SapienCE - Tracing the origins of behaviourally modern Homo sapiens in southern Africa

Our project focuses explicitly on the period between 100-50 ka (thousand years ago), a time of remarkable technological and behavioural expansion amongst ancestral modern humans. This project is unique and innovative in taking a macro and micro-scale approach to examine the links between material culture, innovation, subsistence and micro-environments. Currently we have only episodic views or ‘snapshots’ of early human behaviour. Also existing ages of occupations at post-100 ka archaeological sites in southern Africa are queried and need review, as does the reliance on environmental proxies disconnected from the human record. Focusing on the southern Cape, a key locus for early human occupation, our research teams analysed materials excavated from three Middle Stone Age archaeological sites Blombos Cave, Klipdrift Shelter, Klipdrift  Cave Lower and one Later Stone Age site, Klipdrift Cave. Our 2015-2016 published results about these sites have demonstrated their unequalled richness and integrity, and highlights their ground-breaking contribution to our understanding of modern humans in this region, indeed for Africa as a whole. The benefits of our team using precision excavation and recording techniques, innovative analytical and dating methods, and new theoretical approaches are demonstrated in our publications that highlight the behavioural innovations and subsistence practices that emerged in this region after 100 ka. Additionally our publications have directly linked these cultural records to changing environmental conditions observed in site-based archives. Our integrated macro- and microscale approach is defining a new paradigm in international archaeological research. With our inter-disciplinary team of archaeologists, dating specialists and climatologists, we believe that our research group will continue to establish a new scientific standard for assessing the relationships between human culture and the natural world in which it operates.

2025

• Beller, Jeremy Alexander; Niekerk, Karen Loise van; Armitage, Simon et al. (2025). Hunter-gatherer mobility and lithic procurement in the southern Cape: Results of artefact provenance from MSA Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Rosa, Neemias Santos da; d'Errico, Francesco; Maguregui, M. et al. (2025). Modelling the taphonomic effects of wind erosion and marine aerosol degradation on paintedages through accelerated ageing experiments: implications for the origins of rock art and the evolution of human symbolic behaviour. (external link)
• Cendrowska, Marzena; d'Errico, Francesco; Niekerk, Karen Loise van et al. (2025). Knapping Ochre: Experimental Insights into MSA Ochre Use and Lithic Techniques. (external link)
• Walsh, Ella Victoria; Armitage, Simon; Miller, Christopher et al. (2025). Palaeolandscape evolution during the period of Middle Stone Age occupation of Blombos Cave, South Africa.. (external link)
• Pearson, Alexandra; Reynard, Jerome P.; Niekerk, Karen Loise van et al. (2025). HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT DYNAMICS DURING MIS 5 - Faunal Perspectives From The Southern Cape, South Africa. (external link)
• Andersson, Carin; Milic, Jovana; Göktürk, Ozan Mert et al. (2025). Seasonal Timing of Shellfish Collection and Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction from Archaeological Shells at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Velliky, Elizabeth Catherine; d'Errico, Francesco; Niekerk, Karen Loise van et al. (2025). Unveiling the multifunctional use of ochre in the Middle Stone Age: Specialized ochre retouchers from Blombos Cave. (external link)

