Geomorphological context and formation history of Cloggs Cave: What was the cave like when people inhabited it?
| Autor: | Helen Green, Joe Crouch, Bruno David, Fiona Petchey, Johan Berthet, Jerome Mialanes, Jeremy Ash, Rachel Wood, Joanna Fresløv, Matthew C. McDowell, Jean-Jacques Delannoy, Gunaikurnai Land, Vanessa N.L. Wong, Russell Mullett, Lee J. Arnold |
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| Přispěvatelé: | Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de la Montagne (EDYTEM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry]) |
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
010506 paleontology
Archeology Stalactite [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory 01 natural sciences Paleontology Cave Extant taxon Megafauna Australia Gunaikurnai Holocene Late Pleistocene Megafauna Speleothems 0601 history and archaeology Foothills Chronostratigraphy Archaeomorphology Holocene 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Australian Alps geography geography.geographical_feature_category 060102 archaeology Cloggs Cave [SHS.GEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Geography 06 humanities and the arts [SHS.ANTHRO-SE]Humanities and Social Sciences/Social Anthropology and ethnology 15. Life on land East Gippsland Paleoecology Australian Southern Uplands Geology |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Elsevier, 2020, 33, pp.102461. ⟨10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102461⟩ |
| ISSN: | 2352-409X |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102461 |
| Popis: | New research undertaken at Cloggs Cave, in the foothills of the Australian Alps, employed an integrated geological-geomorphological-archaeological approach with manifold dating methods and fine resolution LiDAR 3D mapping. Long-standing questions about the site’s chronostratigraphy (e.g. the exact relationship between basal megafaunal deposits and archaeological layers), sedimentation processes and geomorphic changes were resolved. The cave’s formation history was reconstructed to understand its changing morphology and morphogenic processes, and to clarify how these processes shaped the cave’s deposits. Key findings include the identification of: 1) the geomorphological processes that caused the lateral juxtaposition of 52,000 year-old megafaunal and later occupational layers; 2) the existence of one and possibly two (now-buried) palaeo-entrance(s) that enabled now-extinct megafauna and extant large fauna to enter the cave, most likely via a free-roaming passage rather than a pit drop; 3) morphological changes to the cave during the time of the Old People, including the timing of changes to the inclination of palaeo-surfaces; and 4) modifications to stalactites, crushing of calcite formations for the manufacture of powder, construction of a stone arrangement, and movement of large limestone blocks by the Old People. Ultimately, these findings demonstrate that to properly understand what Cloggs Cave was like when the Old People visited the site requires the construction of a narrative that spans some 400 million years and the development of an approach capable of integrating the many scales and processes (e.g. geological, geomorphological, archaeological) that configured to shape the site. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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