Thesis (MA (Archaeology))--University of Stellenbosch, 1985. / This thesis consists of five separate studies (Chapters 2-6), each presented in the form of a self contained research paper. Chapter 2 deals with the analysis of palynomorph (pollen and spore) assemblages, while Chapters 3 to 6 deal with the analysis of charcoal assemblages. The pollen record preserved in the 3 m deep Norga Peat, located on the coastal platform west of the town of George (Fig.l.l), was analysed using measures of relative abundance of identified pollen types and by measures of pollen concentration. Evidence for three climatic phases in the last 4 000 years was obtained. In the earliest phase 4000 - 2500 B.P. conditions were favourable for the spread of forest, the climate was equable and adequate rain was received in summer. From 2500 - 1800 B.P. the climate was less favourable and west of George, forest vegetation only survived in protected and relatively well watered kloofs and lower mountain slopes. The climate then ameliorated and since 1800 B.P. conditions have been similar to the present. However, the present day climate is not as favourable for forest vegetation as was the climate during the Holocene climatic optimum before 2500 B. P • The Cango Valley lies 75 km north of the Norga site, inland of the town of Oudtshoorn and below the Swartberg Mountains. ...

Thesis (MA) --Stellenbosch University, 1998. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The rehabilitation of the Matjes River rock shelter on the eastern side of Plettenberg Bay, South Africa, provided an opportunity to obtain new information on the deposits. A metre wide column was excavated through six metres of shell-rich deposits at the junction of two cuttings made in the 1920s and 1950s and known as the "Apex". A small section was cut into the upper layers in the entrance area. A suite of radiocarbon dates shows the deposits to be between 6300 and 10 600 years old with a possible hiatus in deposition between 9000 and 8000 years ago. The hiatus is marked by a disconformity that separates an upper loose shelly deposit from a series of finely bedded loams. The sequence includes artefacts of the Wilton and Albany industries and the transition between these industries is dated to 7400 BP. In the relative frequencies of Donax serra and Pema pema, the shellfish remains show there was a change from a sandy to a rocky shore environment that can be accounted for by the rise of sea level in the Holocene. There is no evidence that shellfish were intensely exploited and farmed down. As observed at Nelson Bay Cave, Choromytilus meridionalis is more common in deposits 9000 years and older. This suggests that the low sea surface temperatures of the Late Pleistocene persisted in the beginning of the Holocene. Information obtained on the deposits is being presented in educational displays for visitors to the site. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die rehabilitasie van die Matjesrivier rotsskuiling, gelee aan die oostelike kant van Plettenbergbaai, Suid-Afrika, het 'n goeie geleentheid verskaf am nuwe informasie te bekom oar die opeenvolging. 'n Meter wye kolom is uitgegrawe deur 6 meter van skulpryke depositos by die kruispunt van die twee uitgrawings wat gedoen is gedurende die 1920s en 1950s en wat bekendstaan as die "Apex". 'n Klein seksie is uitgegrawe in die boonste lae van die ingangsarea. 'n Reeks van radiokoolstofdaterings toon aan dat die afsetting dateer tussen 6300 en 10 600 jaar gelede met 'n moontlike breek in deposisie tussen 9000 en 8000 jaar. Hierdie breek word gemerk deur 'n onreelmatigheid wat die boonste Ios skulp afsettings van 'n reeks leeme skei. Die opeenvolging sluit artefakte van die Wilton en Albany industriee in en die oorgang tussen hiedie industriee is gedateer tot 7400 BP. In die relatiewe frekwensies van D. serra en P. pema toon die skulpvis oorblyfsels aan dat daar 'n oorgang vanaf 'n sanderige tot rotsagtige omgewing plaasgevind het wat deur die styging van die seevlakke in die Holoseen verklaar word. Daar is geen bewyse dat skulpvis intensief geeksplioteer was nie. Soos by Nelsonbaai grot is C. meriidionalis meer algemeen in die depositos wat 9000 j;;:tar en ouer is. Dit suggereer dat die laer see temperature van die Laat Pleistoseen tot aan die begin van die Holoseen geduur het. lnformasie wat deur die uitgrawing bekom is word gebruik vir opvoedkundige uitstallings vir besoekers aan die vindplaas.

