Introduction
Excavations carried out since 1991 at Blombos Cave provide snapshots of life in the African Middle Stone Age (MSA) in the southern Cape, South Africa. Three phases of MSA occupation have been identified and named M1, M2 and M3. Dating by the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and thermoluminescence (TL) methods has provided occupation dates for each phase: these are about 71,000 BCE for the M1 phase, about 78,000 BCE for the M2 phase, and between 100,000 and 140,000 BCE for the M3 phase.
The evidence indicates periods of relatively brief occupation separated by long periods of non-occupation, including a separation between occupation during the Late Stone Age (LSA) and the Middle Stone Age. Bone tools, marine shell beads, and engraved ochre were found in the M1 phase, bone tools in the Upper M2 phase, and considerable quantities of ochre and associated ochre working tools in the M3 phase.
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