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First-millennium agriculturist ceramics of the Eastern Cape, South Africa :Steele, John. January 2001 (has links)
Thesis (M.A.)--University of South Africa, 2001.
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The archaeology of the stone walled settlements in the Eastern Transvaal, South AfricaCollett, David Phillip 14 January 2015 (has links)
No description available.
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The symbolic and functional exploitation of ochre during the South African Middle Stone AgeRifkin, Riaan Francois 27 August 2012 (has links)
Ochre is a ubiquitous artefact in Middle Stone Age (MSA) contexts throughout Africa and the
Near East. Archaeological evidence for the abrasive processing of ochre to extract pigment
powder becomes increasingly prevalent after 100 ka. The habitual exploitation of ochre is
interpreted as evidence for symbolism, a proxy for the origin of language and as a key
element of ‘symbolic’ and ‘modern’ human behaviour. Evolutionary explanations agree that
ochre and the products of its processing played a significant role in the adaptive strategies of
early modern humans, but they differ in the functions assigned to it. I therefore ask the
following question: What role did symbolic and functional applications of ochre play in the
enhancement of prehistoric technology, and how may these have functioned to promote and
maintain social relations within MSA Homo sapiens societies?
With the aim of answering this question, I follow a chaîne opératoire approach to elucidate
the exploitation of ochre during the MSA. First, I present the results of an experimental study
devised to infer the methods employed to process ochre. It is demonstrated that functional
data derived from actualistic experiments can enhance our understanding prehistoric
behaviour. Second, I describe one of the oldest instances of a deliberate engraving on ochre
at 100 ka to 85 ka. I consider the possibility that specific types of raw material were selected
for engraving purposes and expand on whether all engraved depictions inevitably functioned
in ‘symbolic’ contexts. The third objective entails the evaluation of an often cited functional
hypothesis for ochre, namely the use of red ochre as a ‘hide-tanning’ ingredient.
I also introduce and discuss three further functional hypotheses, namely those concerning
the use of ochre as a form of mineral supplementation and detoxification agent, as a sunprotection
element and as an insect repellent. Ethnoarchaeological research has proven to
be informative in terms of revealing a range of functional uses for red ochre. I therefore
consider how data derived from the Ovashimba of northern Namibia can enhance current
understandings of ochre use in the MSA. I propose that in order to assess any hypothesis
concerning the exploitation of ochre in the MSA methodically and in a scientific manner, it is
necessary to engage with the theories and analytical methods of cognitive and technical
sciences not normally viewed as applicable to archaeological enquiry.
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Driekopseiland and the 'rain's magic power': history and landscape in a new interpretation of a Northern Cape rock engraving.Morris, David Roger Neacalbánn McIntyre January 2002 (has links)
The rock engraving site of Driekopseiland, west of Kimberley in the Northern Cape is distinctively situated on glaciated basement rock in the bed of the Riet River, and has a wealth of over 3500 engravings, preponderantly geometric images. Most other sites in the region have greater proportions of, or are dominated by, animal imagery. In early interpretations, it was often considered that ethnicity was the principal factor in this variabilty. From the 1960s the focus shifted more to establishing a quantative definition of the site, and an emperical understanding of it within the emerging cultural and environmental history of the region.
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Driekopseiland and the 'rain's magic power': history and landscape in a new interpretation of a Northern Cape rock engraving.Morris, David Roger Neacalbánn McIntyre January 2002 (has links)
The rock engraving site of Driekopseiland, west of Kimberley in the Northern Cape is distinctively situated on glaciated basement rock in the bed of the Riet River, and has a wealth of over 3500 engravings, preponderantly geometric images. Most other sites in the region have greater proportions of, or are dominated by, animal imagery. In early interpretations, it was often considered that ethnicity was the principal factor in this variabilty. From the 1960s the focus shifted more to establishing a quantative definition of the site, and an emperical understanding of it within the emerging cultural and environmental history of the region.
