Geoarchaeology of a Middle Stone Age paleo-landscape in the central interior of South Africa: paleoenvironments and foraging practices during the transition to behaviora

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The biological and behavioral origins of our species lies in Africa, where recent research has demonstrated an early use of symbolic expression and precocious technologies during the Middle Stone Age (ca. 300,000 to 30,000 years ago), particularly in southern Africa. Much of the evidence for Middle Stone Age behavior comes from excavations of cave sites, particularly along the western and southern coasts of South Africa. Despite the significance of these cave sites, they can paint a biased picture of human behavior since most activities related to foraging were conducted in the open air. Here, we propose to conduct a geoarchaeological investigation of a Middle Stone Age paleolandscape in the Free State of South Africa, centered around the important site of Florisbad. We aim to study the depositional and post-depositional processes of three open-air sites located within the fluvial terraces and panfields of central South Africa. We will contextualize these sites within a detailed site formation model, in order to investigate how changing environments and landscapes influenced Middle Stone Age foraging practices in the region of Florisbad.