9,000 years of genetic continuity in southernmost Africa demonstrated at Oakhurst rockshelter.

Southern Africa has one of the longest records of fossil hominins and harbours the largest human genetic diversity in the world. Yet, despite its relevance for human origins and spread around the globe, the formation and processes of its gene pool in the past are still largely unknown. Here, we present a time transect of genome-wide sequences from nine individuals recovered from a single site in South Africa, Oakhurst Rockshelter. Spanning the whole Holocene, the ancient DNA of these individuals allows us to reconstruct the demographic trajectories of the indigenous San population and their ancestors during the last 10,000 years. We show that, in contrast to most regions around the world, the population history of southernmost Africa was not characterized by several waves of migration, replacement and admixture but by long-lasting genetic continuity from the early Holocene to the end of the Later Stone Age. Although the advent of pastoralism and farming substantially transformed the gene pool in most parts of southern Africa after 1,300 BP, we demonstrate using allele-frequency and identity-by-descent segment-based methods that the ‡Khomani San and Karretjiemense from South Africa still show direct signs of relatedness to the Oakhurst hunter-gatherers, a pattern obscured by recent, extensive non-Southern African admixture. Yet, some southern San in South Africa still preserve this ancient, Pleistocene-derived genetic signature, extending the period of genetic continuity until today.

Bilateral hip dysplasia in a South African male: A case study from the 17-18th century.

OBJECTIVE: To identify, critically analyse and describe severe bilateral skeletal pathology involving the ossa coxae of an individual from historic era Cape Town. MATERIALS: A single individual from the University of Cape Town's Human Skeletal Repository was analysed under research approval (HREC# 035/2021). METHODS: An osteobiography was constructed, radiocarbon dating and isotopic analyses were conducted. Pathological description and contextualised disability analyses followed, along with differential diagnosis. The pelvis and femora were visualised macroscopically and radiographically. RESULTS: This individual was a non-European middle-aged adult male who lived in the 17-18th centuries CE. Morphological changes showed hypoplastic hips with collapsed femoral heads and neoacetabulae. A diagnosis of developmental dysplasia of the hips (DDH) was made. Then a contextualised disability analysis including consideration of the clinical and functional impacts of the condition were applied. No signs of maltreatment, physiological stress or persistent infections were present. His bones were well developed, illustrating mobility and use. CONCLUSIONS: He developed DDH early in life and lived through adulthood, and his strong, healthy bones suggest resilience, some mobility and contribution to society through less physically demanding tasks. SIGNIFICANCE: Value for palaepathological analyses to inform and understand disability and culturally significant health mediation to offer a more objective interpretation and improve understanding of past people. It expands our understanding of the presence of DDH globally and in Africa and provides insight into disease impact for individuals with bilateral expression. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH: Further contextual research is required. LIMITATIONS: Poor scene recovery hindered in-depth care analysis and interpretation of the condition.

Confronting historical legacies of biological anthropology in South Africa-Restitution, redress and community-centered science: The Sutherland Nine.

We describe a process of restitution of nine unethically acquired human skeletons to their families, together with attempts at redress. Between 1925-1927 C.E., the skeletonised remains of nine San or Khoekhoe people, eight of them known-in-life, were removed from their graves on the farm Kruisrivier, near Sutherland in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. They were donated to the Anatomy Department at the University of Cape Town. This was done without the knowledge or permission of their families. The donor was a medical student who removed the remains from the labourers' cemetery on his family farm. Nearly 100 years later, the remains are being returned to their community, accompanied by a range of community-driven interdisciplinary historical, archaeological and analytical (osteobiographic, craniofacial, ancient DNA, stable isotope) studies to document, as far as possible, their lives and deaths. The restitution process began by contacting families living in the same area with the same surnames as the deceased. The restitution and redress process prioritises the descendant families' memories, wishes and desire to understand the situation, and learn more about their ancestors. The descendant families have described the process as helping them to reconnect with their ancestors. A richer appreciation of their ancestors' lives, gained in part from scientific analyses, culminating with reburial, is hoped to aid the descendant families and wider community in [re-]connecting with their heritage and culture, and contribute to restorative justice, reconciliation and healing while confronting a traumatic historical moment. While these nine individuals were exhumed as specimens, they will be reburied as people.

Coastal complexity: Ancient human diets inferred from Bayesian stable isotope mixing models and a primate analogue.

