This project documents the multi-scalar formation processes of two northern Levantine coastal Paleolithic cave sites using field geology, archaeological micromorphology and sediment geochemistry. Located in within several hundred meters of each other, the sequences from Üçağızlı I and II present an opportunity to compare late Middle and early Upper Paleolithic hominin adaptations to a similar coastal environment. The morphologies of the sites and the suite of coastal geomorphic features available to the area's Paleolithic occupants were impacted by fluctuations in sea level as well as tectonic events. The sites share similar formation histories that include active karstic processes, marine inundation, occupation by hominins, partial collapse of the cave vaults, and erosion of the uppermost archaeological deposits. Mousterian occupation of Üçağızlı II began after the formation of a series of stable sea level features that date to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5a. Hominin utilization of the highly eroded portions of the cave continued at least through the middle of MIS 3, although the cultural attribution of the youngest materials is presently unknown. Üçağızlı I contains a sequence of Initial Upper Paleolithic, Ahmarian and Epipaleolithic materials dating to MIS 3 and 2. Micromorphology of the archaeological sediments reveals strong anthropogenic contributions to the infilling of both caves, in particular the deposition of abundant, well-preserved wood ashes. In both sequences, post-depositional insect bioturbation has negatively impacted the combustion features, resulting in alteration of the original sedimentary fabrics and loss of information regarding hominin activities such as sweeping, rake-out and dumping of ashes. In Üçağızlı II, the dominant mode of sedimentation is anthropogenic; a series of intact and cemented combustion features located beneath the highest point of the cave ceiling is surrounded by sediment exhibiting evidence of both rodent and insect bioturbation. In Üçağızlı I, phases of human activity alternated with periods of natural sedimentation. Combustion features in the site include isolated hearths, stacks of hearths, rake-out or sweeping deposits, ash dumps, and mixed burned materials that have been impacted by colluvial reworking and bioturbation. In sum, the two sites contain similar types of anthropogenic sediments despite differing cultural affiliation.

A long-term forest monitoring program was initiated at Mammoth Cave National Park (MCNP). The objectives of this project were to establish baseline data on the representative forest community types at MCNP based on dominant tree species. Permanent monitoring plots were established in different forest community types throughout the park. A total of 32 permanent plots were established for a combined sample area of 11.4 hectares. All stems larger than 5 cm dbh were measured and mapped within each permanent plot. Data on saplings were also collected. Distributions and abundances were determined for all species in permanent plots and combined for community type summaries. Stand tables were generated for four stem diameter size categories for each permanent plot. Stand analyses included calculation of values for species in four size categories.The results describe the forests of MCNP in various stages of succession. There is a trend toward increasing dominance of shade tolerant species in several of the community types. Species composition is in transition from the dry site, shade intolerant species in the canopy to shade tolerant species in the understory. Corpus f lorida, Acer saccharum, Fagus grandifolia, and Acer rubrum are prominent species in the understory and sapling layers. Early successional species continue to dominate heavily or recently disturbed locations on karst and dry upland sites. Juniperus virginiana is the dominant species in three of the seven community types sampled. The Hemlock and Beech-Maple Communities, Community Types II and VIII, appear to be maintaining their present species compositions and community structures. These are successionally "mature" forests, and include some of the most ecologically important areas of the park. However, Betula alleghaniensis is not reproducing in the Hemlock ravines community type, the only sites where this species occurs. Ailanthus altissima, an invasive exotic tree, was found in several of the areas sampled. / Department of Biology

Faculty of Science School of Geography Archaeology and Enviromental Science 0406606f wglenny@nmsa.org.za / The analysis of micromammal remains from the MSA deposits at Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, constitutes the first in-depth study of the micromammal assemblage at this site. This study highlights the usefulness of taphonomic analyses and micromammal assemblages in the reconstruction of past environments. Little digestive etching suggests that Tyto alba, Tyto capensis and Asio capensis, are the most likely nocturnal raptors responsible for the accumulation of the assemblage. The environmental information from the Sibudu micromammal assemblage showed similarities with other proxy site data from charcoal, seed and macrofaunal analyses. These studies indicate that the immediate environment around Sibudu Cave was very similar at 53.4 ± 3.2 kyr (OSL) and 35.2 ± 1.8 kyr (OSL), consisting of a complex mosaic environment, dominated by open savannah grassland with a small woodland and riverine element.

