15 ka old evidence of pressure flaking in the Congo basin, Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

We analyze two technically sophisticated stone points dated between 15,580 and 14,319 cal. BP discovered at the open-air site of Mitshakila, Democratic Republic of Congo, combining diacritic analysis, experimentation, and traditional morphometrics. Diacritical analysis is applied following techno-functional (also called "morpho-structural") and productional approaches. An experimental corpus consisting of pieces produced by both a knapper from northeastern Angola in the 1950s and two lithic specialists aims at improving the identification of techniques. Finally, traditional morphometrics is used to compare Mitshakila points with several shaped points from the Late Pleistocene of sub-Saharan Africa including Tshitolian, Lupemban or Still Bay points among others. At Mitshakila, we report an early occurrence of the well-mastered use of pressure technique, “scarf-shaped” retouch (also called “ripple-flake” retouch or in French “ retouche en écharpe ”) and proximo-lateral short shoulders. Its presence at Mitshakila marks an important technical shift during the Final Pleistocene in the Congo Basin. • An extremely rare well-dated Central African Late Pleistocene lithic assemblage. • Earliest described and contextualized evidence of pressure flaking in the Congo Basin. • Evidence for an early complex projectile weapon in Central Africa. • Specialized technical skills in stone tools manufacture. • Detailed methodology combining technological, techno-functional, morphometric and experimental data.