Nasera Rockshelter is an archaeological site located in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area within Ngorongoro District of Arusha Region in northern Tanzania, and it has evidence of Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age occupations in the Late Pleistocene to early Holocene, and ceramic-bearing Holocene occupations attributed to Kansyore, Nderit, and Savanna Pastoral Neolithic traditions. It was first excavated by Louis Leakey in 1932.[2] A second series of excavations by Michael Mehlman in 1975 and 1976 led to the first comprehensive published study of the shelter, its stratigraphy and chronology (supported by radiocarbon dates), and its abundant material culture, including stone tools, faunal remains, and pottery.[3][4] Recent work has sought to better understand chronology, lithic technology, mobility and demography, and site formation processes at Nasera Rockshelter.[5][6][7][8] Nasera Rockshelter is considered a key site in eastern Africa for understanding the Middle Stone Age to Later Stone Age transition,[9] and also for the study of the spread of livestock herding during the Pastoral Neolithic.[10] Its chronology and archaeological sequence have been compared to those of other key sites in the region such as Mumba Rockshelter, Kisese II Rockshelter, Panga ya Saidi, and Enkapune ya Muto.
  Site location in Tanzania | |
| Location | Ngorongoro District, Arusha Region,  Tanzania |
|---|---|
| Region | Eastern Africa |
| Coordinates | 2°41′48″S 35°19′29″E / 2.69667°S 35.32472°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1932, 1975 & 1976 |
| Archaeologists | Louis Leakey & Michael Mehlman |
| Condition | Excavated |
| Ownership | Tanzanian Government |
| Management | Antiquities Division, Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism [1] |
| Public access | Yes |
| Official name | Nasera Rockshelter |
References
edit- ^ "Antiquities Division". Retrieved 21 Jul 2022.
- ^ Leakey, L.S.B. (1936). Stone Age Africa: an outline of prehistory in Africa. Oxford University Press, H. Milford.
- ^ Mehlman, M. J. (1977). "Excavations at Nasera Rock, Tanzania". Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa. 12 (1): 111–118. doi:10.1080/00672707709511250. ISSN 0067-270X.
- ^ Mehlman, M.J. (1989). Late Quaternary archaeological sequences in northern Tanzania. PhD thesis, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
- ^ Ranhorn, Kathryn; Tryon, Christian A. (2018-11-27). "New Radiocarbon Dates from Nasera Rockshelter (Tanzania): Implications for Studying Spatial Patterns in Late Pleistocene Technology". Journal of African Archaeology. 16 (2): 211–222. doi:10.1163/21915784-20180011. ISSN 1612-1651.
- ^ MartÍn‐Perea, David Manuel; MaÍllo‐FernÁndez, JosÉ‐Manuel; Medialdea, Alicia; MarÍn, Juan; Solano‐MegÍas, Irene; Gidna, Agness; Mabulla, Audax (2020-08-25). "Revisiting an old profile: an updated geoarchaeological study at Nasera Rockshelter (Tanzania)". Journal of Quaternary Science. 35 (7): 951–960. doi:10.1002/jqs.3237. ISSN 0267-8179.
- ^ Solano-Megías, Irene; Maíllo-Fernández, José-Manuel; Marín, Juan; Martín-Perea, David M.; Mabulla, Audax Z. P. (2020-10-21). "Lithic Technology in the Earliest Later Stone age at Nasera Rockshelter (Tanzania)". Lithic Technology. 46 (1): 60–79. doi:10.1080/01977261.2020.1832180. ISSN 0197-7261.
- ^ Tryon, Christian A.; Faith, J. Tyler (2016-07-05). "A demographic perspective on the Middle to Later Stone Age transition from Nasera rockshelter, Tanzania". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 371 (1698): 20150238. doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0238. ISSN 0962-8436. PMC 4920295.
- ^ Tryon, Christian A. (2019). "The Middle/Later Stone Age transition and cultural dynamics of late Pleistocene East Africa". Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews. 28 (5): 267–282. doi:10.1002/evan.21802. ISSN 1060-1538.
- ^ Gifford-Gonzalez, Diane (2017). ""Animal disease challenges" fifteen years later: The hypothesis in light of new data". Quaternary International. 436: 283–293. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.054. ISSN 1040-6182.
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