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Ju/'hoan hunters from Nyae Nyae in Namibia, demonstrate the manufacture of three fixative pastes made from plant extracts, and poison made from processed grubs and plants. Extracts from bulbs and tree gum produce simple glue. Plant latex mixed with carbonized grass is a compound adhesive. Composite poison is made from poison grub viscera mixed with salivary extracts of bark and the tuber sap of Asparagus. In order to document potential variability in the chaîne opératoire, and to eliminate inherent biases associated with unique observations, manufacturing processes were recorded in three separate Nyae Nyae villages. Although there are methodological similarities, we observed a few differences in contemporary traditions of poison manufacture. For example, some hunters make powder from tuber sap by boiling, reducing, hardening and grinding it, while others simply use heated sap. The Ju/'hoan hunting kit provides insights for archaeologists, but we must exercise caution when looking for continuity between prehistoric and historical technical systems. Some traditions have been lost to modern hunters, while others are new. We should also expect variability in the Stone Age because of geographically restricted resources. Simple glue, compound adhesive, and poison recipes identified in the Stone Age have no modern equivalents.

Lyn Wadley is an Honorary Professor of Archaeology in the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Her research interests are the African Stone Age, cognitive archaeology, experimental archaeology and gender studies. She is best known for her excavations of Sibudu, KwaZulu-Natal, and Rose Cottage Cave, Free State. She is the author of many publications and is listed on the Thomsen-Reuters highly cited list for the top 1% of researchers globally, and has an h-index of 41. She is one of the 80 A-rated scholars from across all disciplines in South Africa.