2024

• Alsgaard, Asia Victoria; Niekerk, Karen Loise van; Sealy, Judy et al. (2024). Archaeological insights into past and present harvesting pressures of the cape yellowtail (Seriola lalandi). (external link)
• Faul, Inez; Andersson, Carin; Niekerk, Karen Loise van et al. (2024). A palaeoenvironmental analysis of microfossils from MIS 5c-d in Cave 1, Klasies River main site, South Africa. (external link)
• Beller, Jeremy; Niekerk, Karen Loise van; Grabe, Pieter-Jan et al. (2024). Raw material distribution in the southern Cape region and its significance for lithic procurement during the MSA at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Pearson, Alexandra; Wurz, Sarah Jacoba Deborah; Reynard, Jerome P. et al. (2024). A comparative zooarchaeological perspective on MIS 5 coastal ecology at Klasies River Main site and Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Ryano, Kokeli Peter; Niekerk, Karen Loise van; Henshilwood, Christopher Stuart et al. (2024). Shellfish gathering during MIS 5c-d at Klasies River main site and Blombos Cave, southern Cape, South Africa: An inter-assemblage comparison. (external link)
• Milic, Jovana; Niekerk, Karen Loise van; Andersson, Carin (2024). Seasonal scheduling of shellfish collection and paleoenvironmental reconstruction based on archaeological shells from Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Henshilwood, Christopher Stuart; Niekerk, Karen Loise van (2024). Origins of Early Southern Sapiens Behaviour Exhibition. Archaeological results from Blombos Cave, Klipdrift Shelter and Klasies River. (external link)
• Walsh, Ella Victoria; Armitage, Simon James; Miller, Christopher et al. (2024). Palaeolandscape evolution during the period of Middle Stone Age occupation of Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Miller, Christopher; Haaland, Magnus Mathisen; Armitage, Simon James et al. (2024). Geoarchaeological investigations of Klipdrift Shelter, de Hoop Nature Reserve, South Africa. (external link)
• Unhammer, Ole Fredrik; Haaland, Magnus Mathisen; Armitage, Simon James et al. (2024). Reconcilable differences: Using retrospective photogrammetry to bridge the divide between analogue and digital site data collected during long-term excavation projects. (external link)
• Simon, Margit Hildegard; Göktürk, Ozan mert; Bilt, Willem Godert Maria van der et al. (2024). Investigation of biomarkers from Blombos Cave, South Africa and from Rabat-Temara Caves in Morocco: Insights into Middle Stone Age sites Palaeoclimate.. (external link)
• Muller, Antoine; Armitage, Simon James; d'Errico, francesco et al. (2024). Many ways to get to the point: Experimental insights into the behavioural complexity involved in Middle Stone Age point-making. (external link)
• Rosa, Neemias Santos da; d'Errico, Francesco; Maguregui, Maite et al. (2024). TaphArt: an experimental approach to the impact of wind erosion and marine aerosol on coastal rock art sites. (external link)
• Badenhorst, Shaw; Ezeimo, Joel; Lebatla, L.T. et al. (2024). Variability in Hunting Behaviour during the Middle Stone Age in the Eastern and Western Cape of South Africa. (external link)
• Chong, Kurt Heinrich Wogau; Simon, Margit Hildegard; Niekerk, Karen Loise van et al. (2024). From sea to Little Karoo: tracking the paleo-landscape inhabited by the first modern humans. (external link)
• Badenhorst, Shaw; Ezeimo, Joel; Niekerk, Karen Loise van et al. (2024). Differential Accumulation of Large Mammal Remains by Carnivores and Humans during the Middle Stone Age in the Eastern and Western Cape, South Africa. (external link)
• Alsgaard, Asia Victoria; Niekerk, Karen Loise van; Andersson, Carin et al. (2024). Exploring characteristics of sustainable coastal exploitation during the Middle and Later Stone Ages in South Africa through fish bones and seal teeth. (external link)

2023

• d'Errico, Francesco; Niekerk, Karen Loise van; Geis, Lila et al. (2023). New Blombos Cave evidence supports a multi-step evolutionary scenario for the culturalization of the human body. (external link)
• Göktürk, Ozan mert; Simon, Margit Hildegard; Sobolowski, Stefan Pieter et al. (2023). Behaviourally modern humans in coastal southern Africa experienced an increasingly continental climate during the transition from Marine Isotope Stage 5 to 4. (external link)
• Nel, Turid Hillestad; Peters, Carli; Richter, Kristine K. et al. (2023). Peptide mass fingerprinting as a tool to assess micromammal biodiversity in Pleistocene South Africa: The case of Klipdrift Shelter. (external link)

2022

• Ryano, Kokeli Peter; Niekerk, Karen Loise van; Wurz, Sarah Jacoba Deborah et al. (2022). Shellfish remains as proxy for human behaviour and past environments during MSA II lower at Klasies River main site and Blombos Cave, southern Cape, South Africa. (external link)
• Badenhorst, Shaw; Mthombothi, Nomaswazi; Niekerk, Karen Loise van et al. (2022). An initial assessment of zooarchaeological assemblage sizes from South Africa. (external link)
• Badenhorst, Shaw; Ezeimo, Joel; Lebatla, L.T. et al. (2022). Variability in hunting behaviour during the Middle Stone Age in the Eastern and Western Cape of South Africa. (external link)

