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1.
PLoS One ; 13(6): e0198558, 2018.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29864147

RESUMEN

The study of plant remains in archaeological sites, along with a better understanding of the use of plants by prehistoric populations, can help us shed light on changes in survival strategies of hunter-gatherers and consequent impacts on modern human cognition, social organization, and technology. The archaeological locality of Pinnacle Point (Mossel Bay, South Africa) includes a series of coastal caves, rock-shelters, and open-air sites with human occupations spanning the Acheulian through Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA). These sites have provided some of the earliest evidence for complex human behaviour and technology during the MSA. We used phytoliths-amorphous silica particles that are deposited in cells of plants-as a proxy for the reconstruction of past human plant foraging strategies on the south coast of South Africa during the Middle and Late Pleistocene, emphasizing the use and control of fire as well as other possible plant uses. We analysed sediment samples from the different occupation periods at the rock shelter Pinnacle Point 5-6 North (PP5-6N). We also present an overview of the taphonomic processes affecting phytolith preservation in this site that will be critical to conduct a more reliable interpretation of the original plant use in the rock shelter. Our study reports the first evidence of the intentional gathering and introduction into living areas of plants from the Restionaceae family by MSA hunter-gatherers inhabiting the south coast of South Africa. We suggest that humans inhabiting Pinnacle Point during short-term occupation events during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 built fast fires using mainly grasses with some wood from trees and/or shrubs for specific purposes, perhaps for shellfish cooking. With the onset of MIS 4 we observed a change in the plant gathering strategies towards the intentional and intensive exploitation of dry wood to improve, we hypothesise, combustion for heating silcrete. This human behaviour is associated with changes in stone tool technology, site occupation intensity and climate change.


Asunto(s)
Antropología Cultural/métodos , Conducta , Sedimentos Geológicos/análisis , Plantas , Cuevas , Cambio Climático , Incendios , Fósiles , Humanos , Sudáfrica , Tecnología
2.
Nature ; 555(7697): 511-515, 2018 03 22.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29531318

RESUMEN

Approximately 74 thousand years ago (ka), the Toba caldera erupted in Sumatra. Since the magnitude of this eruption was first established, its effects on climate, environment and humans have been debated. Here we describe the discovery of microscopic glass shards characteristic of the Youngest Toba Tuff-ashfall from the Toba eruption-in two archaeological sites on the south coast of South Africa, a region in which there is evidence for early human behavioural complexity. An independently derived dating model supports a date of approximately 74 ka for the sediments containing the Youngest Toba Tuff glass shards. By defining the input of shards at both sites, which are located nine kilometres apart, we are able to establish a close temporal correlation between them. Our high-resolution excavation and sampling technique enable exact comparisons between the input of Youngest Toba Tuff glass shards and the evidence for human occupation. Humans in this region thrived through the Toba event and the ensuing full glacial conditions, perhaps as a combined result of the uniquely rich resource base of the region and fully evolved modern human adaptation.


Asunto(s)
Adaptación Psicológica , Desarrollo Industrial/historia , Erupciones Volcánicas/historia , Arqueología , Sedimentos Geológicos/química , Vidrio/análisis , Vidrio/química , Historia Antigua , Humanos , Indonesia , Sudáfrica , Análisis Espacio-Temporal
3.
J Hum Evol ; 92: 101-115, 2016 Mar.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26989020

RESUMEN

The south coast of South Africa provides the earliest evidence for Middle Stone Age (MSA) coastal resource exploitation by early Homo sapiens. In coastal archaeology worldwide, there has been a debate over the general productivity of intertidal foraging, leading to studies that directly measure productivity in some regions, but there have been no such studies in South Africa. Here we present energetic return rate estimates for intertidal foraging along the southern coast of South Africa from Blombos Cave to Pinnacle Point. Foraging experiments were conducted with Khoi-San descendants of the region, and hourly caloric return rates for experienced foragers were measured on 41 days near low tide and through three seasons over two study years. On-site return rates varied as a function of sex, tidal level, marine habitat type and weather conditions. The overall energetic return rate from the entire sample (1492 kcal h(-1)) equals or exceeds intertidal returns reported from other hunter-gatherer studies, as well as measured return rates for activities as diverse as hunting mammals and plant collecting. Returns are projected to be exceptionally high (∼ 3400 kcal h(-1) for men, ∼ 1900 kcal h(-1) for women) under the best combination of conditions. However, because of the monthly tidal cycle, high return foraging is only possible for about 10 days per month and for only 2-3 h on those days. These experiments suggest that while intertidal resources are attractive, women and children could not have subsisted independently, nor met all their protein-lipid needs from marine resources alone, and would have required substantial additional energy and nutrients from plant gathering and/or from males contributing game.


