The Fauna of KEH-1 (South Africa) A Middle and Later Stone Age site: A Pilot Study

Summary

Knysna Eastern Heads Cave 1 (KEH-1) demonstrates an intense occupation sequence at a site overlooking the now sub-merged Agulhas Bank during multiple ocean progressions and regressions in the late Middle Stone Age and early Later Stone Age (46,000 to 18,000 Cal BP). The site contains numerous hearth features, densely stacked within the stratigraphic section, and has yielded large amounts of fauna. Here we report for the first time on the preliminary taphonomic analysis of the fauna, based on a sample of 1,142 specimens recovered from all major stratigraphic units. Nearly all KEH-1 faunal specimens are fragmented. Thus, an initial analytical goal was to assess the nature of this fragmentation and determine the extent to which it reflects nutrient processing rather than post depositional damage. In addition, 326 faunal specimens were chosen from throughout the stratigraphic sequence to provide a preliminary assessment of size classes represented, processing intensity, and post-depositional alteration. Our results suggest that the high rate of fragmentation is due to human processing of a wide range of prey size classes. Continued analysis of the KEH-1 fauna has the potential to elucidate the subsistence strategies of foragers in an extinct ecosystem across a critical shift in stone tool technology.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20681