An extensive ecological literature applies stable isotope mixing models to derive quantitative dietary reconstructions from isotope ratios of consumer tissues. While this approach works well for some organisms, it is challenging for consumers with complex, varied diets, including humans; indeed, many archaeologists have avoided the use of mixing models because uncertainties in model outputs are sufficiently large that the findings are not helpful in understanding ancient lifeways. Here, we exploit an unparalleled opportunity to evaluate the feasibility of dietary quantification in a nutritionally and isotopically complex context on the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Delta values (δ13C and δ15N) of 213 indigenous food samples enable us to characterise four food groups: terrestrial plants, terrestrial vertebrates, marine invertebrates and marine vertebrates. A recent study of baboons that consumed marine and terrestrial foods provides insight into the relationship between such foods and consumer tissue isotopes. We use this information to refine our interpretation of δ15N and especially δ13C in bone collagen from 35 archaeological hunter-gatherers, achieving better estimates of the relative importance of marine and terrestrial foods in the diet than has hitherto been possible. Based on Bayesian stable isotope mixing model (SIMM) outputs, we infer that the trophic enrichment factor (TEF) for δ13Cbone collagen in these coastal humans is closer to +3 than +5‰. In the most 13C- and 15N-rich individuals, 65-98% of bone collagen (95% credible intervals) derived from marine foods. Conversely, in 13C and 15N-poor individuals, 7-44% of bone collagen derived from marine foods. The uncertainties discussed here highlight the need for caution when implementing SIMMs in studies of consumers with complex diets. To our knowledge, this work constitutes the most detailed and most tightly constrained study of this problem to date.

Earliest stone-tipped projectiles from the Ethiopian rift date to >279,000 years ago.

Projectile weapons (i.e. those delivered from a distance) enhanced prehistoric hunting efficiency by enabling higher impact delivery and hunting of a broader range of animals while reducing confrontations with dangerous prey species. Projectiles therefore provided a significant advantage over thrusting spears. Composite projectile technologies are considered indicative of complex behavior and pivotal to the successful spread of Homo sapiens. Direct evidence for such projectiles is thus far unknown from >80,000 years ago. Data from velocity-dependent microfracture features, diagnostic damage patterns, and artifact shape reported here indicate that pointed stone artifacts from Ethiopia were used as projectile weapons (in the form of hafted javelin tips) as early as >279,000 years ago. In combination with the existing archaeological, fossil and genetic evidence, these data isolate eastern Africa as a source of modern cultures and biology.

Craniofacial variation and population continuity during the South African Holocene.

We assess craniometric variation in 153 individually dated human crania from South Africa with the aim of investigating genetic continuity/discontinuity during the Holocene. Evidence from the archaeological record is used to pinpoint likely episodes of genetic discontinuity. Craniometric data are then used to assess the likelihood of genetic change having occurred. Two periods of possible genetic discontinuity are identified: i) c. 4,000 BP, when an increase in overall population size, shifts in site organization and diet, and reduced mobility, were accompanied by reductions in stature; ii) c. 2,000 BP, when the herding of domesticates and the use of pottery vessels were introduced into the region. Results indicate that there was a decrease in cranial size and concomitant size-related changes in craniofacial shape between c.4,000 BP and 3,000 BP. This was followed almost immediately by a recovery in craniofacial size and a return to pre-4,000 BP craniofacial shape at c. 3,000 BP. This recovery continued gradually, extending into the herder period without any major shifts in morphology at 2,000 BP. It is suggested that the fluctuations in craniofacial size/shape were related to changes in environmental factors. Results obtained are consistent with long term continuity in South African Later Stone Age populations during the Holocene.

Emergence of modern human behavior: Middle Stone Age engravings from South Africa.

In the Eurasian Upper Paleolithic after about 35,000 years ago, abstract or depictional images provide evidence for cognitive abilities considered integral to modern human behavior. Here we report on two abstract representations engraved on pieces of red ochre recovered from the Middle Stone Age layers at Blombos Cave in South Africa. A mean date of 77,000 years was obtained for the layers containing the engraved ochres by thermoluminescence dating of burnt lithics, and the stratigraphic integrity was confirmed by an optically stimulated luminescence age of 70,000 years on an overlying dune. These engravings support the emergence of modern human behavior in Africa at least 35,000 years before the start of the Upper Paleolithic.