Mid-Pleistocene Hominin occupation at Elandsfontein, Western Cape, South Africa

Braun, David R.; Levin, Naomi E.; Stynder, Deano D.; Herries, Andy I.R.; Archer, Will; Forrest, Frances; Roberts, David L.; Bishop, Laura C.; Matthews, Thalassa; Lehmann, Sophie B.; Pickering, Robyn; Fitzsimmons, Kathryn E.

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.09.027

Cited by 65 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 92 publications

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“…A subsequent mesowear analysis of EFT ungulates (Stynder, 2009) did support the presence of a substantial grassy component, but the results also suggested that trees, broadleaved bush, and fynbos shrubs were probably more prominent than previously thought (Luyt et al, 2000;Stynder, 2009). As with refinement of the locality's age, there are renewed efforts to refine its paleoenvironment (Braun et al, 2013).…”

Section: Elandsfonteinmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…The site is perhaps best known for the archaic hominin skull cap recovered there (Drennan, 1953;Singer, 1954;Rightmire, 1998Rightmire, , 2001 as well as a number of Acheulean flake tools and debris, but it has also produced nearly 13,000 non-hominin mammalian bones representing 49 species (Klein et al, 2007). As evinced by the presence of spring carbonates (Braun et al, 2013), animals and hominins were likely attracted to EFT by standing bodies of water, the result of a raised water table due to an increase in sea level during the Middle Pleistocene.…”

Section: Elandsfonteinmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Elandsfontein is dated at 1.0e0.6 Ma Cruz-Uribe, 1991, Klein et al, 2007;Braun et al, 2013). This estimate is broad because it is based on (1) biostratigraphic analysis of the EFT Main collections and (2) the co-occurrence of several key indicator species such as Rabaticeras arambourgi and Syncerus antiquus (Klein et al, 2007).…”

Section: Elandsfonteinmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Material at the site may have been deposited during several events. Current efforts are underway to refine the age of the site (Braun et al, 2013).…”

Section: Elandsfonteinmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Biogeography and molar morphology of Pleistocene African elephants: new evidence from Elandsfontein, Western Cape Province, South Africa

Smith

Stynder

2015

Quaternary Science Reviews

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Section: Elandsfonteinmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Elandsfonteinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Elandsfonteinmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Material at the site may have been deposited during several events. Current efforts are underway to refine the age of the site (Braun et al, 2013).…”

Section: Elandsfonteinmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Biogeography and molar morphology of Pleistocene African elephants: new evidence from Elandsfontein, Western Cape Province, South Africa

Smith

Stynder

2015

Quaternary Science Reviews

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“…Sedimentary records indicate a transition from fluvial to spring-fed and eolian deposition in southwestern South Africa (Roberts et al, 2011;Eze and Meadows, 2014). Data from pre-Holocene mammalian fossils suggest the presence of significant amounts of surface water and a vegetated landscape composed of a fynbos shrubland and grassland mosaic, interspersed with trees and broad-leafed bush, which contrasts the dry, eolian landscapes that are prevalent in southwestern South Africa today (e.g., Luyt et al, 2000;Franz-Odendaal et al, 2002;Stynder, 2009;Braun et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable isotopic composition of fossil mammal teeth and environmental change in southwestern South Africa during the Pliocene and Pleistocene

Lehmann

Braun

Dennis

et al. 2016

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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The past 5 million years mark a global change from the warmer, more stable climate of the Pliocene to the initiation of glacial-interglacial cycles during the Pleistocene. Marine core sediment records located off the coast of southwestern Africa indicate aridification and intensified upwelling in the Benguela Current over the Pliocene and Pleistocene. However, few terrestrial records document environmental change in southwestern Africa over this time interval. Here we synthesize new and published carbon and oxygen isotope data of the teeth from large mammals (>6 kg) at Langebaanweg (~5 million years ago, Ma), Elandsfontein (1.0-0.6 Ma), and Hoedjiespunt (0.35-0.20 Ma), to evaluate environmental change in southwestern Africa between the Pliocene and Pleistocene. The majority of browsing and grazing herbivores from these sites yield enamel  13 C values within the range expected for animals with a pure C 3 diet, however some taxa have enamel  13 C values that suggest the presence of small amounts C 4 grasses at times during the Pleistocene. Considering that significant amounts of C 4 grasses require a warm growing season, these results indicate that the winter rainfall zone, characteristic of the region today, could have been in place for the past 5 million years. The average δ 18 O value of the herbivore teeth increases ~4.4‰ between Langebaanweg and Elandsfontein for all taxa except suids. This increase may solely be a function of a change in hydrology between the fluvial system at Langebaanweg and the spring-fed environments at Elandsfontein, or a combination of factors that include depositional context, regional circulation and global climate. However, an increase in regional aridity or global cooling between the early Pliocene and mid-Pleistocene cannot explain the entire increase in enamel  18 O values. Spring-fed 5 environments like those at Elandsfontein may have provided critical resources for mammalian fauna in the mid-Pleistocene within an increasingly arid southwestern Africa ecosystem.

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Ecosystem engineering in the Quaternary of the West Coast of South Africa

Braun

Faith

Douglass

et al. 2021

Evolutionary Anthropology

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Despite advances in our understanding of the geographic and temporal scope of the Paleolithic record, we know remarkably little about the evolutionary and ecological consequences of changes in human behavior. Recent inquiries suggest that human evolution reflects a long history of interconnections between the behavior of humans and their surrounding ecosystems (e.g., niche construction). Developing expectations to identify such phenomena is remarkably difficult because it requires understanding the multi‐generational impacts of changes in behavior. These long‐term dynamics require insights into the emergent phenomena that alter selective pressures over longer time periods which are not possible to observe, and are also not intuitive based on observations derived from ethnographic time scales. Generative models show promise for probing these potentially unexpected consequences of human‐environment interaction. Changes in the uses of landscapes may have long term implications for the environments that hominins occupied. We explore other potential proxies of behavior and examine how modeling may provide expectations for a variety of phenomena.

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Mid-Pleistocene Hominin occupation at Elandsfontein, Western Cape, South Africa

Cited by 65 publications

References 92 publications

Biogeography and molar morphology of Pleistocene African elephants: new evidence from Elandsfontein, Western Cape Province, South Africa

Biogeography and molar morphology of Pleistocene African elephants: new evidence from Elandsfontein, Western Cape Province, South Africa

Stable isotopic composition of fossil mammal teeth and environmental change in southwestern South Africa during the Pliocene and Pleistocene

Ecosystem engineering in the Quaternary of the West Coast of South Africa

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