This PhD thesis addresses southern African archaeology, emphasizing the importance of considering geoarchaeological context when using archaeological remains to support hypotheses. It focuses on... Show moreThis PhD thesis addresses southern African archaeology, emphasizing the importance of considering geoarchaeological context when using archaeological remains to support hypotheses. It focuses on Umhlatuzana and Umbeli Belli rockshelters, conducting a comprehensive stratigraphic analysis for a deep understanding of their depositional history and archaeological context.Umhlatuzana's stratigraphic sequence reveals primary, unaltered depositional micro-layering throughout, challenging assumptions of sediment movement. Bioturbation features are present but do not significantly impact lithic assemblages.Umbeli Belli rockshelter shows intense percolating water activity, causing poor preservation of organic remains. Different geogenic processes and pulsed occupations form varying artifact densities and sterile zones, but overall, the archaeological context remains secure with minimal bioturbation.This research highlights the need for taphonomic studies to understand the visibility, invisibility, or absence of specific proxies in the archaeological record. In-depth geoarchaeological analysis contributes to assessing archaeological record completeness and revealing remnants affected by post-depositional processes.In conclusion, this study underscores the importance of geoarchaeological research in elucidating site formation processes and archaeological visibility, especially in challenging preservation conditions, like Umhlatuzana and Umbeli Belli rockshelters, providing valuable insights into southern African archaeology. Show less
The use of fire is considered to be one of the most important cultural innovations in human evolution. Understanding the taphonomy of fire remains is an important prerequisite for valid... Show moreThe use of fire is considered to be one of the most important cultural innovations in human evolution. Understanding the taphonomy of fire remains is an important prerequisite for valid interpretations of hominin fire-related behaviour. Presented here are the results of a series of laboratory-based experiments testing the effect of different pH conditions (acidic, neutral, alkaline) on the physical and chemical properties of heated bone (charred and combusted). By taking a fundamental-research approach the study gives insight into the specific effect of pH exposure and its underlying chemical processes, and provides data that can be applied to heated bone from any context and time period. Results show that diagenesis has a significant impact on the preservation potential of heated bones, as well as on the reliability of the analytical techniques used to reconstruct past heating conditions. The study provides reference data and a toolkit for the analysis of heated bone, that explicitly takes diagenesis into account, and in doing so offers a significant improvement to the accuracy with which we can reconstruct heating conditions and fire-related human behaviour in the past. Show less
