiple materials and components); the
evolution of planned, seasonal mobility patterns; and the
emergence of symbolic behaviors (McBrearty & Brooks,
2000; Brown et al., 2009; Henshilwood, 2009). Although
such traits may have had their origin in the MSA, their
magnitude has been noted to pale in comparison with
Later Stone Age (LSA) behaviors between 30 and 20
ka in which people greatly expanded their use of small,
composite toolkits; had a more prevalent use of sym-
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bolic material culture; and evidence of residential mobility is measured in hundreds instead of tens of km per
year (Barut, 1994; Ambrose, 1998; Barut-Kusimba, 1999;
Klein, 2000).
Critical to understanding this transition is delineating the temporal and geographic contours of the later
MSA. Until recently, the poor resolution of environmental proxies and temporal controls on constraining archaeological site habitation prevented making meaningful inferences about the ecology of early modern human
evolution (Willoughby, 2007; Barham & Mitchell, 2008).
Improved use of uranium-based and luminescence
dating techniques has allowed researchers more recently
to explore relationships between the evolution of modern
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WRIGHT ET AL.
behavior, changes observed in the archaeological record,
and profound changes in past ecosystems (Guerin et al.,
1996; Basell, 2008; Bar-Matthews et al., 2010; Blome
et al., 2012). Such data are essential for understanding
if the environment placed greater selective pressures on
early modern humans to force a change in cognitive capacity and behavior, or if ancestral human populations
experienced independent cultural or demographic expansions unrelated to a change in the environment (e.g.,
Powell, Shennan, & Thomas, 2009).
Renewed archaeological investigations into MSA deposits near the town of Karonga have yielded sequences
from new sites and new data from previously known
sites (Thompson et al., 2012; Thompson, Welling, &
Gomani-Chindebvu, in press), which can be directly related to the nearby paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental records from Lake Malawi (Scholz et al., 2011). Research by the Malawi Earlier-Middle Stone Age Project
(MEMSAP) in northern Malawi has identified stratified
archaeological deposits on alluvial fans located in riparian catchments spanning the MSA with a resumption of occupation in the historical period (Thompson
et al., 2012; Thompson, Welling, & Gomani-Chindebvu, in press). Successive human occupations of the site
of Mwanganda’s Village imply that highly mobile MSA
hunter-gatherers exploited fluvial resources within this
transitional region between lowland and upland environmental zones. Recent agriculturalists occupied the site at
or near the end of a period of alluvial fan deposition and
were less mobile and more tethered to the site than their
predecessors. Our investigation revises and updates previous site interpretations, using new geoarchaeological and
geochronological data obtained by MEMSAP during fieldwork in 2010, 2011, and 2012. Herein, we provide new
data about the site itself, with specific reference to how
the evolution of human technological behavior occurred
within the changing environment of the Late Pleistocene
of Africa.
THE LATER MSA OF NORTHERN MALAWI
Paleogeographic Background
For the most part, the transition from the MSA to the
LSA can be viewed as a series of technological and behavioral adaptations that occurred within highly variable
environments lasting from 40 to 20 ka throughout Africa.
Some technological elements of the LSA such as blade
production, hafting, and symbolic expression also occur
at earlier sites associated with the MSA technology, particularly in the case of the techno-complex known as
the Howieson’s Poort (Soriano, Villa, & Wadley, 2007;
Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 29 (2014) 98–120
Backwell, D’Errico, & Wadley, 2008; Henshilwood &
Dubreuil, 2011; Charrié-Duhaut et al., 2013), but by 20
ka there are no MSA sites unequivocally documented in
the archaeological record (see Lombard, 2012 for a recent review of the evidence). Offshore sediment records
and terrestrial pollen records from across the continent
demonstrate significant longitudinal and temporal variability in climate regimes throughout the Pleistocene, creating an environmental mosaic rife with both ecologically
productive and marginal foraging territories (e.g., Schneider, Müller, & Acheson, 1999; Stuut et al., 2002; Trauth
et al., 2003; Dupont, 2011).
Some of the most critical phases of human biological
and cultural evolution occurred within the margins of
the tectonically active African Rift Valley, and the highly
irregular topographic environment combined with extreme climatic gradients within relatively short distances
are seen as prime catalysts fostering allopatric speciation (King & Bailey, 2006; Trauth et al., 2010; Bailey,
Reynolds, & King, 2011; Winder et al., 2013). Within this
environment, small changes in global or regional climatic
forcing mechanisms are amplified in Rift Valley lakes because they respond with exceptional sensitivity due to
the trough-shaped aspect of the basins in which they sit
and contrast between high- and low-precipitation zones
within their catchments (Olaka et al., 2010). According
to the Hypothesis of Amplifier Lakes, exceptionally high and
low lake levels serve to separate hominin populations living on opposite sides of the Rift Valley margin because
such events create an impenetrable geographic barrier,
whereas intermediate lake levels encourage interactions
within the lacustrine margins (Trauth et al., 2010). Thus,
constraining lake levels and the chronometry of tectonic
activity within the Rift Valley provide critical background
for potential drivers of human evolution.
Northern Malawi is a unique landscape to investigate
the role of lacustrine systems and topographic variability
during periods of profound climatic change. Lake Malawi
provides a physical barrier along the eastern margin of
the study area, and has contained water for at least the
last 145 ka (Scholz et al., 2011), although megadroughts
significantly reduced the water balance to ∼5% of its
present level as recently as 90 ka (Scholz et al., 2007).
Less than 100 km to the west the Nyika Plateau rises
from 476 masl to nearly 2500 masl, leaving a narrow
north-south strip of land between the two major features
(Figure 1). The presence of sharp elevational gradients
and a stable water body since at least 70 ka facilitates a
high endemic biodiversity and there is a wide range of
potential ecological niches that could be exploited during harsh environmental conditions (Mercader, Bennett,
& Raja, 2008; Mercader et al., 2013).
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Geologic Context of the Mwanganda’s Village
Site
Figure 1 Digital elevation model (DEM) of south-central Africa showing
locations of archaeological sites and paleoclimatic proxies. Archaeological
sites: (1) Karonga sites, (2) Lake Niassa sites (Mercader, Bennett, & Raja,
2008; Mercader et al., 2012), (3) Ngalue Cave (Mercader et al., 2009). Paleoclimatic proxies: (4) Mal05–2A (Scholz et al., 2011), (5) Mal05–1C (Scholz
et al., 2011), (6) M98–1P (Gasse, Barker, & Johnson, 2002; Johnson et al.,
2002), (7) M98–2P (Gasse, Barker, & Johnson, 2002; Johnson et al., 2002),
(8) Lake Masoko (Gibert et al., 2002), (9) MPU-11 and MPU-12 (Vincens
et al., 1993; Bonnefille & Chalié, 2000), (10) KH3 (Tierney et al., 2008), (11)
KH4 (Tierney et al., 2008).
One of the longest and most detailed terrestrial palaeoclimate records in Africa is derived from cores taken
in the northern basin of Lake Malawi (Cohen et al.,
2007; Scholz et al., 2007, 2011). These records show that
from at least 145 to 70 ka, the climate oscillated between cool/dry and warm/wet intervals with several periods of “megadrought” documented in the core record
(Cohen et al., 2007; Scholz et al., 2007; Stone, Westover, & Cohen, 2011). The proxy record reflects extreme
low stand events between 135 and 126 ka (∼130 ka),
117 and 85 ka (∼100 ka), and a less severe episode between 85 and 71 ka (∼75 ka) with intervening high
stands comparable to present levels (Scholz et al., 2011;
but see Lane, Chorn, & Johnson, 2013 for s slight revision in the age model used to anchor the geochronology). During some of these episodes the northern basin
of Lake Malawi effectively dried up. After 70 ka, the
lake transitioned to generally higher conditions punctuated by slight regressions between 64–62 and 47–
30 ka (Scholz et al., 2011; Stone, Westover, & Cohen,
2011).
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The depositional environments of northern Malawi are
complex due to active rifting processes occurring across
steep elevational gradients. Karonga is located in the
western branch of the East African Rift Valley, an
area of half grabens with alternating polarity (Ebinger,
Rosendahl, & Reynolds, 1987; Rosendahl, 1987; Contreras, Anders, & Scholz, 2000). The kinematic evolution
of the basin began with block faulting after 8600 ka later
followed by normal faulting between <1500 and >200
ka (Ring & Betzler, 1995). The shifting tectonic regime
created asymmetrical rift basins that resulted in the loss
of accommodation zones, enhancing the potential for alluvial fan activation (Ring & Betzler, 1995; Chorowicz,
2005).
