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EXPORT OF PHYTOLITH SAMPLES FROM BOOMPLAAS CAVE IN 2022 FOR THE PURPOSE OF DEVELOPING NEW PALEOENVIRONMENTAL AND PLANT USE DATA

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ProposalDescription: 

We propose to export 94 sediment samples from the archaeological site Boomplaas (BPA) to Spain for the purpose of phytolith analysis. The goal of the analysis is to accurately identify microscopic phytolith remains to reconstruct ancient vegetation changes and human plant use strategies. This project is taking place at ERF 30/33, Boomplaas, Cango Valley, Eden District, Western Cape (HWC permit case number 18021501AS0223E).

Expanded_Motivation: 

This application is to export sediment samples from the archaeological site Boomplaas to Spain for the purpose of phytolith analysis. The goal of the analysis is to accurately identify microscopic phytolith remains to reconstruct ancient vegetation changes and human plant use strategies. The study of plant remains from the archaeological record is relevant to the understanding of the appearance and evolution of complex forager strategies during the Late Pleistocene, and ultimately to the diversification of human landscape adaptations. Phytoliths, silica microremains formed in living plants, are a useful tool for plant identification since (i) they do not need to be combusted to be preserved due to their mineralogical composition—opaline silica and (ii) due to their formation inside the cellular tissue of plants, they retain distinctive morphologies that make them identifiable to the plant component and the type of plant, sometimes at species level (e.g. Piperno, 2006). Phytolith studies have been carried out in several South African archaeological sites (Albert and Marean, 2012; Esteban et al., 2018, 2020a, 2020b, 2020c, 2023; Wadley et al., 2020), which results demonstrate their widespread applicability and potential to reconstruct past plant uses and infer ancient vegetation and climate patterns throughout the region. Therefore, for this project, we propose to use phytoliths to serve as proxies for reconstructing vegetation composition (shrubby vs grassy vegetation), and as a climatic indicator of rainfall seasonality through the characterization of grass Additionally, Esteban will study the phytolith content of the same samples used for our other ongoing studies to 1) understand human gathering habits (plant foods, wood fuel, and bedding), 2) local vegetation and/or plant availability, and 3) identify changes in site occupation intensity. Phytoliths recovered from combustion features can also help identify plant fuels that do not carbonize. Samples necessary for this project only consist of sediment. No archaeological material was included. All samples were piece-plotted and recorded. Phytolith analysis will be carried out at the University of Barcelona following standard procedures (Katz et al., 2010). The results derived from these analyses will be compared with archaeological and sedimentological information to provide information on the strategies conducted to obtain plants for fuel, foods and other purposes; how these strategies changed over time; and how plant exploitation was integrated with other behavioural systems such as technology, social behaviour, and landscape use. Boomplaas Cave We are applying for an export permit to undertake phytolith studies of samples from Boomplaas (BPA) Cave. This project is taking place at ERF 30/33, Boomplaas, Cango Valley, Eden District, Western Cape (HWC permit case number 18021501AS0223E). BPA is an important site to study because it is located along the northern margin of the Little Karoo Basin within a year-round rainfall regime and can provide insight into how environmental change in this rainfall regime may have influenced past populations, specifically during the Middle Stone Age-Later Stone Age transition. Currently the site’s paleoenvironmental archive relies on decades old work done on samples that do not provide high-resolution coverage across the site’s sequence. New geochemical analyses (stable isotope analysis of ostrich eggshell, animal tooth enamel, sediments, and charcoal) will provide more precise moisture availability indicators through time and provide direct insights into how ecological change influenced human prey and mobility. Phytolith identifications will link these hydrological data to vegetation in a more refined manner. These data will allow for better contextualization of its paleoenvironmental proxies and a fuller contextualization of the site’s lithic, faunal, and paleoenvironmental materials. Combined, this unparalleled array of paleoenvironmental proxies will enable the most detailed reconstructions of local to regional environments from the MSA-LSA transition and allow us to link variability in these domains to changes in the regional and global climate systems. Field Methods In October 2022, we collected 94 bulk sediment samples from Boomplaas, beginning at the base of the previously excavated stratigraphic section and covering deposits dating to 80-19 ka. Before sampling, the exposed stratigraphic section is cleaned using a trowel and brush to limit potential contamination. High-resolution photography is taken before sampling so that sample locations can be directly placed on the stratigraphic profile in ArcGIS. Starting at the base of the section, approximately 6 grams of sediment are collected using a trowel and mini-shovel and stored in plastic bags. Every sample is sieved (3” No. 10) to remove any archaeological material. Archaeological material > 1 cm is plotted using a total station. Between each sample, all tools are cleaned using water and a rag to limit cross-contamination. Every sample is piece potted with a total station so it can be placed on a 3D grid following analyses. All the samples are currently stored at the Palaeoecology Laboratory at Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth. We propose to export for analysis 94 geological samples of about 6 grams each. These samples are essential for building a high-resolution paleoenvironmental profile at Boomplaas and for comparisons to other sites. Figure 1 shows an example of the samples on a rectified (=corrected to grid space) image. Laboratory Methods Phytolith extraction will be carried out at the University of Barcelona following standard procedures (Katz et al., 2010). A weight amount of between 30 and 50 mg of the sediment is placed in a 0.5-ml Eppendorf plastic centrifuge tube. Fifty microliters 6 N HCl are added using a micropipette (Finnpipette) in order to dissolve carbonate minerals and carbonated hydroxylapatite. After the bubbling has ceased, 450 ml of 2.4 g/ml sodium polytungstate solution [Na6(H2W12O40)vH2O] is added. The tube is vortexed and sonicated for ca. 10 min (Ultrasons, Selecta), vortexed again, and centrifuged for 5 min at 5000 rpm (MiniSpin plus, Eppendorf). The supernatant (phytoliths and charred organic material) is removed to a new 0.5 ml centrifuge tube and vortexed. For examination under the optical microscope, an aliquot of 50 ml of the supernatant is removed and placed on a microscope slide and covered with a 24 × 24 mm cover-slip. To quantify the total amount of phytoliths, we used a general approach based on the counting of 20 fields at ×200 magnification, whereas the morphological identification took place at ×400 magnification. For the morphological analysis, a minimum number of 200 phytoliths were counted whenever possible.

