Katharine Kyriacou

• PhD
• PostDoc Position at University of Johannesburg

Intertidal zones on shorelines are geologically complex features of the coastal plain, shaped by heterogeneous substrate lithologies. Palaeocoastlines have been heavily modified by sea-level change, ocean currents, wind, waves and swell. Rocks and sediments along intertidal zones create rich habitats for biogenic forms including shellfish, which ar...

Intertidal mussels, limpets and oysters have been utilized as food by the prehistoric inhabitants of South African coastal regions since at least the Last Interglacial (130 ka). There is, however, little current information on their macronutrient content and nutritional value. In this paper, I present new, quantitative information on the protein, f...

Pinnacle Point, Mossel Bay, is best known for the preservation of the earliest evidence for systematic shellfish exploitation by humans during the African Middle Stone Age (MSA). Comparatively little is known about the shellfish gathering strategies of the Later Stone Age (LSA) inhabitants of this region. This article reports on five LSA sites at t...

Many attempts have been made to define and reconstruct the most plausible ecological and dietary niche of the earliest members of the human species. While earlier models emphasise big-game hunting in terrestrial, largely savannah environments, more recent scenarios consider the role of marine and aquatic foods as a source of polyunsaturated fatty a...

The Middle Stone Age (MSA) of Africa documents the earliest and longest record of marine resource use and coastal settlements by modern humans. Here, we provide a long-term and evolutionary perspective of these behaviors. We propose a definition of " coastal adaptations " rooted in the principles of evolutionary biology as a workable analytical dev...

Surveys identified a series ofHolocene Later Stone Age shell middens | along the westernmost extent of the Pinnacle Point estate near Mossel Bay, Western Cape, South Africa. Excavations of the Pinnacle Point i Shell Midden Complex (PPSMC) in 2006 and 2007 revealed a ! well-preserved record of human activity ranging from 3000 ± 75 BP to 890 ± 30 BP...

Since the discovery of the earliest dated sheep remains at Spoegriver Cave in Namaqualand, the Northern Cape has been recognised as a key area in documenting the emergence of herding in southern Africa. Nevertheless, the lifeways of prehistoric people in this region remain poorly understood. As a result of surveys conducted by the Archaeology Contr...

Hoedjiespunt 1 has long been recognized as one of the earliest Middle Stone Age (MSA) shell-bearing sites on the southwestern Cape coast. Together with the closely adjacent and roughly contemporary site at Sea Harvest, and the extensively documented site of Ysterfontein, Hoedjiespunt provides a record of MSA people’s adaptations to coastal environm...

Surveys identified a series of Holocene Later Stone Age shell middensalong the westernmost extent of the Pinnacle Point estate near MosselBay, Western Cape, South Africa. Excavations of the Pinnacle PointShell Midden Complex (PPSMC) in 2006 and 2007 revealed awell-preserved record of human activity ranging from 3000 ± 75 BPto 890 ± 30 BP across sev...

Surveys identified a series of Holocene Later Stone Age shell middens along the westernmost extent of the Pinnacle Point estate near Mossel Bay, Western Cape, South Africa. Excavations of the Pinnacle Point Shell Midden Complex (PPSMC) in 2006 and 2007 revealed a well-preserved record of human activity ranging from 3000 ± 75 BP to 890 ± 30 BP acros...

Elands Bay and adjacent coastline near the mouth of the Verloren vlei on the South African Atlantic coast offered Later Stone Age foragers a variety of marine, estuarine, and terrestrial food resources. We suggest that strandloping (beachwalking or beachcombing) by latest Holocene foragers as a regular practice constituted an important component in...

Past archaeological investigations into the impact of shellfish gathering by hunter-gatherers on shellfish stocks, particularly on shellfish size, generally have emphasized long-term change visible in stratigraphic sequences. We propose that short-term exploitation of shellfish by Later Stone Age hunter-gatherers who briefly inhabited the Dunefield...