Late Pleistocene coastal environment of the Southern Cape Province of South Africa: Micromammals from klasies river mouth |
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| Institution: | 1. South African Museum, P.O. Box 61, Cape Town 8000, South Africa;1. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (CIC), Calle 526 entre 10 y 11, CP: 1900 La Plata, Argentina;2. Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP), Paseo Victoria Ocampo N° 1, B7602HSA Mar del Plata, Argentina;1. GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, Section 5.3 Geomicrobiology, Telegrafenberg, Potsdam 14473, Germany;2. GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, Section 3.2 Organic Geochemistry, Telegrafenberg, Potsdam 14473, Germany;3. Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky University, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany;1. Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5554, Institut des Sciences de L’Evolution-Montpellier, Université Montpellier, Bat.22, CC061, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, Cedex 5, France;2. Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, Geopolis, University of Lausanne, Quartier UNIL-Mouline, Bâtiment Géopolis, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland;3. School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK;1. Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa;2. Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S102TN, United Kingdom;3. Physical Geography, Institute of Geography, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Löbdergraben 32, 07743 Jena, Germany;4. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5554, Institut des Sciences de l''Evolution de Montpellier, Université Montpellier 2, Bat.22, CC061, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, cedex5, France;1. Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, PO Box 874101, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA;2. African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape 6031, South Africa;3. Geological Survey of Israel, 32 Yesha''yahu Leibowitz St., Jerusalem 6962100, Israel;4. The Fredy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University, Edmond J Safra Campus – Givat Ram, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel;5. Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Australia;6. Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, South Africa;7. South African National Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa;1. Geophysics and Remote Sensing Unit, Council for Geoscience, PO Box 572, Bellville, 7535, South Africa;2. African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, 6031, South Africa;3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa;4. Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, PO Box 872402, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-2402, USA;5. Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia;6. Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, School of Humanities, University of South Africa, P O Box 392, UNISA, 0003, South Africa;7. Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa |
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| Abstract: | A sequence of samples of micromammalian remains from Klasies River Mouth on the south coast of South Africa provides evidence of vegetational and climatic change during the Late Pleistocene. The evidence suggests the presence of a vegetational mosaic similar to that of the present but with relatively more open vegetation at the time the central part of the sequence was being deposited than was the case at the beginning or the end. Fluctuations occurred in general climatic conditions, as indicated by the Shannon—Wiener index of diversity, but conditions appear to have remained relatively moderate throughout with no evidence of glacial or interglacial maxima. Changes in sea level are probably also reflected in changed proportions of various species of small mammal. The site has yet to be dated conclusively but the micro-mammalian data tend to support other lines of evidence which suggest that this sequence of deposits was laid down during isotope stage 5, probably substages 5d—a. Human response to the challenge of changing conditions can be shown to lag behind those changes as recorded by micromammals. |
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