Announcing a Still Bay industry at Sibudu Cave, South Africa

Sibudu Cave in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, has a long Middle Stone Age (MSA) sequence with good organic preservation. The uppermost MSA sequence includes industries attributed to the final and late MSA and the Howiesons Poort. Below the Howiesons Poort are two layers containing some thin, bifacial lanceolate points, mostly in the form of distal and proximal fragments. These double-pointed foliates are the fossile directeur of the Still Bay Industry, and importantly, this Sibudu industry provides confirmation that the Still Bay predates the Howiesons Poort Industry. Technologically, the points from Sibudu are comparable to those from other South African sites with Still Bay occurrences (e.g., Blombos Cave and Hollow Rock Shelter). Although dating of the Sibudu Still Bay is preliminary, its age falls within the range of that at Blombos. For the past two decades, archaeologists have rejected the idea of a Still Bay Industry occurring outside of the Western Cape, but the Still Bay at Sibudu shows that this industry was, indeed, geographically widespread.     

Black Jews in the Northern Province: a study of ethnic identity in South Africa

The article examines ways in which the Lemba people of the Northern Province of South Africa have used their oral history and traditional customs associated with distant Semitic origins in Yemen, to claim a modern Jewish identity in racially divided South Africa. While Lemba live in Mozambique and Zimbabwe as well as in South Africa, it is only in the latter that belief in a Jewish origin is found. The article seeks to show that early white missionaries and colonial officials propagated a Semitic identity for the Lemba and in their writings emphasized the differences between the Lemba and their African neighbours through comparisons of Lemba customs with Jewish communities in Europe. Such writings contributed to an ethos of a distinct identity, through which, via the establishment of the Lemba Cultural Association, middle-class Lemba intellectuals sought to promote the Lemba. This was achieved in a situation where the apartheid regime in South Africa pursued a divide and rule policy which allowed the Bantustans to discriminate against ethnic minorities under their control.     

Dust as a Nutrient Source for Fynbos Ecosystems,South Africa

Abstract Fynbos is the main vegetation of the Cape Floristic Region, a biodiversity hotspot that occurs in southwestern South Africa. A major question concerning the fynbos ecosystem is how it supports abundant and diverse vegetation on soils derived from nutrient-poor bedrock. In addition to marine aerosols (recycled sea salts), geochemical analyses reported here suggest that dust (aeolian) deposition represents a significant source of nutrients (for example, K, Ca and Zn) to the fynbos ecosystem. Headwater portions of the Boontjies River sub-catchment near the Cederberg Mountains support mountain fynbos communities that are entirely underlain by the Peninsula Formation, a quartz arenite with greater than 98 wt% SiO₂. Fynbos soils in these areas are composed of quartzose sand with 3–6 wt% kaolinitic clay and 1–2 wt% organic carbon. The minor amount of feldspar and mica minerals in the bedrock (0.5 wt% Al₂O₃) suggests an aeolian source for much of the clay minerals in the soil. The isotope composition of soluble Pb and Sr from fynbos vegetation and soils indicates a mixture of anthropogenic and terrigenous sources, most likely from washout of combusted petrol and dust from the arid interior particularly in association with Berg Wind events. Approximate mass balance calculations indicate that washout of aerosols provides an important source of nutrients such as Ca, K, P, Fe, Mn and Zn which the fynbos ecosystem is highly effective in retaining.     

New species of Cercopithecoides from Haasgat, North West Province, South Africa

Analyses of new cercopithecid fossil specimens from the South African site of Haasgat point to craniofacial affinities with the genus Cercopithecoides. Detailed metric and non-metric comparisons with South African Cercopithecoides williamsi, and other East African Cercopithecoides species, Cercopithecoides kimeui, Cercopithecoides meaveae, Cercopithecoides kerioensis, and Cercopithecoides alemyehui demonstrate that the Haasgat fossils have distinct craniofacial morphology and dental metrics. Specifically, material from Haasgat probably represents one of the smaller Cercopithecoides, differing from the others in its particular suite of features that vary within the genus. It is unique in its more vertical ramus, associated with a relatively lengthened mandibular body. Haasgat Cercopithecoides has a particularly narrow interorbital region between relatively larger ovoid orbits, with articulation of the maxillary bones at a suture above the triangular nasal bones. Furthermore, the maxillary arcade is more rounded than other Cercopithecoides, converging at the M² and M³. The conclusion drawn from this analysis is that the Pleistocene Haasgat fossils are colobines representing a distinct taxon of Cercopithecoides, Cercopithecoides haasgati, thus adding a second species of the genus to southern Africa.     

