Grass-dominated ecosystems occupy a primary position with regard to current debates concerning ke... more Grass-dominated ecosystems occupy a primary position with regard to current debates concerning key events in faunal turnover and human evolution in Africa. Our knowledge of how grass-dominated ecosystems in southern Africa have reacted to periods of global warming and cooling in the past is provided by a broad range of proxy data sources, most notably pollen and stable isotope records. Phytolith analyses provide an alternative fossil record of environmental change and are now progressively becoming a conventional analytical approach in palaeoenvironmental research. The grass family (Poaceae) produces abundant silica bodies, especially within specific and specialized silica cells located in costal zones of the leaf epidermis. In addition to being highly resistant to decomposition, grass phytoliths show markedly varied and distinct morphologies. In this study a central hypothesis, namely that the morphology of grass short-cell phytoliths consistently follows meaningful environmental t...
A comparative study of distal phalanges belonging to adult springbok individuals shows distinctiv... more A comparative study of distal phalanges belonging to adult springbok individuals shows distinctive morphological differences between the subspecies Antidorcas marsupialis marsupialis and Antidorcas marsupialis hofmeyri, most notably reflected by significant lengthening of the sole of the latter. Results were derived from comparative osteomorphological techniques, using standard anatomical nomenclature for descriptions and parametric statistics for measurements and dimensions. The configuration in A. m. hofmeyri proved useful for distinguishing between the two subspecies. The findings suggest that the osteometrical differences observed in the distal phalanges relate to different habitats occupied by the species. Significance:Infraspecific morphological variation exhibited by distal phalanges in Antidorcas marsupialis is significant. The results lay the groundwork for further testing of relationships between functional morphology of foot bones and substrate in bovids.
ABSTRACT Here we provide a multiproxy record of climate change and human occupation at Wonderkrat... more ABSTRACT Here we provide a multiproxy record of climate change and human occupation at Wonderkrater, a spring and peat mound site situated in the interior of southern Africa. Recently extracted sediment cores yielded a number of Middle Stone Age (MSA) artefacts, prompting exploratory excavation of the sediments to understand better the geomorphology of the site, age of the sediments, cultural lithic sequence, vegetation and faunal remains, and to try to establish whether human use of the site was to some extent climatically driven. Excavations yielded late Pleistocene mammal fauna and flora, and three small MSA lithic assemblages with age estimates of 30 ka, >45 ka and 138.01 ± 7.7 ka. The upper layers comprise peat that preserves macrobotanical and faunal remains, implying local fen conditions in Acacia savanna woodland at 12 ka. Below the upper peat layers, a 1 m-thick layer of white sand yielded two MSA lithic assemblages in association with faunal remains dated to between 30.8 ± 0.7 ka and >45 ka. Clay underlying the sand has an OSL age of 63.1 ± 5.8 ka, and sandy peat below it has an Infrared Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL) age of 70 ± 10 ka. Faunal remains in the lower sand levels, and dental stable carbon isotope analysis of herbivores, indicate a substantial grassland component in the landscape during late MIS 3 (>45 ka). Charcoal, phytolith and pollen data show a change from moderately warm and dry grassy savanna woodland in the lower sand levels, to cooler and wetter grassland with woody shrubs in the uppermost levels by 30 ka. The conditions that resulted in the deposition of the sand also attracted people to the site, but whether it served as an oasis in an arid landscape, or was occupied during wet phases, is unclear. The composition of the lithic assemblages, which include many tools suitable for cutting, suggest that the peat mound may have been used as a place to harvest reeds, process plant materials and butcher animals that were either deliberately or accidentally trapped in mud or peat.
Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology, 2016
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
Soil stable isotopes, faunal stable isotopes and phytoliths were recovered from Late Pleistocene ... more Soil stable isotopes, faunal stable isotopes and phytoliths were recovered from Late Pleistocene alluvial deposits at Erfkroon in the Modder River valley. A sequence spanning 100ky provides one of the most detailed sources of environmental change recorded near the confluence of the grassveld, bushveld and Karoo biomes in the western Free State. Shifts between C3 and C4 dominated plant environments demonstrate that plant communities fluctuated dramatically over the last 100ky. Phytolith results indicate fluctuations in rainfall seasonality and relative moisture. These results can be compared to the general environmental requirements of the endemic Florisian faunal remains recovered from Erfkroon and other nearby sites. These results provide an environmental background for analyzing human occupations in the Late Quaternary in the western Free State and surrounding areas.
