The MIS 4-3 Middle Stone Age at Diepkloof Rock Shelter (Western Cape Province, South Africa): Technological Traditions, Stability and Changes.
By: 
Joseph Matembo
Date: 
Tue, 14/02/2023 - 18:30 to 19:30
Venue: 
SA Astronomical Observatory auditorium
Branch: 
Western Cape
Title: The MIS 4-3 Middle Stone Age at Diepkloof Rock Shelter (Western CapeProvince, South Africa): Technological Traditions, Stability and Changes.
By: Joseph Matembo
Date: 14 February 2023
Time: 18:30-19:30

Abstract
The current research seeks to understand the disappearance of the Howieson’s Poort towards the end of MIS 4 and the emergence of the post-Howieson’s Poort in the MIS 3. The research focuses on Diepkloof Rock Shelter, in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. There is need for a fine-scale investigation, with a good stratigraphic control and detailed lithics study to understand this transition. The research questions the changes witnessed in the raw material provisioning strategies and what these imply in terms of territorial organization. It also inquires on the changes in the core reduction sequences and what this entail with regards to cultural changes. Lastly, it questions the kind of changes in the main blank categories and how these changes correlate with changes in subsistence patterns and the environment. The chaîne opératoire approach was used to explain the process of lithic production.
 
Biography
Joseph Matembo graduated with his BA and BA Hons from the University of Zimbabwe and MSc in Archaeology from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. Currently he is enrolled as a PhD candidate at the University of Cape Town in the department of Archaeology. His research is titled, “The MIS 4-3 Middle Stone Age at Diepkloof Rock Shelter (Western Cape Province, South Africa): Technological Traditions, Stability and Changes.” The project focuses on probing the Middle Stone Age during the MIS4-3 transitions. His research emphasis mainly on the disappearance of the Howieson’s Poort and the emergence of the post-Howieson’s Poort, focusing on the sequence of Diepkloof Rock Shelter.