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Export Permit Application for Wonderwerk Cave 2019

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CaseHeader

HeritageAuthority(s): 

Case Type: 

ProposalDescription: 

Excavation 1 at Wonderwerk Cave preserves a unique sequence spanning the entire Earlier Stone Age and Later Stone Age. Developing a robust absolute chronology for this sequence will provide an essential timescale for the region. Export of macrofauna for dating the LSA sequence and speleothems for completing dating of the ESA sequence is requested. Permission is also requested for export of faunal isotopes, sediment isotopes, OES isotopes, microfauna, and micromorphology to develop insight into the ecological context of human evolution.

Expanded_Motivation: 

Applicant (name and affiliation): this is usually the museum curator: David Morris, McGregor Museum Applied for (principal researcher): Michael Chazan, University of Toronto, University of the Witwatersrand Participants with affiliations, email addresses, phone numbers (& their role): Uranium Lead Dating—Dr. Don Davis, Department of Earth Science, Univeristy of Toronto, 22 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Micromorphology—Prof. Francesco Berna, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Education Building 9613, 8888 University Dr., Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6; Prof. Paul Goldberg, Department of Archaeology, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue # 347, Boston, MA 02215, USA. Isotopes—Dr. Michaela Ecker, Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Johanna-Mestorf-Straße 2-6 D - 24118 Kiel, Germany; Prof. Dr Hervé Bocherens Fachbereich Geowissenschaften – Biogeologie, Universität Tübingen, Hölderlinstr. 12, 72074 Tübingen. Histology—Dr. Liora Kolska Horwitz, National Natural History Collections, Berman Building, The Hebrew University, E. Safra-GIvat Ram Campus, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel The material will be couriered to the appropriate institutions in October 2019 by Michael Chazan. Return: Sediment samples will not be returned and will be curated for the duration of analysis in host institutions. Micromorphology blocks will be returned to the McGregor Museum at the end of analysis. All other samples will be returned to the McGregor Museum by Dec. 1, 2020. Institution incl. address that currently hosts the object: McGregor Museum, Kimberley Facility incl. address at which the experiment will be done: See listing above Table of objects or upload file: See attached files Site including age at which object was found: Wonderwerk ESA Time frame: Transport to __List of facilities above: October 2019 Return date: ___Decemeber 2020 except for sediment samples that will be curated in the foreign labs. Aim/rationale: Excavation 1 at Wonderwerk Cave preserves a unique sequence spanning the entire Earlier Stone Age and Later Stone Age. Developing a robust absolute chronology for this sequence will provide an essential timescale for the region. Export of macrofauna for dating the LSA sequence and speleothems for completing dating of the ESA sequence is requested. Permission for export of faunal isotopes, sediment isotopes, OES isotopes, microfauna, and micromorphology to develop insight into the ecological context of human evolution. Methodology (short): 1 Uranium/Lead-- Uranium/Lead dating is effective in dating the age of formation of speleothems. Preliminary research by Robin Pickering demonstrates that this method works at Wonderwerk. Following up on Pickerings results the goal is to analyse a robust sample from well provenienced samples from the new excavations at Wonderwerk. Three samples will be exported to the University of Toronto, Department of Earth Science, Jack Slatterly lab. Following analysis all samples will be returned to the McGregor Museum for permanent curation. 2. Sediment isotopes-- All sediment samples will be processed in the Leibniz Laboratory für Altersbestimmung und Isotopenforschung in Kiel by trained staff. Health and safety procedures conforming to relevant local & national guidelines and legislation are followed. On arrival in the Leibniz Laboratory, the sediment will be air dried at 60°C for 48h and then homogenized. Approximately 6g of homogenized dry sediment will be extracted for total lipids with a mixture of dichloromethane and methanol (DCM:MeOH) in an Accelerated Solvent Extractor. Lipids will be partitioned using column chromatography with activated silica gel. The saturated hydrocarbon fraction containing the n-alkanes will be obtained by column chromatography and in the following analysed in a mass spectrometer. 3. Faunal and OES isotopes--- Samples will be processed at the University of Tübingen for chemical analysis with the goal of deriving stable isotopic signatures that will inform interpretations of past climatic variables. The carbon (CO2) and oxygen (H2O) isotopic composition of the bone, eggshell, and enamel (teeth) specimens will provide information on the plants and drinking water consumed by the animals. Sediment samples are also being exported to test for potential contamination of the specimens isotopes present in the surrounding sedimentary matrix. 3. Radiocarbon dating—Samples will be prepared with ultrafiltration and analysed at an AMS facility. 4. Micromorphology—Blocks of sediment are embedded in resin and then used to prepare microscopic thin sections. These thin sections are then analysed to understand site formation processes. At SFU micro-FTIR is applied to determine minerology. 5. Microfauna—Taphonomic analysis of LSA microfauna samples by S. Rhodes (Tubingen) following protocols described in Ferenandez Jalvo and Avery 2015. Following taphonomic analysis the sample will be sent to Dr. Margaret Avery (IZIKO) for taxonomic analysis and then returned to the McGregor Museum for curation. A complete list of samples is found in the attached excel sheet. In no cases are these unique objects or a significant component (>2%) of the total assemblage. Confirmation/permit by museum: Attached Damage/destructive analysis? All sediment analyses are destructive. Uranium Lead dating requires embedding of speleothems and preparation of thin sections, the same is true for micromorphology. C14 dating and isotope analysis of OES and fauna is minimally destructive. All samples will be photographed before sampling. Statement why this study cannot be done in South Africa: Lack of necessary equipment and expertise.