The underlying geology of the Karonga portion of the
basin is composed of Mesozoic red sandstones, marls, and
clays named “Dinosaur Beds” (Ring & Betzler, 1995). Locally, these deposits are overlain by the Chiwondo Beds,
thought to date to the late Miocene and early Pliocene
(they are called Mikindani Beds on the Mozambican side
of the basin). The Chiwondo/Mikindani Beds are composed of bedded alluvium and shallow lacustrine deposits
(Kaufulu, Vrba, & White, 1981; Betzler & Ring, 1995;
Clark, 1995; Salman & Abdula, 1995). The Chiwondo
Beds unconformably overlie the Dinosaur Beds and represent a period when a large lake (or lakes) and wetlands intermittently occupied a subsiding basin formed
from normal faulting (Ring & Betzler, 1995; Salman &
Abdula, 1995). Downwarping and fault-trough sedimentation during the Middle to Late Pleistocene (Ring &
Betzler, 1995) combined with oscillating climate regimes
(Stone, Westover, & Cohen, 2011) facilitated the extension of alluvial fans that deposited the Chitimwe
Beds unconformably atop the Chiwondo Beds. On the
Mozambican side of the basin, a similar complexion of
alluvial fan activation began in the Luchamange Beds
at 42 +77 /−15 ka, terminating sometime after 29 +3 /−11
ka based on 26 Al/10 Be cosmogenic nucleotide ages (Mercader et al., 2012). The latter age is also associated with an
MSA archaeological site with numerous discoidal cores
and points, evidence of rare bipolar reduction, no documented blade cores or blades, and an apparent local raw
material procurement strategy (Mercader et al., 2012).
The so-called “Elephant Butchery Site” in northern
Malawi was discovered at Mwanganda’s Village by J.
Desmond Clark and C. Vance Haynes in 1965 (Clark
& Haynes, 1970; Clark et al., 1970). Excavations ensued in 1966 (Clark & Haynes, 1970; Clark et al., 1970),
and the site was later explored by Zefe Kaufulu (1983,
1990). Mwanganda’s Village is located approximately
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Figure 2 Regional DEM and excavated archaeological sites and scattered test pits in the Karonga region from the 2011 and 2012 field seasons.
10 m above the present-day level of Lake Malawi within
the catchment of the Rukuru River, which drains hundreds of kilometers to the west and south along the western wall of the Rift Valley escarpment (Figures 1 and
2). Previous geoarchaeological analyses of Mwanganda’s
Village provided evidence of hominin activities from the
contact between the Chiwondo and Chitimwe beds demarcated by a paleosol that formed on the margin of a
braided stream (Clark & Haynes, 1970; Kaufulu, 1990).
The majority of artifacts and the elephant fossils were recovered by Clark and Haynes (1970) from an excavated
area measuring approximately 11 × 12 m and named
“Area 1” (see also Clark et al., 1970). A trench connected
to a second large excavation approximately 5 m to the
south was named “Area 2,” from which a small number
of additional fossils were recovered (Figure 3).
A Rb/Sr age assayed on soil carbonate that overlies the
elephant yielded a minimum constraining age of ca. 300
ka associated with artifacts that were tentatively classified as Sangoan (Clark & Haynes, 1970; Kaufulu, 1990;
Clark, 1995). However, Rb-Sr ages on soil carbonate may
be spurious because of open system geochemistry and
potential of secondary exchange of carbonate (Bizzarro
et al., 2003). The primary focus of hominin activities was
described as occurring on a subtly elevated terrace adjacent to a stream with maximum flow rates of 80 cm/s
(Kaufulu, 1990). Some local fluvial reworking of artifacts
as a result of low-energy overbank flooding was interpreted from morphological data, but, overall, artifacts and
fossils recovered from archaeological excavations were
argued to have been located close to their primary depo-
Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 29 (2014) 98–120
Figure 3 Test units, dGPS-derived DEM and elevational profile of Mwanganda’s Village.
sitional context with little evidence for fluvial winnowing
or abrasions resulting from long-distance fluvial transport (Clark & Haynes, 1970; Clark et al., 1970; Kaufulu,
1990). Kaufulu’s (1983, 1990) description of the sedimentology of the site was based on a series of geological
trenches emplaced around the site and adjacent to Clark’s
“Area 1” (Table I). He reconstructed a main paleochannel
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Table I Comparative lithology of Kaufulu (1990) and Clark and Haynes (1970)
Lithology (Kaufulu, 1990)a
Designation
Stony soil
Light red sandstone with basal gravel
Unit 8
Unit 7
Dark brown muddy sandstone
Caliche
Pale grayish orange sandstone
Greenish/brownish gray sandy claystone
Unit 6
Unit 5
Unit 3
Unit 2
a
Lithology (Clark & Haynes, 1970)
Light brownish sand
Light red sand
Sandy pebble gravel
Dark brown sand
Caliche pebble gravel
Dark grayish brown sand
Greenish gray clayey sand
Greenish gray sandy clay
Designation
Qk
Qct2b
Qct2a
Qct1b
Qct1a
Qco1c
Qco1b
Qco1a
Units not observed to occur at the site but that occur in the region are not included.
flowing SE-NW that would have been responsible for minor fluvial reworking of the elephant fossils and artifacts.
In actuality, Kaufulu’s trenches were mistakenly placed
adjacent to Clark’s “Area 2,” which was approximately 9
m south of the closest elephant fossils. Additionally, the
stream he identified (Kaufulu, 1990) was oriented SWNE, not SE-NW, due to a misplaced north arrow (Thompson, Welling, & Gomani-Chindebvu, in press). Thus, the
paleochannel reconstruction cannot apply specifically to
the locus of the elephant skeleton.
METHODS AND TECHNIQUES
Archaeological Excavations
The fact that Mwanganda’s Village was designated as a
Sangoan elephant butchery site suggested to MEMSAP
researchers that the site had potential to shed light on
the transition to modern human behavior during the
earlier part of the MSA. The first full MEMSAP season
took place in July/August 2010 (Thompson, Mackay, &
Welling, 2011) with subsequent field seasons in 2011
and 2012 (Thompson, Mackay, & Welling, 2011; Thompson, Welling, & Gomani-Chindebvu, 2012). Three test
pits totaling 4 m2 were excavated in 2010, with all deposits sieved through 5-mm mesh and cultural materials piece-plotted where they were found in situ. In 2011,
13 geologic trenches approximately 1 × 2 m were excavated across the site to document the stratigraphy, and
these were not sieved. Optically stimulated luminescence
(OSL) samples were collected for analysis from two of
these trenches to constrain deposition on the site. In 2011
and 2012, three main areas were subjected to controlled
excavation by MEMSAP. These are differentiated from
the original Clark excavations by use of a roman numeral.
Area I refers to a 5 × 5 m block emplaced in the deposits
upslope and approximately 60 m to the south of the “Elephant Butchery Site,” Area II was a 2 × 3 m block approximately 3 m south of Clark’s own Area 2, and Area III was
a 4 × 6 m block in the intact deposits under and to the
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west of the backdirt from Kaufulu’s (1990) “Trench 1”
(Figure 3). A total of 59 m2 were removed as part of controlled excavations, which proceeded in natural layers.
All finds were piece-plotted and screened through 5-mm
mesh. An additional 5 m2 wet-sieved from Area I, 2 m2
from Area II, and all 24 m2 from Area III to recover lithic
microdebitage and fossil material. A detailed topographic
map was generated of the project area using a NikonC Cseries total station and AshtechC Promark Mobile Mapper
differential GPS with elevations based on a local elevation
beacon to provide true masl giving centimeter-scale precision topographic maps (Figure 3).
The Area I excavation revealed a lithic assemblage
buried under 1.5 m of overburden, which contained
modern pottery and bricks in the uppermost plough zone.
Rare faunal material and lithic tools were recovered close
to the modern ground surface from Areas II and III, closer
to the reported “Elephant Butchery Site.” These were
likely associated with the originally reported archaeological finds (Clark & Haynes, 1970).
Dating
Optically stimulated luminescence dating
The geochronology of the site relied primarily on OSL
dating of multiple aliquots of buried quartz grains using
the single aliquot regeneration (SAR) method. Recent
advances in OSL dating (e.g., Rittenour, 2008; Wintle,
2008) on carefully selected fluvial sediments, usually
low-energy deposits, can yield absolute ages for the past
ca. 100 ka (see also Sitzia et al., 2012). Dating of fluvial
sediments in Africa has been ongoing for over a decade
(Woodward, Macklin, & Welsby, 2001; Feathers, 2002;
Wright et al., 2007; Rittenour, 2008). In large drainage
systems, OSL is effective in reconstructing large-scale
changes in hydrology and geomorphology related to
continental-scale shifts in climate (e.g., Williams et al.,
2010), whereas in smaller catchments OSL has proven
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effective in identifying localized sources of groundwater
(Ashley et al., 2011).
