The study of charcoal from some Southern African archaeological contexts

Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Stellenbosch, 1986.Full text to be digitised and attached to bibliographic record

Modern vegetation at the Klasies River archaeological sites, Tsitsikamma coast, south-eastern Cape, South Africa: a reference collection

Background and aims – The Klasies River cultural landscape, on the Tsitsikamma coast, south-eastern Cape, South Africa, features prominently in modern human origins research. The archaeobotanical information for the Klasies River landscape and its immediate environment is sparse. The aim of this study is the collection of a taxonomically valid and comprehensive reference database of modern botanical specimens as an aid to identifying macro- and micro-botanicals such as seeds, charcoal, phytoliths, parenchyma and pollen in the Klasies River archaeological deposits. This is an essential step in providing context for the identification of past vegetation and its usage by Stone Age populations.Methods – Herb, shrub, tree, grass, fern and geophyte voucher specimens were collected in 24 areas in the vicinity of the Klasies River sites, and further inland within a 5km radius, between 2013 and 2015. The collecting was done at different times of year so that all stages of the flowering, fruiting and seeding cycles for most plants could be sampled.Key results – A total of 268 species, in 196 genera and 78 families were collected. Only 69 of these 268 species currently appear on the relevant database grid of the Integrated Biodiversity Information System (SIBIS), the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). Our work clearly indicates the need for thorough and systematic collecting at archaeologically significant sites in the Cape region to provide further environmental proxies for the interpretation and contextualisation of the development of anatomically modern human behaviour.Conclusions – The Klasies River landscape, although located within the broad Fynbos Biome, cannot be classified as such, as relatively few fynbos species are represented in the core area surrounding the sites. The vegetation is in fact a complex mosaic of thicket, forest and coastal vegetation. This densely interdigitated vegetation provides a wide variety of useful resources

Modern vegetation at the Klasies River archaeological sites, Tsitsikamma coast, south-eastern Cape, South Africa: a reference collection

Background and aims – The Klasies River cultural landscape, on the Tsitsikamma coast, south-eastern Cape, South Africa, features prominently in modern human origins research. The archaeobotanical information for the Klasies River landscape and its immediate environment is sparse. The aim of this study is the collection of a taxonomically valid and comprehensive reference database of modern botanical specimens as an aid to identifying macro- and micro-botanicals such as seeds, charcoal, phytoliths, parenchyma and pollen in the Klasies River archaeological deposits. This is an essential step in providing context for the identification of past vegetation and its usage by Stone Age populations.Methods – Herb, shrub, tree, grass, fern and geophyte voucher specimens were collected in 24 areas in the vicinity of the Klasies River sites, and further inland within a 5km radius, between 2013 and 2015. The collecting was done at different times of year so that all stages of the flowering, fruiting and seeding cycles for most plants could be sampled.Key results – A total of 268 species, in 196 genera and 78 families were collected. Only 69 of these 268 species currently appear on the relevant database grid of the Integrated Biodiversity Information System (SIBIS), the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). Our work clearly indicates the need for thorough and systematic collecting at archaeologically significant sites in the Cape region to provide further environmental proxies for the interpretation and contextualisation of the development of anatomically modern human behaviour.Conclusions – The Klasies River landscape, although located within the broad Fynbos Biome, cannot be classified as such, as relatively few fynbos species are represented in the core area surrounding the sites. The vegetation is in fact a complex mosaic of thicket, forest and coastal vegetation. This densely interdigitated vegetation provides a wide variety of useful resources

Site Distribution and Chronology at Soutpansklipheuwel, a Rocky Outcrop on the West Coast of South Africa

Archaeological research along the West Coast of South Africa has unveiled a diversity of Holocene adaptive strategies as shown by the different type, size, composition, and distribution of sites and their faunal and artifactual contents. Some differences and similarities are apparent between the northerly semi-desert of Namaqualand and the more central Lamberts Bay and Elands Bay areas. On first impression, this archaeological variability seems related to environmental gradients, human demographics, related divergent economic developments, and perhaps to different contexts for cultural contact between indigenous populations. However, differences between Namaqualand and the central parts of the West Coast need to be assessed more closely in order to understand the influence of environmental and cultural/behavioral variables that could have shaped them and their geographic interaction. Sampling of locations near Lamberts Bay and the southern parts of Namaqualand has become vital. Here we present first observations on a survey and broad chronology at one such locality, namely Soutpansklipheuwel outcrop. First results reveal a millennia-long history of occupation. Possible shared attributes that respond to biogeographic and cultural variables are outlined.Peer Reviewe

New investigations at the Middle Stone Age site of Pockenbank Rockshelter, Namibia

In southern Africa, Middle Stone Age sites with long sequences have been the focus of intense international and interdisciplinary research over the past decade (cf. Wadley 2015). Two techno-complexes of the Middle Stone Agethe Still Bay and Howiesons Poorthave been associated with many technological and behavioural innovations of Homo sapiens. The classic model argues that these two techno-complexes are temporally separated horizons' with homogenous material culture (Jacobs et al.2008), reflecting demographic pulses and supporting large subcontinental networks. This model was developed on the basis of evidence from southern African sites regarded as centres of subcontinental developments