Journal article
Connections, culture and environments around 100 000 years ago at Klasies River main site
S Wurz, SE Bentsen, J Reynard, L Van Pletzen-Vos, M Brenner, S Mentzer, R Pickering, H Green
Quaternary International | PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD | Published : 2018
Abstract
In this paper the new excavations at Klasies River main site are introduced and the first results presented and linked with previous work, establishing a baseline for future reporting. Data from the earliest phase of the SAS member, comprising the basal SASU and SASL sub-members from caves 1 and 1A are discussed. A new U-Th date of 126.0 ± 1.5 ka on flowstone associated with fallen tufa material within the base of the SASU sub-member provides a maximum age for this part of the sequence. The lowermost SASU sub-member formed most likely around 100 000 years ago during a period associated with increased precipitation whereas the age of the underlying SASL sub-member is uncertain. The SASU sub-m..
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Awarded by Baden-Württemberg Stiftung
Funding Acknowledgements
The guest editor of this special issue, and two anonymous reviewers are sincerely thanked for their insightful comments on this manuscript that improved its quality. Our thanks go to Richard Klein for providing raw data of his analysis of the Singer and Wymer faunal material. Sarah Wurz and Mareike Brenner's research is supported by the National Research Foundation of South Africa, grant no 98826; any opinion, finding, conclusion or recommendation expressed in this article is that of the authors and the NRF does not accept any liability in this regard. Silje E. Bentsen is supported by a postdoctoral grant from the Claude Leon Foundation. Jerome Reynard is funded by a National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) Thuthuka grant (grant no 107082), a Faculty Research Committee (FRC) grant and an Enabling Grant through the Diversifying of the Academy from the University of the Witwatersrand. Susan Mentzer is indebted to the Baden-Wurttemberg Stiftung for the financial support by the Elite programme for Postdocs. Robyn Pickering and Helen Green wish to thank John Hellstrom and Petra Bajo at the University of Melbourne for running and processing the U-Th data. We would like to give a special word of thanks to Steven Walker whose assistance was crucial in the initial stages of this project. We are grateful to the Struwig Germeshuysen Trust for permission and valued assistance to work within the Klasies River landscape, to the late Kobus (Bolla) Burger and Mariska Burger for assistance and support. We would also like to thank the Zamani project for providing the 3D scans for Klasies River main site.