EVIDENCE OF EARLIER STONE AGE OCCURRENCES AT BARBERSPAN IN THE NORTH WEST GRASSLAND BIOME, SOUTH AFRICA

Stone Age archaeology records in the grasslands of the North West Province are sparse, although this region is situated between areas known for their Earlier Stone Age and Earlier to Middle Stone Age transitional lithic sites. We provide a field report on archaeological materials found during a survey at Barberspan, which attests to Earlier Stone Age lithic occurrences close to an open, permanent water source on a generally water-scarce landscape. Although more extensive surveys and analyses are needed, we suggest that our work is a critical first step in starting to map the presence of early human populations on this strategically located landscape, since it may provide insight into human presence/movement on the landscape between the known Earlier Stone Age localities. We also provide a tabulated summary of the Earlier Stone Age and Earlier to Middle Stone Age transitional sites of the greater landscape as a baseline for the current record.