Late Pleistocene coastal environment of the Southern Cape Province of South Africa: Micromammals from klasies river mouth

Avery, D. Margaret

doi:10.1016/0305-4403(87)90028-8

Cited by 60 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Vegetational mosaics comprising dense riverine vegetation set in more open bush or trees and grassland appear to have provided favoured habitats. This is as true of such sites as BDC and KRM, which have yielded remains of early anatomically modern Homo sapiens, as it is of earlier sites although conditions were apparently more mesic when the later humans moved south (Avery, 1987(Avery, , 1992b. Conversely, the indication at present is that early hominid cave sites were abandoned during full glacial periods.…”

Section: Early Human Migrationmentioning

confidence: 55%

“…If the late date determined by Grün et al (1990b) is correct, both sites were abandoned about the same time and the same general conditions could have been effective at both sites. If, however, KRM were deserted around the time of the First Glacial Maximum () 18 O stage 4) (Avery, 1987;Deacon & Geleijnse, 1988) it could be argued that the First Glacial Maximum would have been sufficiently harsh to cause people to leave the southern site but not that further north. There is some suggestion that sea level was falling at the time (Klein, 1976;Avery, 1987) but not sufficiently to prevent exploitation of marine resources.…”

Section: Early Human Migrationmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…If, however, KRM were deserted around the time of the First Glacial Maximum () 18 O stage 4) (Avery, 1987;Deacon & Geleijnse, 1988) it could be argued that the First Glacial Maximum would have been sufficiently harsh to cause people to leave the southern site but not that further north. There is some suggestion that sea level was falling at the time (Klein, 1976;Avery, 1987) but not sufficiently to prevent exploitation of marine resources. Neither is there any clear evidence that environmental conditions became so harsh that the site was uninhabitable.…”

Section: Early Human Migrationmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…It comprises a series of caves and overhangs, the major complex of which is termed main site by Deacon & Geleijnse (1988). Discussion in this paper is based on interpretation of micromammalian material from KRM 1A (Avery, 1987) which is an overhang forming part of the main site. The main site lies on the coast some 6-8 m above the present sea level at the base of a cliff that rises Figure 2.…”

Section: Physical Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Physical Environment and Site Choice in South Africa

Avery

1995

Journal of Archaeological Science

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Section: Early Human Migrationmentioning

confidence: 55%

Section: Early Human Migrationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Early Human Migrationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Physical Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Physical Environment and Site Choice in South Africa

Avery

1995

Journal of Archaeological Science

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“…These inferences were initially supported by studies of microfauna and the taxonomic profiles of the larger animal bone assemblages at Klasies River and Border Cave (Avery 1987(Avery , 1992Binford 1984;Klein 1976;contra Avery 1999). Furthermore, such research recognized the considerable impacts that even minor climatic shifts might have on the organization of summer and winter rainfall areas and diverse floral composition of what are today the fynbos and renosterveld biomes endemic to the Western Cape of South Africa (Binford 1984;Deacon 1983).…”

Section: New Paleoenvironmental Research and Chronological Informationmentioning

confidence: 97%

Still Bay and Howiesons Poort Foraging Strategies: Recent Research and Models of Culture Change