Late-glacial and Holocene climate dynamics at the steppe/forest ecotone in southernmost Patagonia, Argentina: the pollen record from a fen near Brazo Sur, Lago Argentino

We present a pollen record from a fen at the eastern shore of Brazo Sur south of Lago Argentino, Argentina (core BRS 1/06, 50°34′54″S, 72°54′52″W, 198 m a.s.l.). The coring site is located in the transition zone from humid grass steppe to Andean Nothofagus forest. With the exception of a mid-Holocene sand layer, the record covers the interval between 13,350 and 1,700 cal b.p., indicating that there could have been no recurrence of Late-glacial conditions in Brazo Sur, as has been suggested in the literature as having been contemporary with the Younger Dryas interval in the northern hemisphere. The Late-glacial and early Holocene periods at Brazo Sur are characterized by fluctuations between humid grass-dominated steppe associations and drier ones dominated by Asteraceae and Ericaceae. At the start of the Holocene, the pollen influx increased. Nothofagus dominance began by 7,700 cal b.p. probably due to increasing moisture. Present-day closed Nothofagus forest developed around 2,500 cal b.p., related to a further increase in moisture.     

Rangeland as a Common Property Resource: Contrasting Insights from Communal Areas of Central Eastern Cape Province,South Africa

This paper explores the grazing management systems in operation in communal areas of central Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, through two contrasting case studies from the region. Considerable differences in current management systems are identified and are shown to depend primarily on the degree of control that can be exercised by communities over communal grazing resources. This in turn can be related to the social and ecological heterogeneity that characterises the region and how this influences pressure on grazing resources at the local level. On the basis of this study three broad levels of grazing management system are identified in these communal areas. These are: complete lack of management with grazing taking place in an ‘open-access’ manner; grazing being controlled on a community basis and grazing taking place on private land and being controlled entirely by the landowner. Many aspects of these scenarios find reflection in struggles over common property which are taking place in other parts of Africa. Understanding the variation in these systems from both a social and ecological perspective will be fundamental in challenging previous management paradigms, and facilitating the development of effective common property institutions for grazing management systems in communal areas of South Africa.     

Palynology of late Pleistocene hyrax middens,southwestern Cape Province,South Africa: A preliminary report

Botanical remains, especially pollen, preserved in dung middens of rock‐dwelling hyraxes (herbivorous mammals belonging to the genus Procavia) have been studied in the Southern African winter‐rainfall area. Seven middens from a single rock shelter on the north‐eastern side of the Cederberg mountain range, Cape Province, are dated by 15 radiocarbon age determinations to between about 19,700 and 1370 yr BP. Plant remains in the middens are mainly fine, partly digested fragments. Identifiable macro‐botanical rests like seeds are scarce, therefore this preliminary investigation is focused on analysis of abundant pollen grains. The results show changes in a Southern Hemisphere equivalent of the Mediterranean macchia vegetation, viz. “fynbos”;. Although “fynbos”; prevailed at the site throughout the studied period, an altitudinal lowering of vegetation belts is indicated during the Last Glacial Maximum, while an increase in arboreal pollen types, especially Dodonea is shown during terminal Pleistocene and Holocene times.     

Annesorhiza asparagoides (Apiaceae), a new species from the Cederberg Mountains, Western Cape Province, South Africa

A highly localised new species from the Cederberg Mountains near Wuppertal in the Western Cape Province is described. Annesorhiza asparagoides B.-E. Van Wyk, collected for the first time in 2009, differs from all other species of Annesorhiza (and the closely related Chamarea) in the unusual leaf structure, with crowded, subsessile, acicular leaf segments, resulting in dense, bottlebrush-like pinnae. The new species has a cluster of 10 or more slender roots, small (< 150 mm long), sparsely hairy leaves and small (± 8 mm long), oblong, conspicuously ribbed, homomericarpic fruits.     

