Renee Rust

• University of the Witwatersrand

The aardvark ( Oryecteropus afer ) is a fossorial species with a widespread distribution across sub-Saharan Africa. It leaves distinctive tracks and traces of its presence, including large burrows. However, despite a substantial body fossil record, few trace fossils registered by aardvarks have been described. Its distribution range in southern Afr...

Aeolianites and cemented beach deposits on South Africa’s Cape coast preserve evidence of events that transpired on them when they were composed of unconsolidated sand. Over the past decades, numerous Pleistocene vertebrate tracksites have been identified on aeolianite palaeosurfaces in the Garden Route National Park, West Coast National Park, and...

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...

Even though music is inextricably part of the social fabric of past and present societies, it has not received in-depth attention in the archaeological literature from South Africa. This topic received the most attention in rock art studies, where images are mainly discussed concerning the trance dance and musical bow playing. Here we focus on flut...

Abstract: Even though music is inextricably part of the social fabric of past and present societies, it has not received in-depth attention in the archaeological literature from South Africa. This topic received the most attention in rock art studies, where images are mainly discussed concerning the trance dance and musical bow playing. Here we foc...

The Cape south coast of South Africa contains a wealth of Pleistocene vertebrate trace fossil sites in aeolianites and cemented foreshore deposits. Published studies have described mammal and avian tracksites identified along this coastline. We report here on a number of Pleistocene palaeosurfaces within the Garden Route National Park that exhibit...

Background: Klasies River is a prominent archaeological site on the South African southern Cape coast, with a unique and continuous occupation spanning the Middle and Late Pleistocene into the Holocene. Ethnobotanical research was undertaken with the objective of enabling a deeper understanding and contextualisation of the palaeo-ethnobotanical fin...

The Cape south coast of South Africa boasts one of the richest Middle Stone Age (MSA) archaeological records in the world. Here coastal caves and rock shelters contain well-documented archives of early humans, including early evidence of human adornment and jewelry, rock engraving and rock paSabstextinting. It has been suggested that palaeoenvironm...

Compared with other parts of the world, the study of geomythology in southern Africa, and the associated documentation of non-western awareness of palaeontological and geological phenomena, is in an early phase. We focus on examples of rocks and fossils as items of special interest and curiosity, and we search for evidence of an indigenous palaeont...

Until now there have been no reliable historical or skeletal fossil records for the giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) south of the Orange River or northern Namaqualand. The recent discovery of fossil giraffe tracks in coastal aeolianites east of Still Bay, South Africa, significantly increases the geographical range for this species, and has implica...

Klasies River is a prominent site among a number of sites along the Cape south coast. Our research forms part of the Klasies Landscape Project headed by Sarah Wurz. The unique convergence of natural resources and the relatively narrow continental shelf at Klasies allowed for a unique and continuous occupation spanning the Middle and Late Pleistocen...

The Klasies River caves are situated on the Tsitsikamma coast about 45km West of Cape St Francis. Klasies River main site figures prominently in modern human origins research. Since 2013 a group of archaeologists from South Africa and overseas, led by Sarah Wurz, have worked at the site each year on a wide range of research projects, some of which...

PowerPoint presentation at 14th PAA Conference