The life history of Klasies River Mouth: A case study of archaeology and the history and philosophy of science

This history of Klasies River Mouth is a case study for understanding the interplay among archaeology, paleoanthropology, and the history and philosophy of science. This dissertation shows how Klasies progresses from being a “place,” to an “event,” and finally an “icon” during different episodes of its life history. The defining event in the history of Klasies River Mouth was its excavation and the subsequent interpretation of its artifacts within the transformative paradigm of processual archeology in the 1960s-1970s. As this dissertation argues, this event built on several earlier episodes and intellectual traditions connected to Klasies as a “place.” The excavations and subsequent interpretations of Klasies coincided with changes in archaeological theory—this event actually was a break that represented a singularity, and many layers of context collapsed into one account of Klasies as an archeological site. This confluence of several historical contingencies was also the beginning of Klasies' history as an “icon” within contemporary and historical literature in archaeology and paleoanthropology. The narrative of “the cave” presented supports the argument that it was the particular sequence of historical events and local contingencies that helped to turn Klasies River Mouth into its current status as an “Icon of the Middle Stone Age.” This study has demonstrated two things: (1) that narrative is a useful means of making sense of the intellectual history of an archaeological and paleoanthropological site, and (2) that focusing on one particular “entity” (in this case, the life history of Klasies River Mouth) is a way by which archaeology and paleoanthropology can be understood within history and philosophy of science. In summary, this dissertation has brought the various encounters of Klasies—as place, event, and icon—together by using the life history of the cave as an organizing device. It demonstrates the value of history and philosophy of science to understanding biological and cultural evolution as applied within the history of archaeology and paleoanthropology.