McCall

Thomas

2012

Afr Archaeol Rev

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The Still Bay (SB) and Howiesons Poort (HP) industries, endemic to southern Africa and dating to approximately 72-59 ka, have received a great deal of archaeological attention by virtue of their striking patterns of technology and their close association with some of the earliest unambiguously symbolic objects found in southern Africa. This paper reviews recent literature concerning SB and HP lithic assemblages, faunal remains, paleoenvironmental contexts, and chronological information. It argues that SB biface-dominated technology was designed to be multifunctional and to economize lithic raw material, a strategy well-suited to foragers moving frequently across a wide range of ecological zones in which access to resources and prey encounters were unpredictable. In contrast, HP blade-based tools, using backed blades as modular components in compound weapons, were efficient and reliable hunting weapons designed for specific tasks. More costly and difficult to maintain, HP technology resulted from the targeting of known, localized, and seasonal resources through planned logistical forays. We argue that these complicated patterns of innovation represent separate cultural responses to environmental instability during Marine Isotope Stage 4 and demographic pressures in southern Africa at this time. Against the backdrop of environmental and demographic shifts, the emergence of these innovative tools and associated symbolic objects reflects distinct but quintessentially modern cultural behaviors ethnographically associated with risk reduction, reciprocity, and information sharing.Résumé Les industries lithiques de Still Bay (SB) et de Howiesons Poort (HP), omniprésentes en Afrique australe et datant approximativement de 75-59 ka, ont reçu beaucoup d'attention de la part des archéologues en raison de leurs patterns technologiques frappant, ainsi qu'à leur association aux plus anciens objets symboliques trouvés dans cette région africaine. Cet article révise la littérature récente portant sur Afr Archaeol Rev (2012) 29:7-50 les assemblages lithiques et fauniques, les contextes paléoenvironnementaux, ainsi que les données chronologiques des industries SB et HP. L'article soutient que la technologie SB, dominée par les bifaces, fut créé pour être multifonctionnelle et pour économiser du matériel lithique brut; une stratégie bien adaptée à des groupes de chasseurs-cueilleurs se déplaçant fréquemment à travers différentes zones écologiques, où l'accès aux ressources et au gibier était imprévisible. Inversement, les outils laminaires HP, utilisant des lames supportées comme composants modulaires dans la fabrication d'armes composites, étaient spécifiquement fabriquées pour être des armes de chasse efficaces et fiables. Étant plus coûteuse et difficile à entretenir, la technologie HP fut le résultat d'une adaptation à des ressources bien connues, localisées et saisonnières, procurées le biais d'incursions logistiques planifiées. Nous soutenons que ces innovations technologiques complexes représentent des adaptations culturelles...

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A Geographic Information Systems (GIS)‐based analysis of modern South African rodent distributions, habitat use, and environmental tolerances

Campbell

Lewis

Thies

et al. 2012

Ecology and Evolution

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Goals of this study were to: (1) develop distributional maps of modern rodent genera throughout the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland by georeferencing museum specimens; (2) assess habitat preferences for genera by cross-referencing locality position with South African vegetation; and (3) identify mean annual precipitation and temperature range where the genera are located. Conterminous South Africa including the countries of Lesotho and Swaziland Digital databases of rodent museum specimens housed in the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, South Africa (DM), and the Division of Mammals, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, United States (NMNH), were acquired and then sorted into a subset of specimens with associated coordinate data. The coordinate data were then used to develop distributional maps for the rodent genera present within the study area. Percent habitat occupation and descriptive statistics for six climatic variables were then determined for each genus by cross-referencing locality positions with vegetation and climatic maps. This report presents a series of maps illustrating the distribution of 35 rodent genera based on 19,471 geo-referenced specimens obtained from two major collections. Inferred habitat use by taxon is provided for both locality and specimen percent occurrence at three hierarchical habitat levels: biome, bioregion, and vegetation unit. Descriptive statistics for six climatic variables are also provided for each genus based on locality and specimen percent incidence. As rodent faunas are commonly used in paleoenvironmental reconstructions, an accurate assessment of rodent environmental tolerance ranges is necessary before confidence can be placed in an actualistic model. While the data presented here represent only a subset of the modern geographic distributions for many of the taxa examined, a wide range of environmental regimes are observed, suggesting that more research is necessary in order to accurately reconstruct an environmental signature when these taxa are found in the fossil record.

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Late Pleistocene coastal environment of the Southern Cape Province of South Africa: Micromammals from klasies river mouth

Cited by 60 publications

References 11 publications

Physical Environment and Site Choice in South Africa

Physical Environment and Site Choice in South Africa

Still Bay and Howiesons Poort Foraging Strategies: Recent Research and Models of Culture Change

A Geographic Information Systems (GIS)‐based analysis of modern South African rodent distributions, habitat use, and environmental tolerances

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