Middle and Late Pleistocene paleoscape modeling along the southern coast of South Africa

Fisher, Erich C.; Bar‐Matthews, Miryam; Jerardino, Antonieta; Marean, Curtis W.

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.01.015

Cited by 196 publications

(145 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…We can confidently conclude that the coastal intertidal zone in the GCFR was consistently used from MIS5 to MIS4. Owing to the dramatically lower sea levels during MIS6, and the far distance to the coast during that time, it will be a challenge to find sites dating to this time in the GCFR [133] though the attempt is underway where the continental shelf drops off abruptly [134]. The Pleistocene fossil ungulates in the MSA deposits at PP are dominated by gregarious species of the type we would expect to migrate [135].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The transition to foraging for dense and predictable resources and its impact on the evolution of modern humans

Marean

2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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108

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One contribution of 17 to a discussion meeting issue 'Major transitions in human evolution'. Scientists have identified a series of milestones in the evolution of the human food quest that are anticipated to have had far-reaching impacts on biological, behavioural and cultural evolution: the inclusion of substantial portions of meat, the broad spectrum revolution and the transition to food production. The foraging shift to dense and predictable resources is another key milestone that had consequential impacts on the later part of human evolution. The theory of economic defendability predicts that this shift had an important consequence-elevated levels of intergroup territoriality and conflict. In this paper, this theory is integrated with a well-established general theory of hunter-gatherer adaptations and is used to make predictions for the sequence of appearance of several evolved traits of modern humans. The distribution of dense and predictable resources in Africa is reviewed and found to occur only in aquatic contexts (coasts, rivers and lakes). The palaeoanthropological empirical record contains recurrent evidence for a shift to the exploitation of dense and predictable resources by 110 000 years ago, and the first known occurrence is in a marine coastal context in South Africa. Some theory predicts that this elevated conflict would have provided the conditions for selection for the hyperprosocial behaviours unique to modern humans.This article is part of the themed issue 'Major transitions in human evolution'.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The transition to foraging for dense and predictable resources and its impact on the evolution of modern humans

Marean

2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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108

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“…These ancient warming trends are encoded in both the palaeontological and archaeological records. However, the time-depth of known coastal archaeological sites found on land is largely limited to the last and present interglacial as a result of sea level rise, coastal drowning (possible destruction) of archaeological sites that followed the end of the last glacial period [5,33]. However, west coast archaeological sites containing considerable and reasonably well-preserved cultural, faunal and floral material dating to the last interglacial (~120 000 years ago) are few [4].…”

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confidence: 99%

What Archaeology Can Tell us about Sustainability and Climate Change: A South African West Coast Perspective

Jerardino¹

2011

J Marine Sci Res Development

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“…For sites with secure OSL ages, the paleocoastline model developed by Fisher et al (2010) will be used to classify site context. Paleocoastal sites are those estimated to be located within the average modern hunter-gatherer daily foraging radius (~12 km) of the coastline (Marlowe, 2005).…”

Section: Inferring Site Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This region sits at the edge of a shallow coastal platform that is sensitive to sea-level changes. Fisher et al (2010) relate this shifting ancient coastline to the ancient landscape, or paleoscape, of resources available to human populations during this time. The shifting coastline and rainfall patterns influenced the structure and movement of animal communities, and a migration ecosystem may have existed on the coastal platform during periods of lowered sea-levels .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape variability in tool-use and edge damage formation in South African Middle Stone Age lithic assemblages

Schoville

2016

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa

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This study explores how early modern humans used stone tool technology to adapt to changing climates and coastlines in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa. The MSA is associated with the earliest fossil evidence for modern humans and complex cultural behaviors during a time period of dramatic climate change. Human culture allows for the creation, use, and transmission of technological knowledge that can evolve with changing environmental conditions. Understanding the interactions between technology and the environment is essential to illuminating the role of culture during the origin of our species. This study is focused on understanding ancient tool use from the study of lithic edge damage patterns at archaeological assemblages in southern Africa by using image-based quantitative methods for analyzing stone tools. An extensive experimental program using replicated stone tools provides the comparative linkages between the archaeological artifacts and the tasks for which they were used. MSA foragers structured their tool use and discard behaviors on the landscape in several ways -by using and discarding hunting tools more frequently in the field rather than in caves/rockshelters, but similarly in coastal and interior contexts. This study provides evidence that during a significant microlithic technological shift seen in southern Africa at ~75,000 years ago, new technologies were developed alongside rather than replacing existing technologies. These results are compared with aspects of the European archaeological record at this time to identify features of early human technological behavior that may be unique to the evolutionary history of our species.ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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Middle and Late Pleistocene paleoscape modeling along the southern coast of South Africa

Cited by 196 publications

References 75 publications

The transition to foraging for dense and predictable resources and its impact on the evolution of modern humans

The transition to foraging for dense and predictable resources and its impact on the evolution of modern humans

What Archaeology Can Tell us about Sustainability and Climate Change: A South African West Coast Perspective

Landscape variability in tool-use and edge damage formation in South African Middle Stone Age lithic assemblages

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