摘要：Southern Africa presents the best-documented Middle and Later Stone Age (MSA and LSA) records in Africa, andyet significant uncertainties still exist concerning the sequence and timing of behavioral and occupational changesin the region. A recent surge in research has provided a suite of new results that indicate more intricate andcomplex patterns than those previously considered. This paper describes recent excavations at the archaeologicalsite of Varsche Rivier (VR) 003 located in the poorly-researched southern Namaqualand (Knersvlakte) region ofSouth Africa (Western Cape Province). Two seasons of excavations have revealed a long sequence of MSA andLSA cultural materials, including lithics, fauna, ostrich eggshell, marine mollusks, beads, and pigments; bedrockhas yet to be reached anywhere in our excavations. Within the shelter, we have uncovered probable HowiesonsPoort material, with overlying late MSA and capped by late Holocene LSA. On the slope, the deepest materials areearlier MSA, overlain by assemblages with affinities to the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort. In addition to providingdescriptions of the lithic, faunal, and pigment assemblages, we report on the results of micromorphologicalanalysis of the sediments and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating of the sequence.Based on the analysis of single-grain samples from both parts of the excavation, OSL age estimates suggest that theputative Howiesons Poort assemblages at VR003 were deposited 45.7–41.7 kya. While our results are stratigraphicallyconsistent, they are substantially younger than any previously published Howiesons Poort chronologies.
