Faunal Remains from Holocene Deposits, Excavation 1, Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa

Verfasser / Beitragende:
[John Thackeray]
Ort, Verlag, Jahr:
2015
Enthalten in:
African Archaeological Review, 32/4(2015-12-01), 729-750
Format:
Artikel (online)
ID: 605448825
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100 1 |a Thackeray  |D John  |u Evolutionary Studies Institute and School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, PO WITS, 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa  |4 aut 
245 1 0 |a Faunal Remains from Holocene Deposits, Excavation 1, Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa  |h [Elektronische Daten]  |c [John Thackeray] 
520 3 |a Ungulate and small mammalian fauna have been recovered from Holocene deposits at Wonderwerk Cave, in the interior of South Africa, in the area of excavation 1. Statistical analyses of relative abundances of rodents and insectivores indicate that conditions were warm (between 19.1 and 19.3°C) and very dry in the early Holocene in the Wonderwerk palaeo-environment, becoming moister in the mid-Holocene and still moister in the late Holocene. Temperatures in the late Holocene appear to have been about 1°C lower than conditions in the early to mid-Holocene. In terms of habitats reflected by rodents, the early Holocene is associated with an abundance of the arid-indicator species, Desmodillus auricularis. The degree of aridity subsequently decreases, associated with an increase in a woodland savanna species, Saccostomus campestris. A later increase in abundance of Mystromus albicaudatus reflects an increase in open grassland in the Late Holocene. Equids (zebras) and alcelaphines (including wildebeest and hartebeest) dominate the ungulate assemblages. Two extinct species are represented in the early Holocene, namely Equus capensis (the giant zebra) and Megalotragus priscus (a large alcelaphine). Possible causes of their extinction may include both environmental and cultural factors. Homo sapiens was probably the main agent of accumulation of the Holocene deposits at Wonderwerk, although leopards (Panthera pardus) may have temporarily used the cave in the mid-Holocene at a time when wind-blown Kalahari sands were introduced. 
540 |a Springer Science+Business Media New York, 2015 
690 7 |a Holocene  |2 nationallicence 
690 7 |a vertebrate  |2 nationallicence 
690 7 |a fauna  |2 nationallicence 
690 7 |a South Africa  |2 nationallicence 
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950 |B NATIONALLICENCE  |P 773  |E 0-  |t African Archaeological Review  |d Springer US; http://www.springer-ny.com  |g 32/4(2015-12-01), 729-750  |x 0263-0338  |q 32:4<729  |1 2015  |2 32  |o 10437