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The use of faunal evidence to reconstruct site history and Hoedjiespunt 1 (HDP1), Western Cape
Hoedjiespunt 1 (HDP 1 ), is one of few later Middle Pleistocene to earlier Late Pleistocene African sites to yield well provenanced MSA hominid fossils, lending special significance to this site. The vertebrate fauna from this location, which consists of a palaeontological and an archaeological site...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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Department of Archaeology
2017
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| _version_ | 1867613678559297536 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Stynder, Deano Duane Stynder, Deano Duane |
| author2 | Parkington, John |
| author_browse | Parkington, John Stynder, Deano Duane |
| author_facet | Parkington, John Stynder, Deano Duane Stynder, Deano Duane |
| author_sort | Stynder, Deano Duane |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Hoedjiespunt 1 (HDP 1 ), is one of few later Middle Pleistocene to earlier Late Pleistocene African sites to yield well provenanced MSA hominid fossils, lending special significance to this site. The vertebrate fauna from this location, which consists of a palaeontological and an archaeological site, is described and analysed using both the taphonomic and controlled comparison approaches. The information obtained via this study allows for a better understanding of the context in which and the conditions under which these two sites were formed. Stratigraphic evidence and spatial information, suggest that the bones in the palaeontological site were in all likelihood accumulated in a cavity, thus postdating the sediments in which they occur. Circumstantial evidence, in addition to Klein and Cruz-Uribe's (1984) criteria for distinguishing assemblages accumulated by hyaenas from those accumulated by people, points towards the brown hyaena as the most likely accumulator of this assemblage. It is also suspected that the bone in the archaeological assemblage, may postdate the sediments in which they occur. This is suggested by the presence at the site, of tools manufactured out of calcrete, similar to the calcrete carapace which caps the stratigraphic sequence. Although density mediated destruction seems to have been the major cause of discrepancies in skeletal part abundance in the palaeontological site, it was found not to have been severe. The composition of species represented in the two assemblages differ. It was found that, apart from containing a small percentage of marine animals, the palaeontological site is dominated by grazing ungulates and carnivores. This assemblage was accumulated during a period of lowered sea level, or "glacial". On the other hand, the sample from the archaeological site contains proportionally fewer ungulates and carnivores, more small animals and more marine animals, reflecting a period of marine transgression, or "interglacial". |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/23068 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:39:58.211Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | Department of Archaeology |
| publisherStr | Department of Archaeology |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/23068 The use of faunal evidence to reconstruct site history and Hoedjiespunt 1 (HDP1), Western Cape The use of faunal evidence to reconstruct site history and Hoedjiespunt 1 (HDP1), Western Cape Stynder, Deano Duane Stynder, Deano Duane Parkington, John Paleontology - South Africa - Hoedjiespunt - Pleistocene Vertebrates, Fossil - South Africa - Hoedjiespunt Paleontology Archaeology Hoedjiespunt 1 (HDP 1 ), is one of few later Middle Pleistocene to earlier Late Pleistocene African sites to yield well provenanced MSA hominid fossils, lending special significance to this site. The vertebrate fauna from this location, which consists of a palaeontological and an archaeological site, is described and analysed using both the taphonomic and controlled comparison approaches. The information obtained via this study allows for a better understanding of the context in which and the conditions under which these two sites were formed. Stratigraphic evidence and spatial information, suggest that the bones in the palaeontological site were in all likelihood accumulated in a cavity, thus postdating the sediments in which they occur. Circumstantial evidence, in addition to Klein and Cruz-Uribe's (1984) criteria for distinguishing assemblages accumulated by hyaenas from those accumulated by people, points towards the brown hyaena as the most likely accumulator of this assemblage. It is also suspected that the bone in the archaeological assemblage, may postdate the sediments in which they occur. This is suggested by the presence at the site, of tools manufactured out of calcrete, similar to the calcrete carapace which caps the stratigraphic sequence. Although density mediated destruction seems to have been the major cause of discrepancies in skeletal part abundance in the palaeontological site, it was found not to have been severe. The composition of species represented in the two assemblages differ. It was found that, apart from containing a small percentage of marine animals, the palaeontological site is dominated by grazing ungulates and carnivores. This assemblage was accumulated during a period of lowered sea level, or "glacial". On the other hand, the sample from the archaeological site contains proportionally fewer ungulates and carnivores, more small animals and more marine animals, reflecting a period of marine transgression, or "interglacial". 2017-01-25T14:15:09Z 2017-01-25T14:15:09Z 1997 2016-12-13T14:19:37Z Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/23068 eng eng application/pdf Department of Archaeology Faculty of Science University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Paleontology - South Africa - Hoedjiespunt - Pleistocene Vertebrates, Fossil - South Africa - Hoedjiespunt Paleontology Archaeology Stynder, Deano Duane Stynder, Deano Duane The use of faunal evidence to reconstruct site history and Hoedjiespunt 1 (HDP1), Western Cape |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | The use of faunal evidence to reconstruct site history and Hoedjiespunt 1 (HDP1), Western Cape |
| title_full | The use of faunal evidence to reconstruct site history and Hoedjiespunt 1 (HDP1), Western Cape |
| title_fullStr | The use of faunal evidence to reconstruct site history and Hoedjiespunt 1 (HDP1), Western Cape |
| title_full_unstemmed | The use of faunal evidence to reconstruct site history and Hoedjiespunt 1 (HDP1), Western Cape |
| title_short | The use of faunal evidence to reconstruct site history and Hoedjiespunt 1 (HDP1), Western Cape |
| title_sort | use of faunal evidence to reconstruct site history and hoedjiespunt 1 hdp1 western cape |
| topic | Paleontology - South Africa - Hoedjiespunt - Pleistocene Vertebrates, Fossil - South Africa - Hoedjiespunt Paleontology Archaeology |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/23068 |
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