ApplicationDate: 

Tuesday, October 29, 2019 - 23:33

CaseID: 

14513

OtherReferences: 

ReferenceList: 

Citation
2018. Ecker, M., Brink, J.S., Rossouw, L., Chazan, M., Horwitz, L.K. and Lee-Thorp, J.A., 2018. The palaeoecological context of the Oldowan-Acheulean in southern Africa. Nature Ecology & Evolution 2: 1080-1086. 2017. Chazan, M., L.K. Horwitz, M. Ecker, C. Koopowitz, S.E. Rhodes, D. Morris, F. Berna. Renewed excavations at Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews 26(6): 258-260. 2017. Ecker, M., Brink, J., Chazan, M., Horwitz, L.K., and Lee-Thorp, J.A. Radiocarbon dates constrain the timing of environmental and cultural shifts in the Holocene strata of Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa. Radiocarbon 59(4): 1067-1086. 2016. Demarchi, B., Hall, S., Roncal-Herrero, T., Freeman, C.L., Woolley, J., Crisp, M.K., Wilson, J., Fotakis, A., Fischer, R., Kessler, B.M. and Jersie-Christensen, R.R., Olsen, J.V., Haile, J., Thomas, J., Marean, C.W., Parkington, J., Presslee, S., Lee-Thorp, J., Ditchfield, P. Hamilton, J.F., Ward, M.W., Wang, C.M., Shaw, M.D., Harrison, T., Dominguez-Rodrigo, M., MacPhee, R.D.E., Kwekason, A., Ecker, M., Horwitz, L.K., Chazan, M., Kröger, R., Thomas-Oates, J. Harding, J.H., Cappellini, E., Penkman, K., Collins, M.J. Protein sequences bound to mineral surfaces persist into deep time. Elife, 5, p.e17092. 2015 Horwitz, L.K., Chazan, M. Past and Present at Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. African Archaeological Review 32(4): 595-612. 2015. Chazan, M. Technological Trends in the Acheulean of Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa. African Archaeological Review 32(4): 701-728 . 2015. Goldberg, P., Berna, F., and Chazan, M. Deposition and diagenesis in the Earlier Stone Age of Wonderwerk Cave, Excavation 1, South Africa. African Archaeological Review 32(4): 613-643. 2012. Chazan, M., Avery, M.D., Bamford, M.K., Berna, F., Brink, J., Fernandez-Jalvo, Y., Goldberg, P., Matmon, A., Porat, N., Ron, H., Rossouw, L., Scott, L., Horwitz, L.K. Oldowan Occupation at Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa: Archaeology, Geology, Paleontology, and Paleoclimate. Journal of Human Evolution 63: 859-866. 2012. Berna, F., P. Goldberg, L.K. Horwitz, J. Brink, S. Holt, M. Bamford, and M. Chazan. Microstratigraphic evidence of in situ fire in the Acheulean strata of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109: E1215-E1220. 2012. Matmon, A., H. Ron, M. Chazan, N. Porat, L.K. Horwitz. Reconstruction the history of sediment deposition in caves: A case study from Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa. Geological Society of America Bulletin 124 (3-4): 611-625.
 
 

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