Pastory Magayane Bushozi

The material culture of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) people is believed to represent a significant step towards the development of modern behavior. One of the most important sites which contain archaeological records of the MSA and later cultures is Magubike rock-shelter. The upper levels of the cultural deposits at Magubike were radiocarbon dated around 42,000 ya, representing a period in which the extremely dry and arid environment restricted human settlements to a few areas. The unfriendly environment led to the first dispersal of Homo sapiens from Africa to Eurasia. This dispersal has long been thought to mark a significant shift to more complex technology and cognitive behavior, including the production of labor-intensive implements, utilization of diversified food resources, and manufacturing of symbolic objects. The mode of these technological and behavioral shifts is a hotly debated topic in archaeology. This project contributes to the ongoing discussion by providing new data from recent technological and use-wear studies on the MSA artifacts from Magubike.