Article

Some Research Results of Excavations in the Colwinton Rock Shelter, North-Eastern Cape

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Abstract

The deposits in the Colwinton Rock Shelter (Barkly East district) probably span the end-Pleistocene and Holocene period. Excavated material includes faunal remains, stone artefacts and pottery. The stone tool analysis reveals sequence of three industries which show typological similarities with the Later Stone Age industries in the cultural sequence of the southern and eastern Cape, Lesotho and the middle Orange River basin.

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... At GRS there is an increase in small bovids such as grey rhebok (Pelea capreolus), mountain reedbuck (R. fulvorufula), steenbok/grysbok (Raphicerus sp.), and klipspringer (Oreotragus oreotragus) (Opperman 1984: 403). A similar trend is found at sites above the escarpment, namely Colwinton (Opperman 1982(Opperman , 1987 while a contrasting trend is found at sites below the escarpment, namely Te Vrede and Bonawe, where equids and alcelaphines occur throughout the Holocene (Opperman 1984(Opperman , 1987). ...
... A similar trend of hunting smaller game is recorded roughly 100 km away at Colwinton, located above the escarpment (Opperman 1982(Opperman , 1987, while a contrasting trend of hunting larger game (i.e., Equids and Alcelaphini) is recorded at Te Vrede and Bonawe, located below the escarpment (Opperman 1984(Opperman , 1987. Shifts from large bovids in the Pleistocene to browsers and small territorial bovids in the Holocene is recorded at several southern African sites located across a range of biomes (Klein 1972(Klein , 1978(Klein , 1983Plug & Engela 1992;Bousman 2005;Barham & Mitchell 2008;Faith 2013a, b;Sealy et al. 2016Sealy et al. , 2020) and likely relates to faunal turnover resulting from palaeoenvironmental change associated with the transition from the glacial to interglacial period (Faith 2014). ...
... To begin, the δ 13 C values of springbok and eland are consistent with those documented in southern Africa (Sponheimer et al. 2003a) confirming the expected dietary habits of these two species. Both springbok and eland were identified in Opperman's (1984Opperman's ( , 1987Opperman's ( , 1988 GRS faunal assemblage and were similarly found at nearby sites (Opperman 1982, Plug 1997. Springbok are the only extant Antilopini in South Africa (Skinner & Chimimba 2005). ...
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The adoption of Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) provides an alternative approach to traditional morphological and ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis, allowing previously unidentifiable and morphologically ambiguous remains to be identified. Dietary preferences are reflected in the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios, with variations indicating behavioural, physiological, and/or environmental change. Together, fauna identified by ZooMS and stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes has the potential to provide more information about vegetation and palaeoenvironmental change than either dataset alone. This study focuses on the morphologically unidentifiable faunal assemblage from Grassridge Rockshelter (GRS), South Africa. Ten samples were selected from the late Pleistocene (LP; ca. 43–28 ka), 20 from the terminal Pleistocene (TP; ca. 13.5–11.6 ka), and 70 from the mid-Holocene (MH; ca. 7.3–6.8 ka) layers. Here, fauna identified by ZooMS and stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes from bone collagen is used to infer the palaeoenvironmental conditions at GRS during each occupation. Eighty-five percent (n = 85) of the GRS sample was successfully identified to at least tribe using ZooMS. Success increased through time, but not significantly, suggesting that ZooMS can be used on older assemblages, up to ca. 40 ka, and in warm environments. Faunal and stable isotope shifts are documented and are indicative of changing vegetation and palaeoenvironment through time. At GRS, results indicate a cool and dry grassland environment dominated by open-habitat grazers during the LP, transitioning to a warmer and mesic mosaic environment dominated by browsers during the MH. Broad taxonomic resolutions and the misidentification of a suni antelope (Neotragus moschatus) indicate a need for the development of novel ZooMS peptide markers, the expansion of the reference database, and emphasise the need to incorporate multiple proxies when undertaking palaeoenvironmental research. Furthermore, the identification of a blue duiker (Philantomba monticola) and ostrich (Struthio camelus) was unexpected, highlighting the potential of ZooMS to identify rare or unexpected taxa.
... The foothills of the Drakensberg are often seen as an intermediate region between the cold, harsh highlands of the Drakensberg and the grassland-dominated interior of southern Africa. Opperman (1982Opperman ( , 1987Opperman ( , 1988) excavated multiple sites in this region including Grassridge Rockshelter, Colwinton and Ravenscraig. He argued that hunter-gatherer groups generally focused on mountain resources and only exploited food resources in the foothills of the mountains in times of scarcity. ...
