Faunal remains from MNR 74, a Mapungubwe period settlement in the Limpopo Valley

This research presents an interpretation of the faunal remains from MNR 74, a small 13th century AD settlement located in the Limpopo Valley, east of Musina in South Africa. Archaeological excavations undertaken in 2013 yielded material that connects the site to the larger socio-political interaction sphere of the Mapungubwe polity (c. AD 1220–1290).The widespread impact of the development of social complexity in the Limpopo Valley is best understood through a regional approach.However, only a limited number of archaeozoological reports from Mapungubwe period settlements are available. The data from MNR 74 provide a valuable addition to our understanding of regional faunal use patterns. Here, subsistence strategies focused on herding (cattle and sheep/goats), while wild animals were intermittently hunted, trapped and collected.The presence of a possible black rat (Rattus rattus), together with traded glass beads, confirm that the people at MNR 74 participated in broader Indian Ocean trade networks.The South African Department of Arts and Culture to S.U and a University of Pretoria Research and Development Grant funded A.A.’s excavations at MNR 74.http://reference.sabinet.co.za/sa_epublication/nfi_ditsongam2016Anthropology and Archaeolog

Report on excavations at Penge, a first-millennium Doornkop settlement

Penge is an Early Iron Age farming settlement in the Sekhukhuneland region of Limpopo Province. Excavations were conducted in 2005 as part of a mitigation process for the expansion of the Penge town waterworks. Ceramic analysis suggests that the site is part of the Doornkop facies of northeastern South Africa. Radiocarbon results place occupation at between the seventh and ninth centuries AD. The faunal assemblage indicates the exploitation of domesticates and game, and the utilization of animal-based raw materials such as worked bone and shell. The data presented here contribute to the chronological, ceramic and subsistence database on early farming communities in the South African interior.http://www.sahumanities.org/ojs/index.php/SAH2016-03-30hb201

Notes on African Crowned Eagle Stephanoaetus coronatus diet in savanna and forest in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Our study reports on contrasts in prey items from African Crowned Eagle Stephanoaetus coronatus nesting in forest (n 1) and savanna (n 2) biomes in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. At least 12 taxa were identified at a forest nest, of which 92.1% were neonate/juvenile. Bovids and procaviids represented 73.7% and 19.6% of the diet, respectively, whilst Samango monkey Cercopithecus albogularis, a common forest species, represented only 1.7% of prey items. Other species made up 5.0% and included a range of species not found in the forest (e.g. Ourebia ourebi, Lepus sp. and Ovis capra). At the savanna nests at least four taxa were identified, of which 73.1% of prey items were adult. The majority of prey items were identified as procaviids (87.0%) with 5.6% and 7.4% of prey items represented by C. albogularis/C. pygerythrus and other remains (e.g. Capra hircus and Philantomba monticola), respectively. In South Africa, where total forest area is reduced compared to regions further north, the dietary range of African Crowned Eagles may include a wider diversity of prey from different biomes; feeding generalisation and opportunism may therefore be an important strategy for the maintenance of African Crowned Eagles populations in the region.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tost202015-01-31hb201