An inter-continental comparative study on heat treatment of silcrete raw materials in the South African Middle Stone Age and the Australian Prehistory

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Patrick Schmidt
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 324816318

Anatomically modern humans evolved in Africa during the Middle Stone Age and immigrated to Australia around 50 000 years ago. Both archaeological records document heat treatment of Silcrete, a high quality raw material common to both regions. Did the first Australians bring the technology with them or did it locally evolve? Did heat treatment play the same role in Australian tool making as in South Africa? Was it done in the same way? The aim of this research project is to shed light on these questions by studying and comparing heat-treated silcrete from both continents with archaeological and archaeometric techniques. We will critically analyse the earliest evidence of intentional material transformation in Australia and South Africa where it is considered a proxy for modern behaviour, complex cognition and social learning. By investigating the motivations and techniques of these hunter-gatherers, this project seeks to uncover some of the fundamental mechanisms that drive invention, reinvention and technical convergence.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigators: Professor Dr. Nicholas J. Conard; Professor Klaus G. Nickel, Ph.D.