Tessera
Folgen

PEOPLE_ERC_StG

@people-erc-stg.bsky.social

News from the 🇪🇺 @erc.europa.eu Starting Grant project "PalaeoEcology and OPen-LandscapE adaptations of Pleistocene humans in South Africa" (PEOPLE) — PI: @michaeltoffolo.bsky.social

34 Posts64 Follower63 Folgt
PEOPLE_ERC_StG@people-erc-stg.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The PEOPLE team is back in Florisbad 🇿🇦 for a new fieldwork season. Besides working on river terraces in the region, this year we will dig the MIS 5e occupations at Florisbad within the framework of the "James Brink Field School in Pleistocene Archaeology and Palaeontology". #archaeology

Bild
PEOPLE_ERC_StG@people-erc-stg.bsky.social · 4mo ago

📢New article in open access led by Dr Maïlys Richard on the newly discovered Middle Stone Age site at Baden-Baden, South Africa 🇿🇦, where humans were present 91,000 years ago. www.nature.com/articles/s41... @archeosciences-bordeaux.fr @erc.europa.eu @cnrsaquitaine.bsky.social @cnrsshs.bsky.social

A Middle Stone Age occupation identified at Baden-Baden in the grasslands of the Free State, South Africa - Scientific Reports

In southern Africa, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 (~ 130 − 71 ka) is a crucial period in the evolution of Homo sapiens but poorly documented in the central interior of the subcontinent. We report here results from Baden-Baden 2, a newly discovered open-air site in the western Free State grasslands of South Africa that documents Middle Stone Age occupations dated to MIS 5. The lithic assemblage differs from known MIS 5 and post-MIS 5 industries and shows similarities with industries typically dated to MIS 6 (~ 191 − 130 ka). In order to geochronologically constrain the occupation of Baden-Baden 2, sediments for optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating were collected together with micromorphology blocks to correlate formation processes and luminescence data. Magnetic susceptibility and plant biomarker analyses were used to identify changes in sediment supply and reconstruct past environments, revealing a shift in sediment source or climate regime during the period of human occupation, which took place between 91 ± 8 ka and 75 ± 7 ka. The palaeoenvironment shows three relatively stable phases that match the three broad phases of sediment input identified. The combination of OSL and micromorphology shows extensive bioturbation due to termite activity in the whole sequence. We discuss here the issue of dating quartz grains in bioturbated contexts, using single grain analyses combined with the Finite Mixture Model. Our results suggest that sand at the site was deposited from 106 ± 8 ka, for the base of the sequence, to 120 ± 30 a, for the modern sample at the top. The Baden-Baden 2 assemblage overlaps temporally with different industries in other South African regions, underscoring the need for more systematic investigation of MIS 5 in the interior of South Africa.

nature.com

Kgalagadi Human Origins Project@khoproject.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Hot off the press📰: Our new paper "Connecting survey data with targeted test excavations to understand lithic artefacts in the landscape of the southern Kalahari, Botswana" led by PhD student Rowena Winterhalder from @uni-kiel.de 🎉🪨🦣🏺 Read it open access here: doi.org/10.1080/0067... #lithics

Connecting survey data with targeted test excavations to understand lithic artefacts in the landscape of the southern Kalahari, Botswana

Southern African Middle Stone Age research has largely focused on the region’s coastal caves and rock-shelters, while its semi-arid interior remains under-investigated due to the assumption of limi...

doi.org

PEOPLE_ERC_StG@people-erc-stg.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Last week we attended the UMSAGA Workshop at Florisbad 🇿🇦, organized in collaboration with Dr Viola Schmid and Dr Will Archer to bring together MSA research in the Free State. It was great to see colleagues and learn about the latest results from Rose Cottage Cave!

BildBildBildBild
Marta Mirazon Lahr@martamlahr.bsky.social · 10mo ago

#ESEHE2025 Mailys Richard ‘A revised chronology for the Middle Pleistocene sedimentary sequence of Florisbad, South Africa’ Prev fossil hom (eSapiens): OSL & ESR- 279-228 ka NEW OSL, TT-OSL & pIRIR290: range of dates – most likely MIS6 But only if prov of cran in Unit M

Bild
PEOPLE_ERC_StG@people-erc-stg.bsky.social · last yr.

Check out a new article by project member Dr @benoitlonget.bsky.social about the MSA lithic assemblage of Rhafas Cave, Morocco, which is part of his PhD research 👇 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Lithic analysis of the north African Middle Stone age from the Rhafas cave sequence

Rhafas Cave provides one of the rare dated sequences from MIS 5 in northern Morocco, showcasing a wide variety of lithic industries. Initially discove…

sciencedirect.com

Kgalagadi Human Origins Project@khoproject.bsky.social · last yr.

New paper from our project 📢 Inèz Faul et al. "Dune, outcrop, and pan sediments from the southern Kalahari Basin: A geoarchaeological case study from the Kgalagadi district, Botswana" in Southern African Field Archaeology. #openaccess #Geoarchaeology 🦣🇧🇼 Link 👇 doi.org/10.36615/saf...

Southern African Field Archaeology

Research from the southern Kalahari Basin (previously considered to be of limited Pleistocene archaeological significance) has provided evidence of human occupation. Surveys and excavations conducted ...

doi.org