Excavations at the Gordon's Bay Shell Midden, South-Western Cape

Noten, Francis L. van

doi:10.2307/3888340

Cited by 17 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…As shown in Fig 3, the baboons do not fall on the same marine–terrestrial regression line as the humans; baboons are poorer in 15 N than we would predict humans with the same δ 13 C values to be. Considering trophic enrichment in nitrogen isotopes and the higher trophic levels of vertebrates, particularly in the marine environment [129,130] (Fig 2), baboons probably fall below the regression line because they do not include marine and terrestrial vertebrate tissues in their diets [10,11,13], as humans did [31,32,34,35]. Given the observed pattern, and its likely explanation, we maintain that δ 15 N values of humans and baboons are not directly comparable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence from food waste recovered through archaeological excavations provides a guide to the types of foods consumed, but differential preservation of hard and soft food remains makes it very difficult to quantify diets on this basis. Nonetheless, we know that shellfish, stranded marine mammals, fish, terrestrial vertebrates and edible plants were all important [31–35]. In the south-western, winter rainfall region, there are clear distinctions between the δ 13 C values of marine and terrestrial foods, with the former significantly enriched in 13 C. There are also broad differences in the macronutrient composition of the foods, with marine foods generally higher in protein, whereas many terrestrial [plant] foods are richer in carbohydrates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Non-human primates have been used as such in isotopic studies of hominin diets in other contexts [45,46], but not yet in coastal regions. Importantly, there is substantial overlap in foods eaten by local baboons and Holocene coastal hunter-gatherers in this region–diets of both include terrestrial plants and marine intertidal invertebrates [10,11,13,31,34,35]. The diet of an exclusively wild-foraging Peninsula troop that feeds on both marine and terrestrial foods (the Kanonkop troop) has recently been investigated, using behavioural observations and isotopic assessment of food sources and baboon tissue [9,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coastal complexity: Ancient human diets inferred from Bayesian stable isotope mixing models and a primate analogue

Lewis

Sealy

2018

PLoS ONE

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An extensive ecological literature applies stable isotope mixing models to derive quantitative dietary reconstructions from isotope ratios of consumer tissues. While this approach works well for some organisms, it is challenging for consumers with complex, varied diets, including humans; indeed, many archaeologists have avoided the use of mixing models because uncertainties in model outputs are sufficiently large that the findings are not helpful in understanding ancient lifeways. Here, we exploit an unparalleled opportunity to evaluate the feasibility of dietary quantification in a nutritionally and isotopically complex context on the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Delta values (δ13C and δ15N) of 213 indigenous food samples enable us to characterise four food groups: terrestrial plants, terrestrial vertebrates, marine invertebrates and marine vertebrates. A recent study of baboons that consumed marine and terrestrial foods provides insight into the relationship between such foods and consumer tissue isotopes. We use this information to refine our interpretation of δ15N and especially δ13C in bone collagen from 35 archaeological hunter-gatherers, achieving better estimates of the relative importance of marine and terrestrial foods in the diet than has hitherto been possible. Based on Bayesian stable isotope mixing model (SIMM) outputs, we infer that the trophic enrichment factor (TEF) for δ13Cbone collagen in these coastal humans is closer to +3 than +5‰. In the most 13C- and 15N-rich individuals, 65–98% of bone collagen (95% credible intervals) derived from marine foods. Conversely, in 13C and 15N-poor individuals, 7–44% of bone collagen derived from marine foods. The uncertainties discussed here highlight the need for caution when implementing SIMMs in studies of consumers with complex diets. To our knowledge, this work constitutes the most detailed and most tightly constrained study of this problem to date.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coastal complexity: Ancient human diets inferred from Bayesian stable isotope mixing models and a primate analogue

Lewis

Sealy

2018

PLoS ONE

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“…Despite an extensive archaeological record from the Cape south coast, including bone tool technology demonstrated to date to 80 ka (Henshilwood et al 2001;Jacobs et al 2013), stingray spines have not been reported. A single spine, 7.5 cm in length, postulated to have been from an elephantfish (family Chimaeridae or Callorhynchidae) and used as an awl, was reported from a ~3.2 ka midden at Gordon's Bay (Van Noten 1974).…”

