WE DESCRIBE A SINGLE HANDAXE FROM fossiliferous breccias at Gladysvale Cave, South Africa. The artefact is the only known tool so far discovered during the controlled excavations conducted at this site over the last decade, and was recovered from decalcified sediments near the stratigraphic interface of two breccia units, making it difficult to assign it with confidence to either. The morphology of the handaxe indicates a middle-late Acheulean industry, and preliminary electron spin resonance and palaeomagnetic dating suggest an age of greater than 780 000 years.NCS2016http://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC9652

Berger, L.R.

Hall, G.

Hancox, J.

Lacruz, R.

Pickering, R.

Schmid, P.

English

Wits Institutional Repository on DSPACE

An Acheulean handaxe from
Gladysvale Cave Site, Gauteng,
South Africa
Grant Halla,b*, Robyn Pickeringb,e, Rodrigo Lacruzb,c,
John Hancoxc, Lee R. Bergerb and Peter Schmidb,d
W
E DESCRIBE A SINGLE HANDAXE FROM
fossiliferous breccias at Gladysvale
Cave, South Africa. The artefact is the
only known tool so far discovered during the
controlled excavations conducted at this site
over the last decade, and was recovered from
decalcified sediments near the stratigraphic
interface of two breccia units, making it diffi-
cult to assign it with confidence to either. The
morphology of the handaxe indicates a mid-
dle–late Acheulean industry, and preliminary
electron spin resonance and palaeomagnetic
dating suggest an age of greater than 780 000
years.
Introduction
Gladysvale Cave, one of the less well-
known sites within the Cradle of Human-
kind World Heritage Site (COHWHS), is
located some 13 km north-northeast of
Sterkfontein, on the John Nash nature
reserve (Fig. 1) in the dolomites and cherts
of the Eccles Formation of the Malmani
Subgroup of the Transvaal Supergroup.
Detailed accounts of the history of excava-
tions at Gladysvale may be found in refs 1
and 2. During the last decade, Gladysvale
has become the focus of much new
research.2,3,4–9
The cave consists of several under-
ground chambers reaching to a depth of
65 m below surface,10 as well as open-air
deposits exposed by erosion and the
subsequent collapse of dolomite roof
blocks.5 The underground cave consists of
an upper chamber in which a number of
fills of different age are preserved, and
are known collectively as the Gladysvale
Internal Deposits (GVID).8,9 The outer
de-roofed section is known as the
Gladysvale External Deposit (GVED).2,4,5
The co-occurrence of major speleothem
markers and similar ages of these two
deposits suggest that they are linked.8 The
deeper underground deposits have been
only partially explored, and contain both
calcified and decalcified breccias, which
have been excavated by members of the
University of Zurich. Three-dimensional
Geographical Information System (GIS)
images showing the associations between
the different sections of the cave can be
found in Schmid.6
The first hominin remains were recov-
ered in 1992 from ex situ miners’ dumps
and led to renewed analysis and excava-
tion of the site. Fossils attributed to
Australopithecus and Homo remains have
subsequently been recovered from the
deposits.12,13 The deposits have yielded a
rich faunal assemblage, including Plio-
cene and Pleistocene mammal species,
abundant microfauna and diverse avian
fauna.1,2,4,11–14
As with all South African cave breccias,
dating the deposit is a major issue. Initial
faunal analyses of the outer deposits
suggest an age range of from mid to late
Pliocene6 to early–mid Pleistocene age1
for the site. Preliminary electron spin
resonance (ESR) dating of bovid tooth
enamel from the GVID and GVED
suggests an age range of c. 200 kyr to c. 1.3
Myr ago.6,15 Further and ongoing research
using different techniques (palaeomagnetic
dating and U-series) supports this age
estimate.4,9
Stratigraphy of the outer deposits
Sedimentologically, two distinct units
appear to be present in the outer deposits:
the GVED and a partially exposed talus
cone (Fig 2). The exposed section of the
GVED is about 5 m thick and consists of
domes of calcified breccia surrounded by
pockets of decalcified material. Both areas
are fossiliferous in nature and most likely
represent a single deposit, which under-
went a post-depositional phase of prefer-
ential decalcification, probably as a result
of the de-roofing of this part of the cave
and presence of tree roots growing down
into the deposits. The calcified breccias
of the GVED are clearly stratified, an
unusual occurrence within South African
cave deposits, and nine sedimentary
units (A to I) can be identified, by clast and
matrix composition, by the presence or
absence of fossils and binding flow-
stones.2,4
To the northeast of the GVED, sedimen-
tary strata are significantly different
(Fig. 2). The clast sizes are considerable
larger than those of the GVED and the
overall morphology of this area of the
deposit is more cone-like, as suggested by
the radial pattern of dip directions of large
chert-rich dolomite clasts. Sediments were
most likely sourced through a separate,
more southwestern entrance to the GVED,
and are thus informally recognized as the
South Western Cone (SWC). A speleothem
(flowstone) layer, up to 40 cm thick, caps
the SWC and, where present, forms the
contact between the SWC and the GVED.
Preservation of this layer is not ideal,
however; prior to decalcification of the
deposit, this layer most likely capped the
entire cone. Flowstone layers such as this
take considerable time to grow and only
