Regional geological formation and speleogenesis of the ‘Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa’ UNESCO World Heritage Site

Ground‐penetrating radar analysis of the Drimolen early Pleistocene fossil‐bearing palaeocave, South Africa

“…These Cradle fossil sites occur within an 450 km 2 area located between Pretoria and Krugersdorp, northwest of Johannesburg, except for Taung and Makapansgat, which are considered 'satellite sites' (Figure 1). These caves have developed within the Malmani Dolomites of the Transvaal supergroup which formed approximately 2.6-2.5 Billion (Ga) years ago (Button, 1972;Ingram & van Tonder, 2011;Murszewski et al, 2019).…”

Complexities of assessing palaeocave stratigraphy: reconstructing site formation of the ∼2.61 Ma Drimolen Makondo fossil site

“…Specifically, South African palaeocaves serve as depositional repositories for some of the densest concentrations of early hominin remains in the world, including well preserved partial skeletons ( Berger et al, 2010 ; Berger et al, 2015 ; Clarke, 2019 ; Keyser et al, 2000 ). Such deposits are palaeontological and archaeological data sources for several reasons: a collection of various carcasses within a ‘death trap’ accumulation ( Val et al, 2015 ); a source of shelter or occupation for various species (e.g., baboon sleeping sites, porcupine accumulations ( Brain, 1981 ; Bountalis & Kuhn, 2014 )); or, as depositional repositories for fluvially transported material from the surrounding landscape ( Adams et al, 2010 ; Berger et al, 2010 ; Berger et al, 2015 ; Caruana, 2017 ; Clarke, 2019 ; Herries & Adams, 2013 ; Herries et al, 2020 ; Granger et al, 2015 ; Murszewski et al, 2019 ; Stratford & Palmer, 2017 ; Stammers, Caruana & Herries, 2018 ).…”

“…Increase in the age of a karst landscape ultimately results in increasing complexity in the karst speleogenesis and subsequent infilling stages ( Ford & Williams, 2013 ). As the host rock of palaeocave sites in CoH form one of the oldest karst landscapes in the world (Malmani Dolomite Succession, ∼2.6 Ga; Eriksson & Reczko, 1995 ; Murszewski et al, 2019 ), complex and multi-phased karstic systems are expected ( Fig. 2 ).…”

“…3A ), determining stratigraphic relationships, including allostratigraphic and synchronous boundaries between clastic units is particularly important for the deposit. In expanding from preliminary work presented in Herries et al (2018) at DMK and recent broader geological works in Murszewski et al (2019) research here will also play a role in understanding the genesis and infill of the entire Drimolen palaeocave system. This is in addition to providing an opportunity to study a palaeocave site that encompasses the Pliocene to Pleistocene transition, which is a rare phenomenon in the CoH ( Herries et al, 2019 ).…”

Table 2: Micromorphological aspects of each of the major facies at DMK.

“…Specifically, South African palaeocaves serve as depositional repositories for some of the densest concentrations of early hominin remains in the world, including well preserved partial skeletons (Berger et al, 2010;Berger et al, 2015;Clarke, 2019;Keyser et al, 2000). Such deposits are palaeontological and archaeological data sources for several reasons: a collection of various carcasses within a 'death trap' accumulation (Val et al, 2015); a source of shelter or occupation for various species (e.g., baboon sleeping sites, porcupine accumulations (Brain, 1981;Bountalis & Kuhn, 2014)); or, as depositional repositories for fluvially transported material from the surrounding landscape (Adams et al, 2010;Berger et al, 2010;Berger et al, 2015;Caruana, 2017;Clarke, 2019;Herries et al, 2020;Granger et al, 2015;Murszewski et al, 2019;Stratford & Palmer, 2017;Stammers, Caruana & Herries, 2018). Increase in the age of a karst landscape ultimately results in increasing complexity in the karst speleogenesis and subsequent infilling stages (Ford & Williams, 2013).…”