Human and Domestic Animal Tracks in an Archaeological Lagoon Deposit on the Coast of Namibia

Kinahan, John

doi:10.2307/3888844

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Most of the phase 2 stone toolkits around the Erongo Mountains remained as scraper-rich as they were in phase 1. But the boundary between the two traditions became less clear in phase 2 and the earliest ceramic vessels in this area sported decorations not unlike those found in the extreme north of this Basin [ 18 , 101 , 103 , 104 ].The site of Geduld [ 103 ] which is on the same latitude as the Brandberg, was backed-rich in phase 1 and remained so in phase 2, but it now contained early evidence for sheep as well as the northern style of ceramics. The site of Leopard’s Cave in the Erongo Mountains contains the earliest dated sheep bones in southern Africa but its small collection of excavated lithics unfortunately yielded no formal stone tools and only a handful of undiagnostic potsherds [ 5 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Livestock First Reached Southern Africa in Two Separate Events

Sadr

2015

PLoS ONE

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After several decades of research on the subject, we now know when the first livestock reached southern Africa but the question of how they got there remains a contentious topic. Debate centres on whether they were brought with a large migration of Khoe-speakers who originated from East Africa; or whether the livestock were traded down-the-line among hunter-gatherer communities; or indeed whether there was a long history of diverse small scale population movements in this part of the world, one or more of which ‘infiltrated’ livestock into southern Africa. A new analysis of the distribution of stone toolkits from a sizeable sample of sub-equatorial African Later Stone Age sites, coupled with existing knowledge of the distribution of the earliest livestock remains and ceramics vessels, has allowed us to isolate two separate infiltration events that brought the first livestock into southern Africa just over 2000 years ago; one infiltration was along the Atlantic seaboard and another entered the middle reaches of the Limpopo River Basin. These findings agree well with the latest results of genetic research which together indicate that multiple, small-scale infiltrations probably were responsible for bringing the first livestock into southern Africa.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Livestock First Reached Southern Africa in Two Separate Events

Sadr

2015

PLoS ONE

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“…Coastal reworking of sediment supplied by the northward migration of the dune field (>10 m/year; Ward and Von Brunn, ), along with periodic sediment discharge via the Kuiseb River during flood episodes, has led to the creation of an extensive sand spit backed by salt flats (Stengel, ; Ward, ; Smith et al, ; Miyamoto, ). To the east, there is a complex network of mudflats and sand‐/silt‐filled interdune channels associated with flood drainage from the Kuiseb River referred to as the Kuiseb Delta (Vogel ; Ward, ; Smith et al, ; Kinahan, ; Miyamoto, ).…”

Section: Holocene Footprints Of the Namib Sand Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Extensive shell middens and transitory settlements within the Kuiseb delta contain the remaining of a wide range of marine and terrestrial food sources (including domestic animals), pottery, and a variety of indigenous and exotic trade goods (Kinahan, ). Animal tracks including a range of domestic animals (e.g., cattle, sheep, and goats) as well as giraffe, elephant, and a variety of birds can be found (Sandelowsky et al, 1976; Kinahan et al, ; Kinahan, ). Although there are numerous footprint surfaces within the delta, one locality was chosen for particular study owing to the quality and quantity of human prints present (Fig.…”

Section: Holocene Footprints Of the Namib Sand Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene footprints in Namibia: The influence of substrate on footprint variability

Morse

Bennett

Liutkus-Pierce

et al. 2013

American J Phys Anthropol

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We report a Holocene human and animal footprint site from the Namib Sand Sea, south of Walvis Bay, Namibia. Using these data, we explore intratrail footprint variability associated with small variations in substrate properties using a "whole foot" analytical technique developed for the studies in human ichnology. We demonstrate high levels of intratrail variability as a result of variations in grain size, depositional moisture content, and the degree of sediment disturbance, all of which determine the bearing capacity of the substrate. The two principal trails were examined, which had consistent stride and step lengths, and as such variations in print typology were primarily controlled by substrate rather than locomotor mechanics. Footprint typology varies with bearing capacity such that firm substrates show limited impressions associated with areas of peak plantar pressure, whereas softer substrates are associated with deep prints with narrow heels and reduced medial longitudinal arches. Substrates of medium bearing capacity give displacement rims and proximal movement of sediment, which obscures the true form of the medial longitudinal arch. A simple conceptual model is offered which summarizes these conclusions and is presented as a basis for further investigation into the control of substrate on footprint typology. The method, model, and results presented here are essential in the interpretation of any sites of greater paleoanthropological significance, such as recently reported from Ileret (1.5 Ma, Kenya; Bennett et al.: Science 323 (2009) 1197-1201).

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“…Figures 3.5, 3.6, 3.7 and 3.8 diagramatically illustrate, registration and re-registration), together with all data processing and methodological sensitivity checks. Figure 3.1 presents the mean footprints and the results of topological statistical comparisons of 11 prints from the G1 trail at Laetoli (Leakey and Hay 1979;Leakey and Harris 1987), with 9 prints from the upper surface at Ileret (FwJj14E; Kenya) (Bennett et al 2009), a 32 print sample from the Holocene trail at Walvis Bay, Namibia (Kinahan 1996;Morse et al 2013), and a modern Western (thus habitually shoe wearing) dataset collected on a treadmill (N ¼ 100 pressure records registered to create one mean print each from 10 individuals).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repetition Without Repetition: A Comparison of the Laetoli G1, Ileret, Namibian Holocene and Modern Human Footprints Using Pedobarographic Statistical Parametric Mapping

McClymont

Crompton

2021

Reading Prehistoric Human Tracks

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It is traditionally held that early hominins of the genus Australopithecus had a foot transitional in function between that of the other great apes and our own but that the appearance of genus Homo was marked by evolution of an essentially biomechanically modern foot, as well as modern body proportions. Here, we report the application of whole foot, pixel-wise topological statistical analysis, to compare four populations of footprints from across evolutionary time: Australopithecus at Laetoli (3.66 Ma, Tanzania), early African Homo from Ileret (1.5 Ma, Kenya) and recent modern (presumptively habitually barefoot) pastoralist Homo sapiens from Namibia (Holocene), with footprints from modern Western humans. Contrary to some previous analyses, we find that only limited areas of the footprints show any statistically significant difference in footprint depth (used here as an analogy for plantar pressure). A need for this comparison was highlighted by recent studies using the same statistical approach, to examine variability in the distribution of foot pressure in modern Western humans. This study revealed very high intra-variability (mean square error) step-to-step in over 500 steps. This result exemplifies the fundamental movement characteristic of dynamic biological systems, whereby regardless of the repetition in motor patterns for stepping, and even when constrained by experimental conditions, each step is unique or non-repetitive; hence, repetition without repetition. Thus, the small sample sizes predominant in the fossil and ichnofossil record do not reveal the fundamental neurobiological driver of locomotion (variability), essentially limiting our ability to make reliable interpretations which might be extrapolated to interpret hominin foot function at a population level. However, our need for conservatism in our conclusions does not equate with a conclusion that there has been functional stasis in the evolution of the hominin foot.

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Human and Domestic Animal Tracks in an Archaeological Lagoon Deposit on the Coast of Namibia

Cited by 13 publications

References 4 publications

Livestock First Reached Southern Africa in Two Separate Events

Livestock First Reached Southern Africa in Two Separate Events

Holocene footprints in Namibia: The influence of substrate on footprint variability

Repetition Without Repetition: A Comparison of the Laetoli G1, Ileret, Namibian Holocene and Modern Human Footprints Using Pedobarographic Statistical Parametric Mapping

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