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

Abstract

The interior regions of South Africa have had less attention devoted to archaeological research than coastal regions, and palaeoenvironmental studies are also more limited. As such, little is known about the interaction between human behaviours and past environments in these semi-arid regions. Here, we present an archaeobotanical and mineralogical study from the Middle Stone Age site of Mwulu's Cave, Limpopo Province. Our study shows the importance of using taphonomical approaches prior to interpreting archaeobotanical assemblages, while provides with novel information on the plants used by ancient inhabitants of Mwulu's. The grass phytolith composition is of environmental significance, where a shift from C 4 Panicoideae to C 3 grasses is observed in the last occupation event. This tentatively suggests a shift in rainfall regime, from summer rainfall conditions to an increase in winter rain, during Marine Isotope Stage 5b in the Polokwane region, or a decrease in rainfall seasonality. Although we are unable to chronostratigraphically associate this change in the plant composition, our study adds evidence in support of previous propositions for an expansion of the winter rainfall zone into the interior regions of 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

“…In order for the site to contribute to the characterisation of MSA cultural dynamics in the southern African interior, we first need to provide a robust chronological frame for the deposits and to investigate site formation processes. There is also need for more comprehensive palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions across the Savanna Biome during the Pleistocene (but see Scott 1999;Backwell et al 2014;Chazan et al 2020;Esteban et al 2020), and the Olieboomspoort project aims to evaluate the potential of the site for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions using different organic proxies. Another motivation to reopen the site was to conduct a spatial investigation of synchronic or sub-synchronic sedimentary variations and, in the case of good preservation of archaeological deposits, to explore the utilisation of rock shelter spaces by humans.…”

The Middle Stone Age of Atlantic Africa: A critical review

“…Presently, the largest number of publications about well dated African MSA contexts still comes from the Southern and Northern strips. These include geoarchaeology (Dibble et al, 2012;Goldberg et al, 2009;Haaland et al, 2017;Karkanas and Goldberg, 2010;Marean et al, 2010), archaeobotany (Esteban et al, 2020;Stevens et al, 2023), zooarchaeology (Armstrong, 2016;Campmas et al, 2016;Clark, 2017;Discamps and Henshilwood, 2015;Hallett et al, 2018;Marean et al, 2000;Stoetzel et al, 2011), human remains (Grun et al, 1996;Richter et al, 2017), and artefact made of stone (Breunig, 2003;De La Pen ˜a, 2015;Dibble et al, 2013;Discamps and Henshilwood, 2015;Douze et al, 2020;Hallett et al, 2021;Kinahan, 2011;Mccall et al, 2011;Read, 2017;Richter, 1991;Sandelowsky and Viereck, 1969;Schmidt, 2011;Shackley, 1980;Soriano et al, 2015Soriano et al, , 2007Way et al, 2022;Wendt, 1972;Wilkins et al, 2017;Wurz, 2013) bone (Bouzouggar et al, 2018;Hallett et al, 2021;Turner et al, 2020), shell (Henshilwood et al, 2004;…”