do so once specific thresholds, primarily
climatic, have been crossed (see Richards
and Dorale17). Thus, this flowstone layer
Research in Action South African Journal of Science 102, March/April 2006 103
aSchool of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental
Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3,
WITS 2050, South Africa.
bInstitute for Human Evolution, University of the Wit-
watersrand.
cSchool of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand.
dInstitute and Museum of Anthropology, University of
Zürich, 190 Winterthurer Street, CH-8057, Zürich, Swit-
zerland.
eIsotope Geochemistry Group, Institute for Geological
Sciences, University of Bern, 9A Erlachstrasse, CH-3012,
Bern, Switzerland.
*Author for correspondence.
E-mail: hallg@science.pg.wits.ac.za
Fig. 1. The location of Gladysvale Cave in relation to other Plio-Pleistocene sites in South Africa and in the
Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.
can be interpreted as representing a time
during which few or no sediments entered
the cave2,8,9,17 and suggests that the SWC
and GVED were deposited at different
times, potentially several thousand years
apart. The apparent superposition of the
GVED on the SWC suggests that the latter
is the older of the two units.
ESR dating on bovid tooth enamel from
the GVED indicates an age range of
578–830 kyr for the strata.4 The GVED
strata all have a normal palaeomag-
netic signal, suggesting they were depos-
ited during the Brunhes Normal period
between 0–780 kyr ago.18 The flowstone
layer separating the SWC and the GVED
has a reversed signal, suggesting an age of
>780 kyr ago for the SWC.
The handaxe
The handaxe (GV15605) was found
lying horizontally, with the ventral side
up in decalcified and non-stratified sedi-
ments, ~5 cm from calcified breccia and
~10 cm below the flowstone marking the
boundary between the GVED and the
SWC (Fig. 2). The position of the handaxe
below the boundary flowstone (Fig. 2B)
suggests that the SWC strata host the tool,
as shown in the stratigraphic column in
Fig. 2. However, as the artefact was found
in decalcified sediments, where the
amount of mixing, erosion and sediment
settling cannot easily be determined and
was in close proximity to both geological
units, it cannot be assigned with confidence
to either. Thus only a tentative Early to
Middle Pleistocene age can be given.
The handaxe is made from a fine-grained
quartzite. The tool is almost 17 cm in
length and 7 cm wide. It has clearly been
bifacially worked, made on an elongated
large flake, with an overall lanceolate
shape. The use of quartzite allows the
striking of large flakes, an option for the
production of blanks to be used in the
manufacture of bifaces19–21 and satisfies
the need for more robust flake edges.22
A feature of the later Acheulean is the
production of extensively flaked and
symmetrical hand axes. Rough or poorly
shaped handaxes do occur in the later
Acheulean, but there have been no exten-
sively flaked examples recovered from
early Acheulean contexts.19 The striking
platform on the butt of the Gladysvale
implement has been obliterated by the
removal of a number of flakes. The dorsal
surface has indications of numerous flake
scars, more so than the ventral surface.
There is evidence for the removal of at
least 12 flakes on the dorsal surface,
whereas it appears that there are only six
removals on the ventral surface. The ven-
tral flaked areas are also in general smaller
than those on the dorsal surface. The dor-
sal side is least four times larger than the
ventral section and has a more pro-
nounced profile (Fig. 3). This may indicate
that the piece was not fully reduced or re-
worked when it was incorporated into the
deposits. The edges are only slightly
rounded or smoothed and all evidence of
flaking is readily visible (Fig. 4). All the
raised areas on the handaxe have slight
signs of smoothing and polish due to in-
ternment in the deposit, and virtually its
entire surface has a shiny coating of man-
ganese. The combination of these fea-
tures, as well as minimal abrasion and
weathering, suggests that the artefact is in
a relatively fresh condition.
Discussion and conclusions
The handaxe can be assigned to the
Acheulean industrial style and is most
likely an example of a mid to later
Acheulean assemblage. It is, however,
necessary to expand the archaeological
assemblage before any further interpreta-
tion may be made. A possible reason for
the notable absence of substantial num-
bers of stone artefacts at Gladysvale is the
distance of the site from potential sources
of stone, although it has been noted that
there are quartzite boulders in the vicin-
ity. Most known Acheulean sites occur in
close proximity to sources of the neces-
sary raw materials.23 We intend to investi-
gate the sources and suitability of
potential raw materials in the area.
104 South African Journal of Science 102, March/April 2006 Research in Action
Fig. 2. Annotated photographs (A, general view of the external deposits at Gladysvale; B, close-up of the loca-
tion of handaxe) and stratigraphic column of the Gladysvale External Deposit (GVED) and the South Western
Cone (SWC), showing approximate position of the source of the handaxe.


An Acheulean handaxe from Gladysvale Cave site, Gauteng, South Africa.

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An Acheulean handaxe from Gladysvale Cave site, Gauteng, South Africa.

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