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The broader Drakensberg is an important region for understanding population dynamics and adaptation between the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Here, we announce our campaign to re-excavate Strathalan Cave in the northeastern Cape of South Africa. Strathalan Cave sits at the foothills of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg at the edge of the Great Escarpment of southern Africa. Well-known for its organic preservation, the site is important for understanding the archaeology of the region. People have occupied Strathalan Cave intermittently from ca. 29 000 years ago (ka), so exploring occupational patterns at sites such as these is a valuable means of understanding Stone Age behaviour during glacial Marine Isotope Stage 2 (ca. 29-14 ka). In this paper, we provide the first detailed description of the geological, geomorphological, sedimentary and environmental context of Strathalan Cave and review previous studies conducted on the site and region. We also introduce the goals of our re-excavation project and present a detailed map of the three cavities that make up the Strathalan Cave complex as part of a new, comprehensive, spatial control system established on site. Given the remarkable preservation of organic materials, Strathalan Cave may provide an important and rare source of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data for this period. Future work at Strathalan will likely contribute to our understanding of the links between settlement patterns and environmental change. This is especially important given that Strathalan sits at the juncture between different environmental and geographic regions.
... From research undertaken by Hermanus Opperman (1982Opperman ( , 1987Opperman ( , 1996, we know foragers were living in the Drakensberg around Maclear from at least 29 ka. San descended from these foragers. ...
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In this article, I examine an unusual and hitherto unresearched type of rock marking – circle imprints. The circle imprints, found at six rockshelters in the southern Drakensberg, occur on top of fine-line paintings and, in a single case, what may be Khoekhoe or so-called Type 2 finger-paintings. These relatively homogenous circle imprints are unlike any other rock marking traditions previously identified in South Africa and attributed to San, Khoekhoen, Korana, Nguni, Sotho or other groups. I investigate the identity of the creators of the circle imprints and why they were made. In so doing, I consider the characteristics of the circle imprints and mode of manufacture, oral histories, and I undertake replication studies. From these data, my analysis of the archaeological traditions of the Barkly East area and a review of literature , I suggest that the circle imprints may be the residue left by women and children making cattle dung and cattle dung mixed with clay into patties and placing these on rock surfaces of shelters to dry during the mid-twentieth century. The circle imprints represent an under-researched technology of using cattle dung mixed with clay patties as a fuel source in the absence of substantial sources of wood.
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Cambridge Core - Evolutionary Biology - A Fossil History of Southern African Land Mammals - by D. Margaret Avery
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Recent research in the eastern highlands of South Africa and Lesotho has increased our knowledge of Late Pleistocene and Holocene human activities in the region. The faunal remains from different sites provide insight into the animal populations of the area during the various climatic phases of the past 21,000 years. During the Last Glacial the variety of species was limited and territorial small bovids were poorly represented. With the onset of the Holocene and better climatological conditions, plant and animal species' diversity increased. The improved conditions and increase in food supplies led to the expansion of the human population. During the Late Pleistocene only a few sites were sporadically occupied, but there is a marked increase in occupied shelters from the early to the mid-Holocene. The species' diversity is reflected in the faunal samples and small bovids feature prominently in the bone assemblages.
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Analyses of organic-rich deposits from Tiffindell Ski Resort indicates that organic accumulation began somewhat before 4720 BP. This correlates well with the moister conditions known to have existed in the north eastern uplands of Eastern Cape Province (and in upland eastern Lesotho) in the later as compared with the earlier part of the Holocene. Palynological analyses of sediments dating from somewhat before 2790 BP to the present suggests that only limited environmental changes occurred in the pollen spectra. The wettest conditions apparently existed around 2700 BP, probably correlating with an increase in human occupation in the Eastern Cape (Southern) Drakensberg following the possible abandonment of that area during the dry phase(s) of preceding millennia.
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