Using Trampling Modification to Infer Occupational Intensity During the Still Bay at Blombos Cave, Southern Cape, South Africa

Demography probably had a significant influence on the transmission of cultural innovation during the late Pleistocene. In enclosed sites such as rockshelters, trampling marks are likely direct evidence for human occupations and can possibly be used to infer occupational patterns. In this study, we explore trampling modification as a proxy for occupational intensity. We examined trampling data at the Middle Stone Age site of Blombos Cave in South Africa to investigate whether these marks may inform on occupational intensity during the Still Bay period-a significant era for the development of behavioural modernity. Trampling is defined by pitting, scratches, abrasion and linear marks. These marks were then compared to other taphonomic proxies (e.g., faunal density per volume, transverse fractures, non-anthropogenic modification) to explore the relationships between these indicators. Our results indicate that trampling modifications can provide information on a site's occupational history and that the data indicate that there are two phases within the Blombos sequence showing more intense/frequency occupations, corresponding to the early and middle Still Bay deposits.