TECHNOLOGICAL ANALYSES OF LATE PLEISTOCENE LATER STONE AGE LITHIC ASSEMBLAGES FROM APOLLO 11 ROCK SHELTER, IIKARAS REGION, SOUTHWESTERN NAMIBIA

This article introduces a southern African Late Pleistocene lithic technological complex, based on the evidence of the regional reference stratigraphy of Apollo 11 rock shelter. Excavated decades ago and yet not thoroughly described and defined, these typologically informal assemblages are reliably dated to approximately 24-14 ka BR. By providing the first detailed lithic technological study on material from Apollo 11, four major aims are pursued here: (1) to describe and define this complex by collecting and summarising relevant data; (2) to indicate ways to enhance the understanding of typologically informal assemblages; (3) to discriminate lithic technological strategies of prehistoric hunter-gatherers during the marine isotope stage (MIS) 2 at the margins of the Namib Desert; and (4) to set a first framework to contextualise results with the broader coeval subcontinental evidence.