Palaeoenvironments and Cultural Sequence of the Florisbad Middle Stone Age Hominid Site, South Africa |
| |
Authors: | Kathleen Kuman Moshe Inbar R J Clarke |
| |
Institution: | a Department of Archaeology, University of the Witwatersand, Wits 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa;b Department of Geography, University of Haifa, Haifa, 31999, Israel;c Institut für Anthropologie und Humangenetik, Johan Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany;d Sterkfontein Research Unit, Department of Anatomical Sciences, Medical School, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa |
| |
Abstract: | Florisbad, an open-air spring site with 7 m of strata, has yielded the type assemblage of Middle Stone Age (MSA) fauna, the cranium of an archaic hominid in 1932 and an extensive sequence of MSA artefacts in the 1980s. The cultural assemblages include an early MSA dated broadly to 279,000±47,000 years, a highly retouched form of MSA at 157,000±21,000 years and a minimally retouched, expedient MSA assemblage from a series of occupation horizons at 121,000±6000 years. The latter represents multiple brief visits to a hunting and butchery site on the edge of an active spring pool, where periodic sedimentation gently buried occupation debris in a near-pristine context. Periods of lower spring discharge are represented by organic horizons as swampy vegetation encroached on the springs, while periods of higher spring discharge created pools. Overall the spring sequence indicates low-energy subaqueous environments similar to lakes, ponds or backwater sites. The sequence is characterized by fine sands, silts and clays responsible for the good archaeological preservation. |
| |
Keywords: | FLORISBAD MIDDLE STONE AGE ARCHAIC HOMO SAPIENS HOMO HELMEI PALAEOENVIRONMENTS PLEISTOCENE FLORISIAN LAND MAMMAL AGE |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录! |
|