Small carnivores and middle-sized mammals (mesomammals) are ubiquitous in fossil sites in South Africa, but their taphonomy is poorly understood. This study presents an actualistic investigation of bone modification by two captive small carnivores; the caracal (Caracal caracal) and honey badger (Mellivora capensis), housed at the Johannesburg Zoo. The carnivores were fed domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) carcasses as proxies for mesomammals and the bone modification of the resulting refuse and scatological assemblages were assessed in terms of their skeletal part representation, breakage patterns, digestive modifications and tooth marks. The investigation revealed that skeletal part representation and breakage patterns in the caracal and honey badger assemblages resembled those reported from other small carnivores. The caracal and honey badger assemblages were distinct from other carnivores in having overall light digestive modifications and a high frequency of tooth marks. Digestion was greater and tooth marks less frequent in the caracal than in the honey badger. Results were applied to the fossil assemblage of Cooper’s D which has a large assemblage of mesomammals and small carnivores. While a taphonomic analysis of Cooper’s D has not been published, initial results suggest that small carnivores had a great potential as contributors in the formation of the assemblage. The findings of this study emphasise the need for employing a variety of bone modifications in the identification of a small carnivore as an accumulator since there is rarely a single characteristic that is diagnostic for a particular carnivore.

Clark’s Cave contains a large collection of late Pleistocene mammal material. In particular, it contains a sizable amount of Microtus spp. which can be valuable paleoclimate indicators. Identification techniques traditionally used to classify these species have been shown to be unreliable. Recent studies have shown that using geometric morphometric techniques on lower first molars can be more successful. By placing landmarks and running a discriminate analysis on new and previously collected material from the cave, significant differences in Microtus species proportions were found. Specifically, showing the deposit has a larger proportion of M. xanthognathus than previously reported; resulting in a subsequent drop in the number of M. pennsylvanicus and M. chrotorrhinus present. Moreover, previously unreported M. ochrogaster was determined to be an important component of the fauna. The results presented here show the importance of applying new techniques to previous studies.

Cova des Pas de Vallgornera (CPV) is morphologically and scientifically, the most prominent karst feature of Mallorca Island (Spain). It consists of over 74 km of passages developed within two carbonate lithologies (reef front and back reef facies) of Upper Miocene age. Two distinct cave patterns are recognized, both tightly controlled by the type of facies; spongework mazes and collapse chambers are characteristic for the reef front unit, whereas linear, fracture-guided galleries develop in the back reef carbonates. CPV is abundantly decorated with a variety of speleothems. The overarching goal of this study is to provide evidence towards the cave's major speleogenetic pathways using diagnostic mineral assemblages and a set of micro- and macro-scale morphological features. In particular, this research investigates whether hypogene processes were/are the main driving force in CPV's speleogenesis and how mineral assemblages and cave morphologies help untangle the complex evolution of the cave. The mineralogy of speleothems (crusts, nodules, crystals, earthy masses) deposited in the vicinity of hypogene features in the reef front is characterized by the presence of aragonite, ankerite, huntite, clay minerals, and quartz. In the back reef limestone, however, the dominant mineral is dolomite, along with aragonite, celestine, huntite, clay minerals, and quartz. Calcite is by far the most ubiquitous mineral throughout the cave. A total of twenty-six minerals were identified throughout the cave; the highest diversity (20 species) is around or inside typical hypogene features occurring within the back reef limestone, whereas in the seaward part only 13 minerals occur. Detailed macroscopic and scanning electron micro-chemical analysis and imaging have permitted the investigation of textural relationships between the minerals associated with vents, rims, and corrosion cupolas above them. These studies along with morphological and stable isotope analyses (δ13C, δ18O, δ34S), confirm that not all minerals are connected with a hypogene stage in the cave evolution, and furthermore, none of them appears to be sulfuric acid by-products. Instead, the mineral assemblages documented in speleothems from CPV clearly support at least three speleogenetic pathways, namely seacoast mixing, ascending of warm groundwaters (basal recharge), and vadose (meteoric recharge). In summary, we have shown that cave minerals (in association with particular cave morphologies) in CPV hold the keys to understanding mineral-forming processes, conditions, and events, allowing establishing their relationship with various speleogenetic pathways.

