Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction using Fossil Phytolith Assemblages at Pinnacle Point caves 13B and 5/6 during Middle Stone Age, Mossel Bay, South Africa

Summary

Climatic conditions played a key role in the evolution of modern human linage and South Africa has been considered, based on genetics and fossil evidence, a suitable area. South Africa hosts the smallest of all-known biomes (Fynbos), characterized by hyper diversity with high species richness and large presence of edible plants. We present the phytolith record from the archaeological sites Pinnacle Point caves 13B and 5/6 spanning from ∼160 to ∼50 ka. This study aims at reconstructing the past environmental and climatic conditions at the central South Africa coast during this crucial period in human evolution. We assess fossil phytolith assemblages and the occurrence of grass subfamilies (C3 – C4) in order to achieve this objective. The phytolith record indicates changes in vegetation composition along the sequence indicative of climate shifts. Phytoliths characteristic of the Restionaceae family, a typical component of Fynbos vegetation, are present during most of the occupation moments. Grass phytolith presence varies along the sequence suggesting grasslands movements. Among grasses, there is a general dominance of C3 grass phytoliths with sharps increases of C4 characteristic phytoliths at specific occupation moments. These results correlate well with previously published and new paleo-reconstructions based on isotopic analysis from speleothems

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Building the hunter-gatherer’s paleoscape on the South African coast: Environment, landscape, and foraging resources   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

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