1
|
Morrissey P, Mentzer SM, Wurz S. The stratigraphy and formation of Middle Stone Age deposits in Cave 1B, Klasies River Main site, South Africa, with implications for the context, age, and cultural association of the KRM 41815/SAM-AP 6222 human mandible. J Hum Evol 2023; 183:103414. [PMID: 37660505 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2023] [Revised: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
Cave 1B, in the Klasies River Main site complex (KRM), is best known for the recovery of the KRM 41815/SAM-AP 6222 human mandible. After initial skepticism over the modernity of this specimen, it is accepted that the mix of archaic and modern traits it displays is characteristic of early Homo sapiens individuals. Different authors have associated this specimen with the Middle Stone Age (MSA) I and II/Mossel Bay cultural phases, but the published data do not allow an unambiguous attribution. KRM 41815's frequent use in studies of the evolution of the human mandible, and its well-developed chin, makes clarifying its age and context important objectives. The field and micromorphology observations presented here provide greater insight into the stratigraphy and formation of the sequence exposed in the PP38 excavation. There are three major divisions: the basal Light Brown Sand (LBS) Member (not excavated), the Rubble Sand (RS) Member (MSA I), and the Shell and Sand Dark Carbonized (SASDC) Submember (MSA II). Cultural stratigraphy based on lithic artifacts remains the only way to make secure (but broad) temporal correlations with the rest of the site complex. This investigation shows that a range of anthropogenic, geogenic, and biogenic processes contributed to the deposition and post-depositional alteration of the identified microfacies. Short depositional hiatuses are reasonably common, and a significant hiatus was identified between the RS and SASDC. The impact of post-depositional processes on the RS is significant, with anthropogenic deposits poorly preserved. In comparison, the SASDC is dominated by hearths contained within deposits rich in reworked anthropogenic materials known as carbonized partings. Small shell disposal features are also present. The distribution of these anthropogenic features suggests continuity in the management of space throughout the MSA II occupations, from before 110 ka. New stratigraphic correlations indicate that KRM 41815 is unambiguously associated with the MSA I. Therefore, it predates 110 ka, with a lower age limit potentially in Marine Isotope Stage 6.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Peter Morrissey
- School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
| | - Susan M Mentzer
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Sarah Wurz
- School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Delezene LK, Skinner MM, Bailey SE, Brophy JK, Elliott MC, Gurtov A, Irish JD, Moggi-Cecchi J, de Ruiter DJ, Hawks J, Berger LR. Descriptive catalog of Homo naledi dental remains from the 2013 to 2015 excavations of the Dinaledi Chamber, site U.W. 101, within the Rising Star cave system, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2023; 180:103372. [PMID: 37229947 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2021] [Revised: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
More than 150 hominin teeth, dated to ∼330-241 thousand years ago, were recovered during the 2013-2015 excavations of the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star cave system, South Africa. These fossils comprise the first large single-site sample of hominin teeth from the Middle Pleistocene of Africa. Though scattered remains attributable to Homo sapiens, or their possible lineal ancestors, are known from older and younger sites across the continent, the distinctive morphological feature set of the Dinaledi teeth supports the recognition of a novel hominin species, Homo naledi. This material provides evidence of African Homo lineage diversity that lasts until at least the Middle Pleistocene. Here, a catalog, anatomical descriptions, and details of preservation and taphonomic alteration are provided for the Dinaledi teeth. Where possible, provisional associations among teeth are also proposed. To facilitate future research, we also provide access to a catalog of surface files of the Rising Star jaws and teeth.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lucas K Delezene
- Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA; Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, South Africa.
| | - Matthew M Skinner
- Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, South Africa; School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Marlowe Building, Canterbury CT2 7NR, UK; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Shara E Bailey
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Anthropology, Center for the Study of Human Origins, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Juliet K Brophy
- Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, South Africa; Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
| | - Marina C Elliott
- Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, South Africa; Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, USA
| | - Alia Gurtov
- Stripe, Inc., 199 Water Street, 30th Floor, New York, NY 10038, USA
| | - Joel D Irish
- Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, South Africa; School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK
| | - Jacopo Moggi-Cecchi
- Laboratory of Anthropology, Department of Biology, University of Florence, Via del Proconsolo 12, Firenze 50122, Italy
| | - Darryl J de Ruiter
- Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, South Africa; Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - John Hawks
- Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, South Africa; Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Lee R Berger
- National Geographic Society, 1145 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA; Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, South Africa
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Cameron ME, Pfeiffer S, Stock J. Small body size phenotypes among Middle and Later Stone Age Southern Africans. J Hum Evol 2021; 152:102943. [PMID: 33571806 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2019] [Revised: 12/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Modern humans originated between 300 and 200 ka in structured populations throughout Africa, characterized by regional interaction and diversity. Acknowledgment of this complex Pleistocene population structure raises new questions about the emergence of phenotypic diversity. Holocene Southern African Later Stone Age (LSA) skeletons and descendant Khoe-San peoples have small adult body sizes that may reflect long-term adaptation to the Cape environment. Pleistocene Southern African adult body sizes are not well characterized, but some postcranial elements are available. The most numerous Pleistocene postcranial skeletal remains come from Klasies River Mouth on the Southern Cape coast of South Africa. We compare the morphology of these skeletal elements with globally sampled Holocene groups encompassing diverse adult body sizes and shapes (n = 287) to investigate whether there is evidence for phenotypic patterning. The adult Klasies River Mouth bones include most of a lumbar vertebra, and portions of a left clavicle, left proximal radius, right proximal ulna, and left first metatarsal. Linear dimensions, shape characteristics, and cross-sectional geometric properties of the Klasies River Mouth elements were compared using univariate and multivariate methods. Between-group principal component analyses group Klasies River Mouth elements, except the proximal ulna, with LSA Southern Africans. The similarity is driven by size. Klasies River Mouth metatarsal cross-sectional geometric properties indicate similar torsional and compressive strength to those from LSA Southern Africans. Phenotypic expressions of small-bodied adult morphology in Marine Isotope Stages 5 and 1 suggest this phenotype may represent local convergent adaptation to life in the Cape.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michelle E Cameron
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S2, Canada.
