scholarly journals Radiocarbon Dates Constrain the Timing of Environmental and Cultural Shifts in the Holocene Strata of Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa

Radiocarbon ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 1067-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Ecker ◽  
James Brink ◽  
Michael Chazan ◽  
Liora Kolska Horwitz ◽  
Julia A Lee-Thorp
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Bayesian Model ◽  
Later Stone Age ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Climate Shifts ◽  
Cultural Shifts ◽  
Age Estimates

AbstractWonderwerk Cave has yielded one of the longest and most complete Holocene Later Stone Age (LSA) records for the arid interior of South Africa. This paper presents the results of a new radiocarbon dating program for Excavation 1 that is explored within a Bayesian model of all existing Wonderwerk Cave radiocarbon (14C) dates for the Holocene. The proposed model, usingPhaseswithin an OxCalSequencemodel, provides robust age estimates for changes in the technological and paleoenvironmental record at the site. The more precise dates allow a comparison of the timing of climate shifts across the interior of southern Africa and begin to allow us to identify whether hiatuses in human occupation, or cultural shifts, are synchronous across broader areas of the subcontinent, or not.

scholarly journals New Radiocarbon Dates and Bayesian Models for Nelson Bay Cave and Byneskranskop 1: Implications for the South African Later Stone Age Sequence

Radiocarbon ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Loftus ◽  
Judith Sealy ◽  
Julia Lee-Thorp
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Later Stone Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Individual Site ◽  
Age Sequence ◽  
Key Sites ◽  
Cultural Shifts ◽  
Age Estimates

AbstractThe southern African Later Stone Age sequence is widely considered to be well dated based on radiocarbon dates from dozens of archaeological sites, and apparently shows more or less synchronous cultural shifts across an extensive area. Yet, closer examination reveals the inadequacy of many of the decades-old and uncalibrated individual site chronologies that underpin this regional chronology, making robust comparisons of the chronology of technological change across this region impossible. Here, we present 26 new AMS14C dates and Bayesian modeled chronologies for two important archaeological cave sites in southernmost Africa, Nelson Bay Cave and Byneskranskop 1. The results provide more robust age estimates for these cultural and paleoenvironmental sequences and revise interpretations of these sites in several instances. This project demonstrates the necessity of redating key sites, and the value of currently underutilized methods, including calibration and Bayesian modeling, for southern African archaeology.

scholarly journals Novas datações pelo carbono-14 para as ocupações holocénicas do Prazo (Freixo de Numão, Vila Nova de Foz Côa, Norte de Portugal)

2012 ◽  
pp. 22-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sérgio Monteiro-Rodrigues
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
The Third ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Sedimentary Dynamics ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Late Mesolithic

Recentemente obtiveram-se cinco novas datações pelo radiocarbono para as ocupações holocénicas do sítio pré-histórico do Prazo. Quatro delas apresentam resultados compatíveis com os já divulgados em publicações anteriores. No conjunto, dispõe-se agora de uma série de vinte e seis datações 14C que seconsideram válidas. Estas datações permitem remeter a fase que se atribuiu ao Epipaleolítico para os finais do X/ meados do IX milénio cal BC; o Mesolítico mais antigo para o terceiro quartel do VIII milénio cal BC; o Mesolítico final para o período compreendido entre o segundo quartel do VII milénio cal BCe os meados do VI milénio cal BC; e o Neolítico Antigo para o intervalo balizado entre os finais do VI milénio cal BC e um momento indeterminado posterior ao terceiro quartel do V milénio cal BC. Entre estes períodos com ocupações humanas observam-se intervalos temporais para os quais não existem datações absolutas. Sugere-se que este facto possa estar relacionado com as dinâmicas sedimentares do local no decurso do Holocénico e não necessariamente com um padrão de povoamento caracterizado pela descontinuidade. New radiocarbon dating for the Holocene occupations of the prehistoric site of Prazo (Freixo de Numão, Vila Nova de Foz Côa, Northern Portugal) - Recently, five new radiocarbon dates for the Holocene occupations of the prehistoric site of Prazo were obtained. Four of them show results that are consistent with those previously published. At the moment, there are twenty-six 14C dates that are considered to be valid. These dates assign the supposed Epipalaeolithic to the end of the 10th/ middle of the 9th millennium cal BC; the earliest Mesolithic to the third quarter of the 8th millennium cal BC; the late Mesolithic to the interval between the second quarter of the 7th millennium cal BC and the middle of the 6th millennium cal BC; and the early Neolithic to the interval between the end of the 6th millennium cal BC and an undetermined moment after the third quarter of the 5th millennium cal BC. Among these periods with human occupation there are intervals for which there is no absolute dating. It is suggested that this may be related to the sedimentary dynamics of the site during the Holocene and not necessarily to a settlement pattern characterized by discontinuity.

