The Stratigraphy of the Middle Stone Age Sediments at Pinnacle Point Cave 13B (Mossel Bay, Western Cape Province, South Africa)Q
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Journal of Human Evolution 59 (2010) 234e255 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Human Evolution journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhevol The stratigraphy of the Middle Stone Age sediments at Pinnacle Point Cave 13B (Mossel Bay, Western Cape Province, South Africa)q Curtis W. Marean a,*, Miryam Bar-Matthews b, Erich Fisher c, Paul Goldberg d, Andy Herries e, Panagiotis Karkanas f, Peter J. Nilssen g, Erin Thompson h a Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, PO Box 872402, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA b Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malchei Israel Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel c Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA d Department of Archaeology, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215, USA e School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia f Ephoreia of Palaeoanthropology-Speleology, Ministry of Culture, Greece g CHARM, PO Box 176, Great Brak River, 6525 Mossel Bay, South Africa h School of Human Evolution and Social Change, PO Box 872402, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA article info abstract Article history: Pinnacle Point Cave 13B (PP13B) has provided the earliest archaeological evidence for the exploitation of Received 14 July 2008 marine shellfish, along with very early evidence for use and modification of pigments and the production Accepted 21 May 2010 of bladelets, all dated to approximately 164 ka (Marean et al., 2007). This makes PP13B a key site in studies of the origins of modern humans, one of a handful of sites in Africa dating to Marine Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6), and the only site on the coast of South Africa with human occupation confidently dated to MIS Keyword: 6. Along with this MIS 6 occupation there are rich archaeological sediments dated to MIS 5, and together Origins of modern humans these sediments are differentially preserved in three different areas of the cave. The sediments represent a complex palimpsest of geogenic, biogenic, and anthropogenic input and alteration that are described and interpreted through the use of a variety of macrostratigraphic, micromorphologic, and geochemical techniques. Three independent dating techniques allow us to constrain the age range of these sediments and together provide the stratigraphic context for the analyses of the material that follow in this special issue. Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction cave sequences to develop foundations for regional sequences of change in the archaeological record (Clark, 1959; Sampson, 1971; The stratigraphy of an archaeological site forms the contextual Deacon and Deacon, 1999; Marean and Assefa, 2005). foundation for all other interpretations drawn from the excavations However, caves pose complex depositional environments where of that site. Caves are natural attractors for people and other mechanical and chemical processes transform the deposits through animals (Brain, 1981), who then regularly deposit the remains of geogenic, biogenic, and anthropogenic activity, complicating their activities. Caves are also natural sediment traps, which due to interpretations of context and geochronology (Weiner et al., 1993; their enclosed form then act as good but not perfect protection Karkanas et al., 2000). Accurate interpretation of this depositional from erosive forces (Goldberg and Sherwood, 2006). This fact often environment rests on careful field technique of observation and results in accumulations of long depositional sequences that recording, field and laboratory methods for disentangling the traditionally have been the focus for reconstructing through proxy processes, and cross-disciplinary integration of all the sources. means the character of ancient climates, environments, and animal Importantly, clear explication of the observations and interpreta- and human behavior (Laville et al., 1980; Woodward and Goldberg, tions of this sedimentary system is essential for scientists intent on 2001). Archaeologists working in the stone age continue to rely on analyzing the materials and critically evaluating the reasoning behind contextual and geochronological inferences. q Pinnacle Point Cave 13B (PP13B) is a cave with a complex history This article is part of ‘The Middle Stone Age at Pinnacle Point Site 13B, a Coastal of deposition, erosion, and alteration. The research team working Cave near Mossel Bay (Western Cape Province, South Africa)’ Special Issue. * Corresponding author. there has employed a wide range of techniques to reconstruct and E-mail address: [email protected] (C.W. Marean). understand this sequence and has grounded these techniques in 0047-2484/$ e see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.07.007 C.W. Marean et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 59 (2010) 234e255 235 state of the art field recording methods based on total