Fourteen samples for OSL dating were taken from
nonpedogenically or mildly pedogenically modified sediments to specifically avoid bioturbation. Samples were
taken from a freshly cleaned surface using PVC or aluminum tubes 15 cm long and 2.5 cm in diameter driven
into the pit face with a rubber mallet. The OSL sampling was accompanied by the collection of associated
bulk samples for geochemical analysis. Optical ages are
reported in years prior to A.D. 2010.
SAR protocols (Murray & Wintle, 2003) were used
in this study to estimate the apparent equivalent dose
of the 150–250 μm quartz fraction for 24–30 separate
aliquots. Each aliquot contained approximately 100–500
quartz grains corresponding to a 1.5–2.0 mm circular diameter of grains adhered (with silicon) to a 1 cm diameter circular aluminum disc. The quartz fraction was isolated by density separations using the heavy liquid Na–
polytungstate, and a 40-minute immersion in HF (40%)
was applied to etch the outer ∼10 μm of grains, which
is affected by alpha radiation (Mejdahl & Christiansen,
1994). Quartz grains were rinsed finally in HCl (10%) to
remove any insoluble fluorides. The purity of the quartz
separates were evaluated by petrographic inspection and
point counting of representative aliquots; this procedure
was repeated if samples contained >1% of nonquartz
minerals. The purity of quartz separates was tested by
exposing aliquots to infrared excitation (845 ± 4 nm),
which preferentially excites feldspar minerals. Samples
measured showed weak emissions (<200 counts/s), at or
close to background counts with infrared excitation, and
ratio of emissions from blue to infrared excitation of >20,
indicating a spectrally pure quartz extract (Duller, BøtterJensen, & Murray, 2003).
A series of experiments was performed to evaluate the
effect of preheating at 200, 220, 240, and 260◦ C for isolating the time-sensitive emissions and assessing thermal
transfer of the regenerative signal prior to the application
of SAR protocols (see Murray & Wintle, 2003). These experiments entailed giving a known dose (20 Gy) and evaluating which preheat resulted in recovery of this dose.
There was concordance with the known dose (20 Gy) for
preheat temperatures above 220◦ C with an initial preheat
temperature used of 240◦ C for 10 seconds in the SAR
protocols. A “cut heat” at 240◦ C for 10 seconds was applied prior to the measurement of the test dose and a final
heating at 280◦ C for 40 seconds was applied to minimize
carry-over of luminescence to the succession of regenerative doses (Table II). A test for dose reproducibility was
also performed following procedures of Murray and Wintle (2003) with the initial and final regenerative dose of
Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 29 (2014) 98–120
Table II Single aliquot regeneration protocols
Step
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Treatment
Natural dose or give beta dose
Preheat 240◦ C for 10 seconds
Stimulate with blue light (470 nm) for 40 seconds at 125o C
Give beta test dose (6.6 gray)
Preheat 240◦ C for 10 seconds
Stimulate with blue light (470 nm) for 40 seconds at 125o C
Stimulate with blue light for 40 seconds at 280o C
Return to step 1
∼16 Gy yielding concordant luminescence responses (at
1-σ error).
Typical OSL shine-down curves for 150–250 μm quartz
grains are shown in Figure 4. The curve shapes show
that OSL signal is probably dominated by a fast component, with the OSL emission decreasing by 90–95% during the first 4 seconds of stimulation. The regenerative
growth curves are modeled by using the exponential plus
linear form. For many aliquots the regenerative growth
curves (Figure 4) show that (1) the recuperation is close
to zero, (2) the recycling ratio is consistent with unity at
1-σ , and (3) the natural Lx /Tx ratio is well below 20% of
the saturated level. The few aliquots removed were because of unacceptable recycling ratio and De values at or
close to saturation with errors of >10%. Error analysis for
equivalent dose calculations assumed a measurement error of 1% and Monte Carlo simulation repeats of 2000.
Recuperation is lower than 2% for all samples, which
indicates insignificant charge transfer during the measurements. These favorable luminescence characteristics
for a majority of aliquots indicate that credible equivalent
dose values for these sediments can be determined by the
SAR protocol.
The SAR protocols yielded individual OSL ages by averaging 24–30 separate, equivalent doses from respective aliquots of quartz grains (Murray & Wintle, 2003).
Equivalent dose distributions were usually log normal
and the scatter in the data is quantified with overdispersion values (Figure 4). An overdispersion percentage of
a De distribution is an estimate of the relative standard
deviation from a central De value in context of a statistical estimate of errors (Galbraith et al., 1999; Galbraith
& Roberts, 2012). A zero overdispersion percentage indicates high internal consistency in De values with 95%
of the De values within 2-σ errors. Overdispersion values
≤20% are routinely assessed for quartz grains that are
thoroughly reset during exposure to solar rays, like eolian
sands (e.g., Olley, Pietsch, & Roberts, 2004; Wright et al.,
2011) and this value is considered a threshold metric for
calculation of a De value using the central age model of
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Figure 4 Representative regenerative dose growth curves, with inset representative natural shine down curve, and radial plots of equivalent dose values
on small aliquots (2-mm plate of 150–250 μm quartz fraction grains).
Galbraith et al. (1999). Overdispersion values >20%
may indicate mixing of grains of various ages or partial solar resetting of grains; the minimum age model
(three parameters) may be an appropriate statistical
treatment for such data and effectively weights for
the youngest De distribution. However, some studies
have concluded that overdispersion values between 20%
and 32% may reflect a single De population, particularly if the De distribution is symmetrical, with the
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dispersion related to variability associated with microdosimetry and/or sedimentary processes (e.g., Arnold &
Roberts, 2009). Four of the twelve samples (LM2011-03,
LM2011-08, LM2011-09, and LM2011-11) have overdispersion values that are >20% (at 2-σ errors) with negatively skewed distributions, thus the minimum age
model is most appropriate for estimating an equivalent dose (Galbraith et al., 1999; Galbraith & Roberts,
2012).
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Multiple aliquot regenerative dose protocols, similar to
those used in Londoño et al. (2012) were employed on
two samples (UIC3091 and UIC3091) to test the accuracy of the SAR-based ages. The Multiple Aliquot Regeneration (MAR) analyses are predicated on different assumptions than SAR with resetting of naturals under UV
light for 2 days prior to regenerative dosing. In turn, each
aliquot is used for a single measurement, rather than a series with SAR, which necessitates just one sensitivity correction. The MAR equivalent doses overlap with the corresponding SAR values, which yields greater confidence
in the rendered equivalent doses.
The environmental dose rate is a critical measurement
for calculating a luminescence age. The dose rate is an
estimate of the exposure of quartz grains to ionizing radiation from the decay of the U and Th series, 40 K, and
cosmic sources during the burial period. The U, Th, and
K concentrations are determined by inductively coupled
plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) by Activation Laboratory LTD, Ontario, Canada. The beta and gamma doses
were adjusted according to grain diameter to compensate
for mass attenuation for the dose rate (Fain et al., 1999).
Beta and gamma attenuation coefficients for 150–250 μm
are 0.876 and 0.999, respectively. The U, Th, and K2 O
content was determined for the bulk sediment to calculate the dose rate. A cosmic ray component, taking into
account location, elevation, and depth of strata sampled
is between 0.17 and 0.20 mGy/yr and is included in the
estimated dose rate (Prescott & Hutton, 1994). There is
uncertainty in assessing the moisture content of a sample during burial. We estimated moisture contents from
present values, particle size characteristics, and in reference to the water table.
In the absence of gamma spectrometry, it is unknown
if there is disequilibrium in the U and Th decay series. A
number of samples have relatively high Th values (10–25
ppm) with Th to U ratios that exceed 6, which suggests
a granitic source (Van Schmus, 1995), though digenetic
processes cannot be dismissed for these elevated ratios.
Uranium-thorium dating
Uranium-thorium (U-Th) ages were obtained from three
fragments of fossil elephant tusk recovered by Clark
and Haynes (1970). These samples were loaned from
the Stone Age Institute at the University of IndianaBloomington to the University of Queensland (UQ). UTh dating was conducted at the Radiogenic Isotope Facility at UQ. Analysis was performed using a multi-collector
inductively-coupled mass spectrometer (MC-ICPMS) following procedures described in Zhou et al. (2011) and
Roff et al. (2013).
Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 29 (2014) 98–120
U-Th dating is a radiometric dating technique commonly used to determine the age of carbonate materials from sources such as speleothems and corals. The UTh dating method is based on the decay of 238 U (with a
half-life T1/2 = 4.469 × 109 years) to stable 206 Pb via intermediate daughters such as 234 U (T1/2 ∼ 245,000 years)
and 230 Th (T1/2 ∼ 75,400 years). In this decay series, 238 U234
U-230 Th disequilibrium occurs when U is differentiated
from Th during a particular geological or environmental event or process. In the case of natural aqueous systems, for example, in which U is slightly soluble, but Th is
highly insoluble, carbonate precipitated from the aqueous
system will contain trace amounts of U (usually 0.01–100
ppm), but virtually no Th, leading to excess U in the decay chain (i.e., 238 U and 234 U activities >> 230 Th activity).
Once disequilibrium is established, it takes about seven
times the half-life of 230 Th (∼500 ka) for the system to
return to near secular equilibrium (i.e., when the activities of the parent and daughter nuclides are equal), or to
the level where the degree of disequilibrium is below the
limit of detection by thermal ionization mass spectrometry or MC-ICPMS.
Unlike speleothems or corals, teeth and bones of living
animals contain very little U. Instead, U is taken up from
the environment during fossilization processes. Thus, the
U-Th date of a fossil tooth or ivory sample records the
mean age of the fossilization process or U uptake history.
In ideal cases, U uptake may reach saturation level during
the early stage of the fossilization process (early uptake
mode). In this case, the U-Th date would approximate
the deposition age of the fossil material. In most other
cases, U uptake modes might be more complex. The U-Th
dates of the fossil are variable but theoretically younger
than the deposition age of the fossil material. U-Th dates
of the fossil may become apparently too old if extensive
U loss through leaching occurred (Pike, Hedges, & Van
Calsteren, 2002). However, extensive U loss, sufficient
to make the apparent U-Th date older than the true age
of the fossil, is usually extremely rare. In most cases, as
demonstrated in numerous previous studies (e.g., Zhao
et al., 2001; Grün et al., 2010; Price et al., 2011, 2013),
the ages returned by the U-Th method provide minimum
dates for the fossilization of the bone or molar fragments.
Stone Artifact and Faunal Analysis
A sample of 2363 stone artifacts and specimens of fossil bone have been studied from the MEMSAP excavations. Attempts have been made to locate the curation site of the elephant remains described by Clark
and Haynes (1970: 393) both in Malawi and in known
places to which materials were exported in the 1960s, but
these have proven largely unsuccessful. The Stone Age
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Institute in Bloomington, Illinois currently houses the
majority of the stone artifacts originally recovered and reported by Clark and Haynes (1970), but only has a small
collection of fossils (N = 156) most likely representing
the fragments found underlying the elephant femur and
a small number of fossils from Clark’s Area 2 (Clark &
Haynes, 1970).
Analytic techniques for stone artifacts at Mwanganda’s
Village followed those previously employed during work
at the nearby Airport Site (Thompson et al., 2012). All
plotted and sieve-recovered artifacts were analyzed. The
analytical focus was on the metric attributes of artifacts,
indicators of manufacturing systems, extent of reduction,
and indicators of rock source. Metric data included measures of artifact weight, length, width, and thickness. For
flakes, platform dimensions were also recorded. Indicators of manufacturing systems included evidence of laminar, disc/discoidal, and Levallois reduction techniques
from dorsal and platform scar patterning. Extent of reduction was assessed using artifact size and percentage
of cortex coverage, the latter being of particular in interest in this case given potential sourcing of toolstone
from local gravels. Indicators of rock source included rock
type and cortex types, variance in the latter being taken
to identify secondary (e.g., cobble) or primary (e.g., outcrop) sources.
An additional component of the analysis concerns
evidence for postdepositional fluvial reworking on
artifacts—important given the particular interest in site
formation at Mwanganda’s Village. Artifact fluvial reworking was assessed mainly through edge rounding.
Four classes of edge rounding were used: 0, no edge
rounding; 1, rounding discernable by touch but not visually obvious; 2, visually obvious rounding that may obscure some artifact features; and 3, a rock that could still
be identified as having been an artifact but which was
now so heavily abraded as to be little more than a fluvial
clast.
Although small, the sample of fauna from the Stone
Age Institute was the largest available sample of fossil fauna from the site. It was examined for taxonomic
and taphonomic attributes that could provide information about site formation at the “Elephant Butchery Site”
itself, as no faunal remains were recovered from MEMSAP’s Area I. Each bone surface was examined under a
10–40× binocular zoom microscope with bright incident
light shining obliquely across the surface. In this way evidence of smoothing or polishing was identified that might
indicate fluvial transport or abrasion. Each specimen was
also examined for potential human modification (such
as cut marks) or carnivore modification (such as tooth
marks).
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WRIGHT ET AL.
RESULTS
Geologic Evolution of Mwanganda’s Village
There are four primary sedimentary facies found at
Mwanganda’s Village (Figure 5), which correspond with
four phases of deposition (Figure 6). Complete descriptions of the sedimentology and pedology of the excavation units are provided in the Supporting Information
Table S1.
The basal, nonarchaeological deposits are composed of
weakly bedded silty clay within a well-developed paleosol with strong redoximorphic features (Unit 1). These
deposits broadly correspond to descriptions of “Chiwondo
Beds” or Qco1 made by Clark and Haynes’ (1970; see also
Table I and Kaufulu, 1990), although there is no direct
evidence to suggest that these actually are Pliocene lake
deposits. Instead, Unit 1 is consistent with slackwater or
wetland sediments and is a localized phenomenon rather
than a regionally distributed bed.
The second depositional unit identified at Mwanganda’s Village is characterized by coarse sands and gravels with unconformities associated with cut-and-fill deposition separated by argillic and calcic paleosols. These
deposits were interpreted by Clark and Haynes (1970)
and Kaufulu (1990) as braided stream deposits, which
eroded into parts of the underlying strata (Table I). Kaufulu (1990) inferred that gentle overbank sedimentation
provided a riparian habitat in which prehistoric people
butchered an elephant, with some minimal postdepositional movement of the remains. However, our analysis
(based on differential Global Positioning System (dGPS)
and OSL reconstruction of the site) shows that the site
deposition was not as uniform as previously reported.
Stream formation and overbank sedimentation was successive and involved multiple cut-and-fill episodes that
punctuated periods of argillic carbonate soil (Btk) formation. “Soils on soils” (Bhkm) are identified in Area III,
Unit 2 associated with episodic fluvial aggradation with
different types of sediments (occurring in different environmental conditions) followed by a period of landform stability (Figure 5). Each channel formation episode
eroded the upper portion of the calcic soil and cut at least
one terrace into the site. Hiatuses in fluvial deposition
likely occurred during arid conditions based on Stage 2
carbonate formation and the accretion of well-developed
illuvial lenses of clays (argillans) within the soils. The period of time that it took to form these soils is uncertain,
but was likely on the order of 100s to 1000s of years.
U-Th analysis of three elephant tusk samples from these
deposits returned apparent dates of 228.7 ±2.7, 254.3 ±
4.1, and 282.3 ± 2.4 ka (Table III). We argue that 282
ka represents the minimum age of the fossilization of
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WRIGHT ET AL.
Figure 5 Sedimentology and pedology of Mwanganda’s Village from the 2011 and 2012 field seasons.
the elephant remains (Price et al., 2013). An OSL sample analyzed from the correlated paleosol yielded an age
of 23,613 ± 1900 years (UIC2858) suggesting that the
elephant remains were entrained in a lag deposit, only
coincidentally and are not functionally related to the archaeological artifacts found on the site.
The third depositional unit recorded at the site consists of poorly sorted coarse sands and gravels within a
strongly redoximorphic environment, which fine upward
to a massive, well-sorted fine sand capped by a very weak
epipedon. This deposit can be correlated with the broader
regional emplacement of Chitimwe Beds across northern Malawi. Chitimwe Beds are broadly defined as Pleistocene alluvial fan deposits that occurred concomitant
to rotational faulting and uplift (Ring & Betzler, 1995).