2021

• Badenhorst, Shaw; Ezeimo, Joel; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van et al. (2021). Differential accumulation of large mammal remains by carnivores and humans during the Middle Stone Age in the Eastern and Western Cape, South Africa. (external link)
• Milic, Jovana; Niekerk, Karen Loise van; Andersson, Carin (2021). Effects of prehistoric fire events on the mineralogical and stable oxygen isotope composition of Turbo sarmaticus opercula. (external link)
• Coutinho, Alexandra; Malmström, Helena; Edlund, Hanna et al. (2021). Later Stone Age human hair from Vaalkrans Shelter, Cape Floristic Region of South Africa, reveals genetic affinity to Khoe groups. (external link)
• Badenhorst, Shaw; Ratshinanga, Rialivhuwa; Parrini, Francesca et al. (2021). Rhinoceros from the Middle Stone Age in the Eastern and Western Cape of South Africa. (external link)
• Haaland, Magnus Mathisen; Mentzer, Susan M; Velliky, Elizabeth Catherine et al. (2021). Characterizing microscopic ochre fragments at Middle Stone Age sites: implications for evaluating prehistoric ochre use and deposition. (external link)

2020

• Sharp, Warren; Niespolo, Elizabeth; Tryon, Christian A et al. (2020). 230Th/U Burial Dating of Ostrich Eggshell: A New Geochronometer for Pleistocene Archaeological Sites. (external link)
• Haaland, Magnus Mathisen; Miller, Christopher; Unhammer, Ole Fredrik et al. (2020). Geoarchaeological investigation of occupation deposits in Blombos Cave in South Africa indicate changes in site use and settlement dynamics in the southern Cape during MIS 5b-4. (external link)
• Haaland, Magnus Mathisen; Strauss, André M.; Velliky, Elizabeth et al. (2020). Hidden in plain sight: A microanalytical study of a Middle Stone Age ochre piece trapped inside a micromorphological block sample. (external link)
• Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van (2020). The Origins of Early Sapiens Behaviour 'Mother Africa - Welcome Home'. (external link)
• Discamps, Emmanuel; Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van (2020). Large mammal exploitation during the c. 14-11 ka Oakhurst techno-complex at Klipdrift Cave, South Africa.. (external link)

2019

• Niespolo, Elizabeth; Sharp, Warren; Tryon, Christian A et al. (2019). Evaluating the temporal range of 230Th/U burial dating of ostrich eggshell, a new chronometer for Pleistocene terrestrial strata. (external link)
• Niespolo, Elizabeth; Sharp, Warren; Glass, Robert et al. (2019). Patterns of U uptake and implications for diagenesis and trace element records in biomineral eggshell. (external link)
• Faul, Inez; Andersson, Carin; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van et al. (2019). MIS 5c-d at Klasies River: An analysis of microfossils to infe paleoenvironmental conditions. (external link)
• Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Foster, Craig et al. (2019). Origins of Early Sapiens Behaviour. (external link)
• Ryano, Kokeli Peter; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Wurz, Sarah Jacoba Deborah et al. (2019). Shellfish exploitation during the Oakhurst at Klipdrift Cave, southern Cape, South Africa. (external link)
• Niekerk, Karen Loise Van (2019). Excavation and analysis from Blombos Cave and Klipdrift Shelter. (external link)
• Armitage, Simon James; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Henshilwood, Christopher (2019). A reassessment of the luminescence chronology for Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Keene, Petro et al. (2019). 'Origins of Early Sapiens Behaviour - Mother Africa - Welcome Home'. (external link)
• Nel, Turid Hillestad; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Henshilwood, Christopher (2019). Local environmental context of the Howiesons Poort sequence at Klipdrift Shelter, South Africa. (external link)

2018

• Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van (2018). South Africa’s Blombos cave is home to the earliest drawing by a human. (external link)
• Ryano, Kokeli Peter; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Henshilwood, Christopher et al. (2018). Shellfishing at Klipdrift Cave during the Oakhurst, ca. 12–10 ka, in the southern Cape coast, South Africa: human predation pressure, dietary and climatic implications. (external link)
• Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Keene, Petro et al. (2018). Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour exhibition. (external link)
• d'Errico, Francesco; Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van (2018). Les premières utilisations du rouge en Afrique. (external link)
• Haaland, Magnus Mathisen; Strauss, André; Miller, Christopher E. et al. (2018). The 3D-reconstruction of a modified ochre fragment trapped inside a micromorphological block sample from the Middle Stone Age levels of Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Haaland, Magnus Mathisen; Miller, Christopher E.; Unhammer, Ole Fredrik et al. (2018). Investigation of Middle Stone Age occupation deposits in Blombos Cave, South Africa: evidence for changes in site-use and settlement dynamics in the Southern Cape during the MIS 5b-4 (94 – 72 ka). (external link)
• Henshilwood, Christopher; d'Errico, Francesco; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van et al. (2018). An abstract drawing from the 73,000-year-old levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)