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The iron age prehistory of the Winburg area, Orange Free State05 March 2015 (has links)
No description available.
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The middle stone age at Klasies River, South AfricaWurz, Sarah (Sarah Jacoba Deborah) 12 1900 (has links)
Thesis (D Phil)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Late Pleistocene, Middle Stone Age artefact sequence at the Klasies River main
site, was studied to establish what information this held for inferences on the
emergence of symbolic thought and communication. The approach adopted was to
complement traditional typological analysis by a technological study of artefact
production within the framework of the chafne opératoire. The results show that
technology was aimed at producing preformed blanks. In the choice of materials, the
technique and method of blank production and the retouch of blanks, arbitrary or
stylistic choices were made. Changes in stylistic conventions can be documented
through the sequence. Changing conventions in artefact production show that the lives
of the people who made the artefacts were structured in a symbolic web. These results
together with evidence from evolutionary biology, show that by at least 115 000 years
ago, people were able to think and speak symbolically. This African archaeological
evidence for the emergence of symbolism, a defining attribute of modem peoples, is
much older than previously considered.
KEYWORDS: Klasies River, Middle Stone Age, technology, symbolic
communication, human evolution. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Latere Pleistoseen, Middel Steentydperk artefakte by Klasiesrivier vindplaas is
bestudeer om te bepaal watter kennis ingewin kan word aangaande die ontstaan van
simboliese denkwyse en kommunikasie. Die benadering wat gevolg is, was om
tradisionele tipologiese analise te komplementeer met 'n tegnologiese studie van
artefak produksie binne die raamwerk van die chafne opératoire. Die resultate
demonstreer dat tegnologie gemik was op die produksie van voorafgevormde skilfers.
Die keuse van roumateriaal, die tegniek en metode van produksie en die herafwerk
van skilfers is gelei deur arbitrêre stilistiese keuses. Veranderinge in hierdie
konvensies kan gedokumenteer word deur die hele sekwens. Hierdie verandering is
tipies van mense wie se lewens gestruktureer word deur 'n simboliese web. Dié
resultate, en dié van evolusionêre biologie, dui daarop dat mense reeds teen 115 000
jaar gelede simboliese denke en spraak magtig was. Hierdie bewyse vanuit Afrika vir
die ontstaan van simboliese gedrag is veel vroeër as vantevore gereken.
SLEUTEL WOORDE: Klasiesrivier, Middel Steentydperk, tegnologie, simboliese
kommunikasie, menslike evolusie.
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New excavations at Canteen Kopje, Northern Cape province, South Africa: a techno-typological comparison of three earlier Acheulean assemblages with new interpretations on the Victoria West phenomenonLeader, George Michael 02 July 2014 (has links)
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2014. / The site of Canteen Kopje in Barkly West, South Africa, has provided the archaeological
record with an invaluable collection of Earlier Stone Age artefacts. An alluvial deposit
approximately 1km from the modern Vaal River, the site contains an abundance of artefacts.
A 2007 – 2009 excavation in Pit 6 has provided an assemblage of over 15,000 artefacts that has been dated by cosmogenic nuclide burial method. Three distinct assemblages show technological changes through time of the earlier Acheulean industrial complex. The
youngest industry, the Prepared Core Technology Assemblage, is dated to 1.2 ± .07 Ma and contains Victoria West prepared core technology. Beneath it is the Organised Core
Assemblage which is void of Victoria West prepared core technology but contains cores that demonstrate more organised knapping techniques in the form of asymmetrical control. This assemblage is dated to 1.51 ±0.8 Ma. Finally, the underlying Basal Early Acheulean Assembage lacks both prepared cores and organised cores and is >1.51 Ma in age. The abundance of large angular clasts of andesite in the area made multiple knapping strategies effective for the manufacture of large flakes. A technological sequence in the knapping strategies has emerged in this excavation, from simple cores to organised cores and finally prepared cores. The older technologies clearly display the roots of prepared core technology in the asymmetrical control of the organised knapping methods. The overall success of the knapping strategies prior to the appearance of the Victoria West industry in the Canteen Kopje archaeological record creates questions as to why more complex strategies might have been implemented over time. Analysis of the assemblages from the Pit 6 excavation fails to provide a clear technological explanation within the empirical data as to why this change occurs. This research therefore argues that the Victoria West prepared core knapping strategy is a localized stone age culturally motivated knapping tradition.
