Abstract
The relationship between Earlier Stone Age (ESA) hominins and the southern African
coastal environment has been poorly investigated, despite the high concentration of openair
sites in marine and fluvial terraces of the coastal plain from c. 1Ma onward during the
Mid-Pleistocene Transition. Southern Africa provides some of the earliest evidence of
coastal subsistence strategies since the end of the Middle Pleistocene, during the Middle
Stone Age (MSA). These coastal MSA sites showcase the role of coastal environments in
the emergence and development of modern human behaviors. Given the high prevalence
of coastal ESA sites throughout the region, we seek to question the relationship between
hominins and coastal landscapes much earlier in time. In this regard, the +100 m raised
beaches of the Benguela Province, Angola, are key areas as they are well-preserved and
contain a dense record of prehistoric occupation from the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene,
including sites like Dungo, Mormolo, Sombreiro, Macaca and Punta das Vacas.
Accordingly, this paper provides a critical review of the coastal ESA record of southern
Africa and a detailed presentation of the Dungo IV site, through a qualitative technological
analysis coupled with a quantitative inter-site comparison with contemporary southern
African coastal plain sites. Through our detailed technological analyses, we highlight the
influence of coastal lithological resources on the technical behaviors of hominin groups,
and we propose the existence of a “regional adaptive strategy” in a coastal landscape
more than 600 000 years ago. Finally, we argue for the integration of coastal landscapes
into hominins’ territories, suggesting that adaptation to coastal environments is actually a
slower process which begins with “territorialization” well before the emergence and development
of Homo sapiens.