An Early Pleistocene Phytolith Record from Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape, South Africa
@article{Rossouw2016AnEP, title={An Early Pleistocene Phytolith Record from Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape, South Africa}, author={Lloyd Rossouw}, journal={African Archaeological Review}, year={2016}, volume={33}, pages={251-263} }
Grass silica short cell phytoliths were sampled from the four lowermost archaeological strata in excavation 1 at Wonderwerk Cave and offer an independent record of climatic change during an episode of Early Stone Age hominin occupation at the cave. Linked to differences in growing season temperature and the geographic distribution of C3 and C4 grasses in southern Africa, fossil grass phytoliths were used to trace palaeoenvironmental shifts at the site. The results suggest that Early Pleistocene…
11 Citations
The palaeoecological context of the Oldowan–Acheulean in southern Africa
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Multi-proxy data from Wonderwerk Cave reveal that both C3 and C4 grasses and prolonged wetlands formed major components of Early Pleistocene hominin palaeoenvironments in southern Africa, with regional trends distinct from contemporary ones in eastern Africa.
Charcoal from Holocene deposits at Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa: A source of palaeoclimate information
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Pollen-interpreted palaeoenvironments associated with the Middle and Late Pleistocene peopling of Southern Africa
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Late Quaternary palaeoenvironments in the central semi-arid region of South Africa from pollen in cave, pan, spring, stream and dung deposits
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Phytoliths in modern plants and soils from Klasies River, Cape Region (South Africa)
- Environmental Science, Geography
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Pleistocene environments in the southern Kalahari of South Africa
- Environmental Science, Geography
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Modelling the effects of CO2 on C3 and C4 grass competition during the mid-Pleistocene transition in South Africa
- Environmental Science, GeographyScientific reports
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It is shown that low glacial CO2 levels, similar to those at the MPT, lead to the local decline of C3 grasses under conditions of decreased water availability, using a vegetation model (LPX) driven by Atmosphere–Ocean coupled General Climate Model climate reconstructions.
The Oldowan and Early Acheulean Mammalian Fauna of Wonderwerk Cave (Northern Cape Province, South Africa)
- Geology
- 2016
We describe and discuss the large vertebrates recovered from the basal layers (Strata 12 and 11) of Excavation 1 at Wonderwerk Cave, a site located in the Kuruman Hills, Northern Cape Province, South…
Homo sapiens origins and evolution in the Kalahari Basin, southern Africa
- Geography, Environmental ScienceEvolutionary anthropology
- 2021
The archeological record documents human presence in the Kalahari Basin from the Early Pleistocene onwards, and the region is not abandoned during glacial phases, which adds support to poly‐centric, pan‐African models for the emergence of the authors' species.
Past and Present at Wonderwerk Cave (Northern Cape Province, South Africa)
- History
- 2015
The Northern Cape Province and neighboring North West Province (Bokone Bophirima) of South Africa provided the first scientific evidence for the centrality of Africa for hominin evolution. In the…
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