A Holocene environmental record from the southern Yangtze River delta, eastern China

The Holocene sedimentary record of core ZX-1, recovered west of mid-Holocene Chenier ridges on the monsoon-controlled Southern Yangtze delta, eastern China, consists of lagoon, salt marsh, upper tidal flat, and limnic facies, reflecting low-energy depositional environments. Holocene deposits mainly originated from the surrounding Tai Lake drainage basin. The temporal variation of most geochemical element percentages corresponds with the climatic phases inferred from the pollen record, i.e., the relatively low values of SiO₂, Na₂O, CaO and high values of Al₂O₃, K₂O, MgO, Fe₂O₃, FeO, FeO + Fe₂O₃ and TiO₂ generally concur with the warm and humid climate, and vice versa. Three geochemical indices − Al₂O₃/Na₂O, K₂O/Na₂O, and CaO/K₂O − are found to be sensitive to past precipitation in the monsoon-controlled southern Yangtze River delta. Based on fine sediment analysis of core ZX-1, the samples deposited under a dry climate with a mean annual precipitation (MAP) < 500–900 mm tend to have Al₂O₃/Na₂O values less than 12.2, and the samples deposited under a moist climate with an MAP 1000–1800 mm mostly have Al₂O₃/Na₂O values higher than 12.2. Similarly, the K₂O/Na₂O boundary value is 2.0. However, for CaO/K₂O, the dry climate sediments likely show values higher than 0.9, and those wet climate ones generally have values less than 0.9. This geochemical response suggests the potential application of these indices in the interpretation of palaeoclimate variation of monsoon-controlled eastern China.

Holocene climatic variation history is reconstructed for the southern Yangtze delta. From 8000 to 7000 yr BP, regional climate demonstrated frequent fluctuations, with warm and wet periods (8000–7700; 7500–7200 yr BP) alternating with cool and less humid periods (7700–7500; 7200–7000 yr BP). From 7000 to 6000 yr BP, the climate was relatively warm and humid. Since then, it had turned cool and dry, climaxing in an intense cold event around 4000 yr BP. After the cold event, it became warm and humid until around 2500 yr BP.     

Evidence of hunting and hafting during the Middle Stone Age at Sibidu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: a multianalytical approach

Points and point fragments from Middle Stone Age layers (dated to between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago) from Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, were examined to establish whether they were used as hafted spearheads for hunting. A multi-analytical approach was followed, using macrofracture analysis, use-wear analysis, and residue analysis. In addition to the analytical processes, an experimental project tested the results of the macrofracture analysis on local raw materials. The study shows that points from Sibudu Cave were indeed hafted and used as hunting tools. It was further established that plant twine was probably the preferred binding material to attach the points to wooden hafts. Resin may have been used as an adhesive in combination with the binding material. A detailed examination of the ochre distribution on the points confirmed that ochre was also part of the hafting arrangement. The need to use a dependable methodology for the recognition of hunting and hafting traces on stone points from the southern African Middle Stone Age context is briefly discussed.     

The carbon isotope ecology and diet of Australopithecus africanus at Sterkfontein,South Africa

The stable carbon isotope ratio of fossil tooth enamel carbonate is determined by the photosynthetic systems of plants at the base of the animal's foodweb. In subtropical Africa, grasses and many sedges have C(4)photosynthesis and transmit their characteristically enriched 13C/(12)C ratios (more positive delta13C values) along the foodchain to consumers. We report here a carbon isotope study of ten specimens of Australopithecus africanus from Member 4, Sterkfontein (ca. 2.5 to 2.0Ma), compared with other fossil mammals from the same deposit. This is the most extensive isotopic study of an early hominin species that has been achieved so far. The results show that this hominin was intensively engaged with the savanna foodweb and that the dietary variation between individuals was more pronounced than for any other early hominin or non-human primate species on record. Suggestions that more than one species have been incuded in this taxon are not supported by the isotopic evidence. We conclude that Australopithecus africanus was highly opportunistic and adaptable in its feeding habits.     

A critique of and recommendations for a subsistence fishery, Lake St Lucia, South Africa

The fish resources of Lake St Lucia, the largest estuary on the eastcoast of Africa, present resource managers of the Natal Parks Board with acommon property resource (CPR) problem. Problems associated with illegal gillnetting by local people from three tribal areas, prompted the introduction of asystem of legal, subsistence netting. This paper reviews the legal fisheries inthese three areas from 1995 to 1997, and examines existing organizationalarrangements, suggesting reasons why the three fisheries show differences infunctioning. By employing concepts from CPRs theory, elements of anorganizational design for fisheries management involving local users and theconservation organization staff are proposed.     

