A Geoarchaeological Study of the Middle and Upper Pleistocene Levels at Canteen Kopje, Northern Cape Province, South Africa

Abstract

Canteen Kopje, situated in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, has two main archaeological deposits: alluvial gravels and a mantle of overlying fine sediments known locally as the “Hutton Sands.” This paper focuses on the fine sediments, the three industries contained within them, and the interface with the underlying gravels in an attempt to clarify their formation and transformation. A Fauresmith assemblage is found at this interface; it is thus crucial to understand the processes of deposition and modification at this poorly understood boundary. The methods used in this study involved the analysis of artifact depositional (dip and orientation) and spatial data, artifact condition, raw materials, and assemblage size profiles. Data presented document the mixing between the lowest levels of the fine sediments and the underlying alluvial gravels. This study thus provides important contextual information for the Fauresmith industry at Canteen Kopje.

New Excavations at Umhlatuzana Rockshelter, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: a Stratigraphic and Taphonomic Evaluation

“…In 2018, we initiated a geoarchaeological project to study the Pleistocene stratigraphy and depositional history of the site. This fits the trend of recent studies that focus on understanding the depositional history of MSA sites in South Africa (e.g., Backwell et al 2018;de la Peña et al 2019;Goldberg et al 2009;Haaland et al 2017;Henshilwood et al 2014;Larbey et al 2019;Lotter et al 2016;Miller et al 2013). Our fieldwork has three interrelated goals.…”

The impact of hydraulic processes in Olduvai Beds I and II, Tanzania, through a particle dimension analysis of stone tool assemblages

“…Artifact size distribution is known to be a key variable for the assessment of hydraulic sorting in archaeological sites (Bertran et al, 2006;Bertran, Lenoble, Todisco, Desrosiers, & Sørensen, 2012;Byers, Hargiss, & Finley, 2015;Harris, 1978;Isaac, 1967;Lotter et al, 2016;Malinsky-Buller, Hovers, & Marder, 2011;Petraglia & Nash, 1987;Schick, 1984). Small-sized debitage is particularly sensitive to post-depositional disturbance (Fladmark, 1982;Stein & Teltser, 1989), and its relative frequency is considered as a proxy to address water winnowing (e.g., Harris, 1978;Schick, 1984;Sitzia et al, 2012).…”

Formation processes at the early Late Pleistocene archaic human site of Lingjing, China

“…In general, these factors include animal trampling, fluvial forces, aeolian forces, bioturbation (termites, earthworms, plant roots, burrowing animals, etc. ), downslope movements, and sediment reconsolidation and wetting and drying cycles (Cahen and Moeyersons, 1977;Moeyersons, 1978;Erlandson, 1984;McBrearty, 1990;Nielsen, 1991;Petraglia and Potts, 1994;McBrearty et al, 1998;Bertran and Texier, 1999;Kandel et al, 2003;Charlton, 2008;Forssman and Pargeter, 2014;Lotter et al, 2016). For analysis of spatial distribution patterns, in this study we have made density maps for each layer with the aid of GIS software.…”

“…For example, sediments are frequently analyzed for grain size, magnetic susceptibility, micromorphology, geochemical components, and mineral elements (e.g., Goldberg, 1979;Schiffer, 1983;Stein, 1987;Catt, 1999;French, 2003;Garrison, 2003;Morton, 2004;Ellwood et al, 2004;Goldberg and Macphail, 2006;Stahlschmidt et al, 2015;Toffolo et al, 2016;Campaña et al, 2016). Artefact properties, such as size profiles, abrasion, rounding, spatial distributions, and orientations, are commonly used as proxies of preservation for archaeological assemblages (e.g., Isaac, 1967;Schick, 1984Schick, , 1986Bertran and Texier, 1995;Shea, 1999;Lenoble and Bertran, 2004;McPherron, 2005;Kuman and Field, 2009;Bernatchez, 2010;Braun et al, 2013;Hovers et al, 2014;Lotter et al, 2016). With reference to the latter, in recent years spatial analysis using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques has increasingly been used (Alperson-Afil et al, 2009; Benito-Calvo and de la Torre, 2011; Gallotti et al, 2011;Böhner et al, 2015;de la Torre and Wehr, in press).…”