Wonderboompoort, South Africa: A natural game funnel for meat harvesting during the later Acheulean. (October 2021)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Wonderboompoort, South Africa: A natural game funnel for meat harvesting during the later Acheulean. (October 2021)
- Main Title:
- Wonderboompoort, South Africa: A natural game funnel for meat harvesting during the later Acheulean
- Authors:
- Lombard, Marlize
Lotter, Matt G.
Caruana, Matthew V. - Abstract:
- Highlights: We demonstrate that the Magaliesberg range forms a topographic barrier with Wonderboompoort being a narrow gap. Through this gap herds were naturally funnelled while migrating between optimal grazing zones. This landscape context indicates the site's potential as meat-harvesting site during the Pleistocene later Acheulean in South Africa. Abstract: We revisit Wonderboompoort, South Africa, in terms of its potential to have served as a natural game funnel during the Pleistocene later Acheulean. The geological and ecological time depth of the Magaliesberg landscape, allows us to use the current setting as suitable proxy for understanding past animal and early human land use. We formulate a set of four criteria for natural game-funnelling landscapes. Testing Wonderboompoort against these criteria, we demonstrate that the Magaliesberg range forms a topographic barrier with the pass or 'poort' as a narrow gap with adjacent lookout points across grazing plains and into the valley. Our hydro-analyses demonstrate how the locality provided a permanent, predictable water source and access to wetland zones north and south of the mountain. Quartzite outcrops in a sheltered valley with direct evidence of flake quarrying for later Acheulean tool knapping contributes to the strategic attraction of the Wonderboom landscape for early humans within a diverse and rugged biotope. Our parsimonious interpretation is that the Wonderboom landscape may serve as model example of a naturalHighlights: We demonstrate that the Magaliesberg range forms a topographic barrier with Wonderboompoort being a narrow gap. Through this gap herds were naturally funnelled while migrating between optimal grazing zones. This landscape context indicates the site's potential as meat-harvesting site during the Pleistocene later Acheulean in South Africa. Abstract: We revisit Wonderboompoort, South Africa, in terms of its potential to have served as a natural game funnel during the Pleistocene later Acheulean. The geological and ecological time depth of the Magaliesberg landscape, allows us to use the current setting as suitable proxy for understanding past animal and early human land use. We formulate a set of four criteria for natural game-funnelling landscapes. Testing Wonderboompoort against these criteria, we demonstrate that the Magaliesberg range forms a topographic barrier with the pass or 'poort' as a narrow gap with adjacent lookout points across grazing plains and into the valley. Our hydro-analyses demonstrate how the locality provided a permanent, predictable water source and access to wetland zones north and south of the mountain. Quartzite outcrops in a sheltered valley with direct evidence of flake quarrying for later Acheulean tool knapping contributes to the strategic attraction of the Wonderboom landscape for early humans within a diverse and rugged biotope. Our parsimonious interpretation is that the Wonderboom landscape may serve as model example of a natural game-funnel, and that meat harvesting – instead of weapon-assisted hunting – remains plausible until evidence to the contrary is found. … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- Journal of archaeological science. Volume 39(2021)
- Journal:
- Journal of archaeological science
- Issue:
- Volume 39(2021)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 39, Issue 2021 (2021)
- Year:
- 2021
- Volume:
- 39
- Issue:
- 2021
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2021-0039-2021-0000
- Page Start:
- Page End:
- Publication Date:
- 2021-10
- Subjects:
- Ambush hunting -- Magaliesberg -- Cradle of Humankind -- Earlier Stone Age
Archaeology -- Periodicals
Archaeology -- Research -- Periodicals
930.1 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/2352409X ↗
http://www.sciencedirect.com/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103193 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 2352-409X
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 19336.xml