Meerkat Rockshelter

Meerkat Rockshelter is a Later Stone Age site located approximately 0.75 kilometers from Blydefontein Rockshelter in South Africa. The site was excavated in 1985 while Bousman (1991) conducted the excavations for Blydefontein Rockshelter. Meerkat Rockshelter dates range from 2389±159 cal. BP to 895±77 cal. BP equivalent to the Interior Wilton and Smithfield industries. The lithic assemblage of the site is composed of backed bladelets, endscrapers, projectile points. It also has ostrich eggshell beads, faunal remains, and ceramic sherds.

The lithic and ostrich eggshell beads from Meerkat Rockshelter will be utilized in this usewear analysis as a comparative assemblage along with the experimental assemblages.

Additional ostrich eggshell beads will be analyzed at the Florisbad Quaternary Research Department in South Africa. The Blydefontein and Meerkat Rockshelter assemblages were split, so there are several ostrich eggshell beads curated in South Africa.