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Botanical Analysis of Selected Historically-Occupied Cave Sites in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

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Botanical Analysis of Selected Historically-Occupied Cave Sites in the Limpopo Province, South Africa BOTANICAL ANALYSIS OF SELECTED HISTORICALLY-OCCUPIED CAVE SITES IN THE LIMPOPO PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA SHANNON KELLY HARDWICK DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE JOHANNESBURG 2013 DECLARATION I declare that this Dissertation is my own, unaided work. It is being submitted for the Degree of Masters of Science at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any degree or examination at any other University. _______________________________________ (Signature of candidate) 27th day of August 2013 in Braamfontein. i ABSTRACT This study set out to identify and interpret botanical remains from Historic Cave, Balerno Main Shelter and Balerno Shelter 2 in the Limpopo Province. Botanical remains were identified through comparative collections, and quantified through a raw count and presence analysis. They were interpreted through literature on plant uses in southern Africa. Over 12 500 remains were recovered from Historic Cave, almost 1 500 from Balerno Main Shelter and only five from Balerno Shelter 2. Remains from Historic Cave fell into food, water, storage and muti categories of use. Balerno Main Shelter revealed plants in the water and muti categories. Balerno Shelter 2 had too few remains. The study demonstrated that plant remains can shed light on why cave sites were occupied, as the assemblages reflect different plant uses. The remains from Historic Cave describe a society living and taking refuge in a cave under siege. Balerno Main Shelter may have been used for ritual purposes. ii To my family: those who could be here, and especially to those who could not. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would not be possible without the help of some truly wonderful people. My most sincere thanks go to the friendly and helpful staff at the National Herbarium in the Pretoria Botanical Gardens, especially Mr Erich van Wyk for allowing me to access the samples. My sincerest gratitude goes to Mr Mashiane Mothogoane and Mr. Jacques du Rooy for all their time and effort in helping me with the Herbarium collections. My thanks also go to the very approachable staff at the C.E. Moss Herbarium on the Main Campus of the University of the Witwatersrand. Ms. Rene Reddy and Mr. Donald McCallum in particular receive my gratitude for their help in identifying Acrotome inflata and the species of Ganoderma. I would also like to thank my supervisor, Dr Amanda Esterhuysen, for all of her help, support, patience and guidance throughout my Masters years. Without the help of my supervisor, this dissertation would not be where it is today. I am very grateful. I owe a big thank you to Chrissie Sievers for her guidance and her help in showing me how to identify seeds and plants and for encouraging me to work in archaeobotany and palaeoethnobotany. Finally, I wish to thank my family and my friends. For their encouragement, their interest, pushing me, pulling me and for learning about the world of plant remains together with me, I am thankful indeed. My thanks go to Anandie Cutler for thoroughly editing my work. A very special thanks goes in particular to my all- round assistants, who were both with me at whatever stage of my dissertation and project I was, whether in Pretoria or at home: Maureen Hardwick and Alexander Leppert, I thank you both from the bottom of my heart. iv Table of Contents Declaration i Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv Table of Figures x Table of Tables xii Definitions, terms and nomenclature xiii Names of People mentioned in the dissertation xiv Acronyms xv Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Studies of Plants 5 2.1 Palaeoethnobotany and Archaeobotany 5 2.1.1 Palaeoethnobotany: Plants and People 7 2.1.2 Palaeoethnobotany around the World 9 2.1.3 Palaeoethnobotany and South Africa 10 2.2 Macroremains and the Three Part Process 16 2.2.1 Recovery 16 2.2.2 Identification 18 2.2.3 Interpretation: Qualitative and Quantitative 20 2.3 Problems within Palaeoethnobotany 26 2.3.1 Patterns and Biases in the Record 27 2.3.2 Including and Excluding Plant Material 29 2.4 Summary of Chapter 31 Chapter 3: Cave Sites and Their Contexts 33 3.1 Historic Cave 33 3.1.1 Location, Climate and Environmental Context 33 3.1.2 Vegetation Context 38 3.1.3 Social Context and History 42 3.1.4 Excavation 44 3.1.5 Spiritual Beliefs 50 3.2 Balerno Farm 51 3.2.1 Location 51 3.2.2 Environmental Context 52 3.2.3 Excavation 53 3.2.4 Social Context/History 58 3.2.5 Spiritual Beliefs 59 3.3 Chapter Summary 60 Chapter 4: Project Methods 62 v 4.1 Plant Remains: Condition and Bias 62 4.2 Excavations and Samples 64 4.3 Methods Used Within this Project 64 4.3.1 Identification 64 