Hafting adhesives from the final Later Stone Age layers at Sehonghong, Lesotho: a case study and commentary on the use of imported resources by nineteenth-century San

Abstract

ABSTRACTThere is longstanding evidence in the archaeological record of southern Africa for the application of hafting adhesives in the production of composite tool technology. Despite the limitations in the preservation of organics in archaeological contexts, the preservation of these materials can inform us about aspects of technological production and function, including hafting arrangements, adhesive production and resource acquisition. In some instances where we see the prevalence of organic materials that are at odds with the ecological landscape, these same materials can also elucidate social interactions between cultural groups. This paper presents the results of the analysis by microscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) of hafting residues from stone tools from the ceramic final Later Stone Age assemblages at Sehonghong, Lesotho. It argues that an adoption of novel resources including Pinus sp. resin, castor oil and paraffin by nineteenth-century San facilitated the continued existence of hunter-gatherer lifeways in increasingly marginalised circumstances amid tense relationships between the last hunter-gatherers of the Maloti-Drakensberg, newly arriving Basotho communities and European colonists.RÉSUMÉIl existe des preuves de longue date dans les archives archéologiques de l’Afrique australe de l’application d’adhésifs d’emmanchement dans la production de la technologie des outils composites. Malgré les limites de la préservation des matières organiques dans les contextes archéologiques, la préservation de ces matériaux peut nous informer sur les aspects de la production et de la fonction technologiques, y compris les arrangements d’emmanchement, la production d’adhésifs et l’acquisition de ressources. Dans certains cas où l'on constate la prédominance de matériaux organiques qui sont en contradiction avec le paysage écologique, ces mêmes matériaux peuvent également élucider les interactions sociales entre les groupes culturels. Cet article présente les résultats de l’analyse par microscopie et chromatographie en phase gazeuse-spectrométrie de masse (GC-MS) des résidus d’emmanchement des outils en pierre des assemblages de l’âge de pierre ultérieur final (final Later Stone Age) à Sehonghong, Lesotho. Il soutient que l’adoption de nouvelles ressources, y compris la résine du pin (Pinus sp.), l’huile de ricin et la paraffine par les San du dix-neuvième siècle ont facilité la continuation des modes de vie des chasseurs-cueilleurs dans des circonstances de plus en plus marginalisées au milieu de relations tendues entre les derniers chasseurs-cueilleurs du Maloti-Drakensberg, les nouvelles communités Basotho et les colons européens.KEYWORDS: Later Stone Agenineteenth-century Maloti-Drakensberghafting adhesivesgas-chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (GC-MS)Pinus resincastor oilparaffin AcknowledgmentsWe wish to thank Louise Hutten for facilitating access to the Sehonghong artefact collections studied, which are currently housed in the Department of Archaeology of the University of Cape Town, South Africa; selected material was transported to the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Oxford, United Kingdom, for analysis. Permission for this was granted to Mitchell by the Lesotho Protection and Preservation Commission. We also wish to thank Jennifer Poulin at the Canadian Conservation Institute for valuable discussions in GC-MS data interpretation during Dr Veall’s internship there in 2016. Additionally, we thank our referees for their useful comments.Additional informationNotes on contributorsMargaret-Ashley VeallMargaret-Ashley Veall is a Conservation Scientist at the Canadian Conservation Institute in Ottawa, Canada. She specialises in the analysis of organic materials from heritage collections using GC-MS and pyrolysis GC-MS. While her current work focuses on organic archaeological materials, natural binding media and pesticides within Canadian contexts, her doctoral research centred on the characterisation of hafting adhesives and residues from Later Stone Age archaeological sites in southern Africa.Peter J. MitchellPeter Mitchell is Professor of African Archaeology at the University of Oxford, Tutor and Fellow in Archaeology at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, and a Research Associate of the Rock Art Research Institute, University of the Witwatersrand. He excavated widely in Lesotho between 1988 and 1998 and more recently had overall direction of the fieldwork undertaken there ahead of the construction of the Metolong Dam. He retains a strong interest in the country’s archaeology, while also working more broadly on different topics within African archaeology and human-animal relations.