Engraved ostrich eggshell from the Middle Stone Age contexts of Goda Buticha, Ethiopia

Excavations at the site of Goda Buticha, Ethiopia, have recovered a small sample of engraved ostrich eggshell (EOES) fragments. The earliest specimens date to ~ 34 ka and ~ 43 ka, thus representing the oldest known examples of EOES in eastern Africa, and occur in association with a Middle Stone Age (MSA) lithic assemblage. The occurrence of EOES at Goda Buticha persists into the Holocene, similar to certain MSA technological features. EOES provides an additional line of evidence through which to examine the variability in the MSA and the complex transition from the MSA to the Later Stone Age in eastern Africa.