Genetic and fossil evidence shows that anatomically modern humans had evolved in sub-Saharan Africa by 200 ka. Archaeological evidence shows that they were also modern in behavior. By 125 ka, they were found throughout Africa and left the continent for the first time for a brief period about 100 ka. Permanent expansion out of Africa had begun by about 50 ka and was only through northeastern Africa and into Asia. The Strait of Gibraltar remained a barrier to movement until recent millennia. During past periods of aridity, modern populations in northern Africa became regionally extinct, except perhaps in the Nile Valley.

In the southern part of the plain of El Qa' there is a group of previously unknown tombs, probably dating to within 500–600 years of 7000 BP. They are adjacent to a freshwater playa, and east of the first access to the Gulf of Suez south of Gebel Qabiliat. This paper describes the largest of the tombs, which was quite elaborate and included prestige grave-goods (turquoise).

Bifacial arrowheads are very rare elements in Later Stone Age sites from the South African interior and Lesotho highlands. While differences in arrowhead design across this vast region may serve as group markers, their potential remains uncertain because local variability has not been studied. Here, the design variables of a large sample of arrowheads from one small area of the Upper Karoo are described. Arrowhead production is so diverse that prospects for their use as ethnic/social markers look dim. The most variable arrowheads are those with double-backed tangs. They are more numerous than the bifacial arrowheads and may also be more widely distributed.

Previous articleNext article No AccessReportsCarry That Weight: The Use and Transportation of Stone ToolsAngela E. CloseAngela E. ClosePDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 37, Number 3Jun., 1996 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/204517 Views: 10Total views on this site Citations: 32Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1996 The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological ResearchPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Stacey Middleton, Rebecca Phillipps Experimental Improvements to the Volume Ratio and Quantifying Movement Using Stone Artefact Analysis, Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology 5, no.11 (Oct 2022): 152–168.https://doi.org/10.5334/jcaa.93Javier Sánchez-Martínez, Rafael Mora Torcal, Jorge Martínez-Moreno, Xavier Roda Gilabert, Miquel Roy-Sunyer Carrying rocks: Hoarding behaviour in the Gravettian occupation of Cova Gran de Santa Linya (SE Pyrenees), Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 41 (Feb 2022): 103125.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103125Steven T. 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