Heritage Cases

Introduction Application for an export permit to export micromorphology samples taken at UMhlatuzana rockshelter to the Netherlands. Last year we commenced geoarchaeological investigations at Umhlatuzana rockshelter. In 2019 we conducted further fieldwork in the lower part of the sequence. To clarify the taphonomy of this part of the sequence we want to study 6 micromorphology samples. The samples will be transported to the Netherlands to be impregnated in resin. Following this, thin sections will be cut at the laboratory of the National Heritage Agency. The thin sections will be analysed by Irini Sifogeorgaki under supervision of prof. Hans Huisman and Dr. Gerrit Dusseldorp. Additional sediment samples will be analysed for complementary information using loss on ignition and granulometry analysis. The study will provide crucial insights into the taphonomy of the stratigraphic sequence at the site. Umhlatuzana rockshelter preserves a long record of human occupation and is an important site in debates on Middle Stone Age technological innovations (e.g. Högberg and Lombard 2016). Unfortunately, the stratigraphy of Umhlatuzana rockshelter is badly understood. We want to conduct morphological analysis to clarify the depositional processes of the sequence and to address two important problems to our understanding of the site: - In the lower two-thirds of the sequence, no natural stratigraphy was visible to the original excavator (Kaplan 1990) - The possibility that some mechanism of sediment displacement post-depositionally affected the archaeological deposits was proposed (Kaplan 1990). The 2019 samples will specifically clarify the taphonomy of the Howiesons Poort and pre-Howiesons Poort deposits at the site. Methods We have sampled the units of interest for micromorphological analysis and have taken bulk sediment samples to conduct complementary analyses (pH, granulometry, Magnetic Susceptibility, Loss of Ignition). We have recorded the samples in the profile both photographically and using a Robotic Total Station. We retrieved the samples en bloc from the profile using plaster or Kubiena tins, keeping them in as undisturbed a state as possible. We will take some samples as hand luggage and ship the remained as fragile luggage with KLM airlines to Amsterdam after which we will personally deliver them to the laboratory of the State Heritage Agency in Amersfoort. The micromorphological samples will be impregnated with resin at the laboratory of the Dutch Heritage Agency. After the resin has hardened, thin-sections will be produced of the samples. They will be analyzed by Irini Sifogeorgaki under supervision from micromorphology expert prof. Hans Huisman and archaeologist Dr. Gerrit Dusseldorp. Additional analysis such as granulometry will also be performed. After the analysis is complete, a representative sample of the thin sections that are produced will be returned to the KwaZulu-Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg. High resolution scans and of all samples will also be returned to the Museum.