Coastal-based research in southern Africa over the last few decades have brought much attention to this record, as archaeologists have documented diverse materials signatures of symbolic behaviors (beads, ochres, incised ostrich egg shells, etc.)
Stewart's work with colleagues is important in so much that it spreads the focus of Middle Stone Age research in southern Africa from nearly exclusively coastal cave sites to include the habitation of the highlands of Lesotho.
Not only does this help overcome the geographical bias of the region's research to date, it provides a more holistic view of the lifeways of Middle Stone Age peoples, as these environments were far less favorable for human settlement, requiring unique social and technological adaptations.
Brian Stewart gained much notoriety in 2008 after winning the inaugural 'Dance your Ph.D.' competition with his interpretive dance depicting a hunter sharing the spoils of a kill with a chilled woman sitting at a campfire.
[11] In that same year, Stewart, along with colleagues, received a Research and Exploration Grant from the National Geographic Society to conduct a disciplinary study the long-term human occupation of Nama Karoo desert in South Africa.