Late Pleistocene and Holocene climates as viewed from Verlore Vlei

Main articleEvidence from a number of sites along the lower reaches of the Verlore Vlei and the adjacent coastline is interpreted as reflecting considerable environmental change since about 18 000 B.P. In particular seven points are relevant.Non

Middens and moderns: Shellfishing and the Middle Stone Age of the Western Cape, South Africa

This paper describes some evidence of shellfish gathering from what are arguably among the earliest shell middens in human history. What makes this evidence interesting for scientists involved in explaining human evolutionary events is the fact that it may register a key moment in the emergence of our species. I describe the sites, list some of the archaeological remains, and speculate on the relationship between the evidence for systematic shellfish gathering and the appearance of hominid fossils that almost all palaeoanthropologists would call 'modern'. I have this word in inverted commas because I believe all our definitions of 'modern behaviour', and perhaps even 'modern humans', are self-serving and in need of substantial unpacking. Cynically, modern behaviour is defined as likely to be reflected in the kinds of archaeological remains (worked bone, some or other complex subsistence activity, marked ochre, burial) that we have in hand. It may be better to ask a less loaded question such as what is the history of one of these component behaviours, such as inter-tidal marine food acquisition. The gathering of sessile molluscs is, at first sight, hardly complex, but its nutritional advantages and correlates in the archaeological record might be of considerable significance

Fire and human management of late Holocene ecosystems in southern Africa

Globally, fire is a primary agent for modifying environments through the long-term coupling of human and natural systems. In southern Africa, control of fire by humans has been documented since the late Middle Pleistocene, though it is unclear when or if anthropogenic burning led to fundamental shifts in the region\u27s fire regimes. To identify potential periods of broad-scale anthropogenic burning, we analyze aggregated Holocene charcoal sequences across southern Africa, which we compare to paleoclimate records and archaeological data. We show climate-concordant variability in mid-Holocene fire across much of the subcontinent. However, increased regional fire activity during the late Holocene (~2000 BP) coincides with archaeological change, especially the introduction and intensification of food production across the region. This increase in fire is not readily explained by climate changes, but rather reflects a novel way of using fire as a tool to manage past landscapes, with outcomes conditioned by regional ecosystem characteristics

Temporal variability in shell mound formation at Albatross Bay, northern Australia

We report the results of 212 radiocarbon determinations from the archaeological excavation of 70 shell mound deposits in the Wathayn region of Albatross Bay, Australia. This is an intensive study of a closely co-located group of mounds within a geographically restricted area in a wider region where many more shell mounds have been reported. Valves from the bivalve Tegillarcca granosa were dated. The dates obtained are used to calculate rates of accumulation for the shell mound deposits. These demonstrate highly variable rates of accumulation both within and between mounds. We assess these results in relation to likely mechanisms of shell deposition and show that rates of deposition are affected by time-dependent processes both during the accumulation of shell deposits and during their subsequent deformation. This complicates the interpretation of the rates at which shell mound deposits appear to have accumulated. At Wathayn, there is little temporal or spatial consistency in the rates at which mounds accumulated. Comparisons between the Wathayn results and those obtained from shell deposits elsewhere, both in the wider Albatross Bay region and worldwide, suggest the need for caution when deriving behavioural inferences from shell mound deposition rates, and the need for more comprehensive sampling of individual mounds and groups of mounds

Clanwilliam Living Landscape Project

'Living Landscape' is a community-based museum and schools curriculum project located in the small rural Western Cape town of Clanwilliam. Founded in 1812, and originally known as Jan Dissels Vallei, Clanwilliam was for much of the 19th century a frontier settlement, in which the politics of colonialism were played out against the magnificent backdrop of the Cederberg mountains. Now, in another era of political reorganisation, the current citizens are attempting to construct a democratic future and put aside a divided past. As in most rural Cape towns the divisions take the form of white town, coloured township and black informal settlement. Our project seeks to support these attempts at reconciliation by revealing and celebrating the history of those who were previously denied a contribution.