This likely catalyzed erosion of red sandstones within the
Table III U-Th ages from elephant tusk at Mwanganda’s Village, Malawi
Lab Sample Name
Date and Time
U (ppm)
±2 seconds
JT-1 #13
JT-2 #14
JT-3 #15
Lab Sample Name
JT-1 #13
JT-2 #14
JT-3 #15
September 7, 2010 at 21:21
September 7, 2010 at 22:39
September 7, 2010 at 23:18
±2 seconds
39.13
3.88
16.49
2.8027
2.6222
5.2161
(230 Th/238 U)
1.0149
1.0640
1.1066
Corr. 230
Corr. 230
228.7
254.3
282.3
0.0009
0.0006
0.0019
±2 seconds
0.0036
0.0044
0.0019
Lab Sample Name
JT-1 #13
JT-2 #14
JT-3 #15
(230 Th/232 Th)
3539.31
753.21
3337.67
Uncorr. 230
Th Age (ka)
228.7
254.4
282.3
±2 seconds
2.7
4.1
2.4
Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 29 (2014) 98–120
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Copyright ±2 seconds
2.7
4.1
2.4
232
Th (ppb)
2.43
11.22
5.24
(234 U/238 U)
1.1248
1.1394
1.1511
Corr. Initial (234
U/238 U)
1.2382
1.2863
1.3356
±2 seconds
0.025
0.034
0.024
±2 seconds
0.0011
0.0013
0.0010
±2 seconds
0.0023
0.0035
0.0022
107
108
UIC2854
UIC2857
UIC2856
UIC2858
UIC3097
UIC3095
UIC3120
UIC3098
UIC3098mg
UIC3119
UIC3092
UIC3091
UIC3091mg
UIC3134
S683
S684
S685
S1865
LM2011–02
LM2011–03
LM2011–06
LM2011–07
LM2011–07
LM2011–08
LM2011–09
LM2011–10
LM2011–10
LM2011–11
29/30
24/30
27/30
25/30
30/30
30/30
30/30
28/40
28/30
26/30
30/30
30/30
Aliquots
37.99
48.58
82.70
59.09
3.22
15.80
7.74
14.81
14.09
4.89
32.82
42.93
38.30
0.31
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
2.31
2.50
4.19
3.53
0.20
0.79
0.47
0.61
0.71
0.17
2.84
2.52
2.30
0.02
Equivalent
Dose (Gray)a
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
3.4
2.6
2.8
3.9
4.0
4.8
4.0
1.5
59.0 ± 7.8
39.2 ± 5.7
37.7 ± 5.2
23.7 ± 3.5
25.2
19.7
21.4
24.4
27.1
34.6
27.3
11.0
Overdispersion (%)b
1.4
1.6
1.8
1.5
1.6
1.1
1.5
1.3
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.4
1.4
3.6
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
U (ppm)c
9.4
9.6
9.6
11.4
13.2
9.6
8.8
7.6
7.6
10.2
13.0
11.0
11.0
21.4
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
±
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
Th (ppm)c
1.41 ± 0.02
1.54 ± 0.02
1.39 ± 0.02
1.51 ± 0.02
1.51 ± 0.02
1.39 ± 0.02
1.85 ± 0.02
1.64 ± 0.02
1.64 ± 0.02
1.51 ± 0.02
1.60 ± 0.02
1.57 ± 0.02
1.57 ± 0.02
2.30 ± 0.02
K (%)c
5±2
20 ± 5
30 ± 5
10 ± 3
10 ± 3
25 ± 5
5±2
7±2
7±2
5±2
5±2
5±2
5±2
5±2
H2 O (%)
0.20 ± 0.02
0.18 ± 0.02
0.17 ± 0.02
0.15 ± 0.02
0.20 ± 0.02
0.20 ± 0.02
0.20 ± 0.02
0.18 ± 0.02
0.18 ± 0.02
0.21 ± 0.02
0.20 ± 0.02
0.20 ± 0.02
0.20 ± 0.02
0.20 ± 0.02
Cosmic Dose
(mGray/yr)d
2.43 ± 0.12
2.20 ± 0.11
1.94 ± 0.10
3.97 ± 0.20
2.69 ± 0.13
2.23 ± 0.11
2.80 ± 0.14
2.42 ± 0.12
2.42 ± 0.12
2.62 ± 0.13
2.88 ± 0.14
2.69 ± 0.13
2.69 ± 0.13
4.59 ± 0.22
Dose Rate
(mGray/yr)
b
a
One hundred fifty to 250 μm quartz fraction (2 mm plate area) analyzed under blue-light excitation (470 ± 20 nm) by single aliquot regeneration protocol (Murray & Wintle, 2003).
Values reflect precision beyond instrumental errors; values of ≤20% indicate low spread in equivalent dose values with a unimodal distribution.
c
U, Th, and K2 O content analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analyzed by Activation Laboratory LTD, Ontario, Canada.
d
From Prescott and Hutton (1994).
e
Ages calculated using the central age model of Galbraith et al. (1999).
f
Ages calculated using the minimum age model of Galbraith et al. (1999) because of elevated overdispersion values (>20%).
g
Equivalent dose determined by multiple aliquot regeneration protocols (Jain et al., 2003).
All errors are at 1-σ and ages from the reference year A.D. 2010.
Laboratory
Number
Sample
Table IV Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages on quartz grains from Karonga District, Malawi
15,610 ± 1280
22,065 ± 1920
42,550 ± 3550
23,610 ± 1900
1195 ± 100
7065 ± 550f
2760 ± 230
6130 ± 435
5820 ± 390
1865 ± 120f
11,380 ± 1165f
15,955 ± 1285
14,245 ± 820
65 ± 5f
OSL Age (yr)e
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WRIGHT ET AL.
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WRIGHT ET AL.
Figure 6 (A) Aggradational profile of Mwanganda’s Village showing depositional units and terraces; (B) generalized aggradational profile of the Karonga
region; (C) generalized time-staggered model of landscape change in the Karonga region (see also Betzler & Ring, 1995; Ring & Betzler, 1995).
Dinosaur Beds, which exist as remnants in the plateau
foothills ca. 25 km west of the project area. Deposition
of the Chitimwe Beds was not a single event, but rather
a series of events with different geologic sources, which
is attested by the extremely variable nature of the sediments across the region. At Mwanganda’s Village, basal
Chitimwe Bed emplacement occurred ca. 42,550 ± 3550
years (UIC2856; Table IV), which is statistically coeval to
the OSL age assayed from Unit 2 from Area III. In Area I
of the site, the Chitimwe Beds unconformably overlie depositional Unit 1 and appear to have buried the paleosols
in a relatively undisturbed state. MnO and Fe2 O3 staining
of the sediments in the lower 25 cm of the unit is likely
a function of the creation of an aquatard in the argillic
horizon that subaerially weathered the sediments in situ.
An OSL age assayed from GT9 constrains alluvial fan deposition as ceasing after 2760 ± 230 years (UIC3120).
Following the deposition of the youngest sediments at
the site, a final geomorphic phase occurred marked by a
period of fluvial incision and terrace formation. Four ter-
Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 29 (2014) 98–120
races were documented within Mwanganda’s Village and
the northwestern edge of the project area was defined
as Chirambiru Creek (Figure 3). Thin lenses of alluvium
were deposited as the stream downcut. The incision event
has exposed paleosols across the sites, and the water table
dropped significantly from the periods when redoximorphic features formed. The Area I excavation by MEMSAP
was located on Terrace 3 and Areas II and III (and the
“Elephant Butchery Site”) were located on Terrace 2.
STONE ARTIFACT ANALYSIS
A sample of 2363 flaked stone artifacts were analyzed
from the three excavation areas at Mwanganda’s Village.
The assemblage analyzed to date from 2 m2 (of the total 24 m2 ) at Area III is small and heavily reworked, with
half of the 12 artifacts showing class 2 edge rounding (the
other half show no rounding). Of the flakes with intact
platforms, five have dihedral or faceted platforms suggestive of MSA affinity. Two flakes exhibited centripetal
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dorsal scar patterning. None of the artifacts in the assemblage could be classified as characteristic Sangoan
implements, such as picks, core axes, or core scrapers (Clark & Haynes, 1970; McBrearty, 1988; Tryon &
McBrearty, 2002); bifacial tools were generally absent
from the Mwanganda’s Village assemblages.
Area II produced a considerably larger and more diverse assemblage (n = 278). The assemblage includes
flakes (78.1%, n = 224), retouched flakes (2.2%, n =
6), and cores (2.9%, n = 8), along with other flaking
debris. Slightly over half (50.7%) of the Area II artifacts
exhibited cortex, with cobble cortex being the only type
present, consistent with sourcing of toolstone from local
gravels. As with Area III, the evidence from edge rounding suggests considerable fluvial reworking in the assemblage. Only ∼40% of the 278 artifacts show no evidence
of abrasion, with class 1 (21.6%), class 2 (21.2%), and
class 3 (14.5%) edge rounding all well represented.
