| This study represents the first systematic investigation of the last 20 000 years of prehistory in Swaziland. Three rockshelters were excavated, each representing a distinct ecozone: Siphiso Shelter in the Lubombo Mountains, Nyonyane Shelter in the middleveld and Sibebe Shelter in the highveld. In addition, three open sites--S142, S143, S146--were excavated in the lowveld/Lubombo ecotone. The artifact sequences from all six sites are described and compared. Inter-site comparisons form the basis of a cultural chronology of the Later Stone Age of Swaziland.;The resulting technological sequence broadly corresponds with developments which characterize much of southern Africa south of the Zambezi after 20 000 bp. The southern Cape sequence of LSA industries--Robberg, Albany and Wilton--is represented in Swaziland. Two notable departures from the regional sequence occur at Siphiso where evidence of prepared core technology is found in the Late Glacial and where microlithic technology continues from the Late Glacial through the early Holocene. The presence of facetted flakes associated with a date of c. 15 000 bp may represent a very late occurrence of prepared core technology south of the Limpopo. The continuity seen in bladelet production between 12 000 and 7 600 bp at Siphiso contrasts with the general absence of microlithic technology in southeastern Africa during this period.;The Swaziland sequence also shows two occupational lacunae which correspond with environmental evidence for locally drier intervals. The first occurs during the Last Glacial Maximum (18 000-16 000 bp) and the second during the mid-Holocene (c. 7 000-2 500 bp). The latter lacuna contrasts with evidence for the contemporary occupation of the Tukhela Basin to the south in Natal.;Pottery appears at all three shelters c. 2 000 bp, marking the influence, if not the arrival, of Iron Age mixed farmers. The LSA occupation of Siphiso continues well into the Iron Age period, suggesting a long interval of coexistence between foragers and farmers. Additional evidence for forager/farmer interaction comes from the open site of S142 where pottery and LSA tools occur in association with the outlines of a windbreak or hut. |
