Marshill Rockshelter (Eastern Cape, South Africa): a new late Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological sequence in the Maloti-Drakensberg piedmont

This paper reports on a new archaeological research project in the Stormberg region of South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province that began in 2018. After four prospecting surveys, an archaeological site — Marshill Rockshelter — was selected that could offer a long diachronic chronostratigraphic framework from the late Pleistocene to the Holocene in order to understand the deep past of this region and the long-term occupation of a mountain environment in the piedmont of the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains. This paper presents the first archaeological analyses of this site’s stratigraphy, geochronology, faunal pollen, ceramic and lithic assemblages and rock art. Marshill has a long and complex stratigraphic sequence with three clusters of dates: one in the last 2000 years, a second around the terminal Pleistocene (10–15 kya) and a third at >20 kya. The archaeological materials found are in accordance with these initial ages and provide unique snapshots into the region’s past. A Middle Stone Age archaeological assemblage shows similarities with other sites in the Grassland, Savanna and Fynbos Biomes of southern Africa, although with the lithic evidence currently available it is difficult to establish stronger comparisons. Holocene layers, in contrast, produced microlithic Later Stone Age assemblages oriented towards the production of small flakes, most likely from unifacial cores. Initial faunal and pollen analyses accord with historical records in indicating an open grassland environment with thicketed valleys and gorges. The occurrence of domestic livestock in the upper Holocene layers suggests links to pastoralist groups and a herding economy. Preliminary ceramic analyses show several strategies for surface treatment, firing and modelling, while the textural groups defined document the use of fibre temper. Finally, the site’s rock paintings were created in a shaded and hard-edge technique with both ‘classic’ and more recent subject matter. In sum, the archaeological record from Marshill Shelter demonstrates a long but intermittent series of human occupations extending from the deep past to the historical period.