Asunto(s)
Conducta Apetitiva , Metabolismo Energético , Adolescente , Adulto , Anciano , Arqueología , Niño , Preescolar , Femenino , Humanos , Estilo de Vida , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Mariscos , Sudáfrica , Olas de Marea , Adulto Joven
4.
J Hum Evol ; 85: 1-21, 2015 Aug.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26024567

RESUMEN

Using fine and coarse resolution geoarchaeological studies at the Middle Stone Age site of PP5-6 at Pinnacle Point, Mossel Bay, South Africa, we discovered different patterns of anthropogenic input and changes in behavior through time. Through the microfacies approach, we documented the various geogenic and anthropogenic processes that formed the deposits of the site. By deciphering large scale rate differences in the production of these microfacies we estimated anthropogenic input rates and therefore gained understanding of occupational duration and intensity. The PP5-6 sediments document occupations characterized by small groups and short visits during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5. This part of the sequence is characterized by numerous single (and mostly intact) hearth structures in a roofspall-rich matrix. During this time the sea was very close to the site and the people were focused on exploiting the rocky shores. With the advent of the glacial conditions of MIS4, the occupation of the site became much more intense. The occurrence of thick palimpsests of burnt remains, sometimes disturbed by small-scale sedimentary gravity processes, supports this conclusion. As sea level dropped and the coastline retreated, the geogenic input shifted to predominately aeolian sediments, implying an exposed shelf probably associated with a rich but more distant coastal environment. The occupants of PP5-6 turned their preference to silcrete as a raw material and they began to make microlithic stone tools. Since sites dating to MIS4 are abundant in the Cape, we suggest that populations during MIS4 responded to glacial conditions with either demographic stability or growth as well as technological change.


Asunto(s)
Arqueología/métodos , Sedimentos Geológicos , Conducta , Humanos , Fotomicrografía , Sudáfrica , Tecnología
5.
Evol Anthropol ; 24(2): 62-72, 2015.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25914360

RESUMEN

Paleoanthropologists (scientists studying human origins) universally recognize the evolutionary significance of ancient climates and environments for understanding human origins. Even those scientists working in recent phases of human evolution, when modern humans evolved, agree that hunter-gatherer adaptations are tied to the way that climate and environment shape the food and technological resource base. The result is a long tradition of paleoanthropologists engaging with climate and environmental scientists in an effort to understand if and how hominin bio-behavioral evolution responded to climate and environmental change. Despite this unusual consonance, the anticipated rewards of this synergy are unrealized and, in our opinion, will not reach potential until there are some fundamental changes in the way the research model is constructed. Discovering the relation between climate and environmental change to human origins must be grounded in a theoretical framework and a causal understanding of the connection between climate, environment, resource patterning, behavior, and morphology, then move beyond the strict correlative research that continues to dominate the field.


Asunto(s)
Evolución Biológica , Clima , Paleontología/métodos , Proyectos de Investigación , Animales , Ambiente , Humanos , Modelos Teóricos
6.
Nature ; 491(7425): 590-3, 2012 Nov 22.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-23135405

RESUMEN

There is consensus that the modern human lineage appeared in Africa before 100,000 years ago. But there is debate as to when cultural and cognitive characteristics typical of modern humans first appeared, and the role that these had in the expansion of modern humans out of Africa. Scientists rely on symbolically specific proxies, such as artistic expression, to document the origins of complex cognition. Advanced technologies with elaborate chains of production are also proxies, as these often demand high-fidelity transmission and thus language. Some argue that advanced technologies in Africa appear and disappear and thus do not indicate complex cognition exclusive to early modern humans in Africa. The origins of composite tools and advanced projectile weapons figure prominently in modern human evolution research, and the latter have been argued to have been in the exclusive possession of modern humans. Here we describe a previously unrecognized advanced stone tool technology from Pinnacle Point Site 5-6 on the south coast of South Africa, originating approximately 71,000 years ago. This technology is dominated by the production of small bladelets (microliths) primarily from heat-treated stone. There is agreement that microlithic technology was used to create composite tool components as part of advanced projectile weapons. Microliths were common worldwide by the mid-Holocene epoch, but have a patchy pattern of first appearance that is rarely earlier than 40,000 years ago, and were thought to appear briefly between 65,000 and 60,000 years ago in South Africa and then disappear. Our research extends this record to ~71,000 years, shows that microlithic technology originated early in South Africa, evolved over a vast time span (~11,000 years), and was typically coupled to complex heat treatment that persisted for nearly 100,000 years. Advanced technologies in Africa were early and enduring; a small sample of excavated sites in Africa is the best explanation for any perceived 'flickering' pattern.


