Mouchiabaka rock shelter: a hunter gatherer mark in the landscape of Manica District, Manica Province, Mozambique.

The Later Stone Age (LSA) in Mozambique remains poorly explored and its archaeological heritage is still largely explained in terms of better known sequences to the south, west and north. Central Mozambique is rich in sites with archaeological evidences related to San hunter gatherers. The lithic assemblage from Mouchiabaka (MCK) rock shelter in Manica District becomes, apart from the rock art, one of the few sources of explanation of the use of the rock shelter in the area. Lithic analysis and radiocarbon dating show that formal tools were produced or used at the site as part of the hunting and gathering way of life. To build an understanding of the LSA sequence of the area, this paper considers the sequence of the occupation at the site based on the typological features recognized on the lithic and other artefacts. Diagnostic cultural material at MCK strongly suggests a continuity of the hunter gatherer presence through the first millennium AD, and also maintenance of the LSA way of life in Manica.