South Africa is particularly important to the study of early human origins as several assemblages of human fossils and artifacts recovered from this region provide the basis for our understanding of the anatomical and behavioral patterns of human evolution. Much of the research in the region has focused on cave sites, which are prevalent in certain regions, provide long stratigraphic sequences, and have relatively good preservation of the archaeological record. However, cave sites may provide a biased view of other important suites of human activities, such as foraging behaviors typical of hunter-gatherer groups that took place in the open landscape. The central interior of South Africa is especially understudied in this sense, due in large part to the lack of cave sites. With this research project, we propose to study a paleo-landscape composed of three open-air MSA sites in the Free State Province of South Africa, which offer an exceptional opportunity to investigate human settlment patterns and interactions with the environment during a crucial stage in the evolution of modern humans.