The final MSA of eastern South Africa: a comparative study between Umbeli Belli and Sibhudu

The end of the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa, often called the final MSA (similar to 40-28 ka), represents one of the most understudied technocomplexes in this part of the world. Researchers have often focused on earlier time periods associated with Marine Isotope Stage 4 or have emphasised the transition between the Middle and the Later Stone Age. Thus, the final MSA has been poorly understood and, at least in KwaZulu-Natal, only a few chrono-cultural markers called hollow-based points are known for it. Since 2016, excavations at Umbeli Belli rock shelter have produced new insights into this period. The site provides one of the most accurately dated sequences for the final MSA, spanning four geological horizons, respectively GH7, GH8, GH9 and GH10, that date to between 29.9 +/- 2.3 and 40.3 +/- 3.5 ka. Significant technological and typological variations are evident between those horizons, raising questions about the mechanisms behind them. A direct comparative analysis with the final MSA layers Coffee - Espresso at Sibhudu, which date to similar to 38 ka, places these results in the regional archaeological context. The analysis shows first that the final MSA encompasses diachronic variability within relatively short time frames at Umbeli Belli. Secondly, it reveals several distinct chronological discrepancies between Sibhudu and Umbeli Belli. A detailed review of the environmental setting of the research area helps to explain these changes.