4.3.2 Presence Analysis 66 4.3.3 Curation and Storage 67 4.3.4 Photography 68 4.4 Including and Excluding Material 68 4.4.1 Rodent Action 69 4.4.2 Sampling 70 4.5 Summary of Chapter 71 Chapter 5: Results 72 5.1 Historic Cave Results 84 5.1.1 Ubiquitous Species 88 5.1.2 Other Plants to Note 92 5.1.3 Species per Square 94 5.1.4 Species per Excavation Area 94 5.2 Balerno Main Shelter Results 97 5.2.1 Ubiquitous Species 101 5.2.2 Notable Species 101 5.2.3 Species per Square 101 5.2.4 Species present in each Occupation 102 5.3 Balerno Shelter 2 Results 104 5.4 General Trends and Results 106 5.5 Summary of Chapter 107 Chapter 6: Discussion 108 6.1 Trends in each Cave Site 108 6.1.1 Historic Cave 108 6.1.2 Balerno Shelters 115 6.2 General Trends across the Sites 120 6.3 Summary of Chapter 122 Chapter 7: Conclusion 123 References 128 Appendix A: Description of Types 139 Appendix B: Historic Cave Results 142 Appendix C: Balerno Main Shelter Results 186 Appendix D: Balerno Shelter 2 Results 196 Appendix E: Recorded Plant Uses of Recovered Plants 198 vi Anacardiaceae 198 Lannea discolor (Sond.) Engl 198 Lannea schweinfurthii (Engl.) Engl. var. stuhlmannii (Engl.) Kokwaro 199 Searsia lancea (L.f.) F.A. Barkley 200 Sclerocarya birrea (A.Rich.) Hochst. subsp. caffra (Sond.) Kokwaro 201 Annonaceae 203 Friesodielsia obovata (Benth.) Verdc 203 Araliaceae 204 Cussonia 205 Arecaceae 205 Phoenix reclinata Jacq 206 Asphodelaceae 207 Aloe L. 207 Burseraceae 209 Commiphora Jacq 210 Commiphora mollis (Oliv.) Engl. 211 Commiphora schimperi (O. Berg) Engl. 212 Buxaceae 212 Celastraceae 213 Elaeodendron transvaalense (Burtt Davy) R.H. Archer 213 Combretaceae 214 Combretum 214 Cucurbitaceae 215 Citrullus lanatus (Thunb) Matsum. & Nakai 215 Cucumis metuliferus E.Mey. ex Naudin 217 Cucurbita maxima - Duchesne. ex Lam. 219 Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl. 220 Momordica balsamina L. 221 Ebenanceae 222 Diospyros L. 223 Diospyros lycioides Desf. 223 Euclea 225 Euphorbiaceae 226 Dalechampia capensis A. Spreng. 226 Euphorbia L. 227 Fabaceae 228 Mimosoideae (Fabaceae) 228 Albizia 229 Acacia 230 Acacia ataxacantha DC. 232 vii Acacia schweinfurthii Brenan & Exell 232 Papilionoideae (Fabaceae) 233 Lablab purpureus - (L.)Sweet 233 Phaseolus vulgaris L. 235 Vigna 236 Vigna radiata 236 Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc. var. subterranean 236 Vigna unguiculata 237 Xanthocercis zambesiaca (Baker) Dumaz-le-Grand 238 Caesalpinioideae (Fabaceae) 239 Cassia abbreviata Oliv. subsp. beareana (Holmes) Brenan 239 Ganodermataceae 240 Ganoderma 240 Kirkiaceae 241 Kirkia acuminata Oliv 241 Kirkia wilmsii Engl. 242 Lamiaceae 242 Acrotome inflata Benth. 243 Moraceae 243 Ficus ingens (Miq.) Miq 243 Moringaceae 244 Moringa oleifera Lour 244 Olacaceae 245 Ximenia 245 Ximenia caffra Sond. 246 Oleaceae 247 Olea capensis 248 Olea europaea - L. 248 Olea europaea L. subsp. cuspidata (Wall ex G. Don) Cif. 249 Oliniaceae 250 Olinia 250 Phyllanthaceae 250 Bridelia micrantha (Hochst.) Baill 251 Bridelia mollis Hutch. 252 Picrodendraceae 252 Hyaenanche globosa (Gaertn.) Lamb. & Vahl 252 Poaceae 253 Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br 253 Schmidtia pappophoroides Steud. ex J.A. 254 Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench 254 viii Zea mays – L. 256 Podocarpaceae 258 Podocarpus falcatus (Thunb.) R.Br. ex Mirb 258 Proteaceae 259 Protea 259 Rhamnaceae 260 Ziziphus mucronata Willd 261 Rubiaceae 263 Vangueria infausta Burch. 263 Sapindaceae 265 Pappea capensis Eckl. & Zeyh 266 Sapotaceae 267 Chrysophyllum viridifolium J.M. Wood & Franks 268 Englerophytum magalismontanum (Sond.) T.D. Penn. 268 Manilkara discolor (Sond.) J.H. Hemsl. 270 Mimusops zeyheri Sond 270 Solanaceae 271 Solanum 271 Tiliaceae 273 Grewia 273 Grewia bicolor Juss. 274 Grewia flava DC. 274 Grewia monticola Sond. 275 Grewia occidentalis L. var. occidentalis 276 ix TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Map of Limpopo Showing Balerno Sites and Historic Cave 3 Figure 3.1: Historic Cave Site Map (after Esterhuysen 2008b: 205) 34 Figure 3.2: Balerno Main Shelter Site Map (after van Doornum 2005: 66 and S. Hall, 14 April 2011, correspondence) 54 Figure 3.3: Balerno Shelter 2 Site Map (after van Doornum 2005: 79) 57 Figure 5.1: Photographs of selected identified species 73 Figure 5.2: Photographs of selected identified species 74 Figure 5.3: Photographs of selected identified species 75 Figure 5.4: Photographs of selected identified species 76 Figure 5.5: Photographs of selected identified species 77 Figure 5.6: Photographs of selected identified species 78 Figure 5.7: Photographs of selected identified species 79 Figure 5.8: Photographs of unidentified species types 80 Figure 5.9: Photographs of unidentified species types 81 Figure 5.10: Photographs of unidentified species types 82 Figure 5.11: Photographs of unidentified species types 83 Figure 5.12: Percentage presence (by square) of identified species at Historic Cave.
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