Percorrer por autor "Chazan, Michael"
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- Exploring the Later Stone Age at a micro-scale: new high-resolution excavations at Wonderwerk CavePublication . Rhodes, Sara; Goldberg, Paul; Ecker, Michaela; Horwitz, Liora Kolska; Boaretto, Elisabetta; Chazan, MichaelIn 2018, we initiated renewed excavation of the Later Stone Age (LSA) deposits at Wonderwerk Cave. Here we describe the goals and initial results of the first two seasons of excavation, including the first micromorphological description of these deposits. We employed a small-scale excavation technique to emphasize precision recording and limit the destruction of sensitive deposits. Our preliminary results indicate that meaningful patterns in material culture records and paleoecological proxy materials can be derived from such investigations. Bioturbation of the LSA deposits is widespread in our micromorphological samples, suggesting that some postdepositional movement of the sediment occurred but did not impact overall stratigraphic integrity. This is supported by the radiocarbon chronology (derived from various material records), which indicates that this movement had a limited effect on the material record. Three technocomplexes (the Kuruman/Oakhurst, Wilton, and Historic) were identified in the new Wonderwerk lithic material record, alongside increasing evidence for a period of intensified use and/or occupation of the site during the Wilton - a pattern previously identified by the F. Thackeray's and A. Thackeray's 1970s excavations. New radiocarbon ages support previous determinations placing the timing of this intensification at ca. 6200 years cal BP. Faunal and ostrich eggshell records also support previous findings, confirming an anthropogenic origin for the faunal remains and suggesting that different pathways of OES bead production were employed at the site at different times. The presence of herbivore dung and associated spherulites in a micromorphology thin section provides a new potential line of evidence to support the Thackeray's tentative suggestion for sheep herding at the site ca. 2000 years BP. While this evidence is far from conclusive, it suggests that the Wonderwerk Cave LSA record may have a role to play in resolving the timing of the adoption of sheep by hunter-gatherers on the Ghaap Plateau. Our work on the LSA at Wonderwerk Cave serves as a touchstone within the more regionally focused Northern Cape Archaeology and Ecology Project (NCAEP) - an international and interdisciplinary research project studying the LSA paleoenvironment of the South African arid interior. Ultimately, NCAEP is designed to produce a multi-proxy diachronic climatic record of the Northern Cape firmly situated within new and existing radiocarbon chronologies.
- Geological and archeological insight into site formation processes and acheulean occupation at wonderwerk cave, northern cape province, South AfricaPublication . Goldberg, Paul; Rhodes, Sara E.; Chazan, MichaelWonderwerk Cave, located in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, is a rare cave site with a sequence of Acheulean occupation that is derived from activity within the cave rather than via avens. Building on previous publication of the sedimentary context for the Acheulean sequence based on the North Profile of Excavation 1 at Wonderwerk Cave, we present here new observations based on micromorphological analysis of the Southern Profile of Excavation 1 and the Acheulean component of Excavation 2, along with preliminary observations on the context of artifact deposition based on renewed high-precision excavation. The results largely support earlier observations including the low density of artifacts, the aeolian contribution to the sediments, and the absence of water transport within the cave. New observations are primarily the presence of a significant component of rhizoliths in the South Profile that appear to be the result of the penetration of roots into the cave from the surface of the hill. This study adds significantly to our understanding of site formation processes and hominin activity during the Acheulean at the front of the cave. However, these remain limited windows into a much larger system that will require continued investigation.
- A holocene n-alkane stable isotope record from Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa and its implications for the later stone age recordPublication . Ecker, Michaela; Rhodes, Sara; Andersen, Nils; Horwitz, Liora Kolska; Chazan, Michael; Makarewicz, Cheryl A.Sediment biomarkers are important archives of regional, and global climate signatures, particularly in regions which lack continuous terrestrial archives such as the semi-arid deserts of Africa. We measured carbon and hydrogen stable isotopes from plant wax n-alkanes recovered from the Holocene Later Stone Age (LSA) sedimentary sequence at Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa), that comprises several technocomplexes (Kuruman/Oakhurst, Wilton, Ceramic Wilton and Historic). The plant wax n-alkane results were integrated with published palaeoenvironment reconstructions from the cave based on faunal, botanical, geological and sedimentological proxies which provides a robust comparative framework. The findings match well with other proxy records from the same strata and indicate a semiarid to semi-humid early Holocene, with a mix of woody C3 plants and C4 grasses. In contrast, the midlate Holocene environment was increasingly arid, open and dominated by C4 grasses. A distinct humid period at 5300–6200 cal. BP is evident, associated with a high density of archaeological material and a change in cultural expression in the Wonderwerk record. This study provides a step forward in using stable isotopes from biomarkers to create terrestrial environmental records in semi-arid regions.