A reworked mid-Holocene lithic assemblage at Dunefield Midden 1, Elands Bay, South Africa
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2006
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South African Archaeological Bulletin
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South African Archaeological Society
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University of Cape Town
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Abstract
The 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).
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Orton, J., & Compton, J. S. (2006). A reworked mid-holocene lithic assemblage at Dunefield Midden 1, Elands Bay, South Africa. The South African Archaeological Bulletin, 61(183), 90-95.