scholarly journals Hominin lower limb bones from Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa (1998–2003 excavations)

2021 ◽  
Vol 117 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis Rayne Pickering ◽  
Jason L. Heaton ◽  
Ron J. Clarke ◽  
Dominic Stratford ◽  
A.J. Heile
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Late Pliocene ◽  
Australopithecus Africanus ◽  
Limb Bones

We describe late Pliocene and early Pleistocene hominin fossils from Sterkfontein Caves (South Africa), including two femoral specimens, as well as a partial tibia and a partial fibula. The fossils are likely assignable to Australopithecus africanus and/or Australopithecus prometheus and the morphology of each corroborates previous interpretations of Sterkfontein hominins as at least facultative bipeds.

Late Cenozoic Paleoclimates of the Gaap Escarpment, Kalahari margin, South Africa

1978 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 310-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.W. Butzer ◽  
R. Stuckenrath ◽  
A.J. Bruzewicz ◽  
D.M. Helgren
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
East Africa ◽  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Summer Rainfall ◽  
Climatic Variation ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Late Cenozoic ◽  
Australopithecus Africanus ◽  
Middle Holocene

The Gaap Escarpment is a dolomite cuesta demarcating the southeast margin of the Kalahari. Since Miocene-Pliocene times, thick masses of lime tufa have repeatedly accumulated at several points along this escarpment, and four regional sequences are described. These allow discrimination of six major depositional complexes, commonly characterized by basal cryoclastic breccias or coarse conglomerates that reflect frost shattering and torrential runoff, followed by sheets and lobes of tufa generated in an environment substantially wetter than today. A chronostratigraphy for the last 30,000 yr is provided by 14C dating, with direct or indirect correlations to the Vaal River sequence. The regional stratigraphy as well as faunal dating indicate an early Pleistocene age for Australopithecus africanus at Taung. Repeated episodes of protracted cold or wetter climate or both begin in terminal Miocene times, and the last Pleistocene cold-moist interval began after 35,000 yr B.P. and ended 14,000 yr B.P. Early and late Holocene times were mainly wetter, whereas the middle Holocene was drier than today. The paleoclimatic sequence differs from that of the southern and southwestern Cape or that of East Africa, but close parallels are evident throughout the lower Vaal Basin and the southern Kalahari. The tufa cycles provide a unique, 5,000,000-yr record of climatic variation in the Kalahari summer-rainfall belt that can be related to complex anomalies of the general atmospheric circulation.

scholarly journals Paleobiodiversity and large mammal associations during the late Pliocene and the Early Pleistocene in South Africa

Quaternaire ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 243-256
Author(s):  
Raphaël Hanon ◽  
Marylène Patou‑Mathis ◽  
Stéphane Péan ◽  
Sandrine Prat
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Large Mammal ◽  
Late Pliocene

Ground‐penetrating radar analysis of the Drimolen early Pleistocene fossil‐bearing palaeocave, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Armstrong ◽  
Stephanie Edwards‐Baker ◽  
Paul Penzo‐Kajewski ◽  
Andy I. R. Herries
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Ground Penetrating Radar ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Ground Penetrating

scholarly journals Millennial-scale climate change and oceanic processes in the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene

2001 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 535-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Mc Intyre ◽  
Margaret L. Delaney ◽  
A. Christina Ravelo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Late Pliocene ◽  
Millennial Scale

scholarly journals Khorbas: a Lower Palaeolithic site on Qeshm Island in the Persian Gulf

Antiquity ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (358) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sirvan Mohammadi Ghasrian
Keyword(s):  
Persian Gulf ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Fars Province ◽  
Potential Importance ◽  
Zagros Mountains ◽  
The West ◽  
Qeshm Island ◽  
Late Pliocene ◽  
The Persian Gulf ◽  
Lower Palaeolithic

Despite the potential importance of southern Iran, and the Persian Gulf area in particular, for discussions on the dispersal of early hominins from Africa into Eurasia during the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene (Bar-Yosef & Belfer-Cohen 2001; Rose 2010), this area has remained almost unexplored until recently. Historically, Palaeolithic survey and excavations in Iran have mainly concentrated in western regions, especially the Zagros Mountains. As a result of recent studies, however, evidence for Palaeolithic sites in the southern regions of Iran, from Fars province to Qeshm Island, has greatly increased (Dashtizade 2009, 2010). Even with this improvement, no sites of Lower Palaeolithic date have yet been reported from the southern coastal areas on one of the proposed early hominin routes into Eurasia. As a result, it has been suggested that the few Lower Palaeolithic sites reported from other parts of Iran, especially in the west (e.g. Biglari & Shidrang 2006), were not populated from the south.