scholarly journals Detailed palaeomagnetic record at Rose Cottage Cave, South Africa: Implications for the Holocene geomagnetic field behaviour and chronostratigraphy

2020 ◽  
Vol 116 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo G. Nami ◽  
Carlos A. Vasquez ◽  
Lyn Wadley ◽  
Paloma de la Peña
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rock Magnetism ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Sedimentary Deposits ◽  
Directional Analysis ◽  
Palaeomagnetic Data ◽  
Natural Remanent Magnetisation ◽  
Terminal Pleistocene ◽  
Field Behaviour

Palaeomagnetic data from a sedimentary section spanning the Holocene and terminal Pleistocene (~13 kya) from Rose Cottage Cave, eastern Free State (South Africa), are reported. The palaeomagnetic analysis took into account rock magnetism and directional analysis. The former reveals that most samples show stable single domain and superparamagnetic particles of Ti-poor magnetite and haematite. Natural remanent magnetisation directions were determined by progressive alternating field demagnetisation methodology. Directional analysis shows normal directions between samples 18 to 39 and 85 to 92; however, during the Early and Late Holocene in samples principally from RC40 to 84 ‘anomalous’ directions occurred. There is a significant westward shift in declination of ~80°, and a conspicuous fluctuating inclination in the lower part of the section during the Early Holocene at ≥9.5 kya and before ~12.0/13.0 kya. This palaeomagnetic record might become a chronostratigraphical marker for latest Pleistocene/Holocene sedimentary deposits in South Africa. Our two new accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dates for the sampled deposit are 9500±50 BP and 1115±30 BP.

A COLLECTION OF FIBER SANDALS FROM LAST SUPPER CAVE, NEVADA, AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR CAVE AND ROCKSHELTER ABANDONMENT DURING THE MIDDLE HOLOCENE

2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron P. Ollivier ◽  
Geoffrey M. Smith ◽  
Pat Barker
Keyword(s):  
Great Basin ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Last Supper ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Technological Analysis

Last Supper Cave, located in northwestern Nevada, was excavated in the 1960s and 1970s. It contained a rich record of human occupation spanning the Holocene, but many artifacts from the site, including a large basketry collection, remain unstudied. We report the results of our technological analysis and radiocarbon dating of 14 fiber sandals from Last Supper Cave, which include examples of Fort Rock, Multiple Warp, and Spiral Weft types found at other sites in the northwestern Great Basin. Radiocarbon dates on the sandals correspond well with previous dates from Last Supper Cave and suggest that it was visited episodically for over 10 millennia; however, when considered together with the growing list of dates from the site, the sandal dates suggest that Last Supper Cave saw a prolonged hiatus in occupation during the Middle Holocene—a pattern common at other sandal-bearing sites in the northwestern Great Basin.