Quartzite is the dominant material within the total assemblage (54.7%) followed by quartz (39.2%) and crystal
quartz (5.8%). With the quartz values combined, these
numbers are very similar to those in the Clark and Haynes
sample. The frequency of edge rounding does not discriminate the two main rock types. Unrounded pieces
accounted for 38.8% of quartzite artifacts and 42.2% of
quartz artifacts. Heavily rounded pieces (classes 2 and 3)
accounted for 40.1% and 33.9% of quartzite and quartz
pieces, respectively. Quartz crystal artifacts have considerably lower rates of edge rounding, with 68.8% unrounded.
Flaking patterns weakly attest to the use of discoidal
and Levallois methods at the site (Figure 7), though most
flakes appear to be at a relatively early stage of reduction as reflected in the high proportion of cortex noted
above. There was no evidence of laminar working in the
examined samples. However, there are clear differences
in the proportions of platform types in our assemblage
compared to the Clark and Haynes sample. Of the 49
complete flakes we recovered from Area II, 24.5% (n =
12) had cortical platforms, 34.7% (n = 17) had simple
platforms (e.g., single scar, no cortex), and 10.2% (n =
5) had multiple facets. In the Clark and Haynes (1970)
sample of 80 flakes, 59% had cortical platforms, 32.4%
had simple platforms (subsuming both plain and single
faceted in the classification published in Clark & Haynes,
1970), and none exhibited multiple facets.
The small core assemblage includes two pieces with
scar removals to alternating surfaces around a portion of a
worked margin. These may have been early stages in the
reduction of discoidal cores though notably in both cases
the selected packages were small quartz crystal pebbles.
Two other more typically discoidal cores also occur and
these show some hierarchical arrangement of volumes
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WRIGHT ET AL.
with scarring patterns unevenly distributed between surfaces. Cortex is in both cases restricted to a single surface, though in one instance flakes were removed from
both surfaces while in the other the cortical surface was
entirely unworked (Figure 7). This latter piece may conceivably have been classed by Clark and Haynes (1970:
Figure 28) as a core axe. The retouched flakes in the assemblage show only minor and generally unstructured
marginal flaking; no morphologically regular types were
recorded.
The assemblage from Area I is considerably different
in composition and degree of fluvial reworking from the
Area II and Area III assemblages. The analyzed sample
comprises 2073 pieces, and shows similar proportions
of quartzite (59.1%), quartz (32.6%), and quartz crystal (7.2%) to Area II. Unlike Areas II and III, however,
rounding only occurs on 12.8% of pieces, and heavy
rounding (classes 2 and 3) on only 4.2%. That the assemblage is not substantially reworked is supported by
conjoin analysis; 61 conjoin sets were identified comprising 161 artifacts, which refit to at least one other artifact
or fragment thereof.
The artifacts recovered from Area I include flakes
(72%), retouched flakes (2%), and cores (4.5%), as well
as other flaking debris. Formal tools are extremely rare,
a single scraper and a single denticulate being the only
types identified. Cortex is common, occurring on 53.9%
of pieces. This value is as high as 73% if restricted to complete flakes. With a single exception, cortex was of cobble/pebble form. Again, it seems probable that the materials for artifact manufacture were sourced from locally
available gravels.
Like Areas II and III, the Area I assemblage included
MSA markers such as discoidal and Levallois flakes and
cores (Figure 7). Though fairly large (200–900 g) discoidal
cores are present in the sample, the cores from Area I
were generally quite small. The smallest core in the assemblage had a weight of 2.3 g. The Area I sample included 16 cores characterized by the centripetal reduction
of a single surface of a small crystal quartz pebble from a
cortical platform (Figure 7). Though this was the single
most common core type at Area I, it was not observed in
the other assemblages. Its abundance at Area I may account for the elevated proportions of cortical platforms in
the flake assemblage, which at 46.5% (n = 180, complete
flakes only) is roughly double the proportion at Area II.
The proportion of simple platforms (18.6%) at Area I is
approximately half that at Area II.
Bipolar and laminar reduction are also represented at
Area I but neither constitutes a significant assemblage
component. In spite of the small size of the cores, only
two (2.1%) were worked using bipolar techniques. Indeed, the small size of cores is likely a reflection of the
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WRIGHT ET AL.
Figure 7 Artifacts from MEMSAP excavations at Mwanganda’s Village:(A) unifacially and (B) bifacially worked cobble cores, Area II; (C) Levallois and (D)
discoid flakes, Area II; flakes with (E) class 2 and (F) class 3 edge rounding; (G–J) pebble cores with unifacial centripetal working, Area I; (K) pebble and (L)
cobble cores with minor working of the cortical surface in addition to centripetal working of the exploitation surface, Area I; (M) discoidal core, Area I;
cobble cores with (N) unifacial and (O) bifacial working of one margin, Area I. All artifacts are shown at the same scale; scale bars = 10 mm increments.
size of the pebbles selected. Nine of the 10 smallest cores
in the sample had cortex coverage of 40% or greater,
and more than 92% of all complete cores retained some
cortex.
Clark and Haynes (1970: 394) report that 99% of the
stone tools from their Area 1 excavation were unabraded,
although they also report, “Signs of utilization are very
extensive in the form of minute scarring of the edges,
crushing, and rubbing” (Clark & Haynes, 1970: 395).
Macroscopic signs of tool use were very infrequently observed in the MEMSAP sample. Edge damage (percussive
damage as opposed to edge rounding and excluding excavation damage) was noted in 13 cases, all of which occurred in the Area I sample. There are, consequently, few
consistencies between our samples from Areas I, II, and
III and those recovered from Clark and Haynes’s (1970)
“Elephant Butchery Site” (see also Clark et al., 1970). The
only clearly in situ occurrence at Area I was not recovered
from the same terrace as the “Elephant Butchery Site”
and has ages and a composition that mark it as late MSA,
not Sangoan. Area III may have contained more robust
Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 29 (2014) 98–120
evidence of Sangoan tools given a larger sample. However, this would not explain the high rate of fluvial reworking in our recovered assemblage. The Area II assemblage exhibits a few potentially Sangoan tools, however
the high fluvial reworking rates and the low proportion
of cortical platforms render this assemblage an unlikely
match for the Clark and Haynes sample.
FAUNAL ANALYSIS
Reanalysis of the fossils from Clark and Haynes’ (1970)
excavations hosted at Stone Age Institute identified one
fragment to be a turtle carapace fragment from the family
Pelomedusidae and another was a partial catfish frontal
from the genus Clarias. Most of the remaining fragments
come from a very large animal, suggesting they were part
of the original elephant skeleton reported from the site
(Clark & Haynes, 1970). Of the 156 specimens in the total collection, 108 (or 69.2%) displayed some evidence of
smoothing. The fluvial context of the sediments makes
waterborne abrasive particles the most parsimonious
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candidates for the cause of the smoothing. Of the fragments remaining at the Institute only 11/135 (8.1%)
were less than 2 cm in the maximum dimension, which is
in general agreement with the sizes of the stone artifacts
and also suggests fluvial size winnowing (Schick, 1992;
Pante & Blumenschine, 2010; Sitzia et al., 2012).
In spite of extensive smoothing, many of the bones still
preserve clear evidence of carnivore activity (and no evidence of hominin butchery). A total of 13% (n = 13) of
the fossils from Clark’s Area 1 and 14.7% (n = 5) from
Clark’s Area 2 preserve tooth marks. Most have morphology that involves deep punctures rather than furrows and scores, and several are ovate in shape. In some
cases the pits are bisected, possibly produced by the bicarinated teeth of crocodiles rather than mammalian carnivores (Baquedano, Domı́nguez-Rodrigo, & Musiba, 2012;
Njau & Blumenschine, 2012).
DISCUSSION
Archaeological Habitation of Mwanganda’s
Village
Archaeological occupation of Mwanganda’s Village was
punctuated, but repeated during the Pleistocene and
Holocene. The aggradational sediment sequence from
MEMSAP Areas II and III of the site contain MSA artifacts
both in situ and in secondary context, along with the remains of turtle, catfish, and elephant faunal remains with
a minimum constraining age of fossilization of 282.3 ±
2.4 ka (Table III). However, these remains are entrained
in sediments that were last exposed to light 23,613 ±
1900 years. Thus, the archaeological and geologic evidence indicate that the area from which the elephant
was derived was a depositional context more closely resembling a channel-lag deposit rather than a channel-fill
deposit (sensu Behrensmeyer, 1988). The presence of a
partial elephant skeleton with few other identified vertebrates in association suggests some degree of spatial integrity, but the amount of abrasion, presence of aquatic
fauna in nearby Area 2 (Clark & Haynes, 1970; Clark
et al., 1970), modification suggestive of crocodile activity, and the fragment size distribution indicates that the
fossil assemblage contains allochthonous elements transported by water and not butchered by people. Thus, there
is no current evidence to support the original interpretation of the site as a Sangoan elephant butchery site (Clark
& Haynes, 1970; Clark et al., 1970; Kaufulu, 1990).