Asunto(s)
Tecnología/historia , Armas/historia , Arqueología , Historia Antigua , Humanos , Sudáfrica , Factores de Tiempo
7.
J Hum Evol ; 59(3-4): 234-55, 2010.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-20934084

RESUMEN

Pinnacle Point Cave 13B (PP13B) has provided the earliest archaeological evidence for the exploitation of marine shellfish, along with very early evidence for use and modification of pigments and the production of bladelets, all dated to approximately 164 ka (Marean et al., 2007). This makes PP13B a key site in studies of the origins of modern humans, one of a handful of sites in Africa dating to Marine Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6), and the only site on the coast of South Africa with human occupation confidently dated to MIS 6. Along with this MIS 6 occupation there are rich archaeological sediments dated to MIS 5, and together these sediments are differentially preserved in three different areas of the cave. The sediments represent a complex palimpsest of geogenic, biogenic, and anthropogenic input and alteration that are described and interpreted through the use of a variety of macrostratigraphic, micromorphologic, and geochemical techniques. Three independent dating techniques allow us to constrain the age range of these sediments and together provide the stratigraphic context for the analyses of the material that follow in this special issue.


Asunto(s)
Arqueología , Cronología como Asunto , Sedimentos Geológicos , Humanos , Sudáfrica
8.
J Hum Evol ; 59(3-4): 306-20, 2010.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-20934088

RESUMEN

This paper aims to identify the spatial patterning of burning and occupation within an early Middle Stone Age (MSA) sea cave in the Western Cape Province of South Africa by creating a multidimensional model of archaeomagnetic data recovered from all excavated units. Magnetic susceptibility and other mineral magnetic parameters are shown to provide an excellent proxy for the anthropogenic alteration and spread of burnt material into the surrounding unaltered cave deposits. The identification of combustion features and areas of occupation or different activities within the site can be determined because the movement of people throughout the cave mixes magnetically strong hearth material with magnetically weak unaltered sediments. This is also indicated by micromorphological analysis. The degree of enhancement is also shown to indicate the extent to which a deposit has been altered, and therefore, intensity of occupation, because multiple heatings of deposits are needed to form the concentrations of iron minerals occurring in some layers. This is further supported by a comparison with artifact density for the layers. Variation in the magnetic values between different areas of the site is noted with major occupation or fire building occurring in the front of the cave during earlier MIS 6 periods, while during later MIS 5 periods the entire cave is occupied intensively. The oldest, MIS 11 deposits at the rear of the cave indicate no evidence of enhancement and an apparent absence of any anthropogenic signature.


Asunto(s)
Arqueología , Incendios , Sistemas de Información Geográfica , Magnetismo , Cronología como Asunto , Sedimentos Geológicos/análisis , Humanos , Hierro/análisis , Sudáfrica
9.
Nature ; 449(7164): 905-8, 2007 Oct 18.
Artículo en Inglés | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-17943129

RESUMEN

Genetic and anatomical evidence suggests that Homo sapiens arose in Africa between 200 and 100 thousand years (kyr) ago, and recent evidence indicates symbolic behaviour may have appeared approximately 135-75 kyr ago. From 195-130 kyr ago, the world was in a fluctuating but predominantly glacial stage (marine isotope stage MIS6); much of Africa was cooler and drier, and dated archaeological sites are rare. Here we show that by approximately 164 kyr ago (+/-12 kyr) at Pinnacle Point (on the south coast of South Africa) humans expanded their diet to include marine resources, perhaps as a response to these harsh environmental conditions. The earliest previous evidence for human use of marine resources and coastal habitats was dated to approximately 125 kyr ago. Coincident with this diet and habitat expansion is an early use and modification of pigment, probably for symbolic behaviour, as well as the production of bladelet stone tool technology, previously dated to post-70 kyr ago. Shellfish may have been crucial to the survival of these early humans as they expanded their home ranges to include coastlines and followed the shifting position of the coast when sea level fluctuated over the length of MIS6.


Asunto(s)
Colorantes/historia , Dieta/historia , Ecosistema , Actividades Humanas/historia , Mariscos/historia , Animales , Compuestos Férricos , Historia Antigua , Humanos , Océano Índico , Sudáfrica , Factores de Tiempo
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