A macro-fracture investigation of the backed stone tools from Dzombo Shelter, eastern Botswana

Foragers occupying Dzombo Shelter, eastern Botswana, and producing a Later Stone Age technology came into contact with incoming Iron Age food-producers at approximately AD 350. From the onset of their interactions the Later Stone Age record began to change. One such change was in stone tool preference; over much of southern Africa scraper frequencies increased whereas backed tools declined. However, between c. AD 900 and 1200 at Dzombo, backed tools inexplicably dominate the formal tool assemblage. This paper seeks to understand the role of backed tools at Dzombo from before the arrival of farmers until the establishment of the Mapungubwe state, c. AD 1220, in order to explain shifts in use and preference patterns. By performing a macro-fracture analysis it was possible to demonstrate an increased occurrence of fractures consistent with impact-related damage between approximately AD 350 and 1200, and it is suggested here that during this time hunting activities were intensified. The factors possibly driving this intensification are discussed and could relate to forager-farmer interactions or a shift in the site's function. As is shown, the former is more likely. The macro-analysis of backed tools provides greater clarity when viewing Dzombo's archaeological sequence and to some extent confirms earlier suggestions that in order to augment growing mercantile opportunities spurred on by the arrival of farmers, forager hunting activities increased.