Section: Stingray Palaeontology and Archaeologymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Purported Pleistocene Sand Sculpture From South Africa

Charles W. Helm,

Andrew Carr,

Hayley Cawthra

et al. 2024

RAR

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A purported cemented sand sculpture found in Pleistocene aeolianite deposits on the Cape south coast of South Africa resembles a stingray (minus a tail) in outline. Symmetry is evident in the rock’s shape and the pattern of grooves on its surface. It is postulated that it may be a three-dimensional example of representational art of another species. Optically stimulated luminescence studies of rocks in the vicinity indicate that it dates to the Middle Stone Age, most probably during Marine Isotope Stage 5 (when high sea levels imply a nearby coastline). The correspondence in shape between the purported sand sculpture and the blue stingray (Dasyatis chrysonota) suggests that it may have been traced from a fresh specimen. Tracings on sand are postulated as a possible ‘stepping stone’ between abstract early palaeoart and representational rock art. Features of the rock suggest that the creation of a stingray sand sculpture may conceivably have been followed by symbolically wounding it and amputating its lethal end. Identification of further ammoglyphs will be important in refining the analysis of this newly identified form of early palaeoart.

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“…Two of those pictured by her feature a continuous incised groove running around the outside of the piece. Another 28 examples of these artefacts have been recovered from the early Holocene levels at the nearby site of Matjes River Shelter (Dreyer 1933;Louw 1960), while later Holocene examples have been found at sites throughout the Fynbos and Forest Biomes of the Cape (Goodwin 1938;van Noten 1974;Deacon et al 1978;Schweitzer 1979;Poggenpoel and Robertshaw 1981;Schweitzer and Wilson 1982). In Ethiopia, Brandt (1986) reports that two bone tubes were recovered from a cache which also contained over thirty pierced gastropod shells found close to an intentional burial at FeJx 2 at Lake Besaka dated to the LSA.…”

Section: Notched Bone Piece (A 'Bone Tube'?)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Poison arrows and bone utensils in late Pleistocene eastern Africa: evidence from Kuumbi Cave, Zanzibar

Langley

Prendergast

Shipton

et al. 2016

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa

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Most of our current knowledge of late Pleistocene African bone technology is drawn from southern African sites, with recent discoveries indicating that bone-and stone-tipped arrows (propelled by a bow) were in use prior to 60,000 years BP. Integration of archaeological with ethnographic data similarly suggests that hunting with poison-tipped arrows on the African continent has an antiquity of at least 24,000 years. Unfortunately, similar analysis of material from eastern Africa is largely absent and consequently, with the sole exception of barbed points, we know very little regarding osseous technology in this region and how similar or dissimilar it is to contexts located further south. This paper presents a small assemblage of seven bone artefacts recovered from the late Pleistocene deposits of Kuumbi Cave, Zanzibar. Comparison of the bone projectile points, a bone awl and a notched bone tube with ethnographic and archaeological material from throughout the Sub-Saharan region suggests that, as elsewhere in Africa, bone technology was a central element in the Later Stone Age material culture repertoire of Kuumbi Cave's inhabitants. It also suggests that arrow points coated with poison were in use in eastern Africa around 13,000 years BP.ABSTRAIT Actuellement, la plupart de nos connaissances concernant la technologie des os en Afrique à la fin du Pléistocène dérivent de sites d'Afrique australe, avec des découvertes récentes qui indiquent que les flèches avec des pointes en os ou en pierre, propulsées par un arc, étaient en usage avant 60,000 ans BP. En outre, l'intégration des données archéologiques et ethnographiques suggère que la chasse avec des flèches

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Excavations at the Gordon's Bay Shell Midden, South-Western Cape

Cited by 17 publications

References 0 publications

Coastal complexity: Ancient human diets inferred from Bayesian stable isotope mixing models and a primate analogue

Coastal complexity: Ancient human diets inferred from Bayesian stable isotope mixing models and a primate analogue

A Purported Pleistocene Sand Sculpture From South Africa

Poison arrows and bone utensils in late Pleistocene eastern Africa: evidence from Kuumbi Cave, Zanzibar

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