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Palynological and palaeobotanical studies in the Southern CapeScholtz, Anton 12 1900 (has links)
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. ...
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Re-investigation of the Matjes River rock shelterDöckel, Willemien 03 1900 (has links)
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.
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The rock art of the Anysberg Nature Reserve, Western Cape : a sense of place and rainmakingRust, Renee 03 1900 (has links)
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.
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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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The evolution of the black wildebeest, Connochaetes gnou, and modern largemammal faunas in central Southern AfricaBrink, James Simpson 12 1900 (has links)
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.
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