scholarly journals A qualitative study of the challenges of providing pre-prosthetic rehabilitation in rural South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liezel Ennion ◽  
Anton Johannesson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
Rural Setting ◽  
Limb Amputation ◽  
Prosthetic Rehabilitation ◽  
Rural South ◽  
Physical Strength ◽  
District Hospitals ◽  
Fitting In ◽  
Rural South Africa

Background: There is a known shortage of rehabilitation staff in rural settings and a sharp increase in the number of lower limb amputations being performed. A lack of adequate pre-prosthetic rehabilitation will result in worse physical and psychological outcomes for a person with a lower limb amputation, and they will not be eligible to be fitted with a prosthesis. Objective: To explore therapists’ experiences with providing pre-prosthetic rehabilitation in a rural setting. Study design: A qualitative descriptive approach was used to collect and analyse data. Methods: Data were collected from 17 purposively sampled therapists in five district hospitals in a rural community in South Africa. Data were collected in two rounds of focus groups to explore the challenges of providing pre-prosthetic rehabilitation in rural South Africa. Results: The main themes identified in the study were (1) a lack of government health system support, (2) poor socioeconomic circumstances of patients and (3) cultural factors that influence rehabilitation. These themes all negatively influence the therapists’ ability to follow up patients for pre-prosthetic rehabilitation after discharge from hospital. A lack of adequate pre-prosthetic rehabilitation is a substantial barrier to prosthetic fitting in rural South Africa. Patients who do not receive pre-prosthetic rehabilitation have a poorly shaped residuum or other complications such as knee or hip joint contractures which disqualifies them from being referred to prosthetic services. Conclusion: Therapists involved in this study identified the most important barriers to patients having access to prosthetic services. Clinical relevance Pre-prosthetic rehabilitation provides care of the residuum; maintenance or improvement of physical strength, joint range of motion and referral to a prosthetist. By exploring the challenges known to exist in this service, we can identify potential ways to reduce these barriers and improve the lives of those who use it.

scholarly journals Contribution of changes in opal productivity and nutrient distribution in the coastal upwelling systems to Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene climate cooling

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 1435-1445 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Etourneau ◽  
C. Ehlert ◽  
M. Frank ◽  
P. Martinez ◽  
R. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Coastal Upwelling ◽  
Atmospheric Co2 ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Silicon Isotope ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Nutrient Distribution ◽  
Biogenic Opal ◽  
Late Pliocene ◽  
Polar Ocean

Abstract. The global Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene cooling (~3.0–2.0 million years ago – Ma) concurred with extremely high diatom and biogenic opal production in most of the major coastal upwelling regions. This phenomenon was particularly pronounced in the Benguela upwelling system (BUS), off Namibia, where it is known as the Matuyama Diatom Maximum (MDM). Our study focuses on a new diatom silicon isotope (δ30Si) record covering the MDM in the BUS. Unexpectedly, the variations in δ30Si signal follow biogenic opal content, whereby the highest δ30Si values correspond to the highest biogenic opal content. We interpret the higher δ30Si values during the MDM as a result of a stronger degree of silicate utilisation in the surface waters caused by high productivity of mat-forming diatom species. This was most likely promoted by weak upwelling intensity dominating the BUS during the Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene cooling combined with a large silicate supply derived from a strong Southern Ocean nutrient leakage responding to the expansion of Antarctic ice cover and the resulting stratification of the polar ocean 3.0–2.7 Ma ago. A similar scenario is hypothesized for other major coastal upwelling systems (e.g. off California) during this time interval, suggesting that the efficiency of the biological carbon pump was probably sufficiently enhanced in these regions during the MDM to have significantly increased the transport of atmospheric CO2 to the deep ocean. In addition, the coeval extension of the area of surface water stratification in both the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific, which decreased CO2 release to the atmosphere, led to further enhanced atmospheric CO2 drawn-down and thus contributed significantly to Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene cooling.

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