Four distinct expressions of settlement built by Nguni-speaking farmers in the KwaZulu-Natal region date from about 1300 to 1880. They are Types T and B, Moor Park and the amakhanda of the Zulu kingdom. One has a centre/sides layout. The others have front/back layouts. All four display the left/right dimension in larger settlements. The details of their layouts and the associated material culture reveal variation in expressions of agnatic authority and striking displays of affinal relations. Such features are present in ethnographic accounts of Nguni-speaking people, but the archaeological remains give them weight and point to a millennium of greater diversity. The result has implications for the nature of the earliest Nguni-speaking communities in the region as well as for Type N communities on the southern highveld.
The faunal remains from the Surface of the Cave of Hearths, located in the Makapan Valley, South Africa, were analysed to determine their association with the siege of 1854 between the Boers and Kekana that occurred in the adjacent Historic Cave. The sample from the Surface at the Cave of Hearths was likely hand-picked during excavations and consists mostly of teeth. As an incomplete sample, the totality of the species present will never be known. The sample had a complex accumulation history. Human remains found on the Surface at the Cave of Hearths may relate to the siege of 1854, or perhaps some unrelated event. The sample contains a variety of taxa, including domesticates and game animals. Despite the limitations of the sample, the application of established faunal indices provides meaningful insights into accumulation processes and subsistence patterns. These indices, validated through comparative analysis with Historic Cave, demonstrate that even tooth-dominated samples can yield robust and interpretable trends. The diversity of game in the sample differs from other faunal samples in the Makapan Valley dating to recent times, including Historic Cave, Ficus Cave, Kekana and Ficus (Third Component). This suggests that the fauna from the Surface at the Cave of Hearths is probably unrelated to the siege of 1854, and may date from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. The Makapan Valley and its surroundings have attracted and have been settled by several groups of people during the last two centuries, including the Kekana, Pedi, Tsonga, Shangaan, the Masele, Boers, missionaries and traders. Unfortunately, with such a diversity ofgroups in the area since at least the 19th century, the faunal remains do not provide conclusive evidence about the identity of the people who used the Cave of Hearths in recent times.
The Holocene period in southern Africa holds a diverse and valuable archaeological record that sheds light on the hunter-gatherer culture and theiradaptation strategies. Of particular interest is the southern Kalahari Basin, an ecotone region transitioning from subtropical savannah to the semi-arid savannah of the Kalahari Desert. Within this context, several Holocene archaeological sites in the southern Kalahari Basin offer detailed palaeoenvironmental information that directly relates to the archaeological record. However, despite the informative nature of these sites, inconsistencies remain regarding the timing of wet phases that have yet to be fully understood. In this study, we present the findings from the first excavations at Ga-Mohana Hill South Rock Shelter in the southern Kalahari Basin. The site reveals an intact Later Stone Age (LSA) deposit, radiocarbon dated using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) to 2730-2490 cal BP. This timeframe roughly corresponds to a period of tufa formation at Ga-Mohana Hill, estimated at 3.0 +/- 0.9 ka. These results indicate wetter conditions than the present, with seasonal water flow down the rock shelters' sides. The significance of Ga-Mohana Hill South Rock Shelter as a new Late Holocene hunter-gatherer site lies in its contribution to the broader investigation of hunter-gatherer landscape utilisation and adaptation in the region.
Equus Cave is a late Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological and fossil-bearing site at the Buxton-Norlim Limeworks, near Taung in South Africa. The Later Stone Age archaeology and fossil material found throughout the deposit suggest a complex use of Equus Cave over time. From the bottom of the Equus Cave sequence to the top, sedimentary units show a general decrease in faunal remains, coupled with an increase in stone tools. The late Pleistocene Units 1B-2B at the base of the sequence suggest carnivore denning activities were mostly responsible for the accumulation of fossil assemblages but with an identifiable human presence (Stammers et al. 2017). The uppermost Holocene-aged Unit 1A contains the densest archaeological assemblage, which suggests increased human activities at the site during this period. This paper describes two new previously undescribed modern human mandibles with teeth from the original 1979 and 80s excavations that add to the 14 dental specimens previously described. This new material consists of a partial adult mandible (EQ-H13) and a partial juvenile mandible (EQ-H14) and associated dentition representing the first deciduous remains described from the site. Unfortunately, there is no provenience information available for these remains. The lack of taphonomic damage on these human remains perhaps suggest affiliation with the Holocene 1A occupation, most likely associated with the Wilton complex of the LSA (Stammers et al. 2017) but an earlier late Pleistocene age cannot be ruled out. Morphological and odontometric comparisons have been made between these new individuals and modern San populations, as well as with broadly contemporaneous individuals from Die Kelders Cave and Diepkloof Rock Shelter.
Sibhudu Cave is the only rock shelter where faunal remains are preserved in association with Late Pleistocene archaeological material within the sub-tropical biome of the Indian Ocean Coastal Belt in southern Africa. Excavations led by Lyn Wadley of the Middle Stone Age deposits of the site uncovered one of the largest and taxonomically most diverse bird assemblages known from Late Pleistocene contexts in southern Africa. Since 2011, excavations under Nicholas J. Conards' direction have yielded 560 additional bird remains and extended the sequence to strata predating 80 000 years ago. While the sample is smaller than that obtained during previous excavations, the remains confirm the taxonomic diversity of bird species present at the site with a minimum of 21 families identified. Columbidae clearly dominate the avifaunal sample, followed by waders related to the uThongathi River flowing near the rock shelter, Numididae, and forest taxa including Musophagidae, Psittacidae and Bucerotidae. Taphonomic analysis of these remains indicates a mixed contribution by humans and diurnal birds of prey, most likely lanner and/or peregrine falcons. Butchery marks document the occasional consumption of birds, particularly Columbidae, during the Howiesons Poort, Still Bay and final pre-Still Bay phases. The anatomical position of these cut marks suggests an interest in obtaining meat and perhaps feathers. In the older pre-Still Bay strata, birds of prey roosting on ledges overlooking the current excavation area contributed most of the avifaunal assemblage. The bird remains retrieved from the deepest part of the sequence constitute the oldest palaeoenvironmental proxy available for the site. There, the occurrence ofseveral taxa endemic to the Afromontane evergreen forest provides direct evidence for the significance of this habitat around Sibhudu prior to 80 000 years ago.