Vegetation and environmental changes at the Middle Stone Age site of Wonderkrater, Limpopo, South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elysandre Puech ◽  
Dunia H. Urrego ◽  
María Fernanda Sánchez Goñi ◽  
Lucinda Backwell ◽  
Francesco d’Erricoc
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Water Table ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Lithic Assemblages ◽  
Stage 4 ◽  
Age Estimates

AbstractWonderkrater, a Middle Stone Age site in the interior of South Africa, is a spring and peat mound featuring both paleoclimatic and archaeological records. The site preserves three small MSA lithic assemblages with age estimates of 30 ka, >45 ka and 138.01±7.7 ka. Here we present results of the pollen analysis of a core retrieved from the middle of the peat mound, which covers, with hiatuses, the timespan between ca. 70±10 ka and 30 ka. Pollen percentages of terrestrial, local aquatic, and semi-aquatic plants reveal changes in the regional climate and in the water table of the spring. Results identify regional wet conditions at ca. 70±10 ka, followed by a dry and a wet period between 60 ka and 30 ka. Superimposed on these three phases, recurring changes in the size and depth of the water table are observed between >45 ka and 30 ka. Wet conditions at 70 ka and 30 ka are tentatively correlated here with Marine Isotope Stage 4 and Heinrich Stadial 3, respectively. A warm and dry savanna landscape was present during human occupation older than 45 ka, and a wet phase was contemporaneous with the final occupation, dated at ~30 ka.

scholarly journals Calibration of Radiocarbon Dates for the Late Pleistocene Using U/Th Dates on Stalagmites

Radiocarbon ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
John C. Vogel ◽  
Joel Kronfeld
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Magnetic Dipole ◽  
Satisfactory Agreement ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Calibration Curve ◽  
Dipole Field ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Magnetic Dipole Field

Twenty paired 14C and U/Th dates covering most of the past 50,000 yr have been obtained on a stalagmite from the Cango Caves in South Africa as well as some additional age-pairs on two stalagmites from Tasmania that partially fill a gap between 7 ka and 17 ka ago. After allowance is made for the initial apparent 14C ages, the age-pairs between 7 ka and 20 ka show satisfactory agreement with the coral data of Bard et al. (1990, 1993). The results for the Cango stalagmite between 25 ka and 50 ka show the 14C dates to be substantially younger than the U/Th dates except at 49 ka and 29 ka, where near correspondence occurs. The discrepancies may be explained by variations in 14C production caused by changes in the magnetic dipole field of the Earth. A tentative calibration curve for this period is offered.

Paleoenvironmental analysis of wet meadow in the Deseado Massif: Implications for the Holocene occupation of Argentinian Patagonia

The Holocene ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 095968362110259
Author(s):  
Bruno Mosquera ◽  
María V Mancini
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Semiarid Region ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Wet Meadow ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Sedimentation Environment ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Paleoenvironmental Analysis ◽  
Deseado Massif

Paleoenvironmental data from wet-meadow environments in the arid-semiarid region of Patagonia are still incipient and the paleoenvironmental records came from pollen sequences of caves and rockshelters. The main reasons to study wetland records are their undisturbed (by humans) sedimentologic continuity, in contrast to deposits in rock shelters and caves; and their regional presentation of environmental changes that can be compared to archeological data. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the past hydrological dynamic of a wet-meadow from Deseado Massif and its relationship with the human occupation. For this purpose, we present the results of the sediment and pollen analysis of Mallín La Primavera wet-meadow that provide a sequence starting in the mid-Holocene. The results indicate a lower water table in the mallín prior to 6900 cal yr BP. Sediment analysis indicates low energy sedimentation environment with flood events and very low energy streams. Human occupational data show chronological discontinuities in mid-Holocene in several regions of Patagonia and the southern cone. In the studied region, two chronological hiatuses (7828–6434 cal yr BP and 3005–2710 cal yr BP) where recognized that appear to correlate with shrub steppes, indicating dry conditions. These conditions may explain the lack of archeological radiocarbon dates in the area during this period. The integration of sediment and pollen results from the Deseado Massif indicates dry and windy conditions for the middle Holocene. The lack of archeological radiocarbon dates would have been influenced by the loss of moisture in water sources such as springs and their associated wet meadows ( mallines).

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