Vegetation and climate changes during the last 21 000 years in S.W. Africa based on a marine pollen record

A high resolution marine pollen record from site GeoB1023, west of the northern Namib desert provides data on vegetation and climate change for the last 21 ka at an average resolution of 185 y. Pollen and spores are mainly delivered to the site by the Cunene river and by surface and mid-tropospheric wind systems. The main pollen source areas are located between 13°S and 21°S, which includes the northern Namib desert and semi-desert, the Angola-northern Namibian highland, and the north-western Kalahari. The pollen spectra reflect environmental changes in the region. The last glacial maximum (LGM) was characterised by colder and more arid conditions than at present, when a vegetation with temperate elements such as Asteroideae, Ericaceae, and Restionaceae grew north of 21°S. At 17.5 ka cal. B.P., an amelioration both in temperature and humidity terminated the LGM but, in the northern Kalahari, mean annual rainfall in the interval 17.5-14.4 ka cal. B.P. was probably 100–150 mm lower than at present (400–500 mm/y). The Late-glacial to early Holocene transition includes two arid periods, i.e. 14.4–12.5 and 10.9–9.3 ka cal. B.P. The last part of the former period may be correlated with the Younger Dryas. The warmest and most humid period in the Holocene occurred between 6.3 and 4.8 ka cal. B.P. During the last 2000 years, human impact, as reflected by indications of deforestation, enhanced burning and overgrazing, progressively intensified.     

Grasshopper assemblage response to a restored national park (Mountain Zebra National Park, South Africa)

Twelve grassland sites were sampled inside and outside the Mountain Zebra National Park (MZNP), South Africa to assess changes in grasshopper assemblages to grazing by indigenous mammals inside the park compared to grazing by domestic cattle outside. The MZNP has been restored from cattle-grazed farmland to indigenous mammal parkland for 62 years. The number of grasshopper species and families inside the park was not significantly different from outside the park, but the number of individuals inside the park was significantly higher. Multivariate statistics did not reveal any strong site groupings based on simple inside/outside comparisons, but there were clear groupings of sites based on vegetation characteristics and other environmental variables. The park boundary, therefore, does not significantly determine grasshopper assemblages, although intensity of grazing does. The indigenous mammals inside the park had the same effect on grasshoppers as the domestic cattle outside, and it was the level of defoliation and trampling that was important rather than the type of mammal. Intensive livestock grazing and trampling leads to bush encroachment and reduction in grass cover and/or disappearance of several grass species. In response to this pressure, grasshopper populations dropped, with localized extirpation of some species. Vegetation composition and structure, particularly grass height and percentage cover, had a significant effect on grasshopper assemblages. The MZNP is thus an area of localized, elevated grasshopper abundance in comparison with the surrounding farms, and presumably represents a situation prior to the current, intensive farming activities. Such elevated grasshopper abundances are important for maintaining soil quality and hence ecological integrity of this landscape which is poor in organics and nitrogen. The MZNP could be viewed as a centre where species with high mobility may seek refuge from anthropogenic pressures. The MZNP also serves as a reference illustrating the differences between restored-through-natural-succession and anthropogenically disturbed habitats, and compares desirable with undesirable ecosystem changes for herbivorous invertebrates such as grasshoppers.     

A review of the alderfly genus Leptosialis Esben-Petersen (Megaloptera, Sialidae) with description of a new species from South Africa

The monotypic South African alderfly genus Leptosialis Esben-Petersen, 1920 is reviewed and Leptosialis africana Esben-Petersen, 1920 is redescribed. In the process a new species of alderfly Leptosialis necopinatasp. n. from the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa is recognised and described. Within Sialidae the new species most closely resembles Leptosialis africana. A key to the two species of Leptosialis using both adult and larval characters is provided.     