2017

• Niespolo, Elizabeth; Sharp, Warren; Fylstra, Nicholas et al. (2017). U-TH BURIAL DATING OF OSTRICH EGGSHELLS: A NOVEL APPROACH TO DATING AFRICAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SEQUENCES BEYOND THE 14C LIMIT. (external link)
• Ryano, Kokeli Peter; Wurz, Sarah Jacoba Deborah; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van et al. (2017). The Technology of the Early Oakhurst Lithic Techno-Complex from Klipdrift Cave, Southern Cape, South Africa. (external link)
• Ryano, Kokeli Peter; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Henshilwood, Christopher et al. (2017). Shellfish and tortoise exploitation during the Oakhurst at Klipdrift Cave, southern Cape, South Africa: human predation pressure and climatic implications. (external link)
• Haaland, Magnus Mathisen; Miller, Christopher; Unhammer, Ole et al. (2017). Middle Stone Age ochre contexts in Blombos Cave, South-Africa: a macro- and micro-contextual background. (external link)
• d'Errico, Francesco; Banks, William E.; Warren, Dan L. et al. (2017). Identifying early modern human ecological niche expansions and associated cultural dynamics in the South African Middle Stone Age. (external link)
• Haaland, Magnus Mathisen; Miller, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van et al. (2017). Evaluating the nature and behavioral implications of laterally extensive occupation deposits in the Middle Stone Age levels of Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)

2016

• Roberts, Patrick; Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van et al. (2016). Climate, environment and early human innovation: Stable isotope and faunal proxy evidence from archaeological sites (98-59ka) in the southern Cape, South Africa. (external link)
• Moyo, Stanley; Mphuti, Dikeledi; Cukrowska, Ewa et al. (2016). Blombos Cave: Middle Stone Age ochre differentiation through FTIR, ICP OES, ED XRF and XRD. (external link)
• Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Kjærgaard, Peter C (2016). Blombos. (external link)
• Reynard, Jerome; Discamps, Emmanuel; Badenhorst, Shaw et al. (2016). Subsistence strategies in the southern Cape during the Howiesons Poort: Taphonomic and zooarchaeological analyses of Klipdrift Shelter, South Africa. (external link)
• Delagnes, Anne; Schmidt, Patrick; Douze, Katja et al. (2016). Early evidence for the extensive heat treatment of silcrete in the Howiesons Poort at Klipdrift Shelter (layer PBD, 65 ka), South Africa. (external link)
• Badenhorst, Shaw; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Henshilwood, Christopher (2016). Large mammal remains from the 100 ka Middle Stone Age layers of Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Kjaergaard, Peter (2016). Homo sapiens: Blombos Cave. (external link)
• Delagnes, Anne; Douze, Katja; Wurz, Sarah Jacoba Deborah et al. (2016). The habitual heat treatment of silcrete by the Howiesons Poort groups from southern Africa. (external link)
• Reynard, Jerome; Discamps, Emmanuel; Wurz, Sarah Jacoba Deborah et al. (2016). Occupational intensity and environmental changes during the Howiesons Poort at Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa. (external link)
• Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van (2016). What excavated beads tell us about the when and where of human evolution. (external link)

2015

• Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Henshilwood, Christopher (2015). The engraved ostrich eggshell from the Howiesons Poort layers at Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa.. (external link)
• Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van (2015). Tracing the behavioural evolution of Homo sapiens in southern Africa. (external link)
• Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van (2015). New archaeological excavations of Later and Middle Stone Age deposits at the Klipdrift Complex, southern Cape, South Africa: 2010-2013. (external link)
• Armitage, Simon; Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van (2015). Single-grain OSL dating of the Howiesons Poort layers at Klipdrift Shelter, Southern Cape, South Africa. AFQUA, Inaugural Conference and Workshops, 30 Jan - 7 Feb, 2015, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.. (external link)
• Archer, Will; Gunz, Philipp; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van et al. (2015). Diachronic change within the Still Bay at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Harvati, Katerina; Bauer, Catherine C.; Grine, Frederick E. et al. (2015). A human deciduous molar from the Middle Stone Age (Howiesons Poort) of Klipdrift Shelter, South Africa. (external link)
• Delagnes, Anne; Douze, Katja; Wurz, Sarah Jacoba Deborah et al. (2015). Heating silcrete: innovation, invention or simple opportunistic behavior for the MSA groups?. (external link)
• d'Errico, Francesco; Vanhaeren, Marian; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van et al. (2015). Assessing the accidental versus deliberate color modification of shell beads. A case study on perforated Nassarius kraussianus from Blombos Cave Middle Stone Age levels. (external link)