| | - Susan Pfeiffer
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S2, Canada; Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa; Department of Anthropology and Center for Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Science and Engineering Hall, 800 22nd St NW, Suite 6000, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Jay Stock
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 3QG, UK; Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5C2, UK; Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Str. 10, Jena, 07745, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Human manual distal phalanges from the Middle Stone Age deposits of Klasies River Main Site, Western Cape Province, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2020; 146:102849. [PMID: 32721654 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2020] [Revised: 06/11/2020] [Accepted: 06/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Two new distal manual phalanges from the Middle Stone Age deposits of Klasies River Main Site are described. One (SAM-AP 6387) likely derives from ray II or ray III, whereas the other (SAM-AP 6388) is from the thumb. Both derive from a late adolescent or fully adult individual. They were recovered by H. Deacon from the same stratigraphic unit (submember W or possibly submember R) of the Shell and Sand Member of Cave 1, which places them between 100 and 90 ka. Both are comparatively small elements, and the possibility that they came from the same hand cannot be discounted at this time. These bones add to the meager and all too fragmentary postcranial human fossil sample from the Late Pleistocene of South Africa. These two specimens provide some additional evidence pertaining to the morphological attributes of the distal phalanges of the Middle Stone Age inhabitants of South Africa. Together with the distal pollical phalanx from Die Kelders (SAM-AP 6402), they are relatively small in comparison with homologs from recent human samples as well as Late Pleistocene specimens from Eurasia. Given their small sizes, the distal pollical phalanges from Klasies and Die Kelders are not dissimilar to Holocene Khoesan homologs. As expected, the Klasies elements differ noticeably from Neandertal homologs, especially in the narrowness of their shafts and distal tuberosities.
Collapse
|
5
|
Willman JC, Hernando R, Matu M, Crevecoeur I. Biocultural diversity in Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Africa: Olduvai Hominid 1 (Tanzania) biological affinity and intentional body modification. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2020; 172:664-681. [PMID: 31944279 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2019] [Revised: 12/24/2019] [Accepted: 01/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The dentition of Olduvai Hominid 1 (OH1) exhibits an anomalous pattern of dental wear that was originally attributed to either intentional cultural modification (filing) or plant processing behaviors. A differential diagnosis of the wear and assessment of the biological affinity of OH1 is presented. MATERIALS AND METHODS Macroscopic and microscopic observations of all labial and buccal tooth surfaces were undertaken to assess wear patterns. A multivariate analysis of mandibular morphology of OH1 compared to other Late Pleistocene, Holocene, and recent modern humans was used to ascertain biological affinity. RESULTS The morphological variation of the OH1 mandible is closely aligned with variation in penecontemporaneous fossils from Africa and outside that of recent humans. The concave wear facets exposing dentin on the labial surfaces of all three preserved mandibular incisors is confirmed. Substantial loss of labial/buccal surfaces was documented on the surfaces of all in situ maxillary and mandibular canines, premolars, and molars ranging from distinct facets with well-defined edges, to blunting or "polishing" around areas of maximum buccal curvature. The wear on both the anterior and postcanine teeth closely resemble that caused by adornments ("labrets") worn in lower-lip and buccal facial piercings known from bioarchaeological and ethnographic contexts. The wear pattern suggests that the OH1 wore three facial piercings-two buccal/lateral and a medial one in the lower lip. DISCUSSION Our findings suggest that the expression of social identities through intentional body modification is more diverse than previously documented elsewhere in Africa during the Late Pleistocene (i.e., ablation) and Early Holocene (i.e., ablation, chipping, and filing).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John C Willman
- Laboratory of Prehistory, CIAS - Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal.,IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social , 43007 Tarragona, Spain.,Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Raquel Hernando
- IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social , 43007 Tarragona, Spain.,Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Marie Matu
- Unité Mixte de Recherche 5199, PACEA, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement, et Anthropologie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Isabelle Crevecoeur
- Unité Mixte de Recherche 5199, PACEA, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement, et Anthropologie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
|