A pilot investigation into forager craft activities in the middle Limpopo Valley, southern Africa

Forager lifeways in the middle Limpopo Valley, southern Africa, were considerably altered from 350 CE onwards when incoming farmer communities settled the region. This is seen archaeologically in a shift in the preference for specific Later Stone Age tool types and the introduction of farmer-associated items. Changes in forager behaviour have also been recorded at a number of sites from pre- to post-contact assemblages. Here we investigate Little Muck Shelter where an overwhelming emphasis on scrapers was interpreted by Hall and Smith (2000) to indicate the production of surplus goods for trade with nearby farmers. We examine the use-wear indicators of the scraper assemblage to a) establish whether it is possible to identify activity indicators in southern African Later Stone Age assemblages and b) determine whether different activities were being performed between forager camps. Hall and Smith (2000) suggest the scrapers may indicate intensive hide production and we show here that they were additionally used in other craft activities also being performed at the site. Along with Hall and Smith's (2000) work, our findings allow for two important conclusions to be made. First, it is possible to differentiate activity behaviour at Little Muck over the past 2000 years. Second, forager activity patterns as a consequence of forager-farmer interactions varied between sites and across the landscape.