ApplicationDate: 

Tuesday, January 3, 2023 - 21:12

CaseID: 

20425

OtherReferences: 

ReferenceList: 

CitationReferenceType
Albert, R.M. and Marean, C.W., 2012. The Exploitation of Plant Resources by Early H omo sapiens: The Phytolith Record from Pinnacle Point 13B Cave, South A frica. Geoarchaeology, 27(4), pp.363-384.
Esteban, I., Marean, C.W., Fisher, E.C., Karkanas, P., Cabanes, D., Albert, R.M., 2018. Phytoliths as an indicator of early modern humans plant gathering strategies, fire fuel and site occupation intensity during the Middle Stone Age at Pinnacle Point 5-6 (south coast, South Africa). PLoS One 13, e0198558.
Esteban, I., Marean, C.W., Cowling, R.M., Fisher, E.C., Cabanes, D. and Albert, R.M., 2020a. Palaeoenvironments and plant availability during MIS 6 to MIS 3 on the edge of the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain (south coast, South Africa) as indicated by phytolith analysis at Pinnacle Point. Quaternary Science Reviews, 235, p.105667.
Esteban, I., Fitchett, J.M., de la Peña, P., 2020b. Plant taphonomy, flora exploitation and palaeoenvironments at the Middle Stone Age site of Mwulu ’ s Cave (Limpopo, South Africa): an archaeobotanical and mineralogical approach. Archaeol. Anthropol. Sci. 12 (226), 1-18.
Esteban, I., Bamford, M.K., House, A., Miller, C.S., Neumann, F.H., Schefuß, E., Pargeter, J., Cawthra, H.C. and Fisher, E.C., 2020c. Coastal palaeoenvironments and hunter-gatherer plant-use at Waterfall Bluff rock shelter in Mpondoland (South Africa) from MIS 3 to the Early Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews, 250, p.106664.
Esteban, I., Stratford, D., Sievers, C., de la Peña, P., Mauran, G., Backwell, L., d’Errico, F. and Wadley, L., 2023. Plants, people and fire: Phytolith and FTIR analyses of the post-Howiesons Poort occupations at Border Cave (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa). Quaternary Science Reviews, 300, p.107898.
Katz O, Cabanes D, Weiner S, Maeir A, Boaretto E, Shahack-Gross R (2010) Rapid phytolith extraction for analysis of phytolith concentrations and assemblages during an excavation: an application at Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel. J Archaeol Sci 37(7):1557–1563.
Piperno, D.R., 2006. Phytoliths: a comprehensive guide for archaeologists and paleoecologists. Rowman Altamira.
Wadley, L., Esteban, I., De La Peña, P., Wojcieszak, M., Stratford, D., Lennox, S., d’Errico, F., Rosso, D.E., Orange, F., Backwell, L. and Sievers, C., 2020. Fire and grass-bedding construction 200 thousand years ago at Border Cave, South Africa. Science, 369(6505), pp.863-866.
Images
Example of samples on a rectified stratigraphic photo from Boomplaas Cave. Note that not all sample numbers are shown as the image would be too crammed with numbers to be legible. The sample locations are the tiny red dots.
 
 

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