Exploring complexity in luminescence dating of quartz and feldspars at the Middle Stone Age site of Mwulu's cave (Limpopo, South Africa)

The place beyond the trees: renewed excavations of the Middle Stone Age deposits at Olieboomspoort in the Waterberg Mountains of the South African Savanna Biome

“…We refer to Porraz et al (2018) andde la Peña et al (2019) for recent historiographic accounts of this industry. Here, we highlight several problematic aspects related to the exact nature of the Pietersburg, which transpire in renewed discussions on this topic (Wadley et al 2016;Porraz et al 2018;de la Peña et al 2019;Chazan et al 2020;Feathers et al 2020).…”

“…In some cases, notably at Border Cave and Wonderwerk Cave, initial attributions to the Pietersburg (Cooke et al 1945;Beaumont et al 1978;Beaumont et al 2006) were later replaced respectively by the MSA 1, following Volman (1984), and by the Early MSA (Grün and Beaumont 2001;Grün et al 2003;Chazan et al 2020). Until recently (Porraz et al 2018;Feathers et al 2020), the only numerical ages available for lithic assemblages attributed to the Pietersburg came from a single site, Border Cave. Interestingly, a series of more than 25 ages obtained by ESR dates the lowermost deposits of Border Cave from ca.…”

“…80 ka (Grün and Beaumont 2001;Grün et al 2003;Table 11 in the Appendix), a chronological range equivalent to more than half of the MSA. The conflation between the Pietersburg and the MSA itself is illustrated by the (albeit limited) existing chronological information, which includes dates from Wonderwerk Cave and Border Cave, going back to the beginning of MIS7 (Grün et al 2003;Chazan et al 2020), and more recent dates from the end of MIS5 at Bushman Rock Shelter (Porraz et al 2018) and Mwulu's Cave (Feathers et al 2020). When considering the questionable radiocarbon age of Lion Cavern in the MIS3 at 43.2 ka Mason (1962).…”

Plant taphonomy, flora exploitation and palaeoenvironments at the Middle Stone Age site of Mwulu’s Cave (Limpopo, South Africa): an archaeobotanical and mineralogical approach

“…Sample preparation to isolate the fossil pollen grains from the sediment matrix was conducted at the pollen preparatory laboratory of the Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI), University of the Witwatersrand, following standard procedures outlined by Faegri et al (1989). Slides were analysed under × 400 magnification using a Zeiss Primostar light microscope for the identification of pollen grains based on morphology.…”

“…Plant remains such as pollen, spores and phytoliths can also be transported into archaeological sites by wind, animals and water runoff (e.g. Faegri et al 1989;Madella and Lancelotti 2012). Pollen grains found within cave settings might have been transported into the cave via wind, insects and animals before deposition on the cave floor.…”