Thesis (MA)-- Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Anysberg Nature Reserve is a block of mountainous terrain comprising 44 515 ha in the Little Karoo of the Western Cape. There are approximately 50 known rock art sites within its boundaries. During a two-year site survey details of the rock art images were recorded on forms and, where possible, by tracing and photography. The sites tend to be small with fewer than 50 images per site and are located in narrow kloofs, mostly on the Anysberg. Few sites have occupation deposits. The main interest has been the interpretation of the images. Human figures, predominantly male, are most commonly represented. Other images are animals, such as eland and elephants, antelope, felines and therianthropes, as well as non-representational marks. There are clear resemblances in content and style to the rock art in the Hex River Valley, the Cederberg and the Western Cape generally. The art can be linked to shamanistic experiences in altered states of consciousness. A number of depictions can be interpreted as part of rainmaking rituals. KEYWORDS: Rock art, shamanism, rainmaking. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Anysberg Natuur Reservaat, van 44 515 ha, is geleë in die Klein Karoo in die Westelike Provinsie. Daar is ongeveer 50 rotskuns vindplase binne die grense van die Reservaat. Navorsing oor 'n periode van twee jaar is onderneem en die inhoud en detail van die rotskuns tekeninge is gedokumenteer. Vorms met dié inligting is vir elke vindplaas uitgereik en waar moontlik is tekeninge nagetrek en gefotografeer. Die vindplase is klein met meestal minder as 50 tekeninge. Die rotskuns is gevind in diep klowe, meestal geleë op die Anysberg. Min vindplase het argeologiese oorblysels wat okkupasie impliseer. Die hoofdoel van die studie is interpretasie van die rotskuns. Menslike figure is hoofsaaklik manlik terwyl ander figure soos die eland, kleiner boksoorte, oliefant, jakkals en katagtige diersoorte en halfmens figure, asook nie-realistiese merke, verteenwoordigend is van die rotskuns. Daar is tekeninge wat ooreenstem met dié van die Hex Rivier Vallei, die Cederberg en ander dele van die Westelike Provinsie. Die rotskuns in die Anysberg is 'n uitbeelding van shamanistiese transendentale ondervindings. Van hierdie tekeninge kan ook geïnterpreteer word as simbolies van rituele reënmakery. SLEUTEL WOORDE: Rotskuns, shamanisme, reënmaak-rituele.

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.

Thesis (PhD (Archaeology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / This study investigates the evolution of modern mammalian faunas in the central interior of southern Africa by testing the hypothesis that the evolution of the black wildebeest, Connochaetes gnou, was directly associated with the emergence of Highveld-type open grasslands in the central interior. Southern Africa can be distinguished from other arid and semi-arid parts of the continent by the presence of an alliance of endemic grazing ungulates. The black wildebeest is characteristic of this alliance. Open habitats are essential for the reproductive behaviour of the black wildebeest, because territorial males require an unobstructed view of their territories in order to breed. The specialised territorial breeding behaviour of the black wildebeest is the reason why the black wildebeest is historically confined to the Highveld and Karoo areas and why it is reproductively isolated from sympatric blue wildebeest, Connochaetes taurinus. The finds from a number of fossil-rich localities, dating from the recent past to approximately a million years ago, have been identified. The remains referred to ancestral C. gnou have been subjected to detailed qualitative and quantitative osteological comparisons with cranial and post-cranial elements of modern and fossil reference specimens. This material includes extant southern African alcelaphines and fossil materials of C. gnou, the extinct giant wildebeest, Megalotragus priscus, and North African fossil alcelaphines. The results show that cranial changes in fossil C. gnou, particularly the more forward positioning of the horns, basal inflation of the horns and the resultant re-organisation of the posterior part of the skull, preceded other skeletal modifications. These cranial changes indicate a shift towards more specialised territorial breeding behaviour in the earliest ancestral black wildebeest, evident in the specimens of the c. million year old Free State site of Cornelia-Uitzoek. Since the territorial breeding behaviour of the black wildebeest can only function in open habitat and since cranial characters associated with its territorial breeding behaviour preceded other morphological changes, it is deduced that there was a close association between the speciation of C. gnou from a C. taurinus-like ancestor and the appearance of permanently open Highveld-type grasslands in the central interior of southern Africa. This deduction is supported by the lack of trophic distinction between the modern black and blue wildebeest, suggesting that the evolution of the black wildebeest was not accompanied by an ecological shift. It is concluded that the evolution of a distinct southern endemic wildebeest in the Pleistocene was associated with, and possibly driven by, a shift towards a more specialised kind of territorial breeding behaviour, which can only funtion in open habitat. There are significant post-speciation changes in body size and limb proportions of fossil C. gnou through time. The tempo of change has not been constant and populations in the central interior underwent marked reduction in body size in the last 5000 years. Vicariance in fossil C. gnou is evident in different rates of change that are recorded in the populations of generally smaller body size that became isolated in the Cape Ecozone. These daughter populations, the result of dispersals from the central interior, became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene.