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Kromdraai Permit Renewal

CaseViews

CaseHeader

HeritageAuthority(s): 

Case Type: 

ProposalDescription: 

The Kromdraai archaeological site is located in a fossiliferous paleokarst site situated in the UNESCO World Heritage Site referred to as the “Cradle of Humankind” in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Kromdraai is noteworthy because it features among the three southern African hominin-bearing sites considered to represent distinct temporal periods within the same stratigraphic succession. Kromdraai also yielded a partial skull and dentition (TM 1517) in 1938 that was designated as the holotype of a new genus and species, Paranthropus robustus. Although the hominin fossil assemblage collected from Kromdraai between 1938 and 2014 is rather paltry, morphometric and cladistic analyses of this material suggested that it represented a somewhat less-derived form of P. robustus than the considerably larger assemblage from the nearby site of Swartkrans. However, the geochronological and biotic relationships among the P. robustus-bearing sites in South Africa are not resolved. We would like to apply for a renewal of the excavation permit for the Kromdraai Archaeological site. The discovery of Unit P and the underlying O requires further exploration to understand better the palaeoenvironmental and biological changes that are likely represented in this stratigraphic succession. Over the next three years, pending approval of the permit renewal, we will focus our attention on this specific aspect by investigating the contact between Unit P and 0 and its chronological significance.

Expanded_Motivation: 

During the 2021-2022 excavations of the in situ and mainly soft sediments (or rudites) of Unit P, we obtained new sedimentary profiles that allow us to refine the stratigraphic interpretation of the site in selected areas where we could reach deposits at a maximum depth of 5 m below the soil. Since 2014, more than 6000 micro and macro-vertebrate (including hominins) specimens and a total of 34 possible bone and stone tools have been recovered from Unit P. All these newly discovered specimens are curated at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, and are accessioned into the catalogue system with the “KW” prefix (from the catalogue number “KW 6068”). In the site map attached to this application, we indicate in yellow color the contours of the two areas to be excavated during the period between 2023 and 2025. The 2023-2025 excavations will be limited to these two areas. Within these areas, the maximal depth of the new excavation at the end of 2025 will be 1.5 m. The main goals of this excavation will be: - to observe the contact surface between Units O and P on more vertical profiles and along North/South and West/East transects; - to reach Member O not only on a larger surface but also to be able to observe vertical sedimentary profile within it. In order to reach these two areas to be excavated between 2023 and 2025, we will create small gabion basket steps (225 mm tall and thick). The gabions (with a 5.2 mm galvanise coating wire) will be filled with local rocks. Angular rock is the best gabion fill and will provide a good interlock and therefore less deformation under load. Two formal access routes will be used for this stepping; one on the north eastern corner of the site and one on the north western corner of the site. These two areas are indicated in green color in the site map attached to this application.

ApplicationDate: 

Wednesday, November 30, 2022 - 17:36

CaseID: 

20272

OtherReferences: 

ReferenceList: 

CitationReferenceType
Braga, J., Zimmer, V., Dumoncel, J., Samir, C., de Beer, F., Zanolli, C., Pinto, D., Rohlf, J., Grine, F. 2019. Efficacy of diffeomorphic surface matching and 3D geometric morphometrics for taxonomic discrimination of Early Pleistocene hominin mandibular molars, Journal of Human Evolution 130, 21-35.
Pavia, M. (2019). Geronticus thackerayi, sp. nov. (Aves, Threskiornithidae), a new ibis from the hominin-bearing locality of Kromdraai (Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, Africa), Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2019.1647433
Ngoloyi, M., Dumoncel, J., Thackeray, J.F., Braga, J. 2020. A new method to evaluate 3D spatial patterns within early hominin-bearing sites. An example from Kromdraai (Gauteng Province, South Africa). Journal of Archaeological Sciences Reports 32, 102376.
Pavia, M. 2020. Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Cradle of Humankind during the Plio-Pleistocene transition, inferred from the analysis of fossil birds from Member 2 of the hominin-bearing site of Kromdraai (Gauteng, South Africa), Quaternary Sciences Reviews 248, 106532.
Braga, J., Samir, C., Fradi, A., Feunteun, Y., Jakata, K., Zimmer, V.A., Zipfel, B., Thackeray, J.F., Macé, M., Wood, B.A., Grine, F.E. 2021. Cochlear shape distinguishes southern African early hominin taxa with unique auditory ecologies. Scientific Reports 11, 17018.
Harper, C.M., Zipfel, B., DeSilva, J.M., McNutt, E.J., Thackeray, F. and Braga, J. 2022. A new early hominin calcaneus from Kromdraai (South Africa). Journal of Anatomy 241, 500–517.
Braga, J., Chinamatira, G., Zipfel, B., Zimmer, V.A. 2022. New fossils from Kromdraai and Drimolen, South Africa, and their distinctiveness among Paranthropus robustus. Scientific Reports 12, 13956.
Fourvel, J.-B., Frerebeau, N. 2022. A new canid species (Carnivora: Canidae) from the Plio‑Pleistocene hominin‑bearing site of Kromdraai (Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, South Africa. PalZ. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-022-00628-4
Braga, J., Thackeray, J.F.T., Zipfel, B. 2022. The Kromdraai early hominin-bearing site. A review of recent findings. L’Anthropologie. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anthro.2022.103054
 
 

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