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Two million years of environmental change : a case study from Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape, South AfricaEcker, Michaela Sarah January 2015 (has links)
The arid interior of South Africa lacks long, continuous and well-dated climate and environmental proxy records that can be compared with cultural sequences and with broader global climate records. This thesis develops the first substantial terrestrial environmental sequence for the interior of southern Africa at the site of Wonderwerk Cave, spanning two million years of prehistory. Changes in vegetation and humidity over time were investigated by means of carbon and oxygen stable isotope analysis on fossil herbivore enamel and ostrich eggshell, creating two independent proxy datasets. The Holocene record was used as a baseline for comparing the Pleistocene sequence, but required chronological tightening. Therefore, nine new radiocarbon dates were obtained, and calibrated and modelled with existing dates to provide a firmer chronology. The ostrich eggshell isotope record suggests arid but variable conditions, with distinct phases of increased humidity in the Early Pleistocene and mid-Holocene. Enamel stable isotope results show clear differences in local resource availability between the Early and Mid-Pleistocene, and then between the Pleistocene and Holocene, with an overall trend of increasing aridity. In particular, the onset of dietary specialisation in grazers at 0.8Ma is linked to expanding C4 grasslands. Aridity was not the driver behind the increase in C4 grasses, but changing pCO2 levels at the Mid Pleistocene transition were identified as a possible key factor. The presence of C3 and C4 grasses in the Early Pleistocene, when compared to the domination of C4 grasses today, was fostered by reduced rainfall seasonality. Regional independent developments have to be considered, as other regions in South and East Africa show C4 dominated diets in herbivores at earlier times than at Wonderwerk Cave. In the Holocene, higher temporal resolution indicates phases of environmental change coinciding with changes in the cultural record.
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Virtual reconstruction of stratigraphy and past landscapes in the West Coast Fossil Park regionErasmus, Lelandi 04 1900 (has links)
Thesis (MA (Geography and Environmental Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / The West Coast Fossil Park near Langebaanweg in the Western Cape, South Africa, is known for
its abundance of marine, freshwater and terrestrial fossils of Mio-Pliocene age. The fossil
bearing deposits reflect the complex and varied depositional environments, which were
influenced by the change in course of the Berg River and regressions and transgressions of sealevel.
The fossil deposits at this site are world-renowned for their species richness and
uniqueness and there was a need to gain an in-depth understanding of the events that gave rise to
this situation. To understand these complexities, it was necessary to construct a composite
model of the pre-history of the West Coast Fossil Park, incorporating topological, geological and
palaeontological data. GIS provided the ideal platform to integrate data from such varied
sources, using spatial correlation to interpret commonalities. Subsequently, a spatially explicit
database of the present-day study area, from Dwarskersbos in the north to just north of
Yzerfontein in the south, was constructed. The oldest geological formation, the basement layer,
as well as three successive formations was reconstructed on a regional scale using borehole data.
Interpolation of point data to regional surfaces was a dual process incorporating expert opinion
and purpose-built tools within ESRI’s ArcInfo and ArcMap 8.3. A similar reconstruction at a
finer scale was done for the West Coast Fossil Park area using kriging as an interpolation
method. These reconstructed geological layers can be used to predict the depth and location of
fossil-bearing deposits. There is scope for further study and analysis to compare the accuracy of
alternative interpolation methods, and combining it with field-based validation of modelled
outputs.
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