Export of stone tools from Jojosi-5 and Jojosi-6 for scientific analysis

In 2023, a research team under the direction of Dr. Manuel Will excavated stone tool assemblages from two discrete areas (Jojosi 5 and Jojosi 6) within the erosional gullies (dongas) of the Jojosi landscape (near Nquthu, uMzinyathi District). Preliminary investigation of these stone tools during the excavations have shown that they belong to the Middle Stone Age (MSA) and date to somewhere between 300.000-40.000 years before today. At both sites, MSA stone tools were found embedded in situ within the donga sediments within tightly defined artefact lenses with high artefact concentrations. These lithic assemblages are the first stratified MSA open-air stone tools from KwaZulu-Natal recovered by modern field methods. Direct chronological dating of the sediments by Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) is currently underway and will corroborate the results from the stone tool analysis. The proposed scientific analysis will provide a holistic study of the recovered MSA stone tools from Jojosi 5 and Jojosi 6 to understand the nature of these assemblages, what activities were carried out at the site and how these artefacts fit into the broader regional context of KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa. We plan to export n=224 (Jojosi 5) and n=365 (Jojosi 6) stone tools >2cm from the excavations to the laboratories at the University of Tübingen, Germany. Here, the applicant and his team have access to large laboratory space and adequate equipment to provide a holistic study of the lithic assemblages. The permit holder of the Jojosi excavations Dr. Manuel Will (or as a substitute his PhD student Gunther Möller) is responsible for proper packaging and hand-carrying the selected artifacts from the KZN Museum to Tübingen (extra luggage on airplane). In terms of scheduling, and after consultation with the curators of the KZN museum, we suggest to export the artefacts in March 2024 during a research stay by the applicant and return them to the KZN Museum in February 2025.