Grass-dominated ecosystems occupy a primary position with regard to current debates concerning ke... more Grass-dominated ecosystems occupy a primary position with regard to current debates concerning key events in faunal turnover and human evolution in Africa. Our knowledge of how grass-dominated ecosystems in southern Africa have reacted to periods of global warming and cooling in the past is provided by a broad range of proxy data sources, most notably pollen and stable isotope records. Phytolith analyses provide an alternative fossil record of environmental change and are now progressively becoming a conventional analytical approach in palaeoenvironmental research. The grass family (Poaceae) produces abundant silica bodies, especially within specific and specialized silica cells located in costal zones of the leaf epidermis. In addition to being highly resistant to decomposition, grass phytoliths show markedly varied and distinct morphologies. In this study a central hypothesis, namely that the morphology of grass short-cell phytoliths consistently follows meaningful environmental t...
A comparative study of distal phalanges belonging to adult springbok individuals shows distinctiv... more A comparative study of distal phalanges belonging to adult springbok individuals shows distinctive morphological differences between the subspecies Antidorcas marsupialis marsupialis and Antidorcas marsupialis hofmeyri, most notably reflected by significant lengthening of the sole of the latter. Results were derived from comparative osteomorphological techniques, using standard anatomical nomenclature for descriptions and parametric statistics for measurements and dimensions. The configuration in A. m. hofmeyri proved useful for distinguishing between the two subspecies. The findings suggest that the osteometrical differences observed in the distal phalanges relate to different habitats occupied by the species. Significance:Infraspecific morphological variation exhibited by distal phalanges in Antidorcas marsupialis is significant. The results lay the groundwork for further testing of relationships between functional morphology of foot bones and substrate in bovids.
ABSTRACT Here we provide a multiproxy record of climate change and human occupation at Wonderkrat... more ABSTRACT Here we provide a multiproxy record of climate change and human occupation at Wonderkrater, a spring and peat mound site situated in the interior of southern Africa. Recently extracted sediment cores yielded a number of Middle Stone Age (MSA) artefacts, prompting exploratory excavation of the sediments to understand better the geomorphology of the site, age of the sediments, cultural lithic sequence, vegetation and faunal remains, and to try to establish whether human use of the site was to some extent climatically driven. Excavations yielded late Pleistocene mammal fauna and flora, and three small MSA lithic assemblages with age estimates of 30 ka, >45 ka and 138.01 ± 7.7 ka. The upper layers comprise peat that preserves macrobotanical and faunal remains, implying local fen conditions in Acacia savanna woodland at 12 ka. Below the upper peat layers, a 1 m-thick layer of white sand yielded two MSA lithic assemblages in association with faunal remains dated to between 30.8 ± 0.7 ka and >45 ka. Clay underlying the sand has an OSL age of 63.1 ± 5.8 ka, and sandy peat below it has an Infrared Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL) age of 70 ± 10 ka. Faunal remains in the lower sand levels, and dental stable carbon isotope analysis of herbivores, indicate a substantial grassland component in the landscape during late MIS 3 (>45 ka). Charcoal, phytolith and pollen data show a change from moderately warm and dry grassy savanna woodland in the lower sand levels, to cooler and wetter grassland with woody shrubs in the uppermost levels by 30 ka. The conditions that resulted in the deposition of the sand also attracted people to the site, but whether it served as an oasis in an arid landscape, or was occupied during wet phases, is unclear. The composition of the lithic assemblages, which include many tools suitable for cutting, suggest that the peat mound may have been used as a place to harvest reeds, process plant materials and butcher animals that were either deliberately or accidentally trapped in mud or peat.
Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology, 2016
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
Soil stable isotopes, faunal stable isotopes and phytoliths were recovered from Late Pleistocene ... more Soil stable isotopes, faunal stable isotopes and phytoliths were recovered from Late Pleistocene alluvial deposits at Erfkroon in the Modder River valley. A sequence spanning 100ky provides one of the most detailed sources of environmental change recorded near the confluence of the grassveld, bushveld and Karoo biomes in the western Free State. Shifts between C3 and C4 dominated plant environments demonstrate that plant communities fluctuated dramatically over the last 100ky. Phytolith results indicate fluctuations in rainfall seasonality and relative moisture. These results can be compared to the general environmental requirements of the endemic Florisian faunal remains recovered from Erfkroon and other nearby sites. These results provide an environmental background for analyzing human occupations in the Late Quaternary in the western Free State and surrounding areas.
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