Revisiting Pniel 6: The 2017-2019 Excavations

Lithic artefacts from the terraces along the lower Vaal River have been identified since the early 20th century. Pniel 6, in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, is one such archaeological site known to have revealed both lithics and faunal remains in previous excavations. We re-investigated Pniel 6 with high-resolution modern fieldwork techniques. Our objectives are to reassess the lithic assemblages at the site and to give a precise stratigraphic description of the sedimentary deposits, enabling us to assess the integrity of the archaeological assemblage. We present a report from three seasons (2017-2019) of archaeological fieldwork at Pniel 6 in four new excavation areas. Our results show technological affinities to other transitional Early/ Middle Pleistocene sites in the region, but Pniel 6 stands out as a lithic assemblage predominantly made from hornfels. Blades and points from prepared cores are frequent, while large cutting tools are absent. The most coherent assemblage, from Area 3, was likely formed through localised alluvial deposition with subsequent colluvial aggregation. The site expands our understanding of the ESA-MSA transition in the interior of southern Africa. It highlights how hominins applied common methods of stone tool production using distinctly different raw materials with varying properties, even within relatively small regional distances.