Hunter-gatherer research in south Africa has seen a steady output of research and provided important information on all aspects of hunter-gatherer communities. Faunal remains at sites provide one...Show moreHunter-gatherer research in south Africa has seen a steady output of research and provided important information on all aspects of hunter-gatherer communities. Faunal remains at sites provide one of the most common sources of data and have led to plenty of analyses on huntergatherer subsistence strategy. The role of megafauna in subsistence strategies in southern Africa has been sparsely researched, especially during the Later Stone Age (LSA). While megafauna could provide an ideal source of meat and fat, their contribution to the hunter-gatherer subsistence during the LSA has not been researched. This was the main focus of the research for this thesis, with a focus on the elephant as a case study due to the comparable extensive research into this megafauna species. Megafauna assemblage data was compiled and analysed, together with a short list of rock art featuring megafauna. The fauna remains were analysed for their relative contribution to the overall assemblage in terms of bone representation and caloric contribution. The remains and the rock art were also analysed on compared to determine any geographical and temporal distribution patterns. Multiple theories ranging from ontology to the dangerous nature of megafauna species were examined as possible causes for the patterns that emerged. The results show that the relative importance of megafauna based on skeletal element representation is not that large compared to the possible nutritional contribution such large herbivores could provide. In terms of distribution, the megafauna shows no discernible patterns on the temporal plane due to the small size of the dataset. The geographic distribution shows a link between historical biome presence and archaeological remains. The rock art distribution aligns more closely with the biome presence data than the actual faunal remains of megafauna. While several different theories are proposed to explain the patterns observed in the faunal assemblages and rock art, the data is simply too insufficient to make any definitive inferences on the cause behind these patterns. Future research to provide a clearer picture of megafauna distribution and their possible causes would need to broaden the dataset provided in this thesis and provide more detailed information on the bone elements in the assemblages.Show less
Neanderthals are without doubt one of the most studied extinct hominin populations in the world. Questions regarding their adaptability, survival skills and cognition have been the focus of many...Show moreNeanderthals are without doubt one of the most studied extinct hominin populations in the world. Questions regarding their adaptability, survival skills and cognition have been the focus of many researchers for decades. One of the most heavily debated topics however remains that of their extinction. Neanderthals occupied an immense region of Eurasia, stretching from the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula to the hills of southern Siberia. The chronology of their demise and the extent to which their disappearance overlapped with the earliest colonization of Eurasia by anatomically modern humans, are key questions in Palaeolithic archaeology. Studying the demise of Neanderthals is important in that aspect as it will provide a better understanding and broader insights of the hominin evolution during the Late Pleistocene. By establishing the exact timing of their demise, archaeologists will be able to answer questions regarding the cause of their disappearance. The Neanderthal demise has been dated numerous times, with the focus on direct and indirect dates. Researchers who previously aimed to date their demise concluded that the Mousterian had ended by 41-39ka cal. BP, claiming that no Neanderthals survived after this time. However, Neanderthal remains have been found to date a couple of thousands of years later. Moreover, it is not unlikely that Neanderthals disappeared from various regions at different times. In this thesis study, I have therefore focused on direct AMS dates obtained from late Neanderthal fossils, as these direct dates best represent the age of the hominin remains. I divided Eurasia in three separate regions, from which different demise patterns were established. In total 11 late Neanderthal sites were obtained, yielding 58 direct AMS dates. Each fossil sample was individually analyzed and evaluated. Results have shown that Neanderthals can be directly dated as late as 35.7ka cal. BP in western Europe, 42.1ka cal. BP in western Asia and 35.3ka cal. BP in central Europe. Over the past few decades, improvements in pre-treatment methods and radiocarbon dating have yielded a vast growth in late Pleistocene chronologies. Databases and publications derived from these chronologies ought to be properly audited and quality standards need to be met, to ensure that research obtained today remains valuable and applicable in the future.Show less