2014

• Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Wurz, Sarah Jacoba Deborah et al. (2014). Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa: preliminary report on the Howiesons Poort layers. (external link)
• Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van (2014). Blombos Cave: The Middle Stone Age Levels. (external link)
• Moyo, Stanley; Cukrowska, Ewa; Henshilwood, Christopher et al. (2014). ED-XRF and FTIR Differentiation of ochre from the Middle Stone Age Layers of Blombos Cave, South Africa-A Preliminary study. (external link)
• Badenhorst, Shaw; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Henshilwood, Christopher (2014). Middle Stone Age fauna from Blombos Cave. (external link)
• Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van (2014). New archaeological excavations of Later and Middle Stone Age deposits at the Klipdrift Complex, southern Cape, South Africa: 2010-2013. (external link)
• Armitage, Simon; Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van (2014). Single-grain OSL dating of the Howiesons Poort layers at Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa. (external link)
• Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Henshilwood, Christopher (2014). Engraved ostrich eggshells from the Howiesons Poort layers at Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa. (external link)
• Roberts, Patrick; Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van et al. (2014). Stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of ostrich eggshell provides evidence for climatic change during the emergence of the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort technocomplexes on the southern Cape coast of South Africa. (external link)
• Badenhorst, Shaw; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Henshilwood, Christopher (2014). Rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis) from Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• d'Errico, Francesco; Henshilwood, Christopher; Garcia-Moreno, Renata et al. (2014). Il y a 100 000 ans, un atelier pour la préparation et le stockage de mélanges pigmentés. (external link)
• Delagnes, Anne; Douze, Katja; Wurz, Sarah Jacoba Deborah et al. (2014). Patterns of changes over the Howiesons Poort sequence at Klipdrift Shelter (South Africa). (external link)
• Schmidt, P; Porraz, G; Delagnes, Anne et al. (2014). Heat treatment of silcrete in the southern African MSA: the heating procedure and its implications for the chaine operatoire. (external link)

2013

• Niekerk, Karen Loise Van (2013). Preliminary report on the shellfish remains from the Mesolithic layers at Olsteinhelleren (5.6 – 4.7ka BC) and Sævarhelleren (7-5.8ka BC) (presented in absentia). (external link)
• Langejans, Geeske H.J.; Dusseldorp, Gerrit L.; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van et al. (2013). A hazy shade of winter: Late Pleistocene environments and behavioural adaptations at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Vanhaeren, Marian; d'Errico, Francesco; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van et al. (2013). Thinking strings: Additional evidence for personal ornament use in the Middle Stone Age at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)

2012

• Langejans, Geeske H.J.; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Dusseldorp, Gerrit L. et al. (2012). Middle Stone Age shellfish exploitation: Potential indications for mass collecting and resource intensification at Blombos Cave and Klasies River, South Africa. (external link)
• Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van; Rifkin, Riaan F. et al. (2012). Analytical techniques: Deciphering a 100,000 Year Old Ochre Processing Workshop at Blombos Cave, South Africa. (external link)
• Niekerk, Karen Loise Van (2012). Preliminary report on Klipdrift Shelter. (external link)
• Niekerk, Karen Loise Van (2012). Trekking the Shore. Changing Coastlines and the Antiquity of Coastal Settlement. Bicho, N.F., Haws, J.A. & Davis, L.G. (editors) 2011. New York: Springer. I–XXX 496 pp. ISBN 978-1- 4419-8218-6 (hardback). (external link)
• Henshilwood, Christopher; Niekerk, Karen Loise Van (2012). Middle Stone Age Chemists - a 100 000-year-old pigment processing workshop at Blombos Cave. (external link)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

SapienCE - Centre for Early SapienCE Behaviour

https://www4.uib.no/en/research/research-centres/centre-for-early-sapiens-behaviour-sapience 

Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa - excavation and analysis of the cultural and faunal material from the Middle Stone Age Howiesons Poort and Post Howiesons Poort technocomplexes (60-65ka)

Klipdrift Cave, southern Cape, South Africa - analysis of faunal and cultural remains from the Later Stone Age layers dating to the Oakhurst period (c. 10-14ka)

Blombos Cave, southern Cape, South Africa - excavation and analysis of marine fauna and cultural artefacts from the Middle Stone Age layers dating to between 100 and 70ka