A later Pleistocene occupation on T-3 of the site is
interpreted as having intact, in situ artifactual deposits
and a range of lithic reduction strategies were undertaken within a riparian setting. Diagnostic MSA artifacts
are present at MEMSAP Area I from 42,550 ± 3550
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WRIGHT ET AL.
years (UIC2856) and are stratified through to 22,065 ±
1920 years (UIC2857) with a resumption in occupations occurring by the Iron Working period (>2760 ±
230 years, UIC3120) and continuing through the present
day (Table IV). The relatively late age for MSA technology at Mwanganda’s Village is consistent with data
from most sites in southern and eastern Africa but differs from recent arguments for an MSA/LSA transition
before 49 ka at Mumba in eastern Africa (Eren, DiezMartin, & Dominguez-Rodrigo, 2013). That said, the late
MSA at Mwanganda’s Village appears compositionally
different from comparably aged assemblages on the other
side of Lake Malawi at Mvumu and Ngalue Cave (Mercader et al., 2012). Those assemblages are overwhelmingly quartz dominant (∼95% at Mvumu vs. ∼40% at
Mwanganda’s Village Area I) and contain numerous unifacially and bifacially worked flake tools such as scrapers
and awls that are effectively absent at Area I. Mercader
et al. (2012) report that retouch occurs on 10% of the
Mvumu assemblage; at Area I the value is 1.8%. More
strikingly, formal tools account for 11% of the Mvumu
assemblage whereas the value is two orders of magnitude lower at >0.1% in the Mwanganda’s Village Area
I sample. While classificatory differences might conceivably drive some portion of the typological variability it
seems unlikely to account for all of it and would not explain the discrepancy in retouched flake proportions.
Similarly the most common mode of reduction at Area
I, which features unifacial centripetral reduction of small
crystal quartz pebbles, is not described in the published
samples from Niassa (Mercader et al., 2012). While there
is no doubt that the size of the quartz crystal pebbles selected influenced the reduction system used, raw materials of sizes up to and exceeding 10 cm diameter were also
available in the gravels at Area I and adjacent drainageways. Therefore, preferential selection of small quartz
crystal pebbles was a choice not dictated by geological
constraints. Overall, while the Mozambican assemblages
and those described here share similarities—notably the
persistence of MSA technologies and the paucity of bipolar reduction—the differences at this stage seem considerable despite the fact that the radiometric ages for the
occupations of the sites overlap at 1-σ (Mercader et al.,
2012).
All phases of occupation at Mwanganda’s Village
include artifacts that are likely to have been discarded
either at or near the point of manufacture. This inference
is based on the presence of local cobble/pebble beds and
the high prevalence of cortex in assemblages recovered
from our excavation areas. To that extent the richness of
the area with respect to archaeological material is likely
in part a reflection of persistent if perhaps opportunistic
use of locally abundant sources of flakeable rock in the
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WRIGHT ET AL.
form of gravel beds. These beds would have produced
a reliable source of toolstone that would have acted to
minimize pressures on curation of transported artifact
material, particularly for foragers moving along or in
proximity to small watercourses as a means of exploiting
riparian resources. That these cobble sources are widely
distributed in the Karonga area may go some way to
explaining the surface and subsurface richness of the
region’s Pleistocene archaeological landscape.
A surface collection of Kisii pottery indicates habitation
in historical times. This occupation of agriculturalists appears to have been concentrated on T-3, and postdated
the onset of fluvial incision. It is impossible to estimate
the distance of the water source to the historical occupation, but pot irrigation and water extraction for consumption would have been manageable even from its present
distance from the locus of historical residence (∼150 m).
The ability to store water in vessels and cultivate cassava (Manihot esculenta) for off-season consumption is a
cultural practice that extends to the present day. Mwanganda’s Village is currently settled and under cultivation
by Ngonde and Tumbuka-speaking people with deep cultural connections to the land.
Environmental Context of Occupations at
Mwanganda’s Village
Basal wetland and soil formation detected from Unit 1
of Areas I and III do not conform sensu stricto to Pliocene
Chiwondo Beds as described by Betzler and Ring (1995),
but appear to be part of a broader pluvial period preceding Chitimwe Fan activation. There are no archaeological
artifacts entrained in these sediments, nor has OSL dating
been successful in determining an age due to saturation
of luminescence traps within the assayed quartz minerals. This phase of site deposition was likely occurring prior
to the activation of fault-induced and/or climatically induced alluvial fans, and the landscape was more geologically stable and more topographically regular than during
the Late Pleistocene (Ebinger et al., 1989).
There is an erosional unconformity at the site, which
compromises the archaeological record until ca. 40 ka,
when the emplacement of Chitimwe alluvial fan deposits
occur within a landscape of braided streams (Kaufulu,
1990). Initial formation of Chitimwe Beds at Mwanganda’s Village are in close chronological agreement with
the formation of depositionally analogous Luchamange
Beds on the east side of the basin (Mercader et al., 2012).
Mwanganda’s Village hosts high-energy channel deposits
with 2–5 cm rounded to subrounded cobbles as well as
lower energy channel deposits composed of sandy clay
loam. The diatom assemblage from the Lake Malawi sediment core suggests a slight regression in lake levels be-
Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 29 (2014) 98–120
tween 47 and 30 ka (see also Finney et al., 1996; Scholz
et al., 2011; Stone, Westover, & Cohen, 2011). There is
a transition to deeper lake conditions (>400 m deep) between 31 and 16 ka with great variability in lake levels
ca. 17 ka (Scholz et al., 2011; Stone, Westover, & Cohen,
2011). The in situ archaeological occupations documented
at Mwanganda’s Village begin at Area I ∼40–42 ka with
the deposition of a sandy facies that contains minimally
reworked MSA artifacts that retain at least two instances
of flake-to-flake refitting. A fluvial layer truncates this facies and contains heavily rounded artifacts that attest to
a separate occupation elsewhere in the catchment that
is unlikely be contemporaneous with the material in the
sandy facies. This is overlain by an in situ late, and possibly
terminal, MSA assemblage in fine-grained sediments that
date to ∼22 ka (Figure 5: Area I). The majority of artifacts were recovered from this layer, including at least 54
instances of knapping refits (e.g., flake-to-flake or flaketo-core). Thus, all lithic debris is located within or on
the margins of fluvial deposits separated by erosional unconformities. Deposition is discontinuous with numerous
cut-and-fill episodes documented across the broader site
as well as Area I.
Between 22 and 7 ka, alluvial fan deposition intensifies
on the site, while human activity is poorly represented.
There are fluvial deposits identified on T-3 (514 masl) at
11 ka, while fluvial deposits also occur on T-1 (507 masl)
at 7 ka. A low stand in lake levels centered around the
Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ca. 22–17 ka) inferred from
diatoms (Gasse, Barker, & Johnson, 2002) is supported
by newer data derived from the 2005 Lake Malawi Scientific Drilling Project, indicating that lake levels fell by
much as 100 m of its preceding and succeeding 700 m
deep level (Scholz et al., 2011; Stone, Westover, & Cohen, 2011). Beuning et al. (2011) argue that grasses and
afromontane vegetation are reflected in the terrigenous
pollen assemblages recovered from the drill core during
the LGM, which is concurrent with drier winters (see
also Ivory et al., 2012). On the other hand, phytolith
data from the east-central portion of the basin suggest
that the lowlands were wooded including high waterconsuming panicoids and bambusoids (Mercader et al.,
2013). These data suggest a mosaic landscape of woodlands and grasslands, and hominins were likely focused
on exploiting resources from within the catchment regions where the biodiversity potential would have been
at its highest (Mercader et al., 2013).
Site level reconstructions of the paleohydrology at
Mwanganda’s Village suggests that the site was terraced
with meandering streams descending into the paleoRukuru River catchment between 22 and 7 ka (see also
Kaufulu, 1990). Until at least 11 ka, the landform was
generally aggrading within active alluvial fan deposition,
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but there are carbonate-rich paleosols that developed
during periods of landform stability. After 11 ka, there
appears to have been significant fluvial downcutting concurrent to continuing Chitmwe fan activity in the southeast aspect of the site.
