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Deposition and Diagenesis in the Earlier Stone Age of Wonderwerk Cave, Excavation 1, South Africa

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Abstract

The Earlier Stone Age (ESA) sequence of Excavation 1 at Wonderwerk Cave is the longest stratified sedimentary sequence associated with hominin occupation in Southern Africa. This sequence has been constrained chronologically on the basis of cosmogenic burial age and paleomagnetic dating. Geoarchaeological analysis of two exposed profiles covering strata 12–9 that combine micromorphology and FTIR on the ESA deposits shows shifts in depositional sources, transport, and diagenesis. This analysis provides insight into the paleoenvironmental context of hominin occupation and suggests that during part of the stratigraphic sequence, there was an ephemeral body of water in proximity to the cave. These results provide the basis for ongoing geoarchaeological research on the landscape outside the cave and other components of the cave deposits.

Résumé

La séquence d’Earlier Stone Age de la Grotte de Wonderwerk est la séquence sédimentaire stratifée la plus longue associée à l’occupation par des hominins dan la régione sud-Africaine. Le chronologie absolue de cette séquence est etabli sur la base de datation par Cosmogenic Burial Age et par le paléomagnétisme. L’analyse géoarchéologique de deux profiles correspondent aux Niveaux Archéologiques 12–9 se servir d’un combination de micromorphologie et FTIR montre un changement dans les sources du dépôt, le transport, et le diagenèse. Cette analyse donne un aperçu sur le contexte paléoenvironmental de l’occupation par des hominins et suggère qu’il y avait eu un plan d’eau ephemère au proximité de la grotte. Ces resultats fourni la base pour un recherche en cours sur le paysage a l’extérieur de la grotte et sur les autres components des dépôts du grotte.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge a number of funding bodies for their financial support in carrying out this research: the Canada Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Grant #430-2013-000546); US National Science Foundation Grants #0917739 and #0551927; and the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Grant # 410-2007-2330 and 410-2003-1348. Fieldwork was carried out under permit from the South African Heritage Resources Agency (permits # 80/04/06/014/51 and Case ID 63, Permit ID 159). In addition, we would like to thank several individuals for their collaborative efforts, including David Morris, Ari Matmon, Naomi Porat, Heinz Ruther, Leon Jacobson, Francis Thackeray, and Liora Kolska Horwitz. We would also like to recognize that this research builds on the excavations of Peter Beaumont at Wonderwerk Cave.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada

    Paul Goldberg & Francesco Berna

  2. Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, 72070, Tübingen, Germany

    Paul Goldberg

  3. Department of Archaeology, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Paul Goldberg & Francesco Berna

  4. Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S2, Canada

    Michael Chazan

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  1. Paul Goldberg
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Correspondence to Paul Goldberg.

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Goldberg, P., Berna, F. & Chazan, M. Deposition and Diagenesis in the Earlier Stone Age of Wonderwerk Cave, Excavation 1, South Africa. Afr Archaeol Rev 32, 613–643 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-015-9192-9

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