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PINNACLE POINT SITE COMPLEX ON ERF 15387 AND PTN OF ERF 2001
- 159 reads
SiteReference:
DeclarationType:
GazetteNo:
Gazette Date:
GazetteFile:
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 94370 Prov Gaz 7075.pdf | 1.32 MB |
ShortDescription:
The Pinnacle Point Site Complex preserves in a short stretch of coastline Africa’s densest concentration of
well‐preserved archaeological sites dating to the time of the origins of our species (Homo sapiens). As a
result of the calcretes formed on the cliff top and their alkaline buffering action, all the PP sites have
excellent fossil bone preservation, unlike many caves along the Cape coast. This makes Pinnacle Point as
rich in archaeological evidence as the world’s two densest and most significant clusters of sites from this
time interval: the Mount Carmel Caves in Israel and Les Eyzies in France.
There is widespread scientific consensus that the modern human lineage arose in Africa between 200,000
and 150,000 years ago. However, archaeological sites dating between 200,000 and 120,000 years ago are
extremely rare in Africa (there are only 3 radiometrically dated archaeological sites from the continent)
likely due to widespread hyper‐aridity associated with global glacial conditions. One is found at Pinnacle
Point (PP13B), meaning that the PPSC may preserve traces of the modern human progenitor population.
PP13B contains the world’s oldest evidence for coastal exploitation (shellfish), the earliest radiometrically
dated use of pigment (ground red ochre), and the earliest evidence for complex bladelet technology. PP5‐
6, currently under excavation, has one of the thickest continuous sediment stacks of MSA sediments in
South Africa (> 14 meters), and probably in all of Africa. Eight meters of sediment in the middle of this
stack are currently dated between 86,000 and 48,000 years ago, and the sediments likely reach to
200,000 years ago or older at the base.
Later Stone Age sites are abundant at PP as well, and the most recent, pre‐colonial human occupation of
the area is represented by coastal shell midden deposits dating (due to the presence of Cape Coastal
pottery) to the last 2000 years. Archaeological materials comprise a mix of Later Stone Age and
Pastoralist habitation and are particularly important because they are not disturbed by animal burrowing
(very common along South Africa’s coast) and retain high resolution behavioural data.
In a novel co‐association, Pinnacle Point preserves a rich record for paleoclimate and paleoenvironment in
the form of speleothems, raised beaches, fossil dunes, and paleontological assemblages. All are spread
continuously across the area and together provide a globally unparalleled record of human, climate, and
environmental co‐evolution. PPSC preserves a unique sequence of human occupation from 170,000 to
pre‐colonial human occupation embedded in a rich record for climate and environmental change and
warrants declaration as a Provincial Heritage Site. (from C. Marean WHS Nomination 2011)
FullDescription:
The density of sites in a small stretch of coastline, and the inter‐digitations of the archaeological,
palaeontological, and geological sites, makes it impossible to draw firm lines between individual
sites and single out one or a few to the exclusion of others. Rather, the near‐continuous
distribution, and its novel ability to represent a swathe of human settlement variation through
time and space, warrants the entire locality to be designated as a Provincial Heritage Site. For
this reason we recognize the Pinnacle Point Site Complex (PPSC) that spans the coastal area
below the cliffs from PP1 in the east to PP21 (caves) and to PP18, 19, 22, 31 (shell middens) in
the west. The area and several of these sites have been described in publications, and here we
provide an abbreviated summary. The sites are mostly caves and rockshelters, but there are a
wide variety of open‐air sites and shell middens as well. The caves and rockshelters were cut by
high sea levels into fault breccias that occur at the bedding planes in the Table Mountain
Sandstone (TMS). Caves and rockshelters form typically where the folds have a dip that is not
too vertical. If it is too vertical, erosion occurs throughout the fault breccia almost like flowing
down a chimney and a roof cannot form to the cave or rockshelter. The bedding planes at
Pinnacle Point are perfect for cave and rockshelter formation. Many of the caves and
rockshelters are more than +10 m above sea level, assuring that the sediments escaped being
washed out 123,000 years ago by the +5 m high sea level.
Fortunately, capping the TMS is a calcrete bed throughout the area. TMS is normally acidic,
resulting in poor preservation of fossil bone. But the calcrete buffers the water, raising its
alkalinity as it flows through the TMS, and into the sediments in the caves and rockshelters,
resulting in outstanding bone preservation. An added benefit is that at Pinnacle Point we have
a rare situation where the caves were sealed in the past by dunes. When the caves were
sealed, speleothems (stalagmites, stalactites, and flowstones) formed. Speleothems can
preserve long sequences of climate and environmental change that can be reconstructed
through the study of carbon and oxygen isotopes (and dated precisely with uranium‐thorium
dating) but only when the cave is closed during their formation. The special conditions of cave
closure by ancient dunes at the PPSC means that the precious archives of climate and
environmental change are present. These caves and rockshelters drew human and animal
occupants over a significant period of time from at least 170,000 years ago to several hundred
years ago. This regular occupation along with the erosion of fault breccia and aeolian deposition
of primarily beach‐derived sands formed stacks of sediments in the caves and rockshelters.
These stacks have been well‐preserved and protected in various contexts (PP9) to the point
where they are untouched, which in other contexts (PP13B) they have been partially eroded and
reveal to the visitor the stratigraphy of the site. In an extreme case (PP5‐6) there is over 14 m of
stacked sediments (likely far more) that at the contact of the cliff and sediment was eroded
away, leaving a natural erosion face of the entire stratigraphy. Imagine a multi‐layered cake
being sliced, top to bottom, in half with the cut now revealed and showing all the layers. We are
currently excavating into this naturally eroded cut, and this has the potential to be conserved
(much like the much shorter section at Nelson Bay Cave) as a living museum of extraordinary
cultural and environmental change through time.