During the late Holocene, the rate of Chitimwe fan deposition slowed significantly, and there is a laterite soil
that developed on the site. Colonization of the site by iron
working farmers is recorded from the northeast portion of
the site, and it is believed that significant erosion of the
site concurrent to the introduction of increasingly intensive and modern agricultural techniques has impacted the
integrity of the MSA archaeological occupations. However, the results show a continuation of an ancient practice of riparian resource exploitation even into modern
times. Although the means of exploitation are different
and the intensity of settlement is significantly higher than
during the MSA and later phases, the motivation for selecting this area appears to have the common denominator of seeking a predictable source of water and possibly
readily available lithic materials.
Amplifying?
During the Late Pleistocene, Lake Malawi appears to have
been an attractive environmental feature possibly serving to connect southern and eastern Africa within highly
variable regional climatic conditions (Beuning et al.,
2011; Mercader et al., 2013) and hetereogeneously distributed human (Salas et al., 2002), animal (Cohen et al.,
2007), and plant (Cowling et al., 2008) population centers across the African continent. Correlations between
tropical oceanic warming and polar glacial isotopic data
suggest that the latitudinal extents of the intertropical
convergence zone (ITCZ), which governs the distribution
of rainfall on the African continent, is generally in sync
with high-latitude glacial activity, albeit in lag time (Bard,
Rostek, & Sonzogni, 1997; Brown et al., 2007; Schefuß et al., 2011). The ITCZ is the point of convergence
of northeasterly and southeasterly monsoons, bringing
tropical rain where it is located, while adjoining areas
receive little or no moisture (Waliser & Gautier, 1993).
The ITCZ is believed to have displaced significantly southward during the LGM and Younger Dryas (12.8–11.5 ka),
which had profound effects on the distribution of rainfall and vegetation biomes across the African continent
(Adams & Faure, 1997; Garcin et al., 2007; Tierney &
Russell, 2007; Gasse et al., 2008; Tierney & deMenocal,
2013). Although Lake Malawi desiccated severely during the Middle Pleistocene, lake levels (reflecting rainfall
within the catchment) remained relatively high (≥600
m) during the Late Pleistocene (Scholz et al., 2011) compared to proxy data in southeastern Africa, the Tan-
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WRIGHT ET AL.
ganyika Basin, Congo Basin, and East African Rift Valley
lakes (Opperman & Heydenrych, 1990; Maley & Brenac,
1998; Gibert et al., 2002; Johnson et al., 2002; Schefuß,
Schouten, & Schneider, 2005; Gasse et al., 2008; Tierney
et al., 2008). Thus, as many other landscapes in southern and eastern Africa were becoming increasingly xeric,
mosaic woodland environments favored by MSA foragers
remained in the Malawi Basin (Mercader et al., 2013)
and in southwestern Africa (Gasse, 2000; Gasse et al.,
2008).
Later MSA technology found at the site between ∼42
and 22 ka would have occurred during a period of relatively stable lake levels and local soil formation, when
different MSA technocomplexes are documented from
the Ngalue Cave and Niassa sites, east side of Lake
Malawi (Mercader & Fogelman, 2006; Mercader, Bennett, & Raja, 2008; Mercader et al., 2009, 2012, 2013).
The limited data suggest that intermediate-high lake levels did not foster regional interactions (contra Trauth
et al., 2010). If toolkits can be interpreted as culturally mediated responses to ecological conditions (Boyd
& Richerson, 1985: 290), the available data here suggest a focus on localized exploitation of resources without a tremendous degree of sharing technology across the
basin. We recognize that there is a potential lag in occupation between the sites on the east side of the lake
and that of Mwanganda’s Village on the basis of inherent
imprecision of the dating methods used. However, there
is a focus on localized raw material exploitation at the
two locales, the lithic tool production and core reduction
systems employed appear considerably different, and the
temporal overlap of ages overlaps within 1-σ ; therefore,
we propose that late MSA technological systems in the
Malawi Basin were probably geographically restricted and
the degree of interregional technology sharing concomitantly low. The persistence of MSA foragers in portions of
the Lake Malawi Basin in spite of expanding LSA populations elsewhere across continental Africa may partially
explain apparent restricted foraging ranges. Additionally,
the extreme topographic variability of the Rift Valley created a resource mosaic during this critical phase of human evolution, and MSA populations seem focused on
exploiting local riparian resources.
CONCLUSION
The site of Mwanganda’s Village in northern Malawi
demonstrates recurrent hominin occupation of riparian
corridors dating from the Late Pleistocene through the
Holocene. MSA archaeological assemblages (∼42–22 ka)
were deposited during periods of relatively high lake
levels in the Malawi Basin (Scholz et al., 2011), which
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WRIGHT ET AL.
contrasts with relatively dry conditions throughout much
of southern Africa (Maley & Brenac, 1998; Schefuß,
Schouten, & Schneider, 2005; Gasse et al., 2008; Tierney
et al., 2008). Use of riparian corridors by hunter-gatherers
is unsurprising (Lourandos, 1997; Stafford, Richards, &
Anslinger, 2000; Jayaswal, 2002), and comes during a
period of active alluvial fan deposition across the western (Ring & Betzler, 1995) and eastern (Mercader et al.,
2012) sides of Lake Malawi catalyzed by tectonic activity and longer, more pronounced intra-annual wet-dry
cycles associated with the movement of the ITCZ (see
also Ivory et al., 2012). Within this environment, fluvial
catchments represented resource caches that could be accessed periodically as part of a residentially mobile foraging strategy.
Reanalysis of Mwanganda’s Village has yielded a different set of interpretations regarding the timing and nature
of the archaeological deposits (cf., Clark & Haynes, 1970;
Clark et al., 1970; Kaufulu, 1990). Presently, there is little evidence to support a significant Sangoan occupation
of the site. Artifacts recovered from a paleosol interpreted
to be the same as that from the Clark Area 1 excavation
are highly abraded, deposits are consistent with a channel
lag, and the fauna from the original assemblage suggests
the same. The minimum constraining U-Th age from elephant tusk assayed from the site is 282 ka, demonstrating
the antiquity of the fossils relative to the dated human
occupation of the site.
However, repeated use of riparian channels ∼42 ka
and until some point after 22 ka coincides with other
late MSA occupations known elsewhere from the Malawi
Basin (Mercader & Fogelman, 2006; Mercader, Bennett,
& Raja, 2008; Mercader et al., 2009, 2012, 2013), suggesting that hominins were inhabiting predictably resourcerich areas as climates changed toward colder and drier
conditions across Africa. The preliminary evidence shows
regionalism in the MSA toolkits utilized between the
east and west sides of Lake Malawi, suggesting fragmentation and lack of interaction between populations
across the basin. Although more dated archaeological
horizons are needed to test these hypotheses, the density
of MSA archaeological deposits across northern Malawi
currently being documented by the MEMSAP team will
yield the data needed to understand the complex connections between landscape change, resource use, and human techno-behavioral evolution.
We thank our collaborators at the Malawi Ministry of Tourism,
Wildlife and Culture for their assistance and permission in facilitating this research. Fieldwork and analysis were funded by National Geographic-Waitt Foundation grant W115-10 (JT), Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP110101305 (JT),
Korean Research Foundation Global Research Network Grant
Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 29 (2014) 98–120
2012032907 (DW), the UQ Field School, and a generous donation from Thomas Jones. An outstanding team of local crew
worked on the Mwanganda excavations, with special thanks
owed to Liton Adhikari and Gervasio Ngumbira. The 2011 and
2012 excavations were partially conducted by students from the
University of Queensland and the Catholic University of Malawi.
Julia Maskell, Jessica McNeil, Tierney Lu, Casey Frewen-Lord,
and Kristina Lee devoted many hours to refitting artifacts from
Area I. Scott Robinson and Marina Bravo Foster were instrumental in obtaining the dGPS data of the site. Kathy Schick
and Nicholas Toth facilitated JT’s access to the assemblages from
Malawi curated at the Stone Age Institute, as well as permission to sample the three tusk fragments for U-Th analysis. Kathy
Stewart identified the catfish fragments and Arun Banerjee and
Jürg Tuckermann provided the identification of the three fossil
samples from the Stone Age Institute as being derived from fossil
elephant ivory. U-Th dating of the elephant tusk was supported
by Australian Research Council LIEF grant LE0989067 to JZ and
Discovery grant DP0881279 to GP. AC thanks the Lake Malawi
Drilling Project, NSF-Earth System History Program (NSF-EAR0602404), DOSECC Inc., and LacCore for support. Two anonymous reviewers and comments from Jamie Woodward were of
invaluable assistance in producing this manuscript and we offer
our heartfelt appreciation for their time and insights.
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