Blade production ∼500 thousand years ago at Kathu Pan 1, South Africa: support for a multiple origins hypothesis for early Middle Pleistocene blade technologies

The ∼500 thousand year old stratum 4a lithic assemblage from Kathu Pan 1, Northern Cape, South Africa, is one of the earliest occurrences of blade technology and is the oldest dated assemblage attributed to the Fauresmith industry. A technological analysis of the Kathu Pan 1 stratum 4a assemblage reveals that blades were systematically removed using direct hard hammer percussion from organized blade cores that were extensively prepared via centripetal flaking. Some of these blades were retouched into points. Comparisons with published descriptions of the roughly contemporary blade assemblages from the Kapthurin Formation, Kenya and Qesem Cave, Israel demonstrate that diverse blade production strategies were employed during the earlier half of the Middle Pleistocene. The diversity best supports a scenario in which laminar technology was invented in multiple places and times.

► Technological analysis of the KP1 ∼500 ka Fauresmith assemblage from Kathu Pan 1, South Africa. ► Blade production is distinct from that at other early Middle Pleistocene sites in East Africa and the Levant. ► Differences support a multiple origins hypothesis for blade production.