Cave organisms are classic examples of regressive evolution, as many disparate taxa have evolved similar convergent phenotypes in subterranean environments. While recent phylogeographic and population genetic analyses have greatly improved our understanding of the evolutionary and biogeographic history of cave organisms, many questions remain unanswered or poorly investigated. I investigated several evolutionary and biogeographic questions in a model system for regressive evolution and studies of ecological and evolutionary mechanisms, amblyopsid cavefishes. In chapter I, I used recently developed methods to delimit species boundaries and relationships in a widely distributed cavefish, Typhlichthys. I show that species diversity in Typhlichthys is currently underestimated and that the view of a single, widely distributed species is not valid. Rather, several morphologically cryptic lineages comprise the diversity in this clade. In chapter II, I examined regressive evolution and potential re-evolution of an eyed, surface form in amblyopsid cavefishes. Whether evolution is truly irreversible, known as Dollo’s Law, has become a question of increasing interest, as several recent studies have made claims that complex structures can be recovered after loss. Phylogenetic and ancestral character state analyses of amblyopsid cavefishes are consistent with re-evolution of eyes and pigmentation and recolonization of surface habitats in the surface-dweller Forbesichthys, providing an opportunity to rigorously discriminate between re-evolution and parallel evolution of cave phenotypes. Despite strong support for re-evolution and contradiction of Dollo’s Law, eye histological evidence and analyses of molecular evolution in the eye gene rhodopsin are consistent with Dollo’s Law supporting at least three independent subterranean colonizations and eye degeneration. Phylogenetic reconstructions of character evolution can occasionally produce strongly supported yet misleading results. In chapter III, I examined the biogeography and speciation of Typhlichthys. Phylogenetic and divergence time analyses support monophyly of Typhlichthys with the majority of cladogenic events occurring in the late Pliocene to Pleistocene, implicating climate change as the primary mechanism driving diversification. Biogeographical analyses, examination of molecular variation in rhodopsin, and structuring of genetic variation with hydrological boundaries, support multiple colonization events by a broadly distributed surface ancestor that subsequently went extinct rather than a single colonization event followed by subterranean dispersal and vicariance.

For the purpose to understand the diversity, distribution and abundance of faunas, and to determine the variables that would influence the faunal diversity in caves and tunnels, observations and records had been made during September 1999 to June 2000 in Kenting area, the southern tip of Taiwan. A total number of 19 caves and 2 tunnels were studied. Among them, 4 caves are located in the forest recreation area, 15 caves in the natural preserved area, 1 tunnel in Guanshan village and another tunnel in Mt. Dayuan area. All the faunal species included 3 species of Malacostraca, 2 species of Arachnida, 2 species of Chilopoda, 3 species of Insecta, 3 species of Amphibia, 3 species of Reptilia and 7 species of Mammalia. Among these fauna species, the crickets (Ceuthophilus maculatus), the spiders (Heteropoda venatoria) and the ants (Polyrhachis sp.) had a widely distribution and are the most common species in caves and tunnels. Among all the continuous structural variables of caves and tunnels, the entrance height (r=-0.47) and the entrance area (r=-0.48) had a negative correlation with Shannon-Wiener¡¦s diversity (p<0.05). On the other hand, the total length (r=0.48) and the length of dark zone (r=0.52) had a positive correlation with diversity (p<0.05). In addition, the height of the dark zone had a negative correlation (r=-0.53, p<0.05) with evenness. Among the categorical descriptive variables, human disturbance and multiple chambers had a significant difference with Shannon-Wiener¡¦s diversity (P<0.05). The caves or tunnels visited by people from 2 to 4 times per month had the highest values of diversity, and the caves or tunnels visited by people more than 4 times per month had the lowest values of diversity. In addition, the values of diversity in caves and tunnels with multiple chambers were higher than the ones in caves and tunnels without multiple chambers.

Thesis--Toulouse-Le Marail. / Fold. map of cave inserted. Errata slip inserted. Includes bibliographical references (p. 285-289).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2001. / Title from title page screen. Document formatted into manuscript-like pagination: xi, 118 leaves : ill. (some col.). Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-117).