ACTIVITIES IN 2018 18
MULTI-DISCIPLINARY ARCHAEOLOGY WITHIN SAPIENCE In Palaeolithic archaeology today, it is not only the immediately and intuitively recognized archaeological material that is given attention. Smaller and more ambiguous material is also thoroughly investigated, often by using analytical methods and techniques that were originally developed in other disciplines. As such, the archaeology program within SapienCE has been specifically designed to facilitate highlevel interdisciplinary analysis of the archaeological assemblage associated with the sites currently being excavated.
What material did you study in 2019? Silje Evjenth Bentsen (post-doctoral fellow): One of several types of materials I have been focusing on in 2019 is ostrich eggshells (OES). Several hundred fragments of OES has been found in Klipdrift Shelter and been dated to be between 65 000 and 60 000 years old. Some of these fragments have been decorated with geometric patterns, so it is clear that prehistoric people both used and valued them. The question is: What exactly did they use OES for? Many of the OES fragments from Klipdrift Shelter appear burnt and in one of my experimental archaeology projects I am trying to find out whether ostrich eggs could have been intentionally exposed to heat, for example while being used as cooking vessels. An alternative explanation for the presence of burnt OES could be that they were unintentionally embedded in or under a fire. Elizabeth C. Velliky (post-doctoral fellow): For the last few years, I have worked on prehistoric pigments and the ways in which people used them and constructed their lives around them. Specifically, I study red ochre, an iron-rich material that is found at archaeological sites all over the world, and is still used today in many societies, especially in Africa. At Blombos, several thousand pieces of ochre collected over tens of thousands of years show that people thought these bright red coloured rocks were special and important. In my research, I focus on the aspects of ochre that can offer definitive information, for instance where people were collecting it in the landscape, how these collecting behaviours changed over time, and how people may have used ochre for colouring beads or for hafting tools.
