The Still Bay and pre-Still Bay Fauna from Sibudu Cave: Taphonomic and Taxonomic Analysis of the Macromammal Remains from the Wadley Excavations

Abstract

As a substage of the Middle Stone Age preserving evidence for a range of innovative behaviors, the Still Bay plays a key role in discussions about behavioral evolution during the Late Pleistocene. And yet, the number of sites containing well-preserved SB faunal assemblages remains small—fewer still also preserve pre-SB deposits. This paper presents data on the macromammal remains excavated from the pre-SB (~ 77–73 ka) and SB (~ 71 ka) deposits at the Sibudu Cave (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) under the direction of Lyn Wadley. The assemblage is heavily fragmented and highly burned. While humans appear to be a primary contributor to the assemblage, non-human predators played a role in the collection of small ungulates and miscellaneous small game; that role was particularly marked in the upper portion of the pre-SB sequence. A strong focus on suids and evidence for human collection of a diverse assemblage of small game in the lower deposits from the pre-SB—and a high frequency of blue duiker (Philantomba monticola) in the SB—suggests that the use of remote capture technology may date to ~ 77 ka. I consider the implications of these and other trends in the data, including a lack of evidence for major changes in the environment spanning from 77 to 71 ka. Testing hypotheses about the onset (and disappearance) of the SB requires data on variation along multiple dimensions of human behavior and in the natural environment; this study contributes to these ends by presenting taphonomic and taxonomic data on the pre-SB and SB fauna at Sibudu.