Radiometric dating of the Earlier Stone Age sequence in Excavation I at Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa: preliminary results

Michael Chazan; Hagai Ron; Ari Matmon; Naomi Porat; Paul Goldberg; Royden Yates; Margaret Avery; Alexandra Sumner; Liora Kolska Horwitz

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.01.004

Radiometric dating of the Earlier Stone Age sequence in Excavation I at Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa: preliminary results

Michael Chazan^*, Hagai Ron, Ari Matmon, Naomi Porat, Paul Goldberg, Royden Yates, Margaret Avery, Alexandra Sumner, Liora Kolska Horwitz

^*Corresponding author for this work

Fredy & Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

98 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present here the results of 44 paleomagnetic measurements, and single cosmogenic burial and optically stimulated luminescence ages for the Earlier Stone Age deposits from Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape, South Africa. The resulting paleomagnetic sequence: N > R > N > R > N constrains the Earlier Stone Age strata in this part of the site to between ∼0.78-1.96 Ma. A single cosmogenic date of ∼2.0 Ma from the base of the section offers some corroboration for the paleomagnetic sequence. Preliminary results indicate that the small lithic assemblage from the basal stratum may contain an Oldowan facies. This is overlain by several strata containing Acheulean industries. The preliminary radiometric dates reported here place the onset of the Acheulean at this site to ∼1.6 Ma, which is roughly contemporaneous with that of East Africa.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-11
Number of pages	11
Journal	Journal of Human Evolution
Volume	55
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.01.004
State	Published - Jul 2008

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Research funded by grants from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Halbert Academic Exchange Fund, University of Toronto. We are grateful to Colin Fortune (Director), Leon Jacobsen (Vice-Director), and David Morris (Head of the Archaeology Department) of the McGregor Museum for their support of all aspects of our research project. Fieldwork was carried out under permit no. 80/04/07/012/52 from the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) and analysis of the archaeological assemblages under the terms of a signed agreement between M. Chazan and the McGregor Museum. We are grateful to Peter Beaumont, excavator of the site, for his assistance and identification in the field of the archaeological units that he recognized. We also acknowledge assistance from Robert Finkel from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, Norbert Nowaczyk from the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Germany, and Tony Manhire. We have greatly benefited from the insightful comments of the editor, Darryl Granger, and two other anonymous reviewers; however, the authors are fully responsible for the views presented here.

Keywords

Acheulian
Earlier Stone Age
Southern Africa
Wonderwerk Cave
cosmogenic burial age
magnetostratigraphy

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10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.01.004

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title = "Radiometric dating of the Earlier Stone Age sequence in Excavation I at Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa: preliminary results",

abstract = "We present here the results of 44 paleomagnetic measurements, and single cosmogenic burial and optically stimulated luminescence ages for the Earlier Stone Age deposits from Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape, South Africa. The resulting paleomagnetic sequence: N > R > N > R > N constrains the Earlier Stone Age strata in this part of the site to between ∼0.78-1.96 Ma. A single cosmogenic date of ∼2.0 Ma from the base of the section offers some corroboration for the paleomagnetic sequence. Preliminary results indicate that the small lithic assemblage from the basal stratum may contain an Oldowan facies. This is overlain by several strata containing Acheulean industries. The preliminary radiometric dates reported here place the onset of the Acheulean at this site to ∼1.6 Ma, which is roughly contemporaneous with that of East Africa.",

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author = "Michael Chazan and Hagai Ron and Ari Matmon and Naomi Porat and Paul Goldberg and Royden Yates and Margaret Avery and Alexandra Sumner and Horwitz, {Liora Kolska}",

note = "Funding Information: Research funded by grants from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Halbert Academic Exchange Fund, University of Toronto. We are grateful to Colin Fortune (Director), Leon Jacobsen (Vice-Director), and David Morris (Head of the Archaeology Department) of the McGregor Museum for their support of all aspects of our research project. Fieldwork was carried out under permit no. 80/04/07/012/52 from the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) and analysis of the archaeological assemblages under the terms of a signed agreement between M. Chazan and the McGregor Museum. We are grateful to Peter Beaumont, excavator of the site, for his assistance and identification in the field of the archaeological units that he recognized. We also acknowledge assistance from Robert Finkel from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, Norbert Nowaczyk from the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Germany, and Tony Manhire. We have greatly benefited from the insightful comments of the editor, Darryl Granger, and two other anonymous reviewers; however, the authors are fully responsible for the views presented here. ",

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AU - Porat, Naomi

AU - Goldberg, Paul

AU - Yates, Royden

AU - Avery, Margaret

AU - Sumner, Alexandra

AU - Horwitz, Liora Kolska

N1 - Funding Information: Research funded by grants from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Halbert Academic Exchange Fund, University of Toronto. We are grateful to Colin Fortune (Director), Leon Jacobsen (Vice-Director), and David Morris (Head of the Archaeology Department) of the McGregor Museum for their support of all aspects of our research project. Fieldwork was carried out under permit no. 80/04/07/012/52 from the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) and analysis of the archaeological assemblages under the terms of a signed agreement between M. Chazan and the McGregor Museum. We are grateful to Peter Beaumont, excavator of the site, for his assistance and identification in the field of the archaeological units that he recognized. We also acknowledge assistance from Robert Finkel from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, Norbert Nowaczyk from the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Germany, and Tony Manhire. We have greatly benefited from the insightful comments of the editor, Darryl Granger, and two other anonymous reviewers; however, the authors are fully responsible for the views presented here.

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N2 - We present here the results of 44 paleomagnetic measurements, and single cosmogenic burial and optically stimulated luminescence ages for the Earlier Stone Age deposits from Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape, South Africa. The resulting paleomagnetic sequence: N > R > N > R > N constrains the Earlier Stone Age strata in this part of the site to between ∼0.78-1.96 Ma. A single cosmogenic date of ∼2.0 Ma from the base of the section offers some corroboration for the paleomagnetic sequence. Preliminary results indicate that the small lithic assemblage from the basal stratum may contain an Oldowan facies. This is overlain by several strata containing Acheulean industries. The preliminary radiometric dates reported here place the onset of the Acheulean at this site to ∼1.6 Ma, which is roughly contemporaneous with that of East Africa.

AB - We present here the results of 44 paleomagnetic measurements, and single cosmogenic burial and optically stimulated luminescence ages for the Earlier Stone Age deposits from Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape, South Africa. The resulting paleomagnetic sequence: N > R > N > R > N constrains the Earlier Stone Age strata in this part of the site to between ∼0.78-1.96 Ma. A single cosmogenic date of ∼2.0 Ma from the base of the section offers some corroboration for the paleomagnetic sequence. Preliminary results indicate that the small lithic assemblage from the basal stratum may contain an Oldowan facies. This is overlain by several strata containing Acheulean industries. The preliminary radiometric dates reported here place the onset of the Acheulean at this site to ∼1.6 Ma, which is roughly contemporaneous with that of East Africa.

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Radiometric dating of the Earlier Stone Age sequence in Excavation I at Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa: preliminary results

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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