Backed segments in quartz from the Howiesons Poort industry of Southern Africa (65–60 ka) have been interpreted as tips of arrows. Nevertheless, several different hafting configurations for these pieces have been proposed. Here, experimental data on the efficacy of two different hafting configurations is presented. Arrows with flint segments replicated to the dimensions of quartz segments from the Howiesons Poort have been shot into gelatin targets. These experiments show that transversally hafted segments outperform diagonally hafted segments in penetration depth, but there is substantial overlap in the size of wounds caused. Our results help constrain the interpretation of archaeological backed segments from the Howiesons Poort and similar lithic elements from technocomplexes across Africa and Europe.

We review indications for the behavioural complexity of foraging strategies during Marine Isotope Stage 5 (∼130 - 74 ka) at Blombos Cave and Klasies River, South Africa. Although the sites were occupied by anatomically modern humans, it is debated whether they were also behaviourally modern. The exploitation of terrestrial small nocturnal browsers may be an indication for the use of complex foraging strategies such as trapping or net-hunting. Hence we analyse the terrestrial fauna of the sites in terms of represented size classes, dietary preference and activity patterns. Seasonally planned coastal visits are also considered 'modern' and may be recognised by the presence of large numbers of adult male seals and by shellfish only accessible at low tide. We therefore analyse the representation of marine mammals and the represented molluscs in terms of their habitat preference. Our study suggests that trapping and net-hunting were practised in Marine Isotope Stage 5. In addition, coastal visits were probably planned.

The influence of transport and processing behaviour on the composition of archaeological assemblages is often poorly understood. We study the influence of changing transport distances, due to Late Pleistocene sea-level fluctuations, on the representation of marine resources at Middle Stone Age sites in South Africa. We show that the representation of some marine resources does not decrease proportionally with increased transport distance. This suggests that the organisation of foraging behaviour changed as sea levels fluctuated. We develop a model of the organisation of Middle Stone Age coastal foraging strategies, explaining the exploitation of marine resources as a function of fluctuations in the productivity of terrestrial relative to marine resources.

Middle Stone Age (MSA) shellfish remains were studied for indications of changes in subsistence adaptations. Optimal Foraging Theory was applied to the MSA shellfish species from Blombos Cave and Klasies River, South Africa, to model which shellfish would be most profitable to collect in terms of meat yield and handling costs. This ranking is compared to the composition of the archaeological shellfish assemblages. Several developments are considered to be the result of changes in prey choice. It appears that at Klasies River, MSA people mainly collected high ranked mid-intertidal shellfish, and that their foraging strategy was strongly influenced by changes in the coastal environment. At Blombos Cave, when the sea was further from the cave, a revaluation of the prey ranking caused an increase in . Perna perna densities in the M2 and M1 phases, compared to the older M3 phase. . P. perna was not only selected because, as a bivalve it preserves better during transport, but also because it can easily be mass collected. At Blombos Cave there are changes in species representation and a decrease in average . Turbo sarmaticus opercula weight. This tentatively suggests that shellfish collection may have intensified during later phases. In general, MSA collecting trips were optimized according to the available shellfish, taking into account the distance to the resource and their yield.