Dr. Zenobia Jacobs

Senior Scientist, CSIR (South Africa) and Researcher, Univ. of Wollongong, Australia

Title:

Where were the people? Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of human occupations and hiatuses in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa.

Abstract:
Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of sedimentary quartz underwent rapid developments, in both the technology and the methodologies, during the last 5 years. These developments resulted in increased precision and accuracy with which we can determine the age of archaeological deposits. In this talk, I will discuss the technique, present the developments and discuss its outcomes, using the dating at Blombos Cave as a case study. Having laid the foundation for further application of the technique, I will discuss new results from other MSA sites in South Africa and present my current research project where I compare between sites to investigate the occurrence of occupational snapshots and prolonged hiatuses. I will try to put this within an environmental framework and pose a few challenging questions about the role of South Africa in the development of modern humans and modern human behaviour.