Paleolandscape Reconstruction Using Geoproxy Evidence at Erfkroon, a Middle to Later Stone Age Occupation in South Africa’s Continental Interior

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Erfkroon is situated in South Africa’s Modder River Valley and is known for its well-stratified fluvial landscape and archaeologically rich terrace systems. The Orangia terrace is the subject of ongoing investigations because it is characterized by abundant in situ alluvial deposits containing Middle and Later Stone Age artifact assemblages in context with Quaternary fauna. The formation’s accessible geology and highly visible archaeology allows for the study of Quaternary environments associated with human occupations in the continental interior. Unraveling the depositional history responsible for terrace formation at Erfkroon the subject of ongoing debate. Two competing hypotheses, the Tooth and Lyons (2013) Accretionary Sedimentation Model and Bousman and Brink’s (2015) Allostratigraphy Hypothesis, offer possible explanations but each with unique paleoenvironmental implications. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the validity of each hypothesis by combining geological profile description with high-resolution testing of bulk sediment samples. Methods include FTIR, magnetic susceptibility, grain-size, and micromorphological analysis of sediment thin sections to characterize weathering processes and sedimentation trends forming the Orangia terrace over time. Preliminary results corroborate the Allostratigraphy Hypothesis and provide detailed descriptions of soil formation events indicative of stable landscapes once supporting MSA and LSA occupations spanning 30,000 years.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 26268