The Holocene Later Stone Age at Charé Rock Shelter, Namibia

Charé rock shelter lies approximately 10 km from the north-eastern corner of the Namib Desert’s Sand Sea. The site was excavated in 1971 by Beatrice Sandelowsky but was never fully published. In 2023, the site was revisited to assess the deposit and its potential for future excavation. This paper presents an updated report on the following: (1) the geological and geomorphological context of Charé; (2) previously recovered material culture; (3) preliminary assessment of the stratigraphy; (4) the material culture recovered from a new test pit; and (5) radiocarbon dates from three charcoal pieces distributed through the exposed deposit. Noteworthy is a Later Stone Age (LSA) lithic assemblage produced primarily on clear quartz sourced from the immediate vicinity. We contextualise Charé within the Namibian LSA with a view to stimulating the investigation of variability in the technological and subsistence behaviours of LSA populations in the region during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene.