Browsing by Author "Orton, Jayson"
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- ItemOpen AccessHerders and foragers on Kasteelberg: Interim report of excavations 1999-2002(2003) Sadr, Farim; Smith, Andrew; Plug, Ina; Orton, Jayson; Mutti, BelindaSmith et al. (1991) proposed a model to distinguish the archaeological sites of Khoekhoe pastoralists from those of San. This model was based on information gathered from sites scattered over hundreds of square kilometres and several millennia. Between 1999 and 2002 we re-examined Smith et al. s (1991) model by excavating six neighbouring contemporary sites on the hill Kasteelberg. In a previous survey, three of these sites had been provisionally identified as pastoralist sites and three as forager sites. Here we present a brief comparison of the materials from these six sites. Although there are clear differences between the two sets of sites, the hypothesis that one set represents Khoekhoe herders and the other Bushman hunter-gatherers is not supported. Rather, one set of sites seems to represent a more mobile, herder-forager adaptation with a preference for inland resources while the other set appears to represent a more sedentary herder-forager adaptation with emphasis on shoreline resources. It remains to be determined how the occupants of the two sets of sites related to each other.
- ItemOpen AccessNew excavations at Klein Kliphuis rock shelter, Cederberg Mountains, Western Cape, South Africa: the Late Holocene deposits(2008) Orton, Jayson; Mackay, AlexKlein Kliphuis (KKH), a rock shelter located in the northern Cederberg Mountains of the Western Cape province, South Africa (Fig. 1), was originally excavated in 1984 with emphasis on the late Holocene Later Stone Age (LSA) layer in the top 200 mm of the deposit (Van Rijssen 1992). At that time only one square was excavated to bedrock, which was reached at about 890 mm. The approximately 700 mm of deposit underlying the Holocene LSA were excavated in four layers. Recent examination of this material showed a complex sequence of Middle Stone Age (MSA) artefact-making traditions (Mackay 2006).
- ItemOpen AccessThe Quartz Conundrum : understanding the role of quartz in the composition of late Pleistocene and Holocene lithic assemblages from the Verlorenvlei area, Western Cape(2004) Orton, Jayson; Rodgers, Allen; Sturrock, Edward DThis research explores the related roles of quartz and bipolar reduction in the composition of Later Stone Age (LSA) lithic assemblages from the Verlorenvlei area, Western Cape Province. With few exceptions, these two elements strongly dominate the assemblages from this area, and the attitudes to and reasons for their continuous use are considered here. Discussions on typology and raw material classification illustrate and attempt to solve problems existing in current systems, and a comprehensive classification scheme for the western Cape area is provided. The use of an innovative analytical technique, in which each raw material is assessed individually, allows considerable variation in the flaking and subsequent use of each material to be demonstrated. While fine~grained rocks are undoubtedly preferred for artefact manufacture, overall raw material proportions are clearly determined by the ubiquitous availability of quartz in the study area, but less important factors, virtually impossible to differentiate from the lithics alone, are undoubtedly also implicated. Technological change related to the use of quartz and bipolar flaking is explored through three critical periods, the late Holocene, the terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene, and the late Pleistocene. In order to ascertain the factors governing assemblage composition, the frequencies of various artefact types are compared with those of quartz and bipolar cores by means of scatter plots. Correlation coefficients are calculated to assist the analysis of the data, but due to the small sample sizes some visual interpretation of the graphs based on intuitive archaeological knowledge is also essential. Considerably different approaches to the reduction of quartz are demonstrated for each period, with distinct strategies of raw material conservation, each operating in a different manner, existing throughout most of the LSA. These promoted the variable use of bipolar and non-bipolar reduction techniques and microlithic technology in order to make best use of the relatively intractable quartz on offer in the local landscape. Such strategies only broke down during the late Holocene, possibly due to the changing social relations that must have occurred with the introduction of pastoralism to the area some 2000 years ago. The nature of industrial change is also explored, and it is evident that in this area the LSA lithic sequence constitutes a continuous progression of sporadic change with no distinct breaks or periods of absolute stability being apparent. It is recommended that larger sample sizes be used in similar future analyses in order to alleviate the difficulties inherent in drawing general conclusions from small sets of data. The frequency of chips in any assemblage is shown to be unreliable and their exclusion from comparative typological data will lend greater validity to all lithic analyses.
- ItemRestrictedA reworked mid-Holocene lithic assemblage at Dunefield Midden 1, Elands Bay, South Africa(South African Archaeological Society, 2006) Orton, Jayson; Compton, John SThe stratigraphy and context of open air archaeological sites on the West Coast can be complicated by reworking through strandline migration from relative changes in sea level (Compton and Franceschini 2005) and deflation by strong seasonal winds (Kandel et al. 2003). The Elands Bay area, located 180 km north of Cape Town on the West Coast, is rich in both cave and open air archaeological sites which together offer valuable insights into human utilization of the area. The majority of well-preserved West Coast open air sites are late Holocene in age (<1600 cal BP, calibrated years before present). Although there is increasing evidence of mid-Holocene occupation along several parts of the West Coast (Kaplan 1994; Jerardino and Swanepoel 1999; Jerardino and Yates 1996; Compton and Franceschini 2005; Halkett 2003; Orton and Halkett 2005), such evidence has, until now, not been discovered in the immediate Elands Bay vicinity (Parkington et al. 1988). This is despite more than 30 years of intensive survey and research in the area that has produced significant contributions to both the body of knowledge on Western Cape archaeology and that on coastal hunter-gatherers more generally (e.g. Jerardino 1996; Manhire et al. 1984; Parkington 1977, 1980b, 1988, 1990; Parkington et al. 1988; Sealy and van der Merwe 1986, 1988). The Dunefield Midden 1 (DFM 1) open air site is situated 3.2 km northeast of Elands Bay Cave and 0.5 km inland of the present-day beach in a deflated part of the active Holocene dunefield recently stabilized by alien acacias (32 degrees18'04.9'S: 18 degrees 20'54.0'E; Fig. 1). In situ limpet-dominated shell middens at DFM 1 include several hearths dated to between 770 and 450 cal BP (Parkington et al. 1992; Orton 2004). In this paper, the stratigraphy, several radiocarbon dates and an abraded stone artefact assemblage are interpreted to indicate an earlier, reworked mid-Holocene occupation at the DFM 1 site (Orton 1998, 2002, 2004).
- ItemRestrictedSoutfontein (SFT)-001: Preliminary report on an open-air site rich in bifacial points southern Namaqualand South Africa(2010) Mackay, Alex; Orton, Jayson; Schwortz, Steve; Steele, Teresa EThis paper presents the preliminary results of an analysis of bifacially-worked artefacts from Soutfontein (SFT)-OOl, an open site in the Knersvlakte region of southern Namaqualand, South Africa. For over a century, finely- worked bifacial points have been known to occur throughout southern Africa (e.g. Lubbock 1869; Johnson 1907a,b). Such artefacts were first recognized in open-air contexts around Cape Town and in dune field sites such as Kleinjongensfontein and Biombos Sands (Minichillo 2005), and were subsequently noted in shelter sites from Namibia to Zimbabwe and from the Cape to KwaZulu-Natal (Peers 1927, 1929; Armstrong 1931; Jones 1949; Malan 1955; Wendt 1976; Kaplan 1990; Evans 1994; Vogelsang 1998). In recent history the focus of attention has been strongly directed towards assemblages of bifacial points recovered from stratified shelter contexts (e.g. Henshilwood et al. 2001; Rigaud et al. 2006; Jacobs et al. 2008; Wadley 2007; Villa et al 2009). This focus has largely resulted from the need to resolve outstanding issues concerning the relative position of bifacial point-bearing assemblages in southern Africa's cultural stratigraphy and more recently to provide Chronometrie ages for their occurrence. The results of this researchave been highly rewarding, with bifacial point-bearing assemblages having been dated to various periods in Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 5, 4, and 3 (Villa et al. 2005; Beaumont & Vogel 2006; Jacobs et al. 2008; Tribolo et al. 2009). While the production of bifacial points appears to peak in association with the Still Bay industry in which they are the dominant implement form, such artefacts are not restricted to that industry and occur both earlier and later.
- ItemOpen AccessStone tools beads and a river: two Holocene microlithic sites at Jakkalsberg in the northwestern Richtersveld Northern Cape South Africa(2010) Orton, Jayson; Halkett, DaveJakkalsberg N and Jakkalsberg L, located on the bank of the Orange River in the area of South Africa known as the Richtersveld, date to the mid-and late mid-Holocene, respectively. The former is a palimpsest revealing scattered material from other periods. Both contain large assemblages of lithics and bead-manufacturing debris. Their formal tools are diverse and include types uncommon in South Africa but more frequently found through much of the rest of Africa. In particular, these sites contain more than an incidental occurrence of denticulates and triangles, respectively. The formal tool composition indicates continuity with assemblages from both central and southern Africa and supports common origins for many African microlithic industries. The river serves as a lifeline in the hostile Richtersveld environment with fish being a key resource. Despite having been subjected to periodic flooding and siltation, spatial integrity and preservation of artefacts at these sites was sufficient to allow high research value.