station signal cliff dissection and retreat, a process enhanced by repeated measurements of all observations. Micromorphology, geochem- high sea levels (Bird, 2000). This ongoing cliff retreat provides istry, and archaeomagnetics joined to macrostratigraphic field and debris for the formation of rocky intertidal zones nearby the caves. laboratory techniques have allowed us to develop a robust under- The prevailing wind and swell are from the southwest (Tinley, standing of this sequence. This provides an excellent contextual 1985), which in concert with structural factors has created foundation for the analyses that follow in this volume, and even- a classic “log-spiral” or “headland-bay” coast (Dardis and Grindley, tually in later analyses and reports. In this paper we describe the 1988), with beaches often formed in the half moon bays on the nature and age of the major stratigraphic units in PP13B, drawing protected side of the headlands. This is the case just several on a wide set of observations, but with the emphasis on macro- hundred meters west of PP13B. Further to the east, the Mossel Bay stratigraphic field and laboratory observations and analyses. point and bay form a mature and well-developed half moon bay with an extensive beach. The result is the presence of two Geological background distinctive intertidal systems, sandy and rocky, that afford differing shellfish collecting opportunities (Fig. 2). Pinnacle Point (PP) is the area surrounding a small headland in The coastal cliffs are highly folded and faulted exposures of the a cliffed coast on the Indian Ocean on the central south coast of Skurweberg Formation of the Paleozoic Table Mountain Sandstone South Africa, approximately 10 km west of the Mossel Bay point (TMS) Group, comprising coarse grained, light-gray quartzitic (Fig. 1). Pinnacle Point is a formal geographic location and is now sandstone, with beds of varying thickness and consolidation, often the location of a large golf and resort development above the cliffs. covered with lichens (Fig. 3). The dip varies strongly along the We recognize it as a locality around which are concentrated a wide coast, ranging from 10 to 75 (South African Geological Series variety of archaeological, paleontological, and geological localities 3422AA, 1993). Shear zones with boudinage features cut through of paleoanthropological interest. Our research has focused on the TMS (Fig. 3a and b), fault breccias of varying thickness fill these a 2 km stretch that falls mostly to the east of the Pinnacle Point zones, and the caves and rockshelters are found in these eroded headland. fault breccias (Fig. 3a and b). Unlithified dunes, aeolianites, calcar- From Pinnacle Point to the Mossel Bay point, the heavily enites, and calcretes cap the TMS throughout the area and are dissected coastal cliff displays caves, gorges, arches, and stacks that mostly referable to the shallow marine Quaternary Klein Brak, and 21° 22° 23° 18° 19° 20° 24° 25° 26° 27° 28° East London 33° 33° Port Elizabeth Cape Town Plettenberg Bay 34° Mossel Bay 34° Hermanus Stillbay Klasies River 100 km Die Kelders Blombos 18° 19° 20° 21° 22° 23° 24° 25° 26° 27° 28° Mossel Bay Town of Cape St. Blaize Mossel Bay Cave Pinnacle Point 5 kilometers Sites 13A, B, C Site 9 Fig. 1. Map of southern Africa showing the location of Mossel Bay (above) and a detail showing the position of Pinnacle Point relative to Mossel Bay. 236 C.W. Marean et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 59 (2010) 234e255 Fig. 2. An aerial photograph of the Site 13 Complex area prior to development showing PP13B and other sites mentioned in the text in the cliff face. The aerial photograph is rectified to the MAP grid. C.W. Marean et al. / Journal of Human Evolution 59 (2010) 234e255 237 Fig. 3. Various views of the Site 13 Complex and PP13B. (a) View of the cliff from the northeast looking at the Site 13 Complex indicating several of the caves, (b) view of the cliff from the southeast looking at the Site 13 Complex indicating several of the caves, (c) PP13B mouth of the cave with photographer hanging from rope, and (d) PP13B showing western excavations in back and roof of eastern excavations in front. aeolian deposits of the Waenhuiskrans and Strandveld Formations separate high sea levels, and we are currently seeking to ascertain (Malan, 1987, 1991; Viljoen and Malan, 1993). These are found in these times of cave formation. extant caves (Fig. 3c), in the remnants of collapsed caves, cemented While TMS is acidic and acidizes groundwater flowing through to the cliff walls, and on the landscape. Sonar studies have shown it, the water entering the caves has been buffered by the calcium that these dune systems are partially preserved on the submerged carbonate rich formations capping the TMS, as at Klasies River continental shelf and likely connected to the better-preserved (Singer and Wymer, 1982). Abundant calcite formations are present terrestrial systems at Sedgefield and Wilderness (Birch et al., 1978; in the caves and rockshelters, particularly along joints and bedding Flemming, 1983; Flemming et al., 1983). Their relevance derives planes (Fig.