@misc{10481/85820,
year = {2023},
month = {10},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10481/85820},
abstract = {Recent excavations at Olieboomspoort (OBP) in the Waterberg Mountains of South Africa confirmed previous research at
the site that highlighted an abundance of ochre in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits. Here, we report on the results of an
analysis of the ochre from the MSA deposits excavated in 2018–2019. Fossilised equid teeth from these deposits were recently
dated to approximately 150 ka, an early date for such a sizeable ochre assemblage in southern Africa. Calcium carbonate
concretions were removed from ochre pieces using hydrochloric acid. Macro- and microscopic analyses were undertaken to
identify raw material types and to investigate utilisation strategies. There are 438 pieces in the assemblage and only 14 of
them show definite use-traces. The predominant raw material is a micaceous, hard specular hematite, which is rare at MSA
sites elsewhere in southern Africa. A preliminary investigation into the geological nature of the ochreous materials in the
archaeological sample and those available in the area was performed using semi-quantitative portable X-ray fluorescence
(pXRF), XRF, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Together with site formation processes, we
suggest possible, primarily local sources of the ochre found in the deposits. The data do not support previous suggestions
that OBP was used as an ochre caching site that may have formed part of an exchange network during the MSA. Instead,
the local abundance of nodules of specular hematite within the Waterberg sandstone, the limited number of used pieces in
the assemblage, and the stratigraphic context indicate a more natural, less anthropogenic explanation for the abundance of
ochre at the site.},
organization = {South African Heritage Resources Agency},
organization = {University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg},
organization = {Genus
 RYC2020-029506-I},
organization = {National Research Foundation
 	NRF},
organization = {Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
 	FCT},
organization = {European Social Fund Plus
 	ESF},
organization = {Universidad de Granada
 	UGR},
organization = {Agencia Estatal de Investigación
 2021.00782	AEI},
publisher = {Springer Nature},
keywords = {Waterberg},
keywords = {Sourcing},
keywords = {Middle Pleistocene},
keywords = {MIS 5},
keywords = {MIS 6},
keywords = {Ochre cleaning},
title = {Ochre use at Olieboomspoort, South Africa: insights into specular hematite use and collection during the Middle Stone Age},
doi = {10.1007/s12520-023-01871-9},
author = {Culey, Jasmin and Hodgskiss, Tammy and Wurz, Sarah and De la Peña Alonso, Paloma and Val, A.},
}