Complexities of assessing palaeocave stratigraphy: reconstructing site formation of the ∼2.61 Ma Drimolen Makondo fossil site
| Autor: | Ashleigh Murszewski, Giovanni Boschian, Andy I.R. Herries |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
010506 paleontology
Early Pleistocene Pliocene Pleistocene Soil Science Fluvial 01 natural sciences General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology Paleontology Infill Micromorphology Contextual information 0601 history and archaeology Stratigraphy (archaeology) Sedimentology Uncategorized 0105 earth and related environmental sciences 060102 archaeology General Neuroscience Excavation 06 humanities and the arts General Medicine Palaeocave General Agricultural and Biological Sciences Geology |
| Zdroj: | PeerJ |
| ISSN: | 2167-8359 |
| Popis: | © Copyright 2020 Murszewski et al. Palaeocave sites in South Africa are world renowned repositories for palaeontological and archaeological material, dating from the terminal Pliocene to the Early Pleistocene. Due to their antiquity, complex karstification history and multifaceted infilling phases, palaeocave sites are notoriously difficult to contextualise. Further to this, 19th century lime-mining and diverse excavation and sampling techniques, have complicated stratigraphic interpretations of fossil-bearing deposits within the region. Locating and assessing newly discovered, minimally disturbed palaeocave sites allow for contextual information to be gathered with greater confidence and can aid in constructing a more robust understanding of the South African fossil record. Here, we use Drimolen Makondo; a minimally lime-mined ∼2.61 Ma palaeontological site, to apply a series of in-depth stratigraphic and micromorphological studies. Contextual data presented within this study, testifies to a relatively rapid infill with greater fluvial activity when compared to adjacent deposits at the younger ∼2.04-1.95 Ma Drimolen Main Quarry. The quantity of articulated macromammalian remains, high density of micromammalian remains and pollen identified, also highlights Drimolen Makondo as a key site for ongoing palaeoenvironmental studies at the Pliocene to Pleistocene transition in South Africa. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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