The Keimoes 3 desert kite site, South Africa: an aerial lidar and micro-topographic exploration

Lombard, Marlitze; Caruana, Matthew V.; Walt, Jaco van der; Högberg, Anders

doi:10.15184/aqy.2019.99

Cited by 7 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Such notions suppose a reliable understanding of the distribution of desert kites across space, which, as we shall explore in this paper, is actually lacking. Analogously, recent research has identified desert kites (or at least 'kite-like' structures), in several areas of Africa, such as Libya (Giannelli & Maestrucci, 2018), the Nile Valley (Storemyr, 2011), and South Africa (Lombard et al, 2020). These findings again emphasize the need to re-evaluate the current consensus regarding the spatial distribution of desert kites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 67%

A review to the Desert Kite: State of the Art!

Nazari

2024

jpad

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Although from the beginning of the historical period, known as the emergence of the writing, it has not passed more than several thousand years, but the history of human evolution can be rooted in an era much older than the one seen: in the age of the hunting-gathering culture! Hunter-gatherer culture was the way of life for early humans until around 11,000 to 12,000 years ago. The lifestyle of huntergatherers was based on hunting animals and foraging for food. Desert kites could be mentioned as a probable transition key from the age of hunting-gathering food to pastoralism, which can be dated today with the development of cosmogenesis and luminescence methods. ‘Desert kites’ are stone constructions made of two long low walls called antennae that converge into an enclosure flanked or not by several small cells. Their shape and archeological evidence suggest that these extensive stone structures may have functioned as game traps, designed to capture and kill large numbers of wild animals. The kite is a landmark that reveals a way of occupying territory. It is an architectural feature of social groups, which hence left a reflection of their territory and catchment. However, these people have sometimes left very few traces enabling their identification. Considering the extent and density of these settlements, the kite is a massive phenomenon whose role was probably crucial in the development of societies in arid regions. It has been seen from the eastern Mediterranean to the eastern Caspian, which suggested finding less of the same structure in the Iranian plateau, as the only suitable linkage, when the northern lands were nearly frozen! Thus, the perspective is reversed from traditional archaeological research, where groups are most often identified by their domestic settlements, with their still undefined modes of subsistence. Kites, as a phenomenon, are therefore a challenge for the archaeology that requires creative and novel approaches.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 67%

A review to the Desert Kite: State of the Art!

Nazari

2024

jpad

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“…This analysis reveals the large portions of the country from which no recorded, radiocarbon dated human remains have been recovered. The result is probably an artefact of human remains collection practices, archaeological research focus, and preservation conditions on the one hand, and a broad reflection of population distribution and densities on the other (for the distribution of Stone Age vs Iron Age stone walling and occupation see Huffman 2007; Sadr 2012; Lombard et al 2020). Stone Age remains cluster around the coastal regions in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape, with some sites also located in the Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Free State (Figure 1).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dated Holocene Human Remains From South Africa: Recalibration and Broad Contextualization

Loftus,

Lombard,

Steyn

2024

Radiocarbon

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The study of human remains can provide valuable information about aspects of past populations. Here we present an updated database consisting of 590 radiocarbon (14C) dates for human remains from Holocene South Africa before European contact. We calibrated or recalibrated all the previously published dates using the most recent calibration curve for the southern hemisphere. Each date is roughly georeferenced and plotted according to their Stone Age or Iron Age contexts, revealing the broad distribution pattern of dated Holocene human remains across South Africa—perhaps reflecting aspects of past population distribution and densities, but also underscoring historical collection practices, archaeological research focus, and preservation conditions. We use Kernel Density Estimation models to show peaks and troughs of dated remains through time, with Later Stone Age peaks at ∼5.5 ka cal BP, ∼2 ka cal BP and ∼0.5 ka cal BP, and Iron Age peaks ∼1.1 ka cal BP and ∼0.5 ka cal BP, some of which show broad correspondence to climatic data. Our data, based on dated remains only, do not provide a full reflection of past populations, and our large-scale, coarse-grained analysis cannot yet assess the reasons for the peaks in dated human remains in detail. Yet, the study provides a new resource, and a data-driven overview that highlights aspects to be explored with further contextual analyses against the available archaeological records, population histories and climatic indicators through time and across space.

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“…Over the last few years, the first kite-like structures from the southern hemisphere have been reported on the northern edge of the Nama Karoo Biome near Keimoes, in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa (Fig. 1a & c; van der Walt & Lombard 2018; Lombard et al 2020Lombard et al , 2021. These structures are described as low, stone-walled V-shaped funnels, at times covering several hundred square metres with long converging guiding arms that sometimes end in a round enclosure or 'head' (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is, however, also possible that they were used for some forms of animal husbandry (e.g., Ingold 1986;Sommerseth 2011;Crassard et al 2015). Identifying who made them, and when, from a southern African perspective is challenging because their construction is more informal when compared with Iron Age, or farmer, stone walling further east in the higher rainfall zones (i.e., organised, stone-packed and coursed, e.g., Huffman 2007), and the general lack of associated surface archaeology, faunal and datable materials make it difficult to establish group identities and chronologies (Lombard et al 2020(Lombard et al , 2021. The Keimoes kites represent fixed features on the landscape in a region that has been occupied by both hunter-gatherer and herder groups over the last 2000 years (Orton & Parsons 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using aerial survey to record new sites in the Keimoes kite landscape of South Africa

Lotter,

Forssman,

Bielderman

et al. 2023

safa

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The recent identification of kite sites on the Keimoes landscape, in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, has shed light on how past populations built and utilised low stone structures to funnel and capture game. By strategically identifying and using certain aspects of the surrounding landscape, in conjunction with key design aspects, local groups maximised hunting proficiency. With this contribution, we revisit the Keimoes landscape to continue our search for more funnel sites and to establish whether there is consistency in some of their key design aspects, as identified in earlier publications. We introduce three more kite sites and provide their morphological and landscape details. For the first time, we also demonstrate that some of the kites were purposefully located near rocky outcrops from which construction material could be collected.

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The Keimoes 3 desert kite site, South Africa: an aerial lidar and micro-topographic exploration

Abstract: Abstract

Cited by 7 publications

References 22 publications

A review to the Desert Kite: State of the Art!

A review to the Desert Kite: State of the Art!

Dated Holocene Human Remains From South Africa: Recalibration and Broad Contextualization

Using aerial survey to record new sites in the Keimoes kite landscape of South Africa

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