The influence of climate and sea-level change on the Holocene evolution of a Mediterranean coastal lagoon: Evidence from ostracod palaeoecology and geochemistry

Coastal lagoons provide an excellent basis for the study of processes controlling the evolution of a coastal zone. We examine the relative importance of these processes during the middle to late Holocene through a study of an 8.5 meter-long sediment record from the Albufera de Valencia (Spain). We combine sedimentological analyses with investigations into the palaeoecology, taphonomy and geochemistry (Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca, δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) of ostracod valves in order to assess the effects of sea-level changes, storm events and effective moisture on the evolution of a Western Mediterranean coastal wetland. The late Pleistocene sediments represent a subaerial environment, which was followed by a hiatus in deposition. The first Holocene unit (～8700–7500 calendar yr. BP) is composed of typical lagoon-barrier and backshore sediments, deposited when seawater intruded into the lake and the climate was arid. The upper part of the sequence (between 7500 and 3400 yr.) is characterized by two sedimentary units, which correspond to Holocene progradation phases and humid climate associated with an increased freshwater influx to the lake accompanied by several high-energy events (palaeostorms). Overall, the record shows that an arid climate prevailed in the western Mediterranean area between 8400 and 7600 yr. The main marine transgression and accompanying progradational phases occurred between 7000 and 3400 yr., which is confirmed by other studies of coastal evolution along the Mediterranean coast. The multiproxy reconstructions demonstrate that controls on sedimentation and palaeoecology in this Mediterranean coastal lagoon were complex.     

Refugia, dispersal and divergence in a forest archipelago: a study of Streptocarpus in eastern South Africa

We describe a scenario of plant speciation across a relict forest archipelago in South Africa involving Pleistocene habitat expansion-contraction cycles, dispersal and adaptation to lower temperatures. This is the first population level study using molecular data in South African forests and has significant implications for conservation efforts in this area. Populations of the mesophytic forest floor herbs Streptocarpus primulifolius sensu lato and Streptocarpus rexii were sampled throughout their range in the naturally fragmented forests of eastern South Africa in order to investigate population genetic and phylogenetic patterns within the species complex, using nuclear microsatellites, nuclear ribosomal ITS (internal transcribed spacer) sequences and chloroplast genome sequences. S. primulifolius harbours high levels of genetic diversity at both the nuclear (mean HE = 0.50) and the chloroplast level (each population fixed for a unique haplotype). This is consistent with populations of these coastal species being Pleistocene relicts. In contrast, populations of S. rexii in cooler habitats at higher altitudes and lower latitudes harbour little or no nuclear genetic diversity (mean HE = 0.09) and most share a common chloroplast haplotype. The split of S. rexii from populations intermediate between the two species (S. cf. primulifolius) occurred between 0 and 0.44 million years ago according to the calibrated ITS phylogeny of the taxa. The low genetic diversity and homogeneity of S. rexii is congruent with this species having reached its current range during the Holocene. We found no evidence of monophyly of any of the taxa in this study, which we consider a consequence of recent evolution in a fragmented habitat.     

A new species of Pearsonia (Fabaceae) from dolomites in Northern Province, South Africa

The Wolkberg Centre of endemism (northeastern Drakensberg escarpment) has a high proportion of species endemic to dolomite- and quartzite-derived soils. The Legalameetse Nature Reserve falls largely within the Chuniespoort Formation, which constitutes the dolomite component of the Wolkberg Centre. A number of species that occur within Legalameetse do not match existing material. Among the new taxa discovered is a species of Pearsonia Dümmer, which also occurs on the Wolkberg and in the Ribbokkop area. Pearsonia callistoma is most closely related to P. uniflora. In this paper, the new species is described and its geographical distribution, habitat, flowering time and conservation status are discussed. We also present a revised key for the genus Pearsonia.     

Additional fossil Theropithecus from Hopefield, South Africa: a comparison with other African sites and a reevaluation of its taxonomic status

Additional fossil Theropithecus remains, recovered from mid to late Pleistocene deposits near Hopefield , South Africa, include portions of the jaws of at least five individuals. Extensive comparisons with fossil Theropithecus from other African sites, including Makapan , Swartkrans , Kanjera , Olorgesailie , and Olduvai , reveal few morphological differences, especially when variation in modern gelada baboons ( Theropithecus gelada ) and savannah baboons (Papio) is considered. The most pronounced differences between fossil forms are overall size and relative P3 length. However, these traits do not separate the fossil forms either chronologically or geographically. Other traits, such as depth of the fossa of the mandibular corpus, slope of the upper symphyseal shelf, and variation in the depth of the mandibular corpus, do not distinguish alleged primitive forms ( Makapan and lower beds at Olduvai ) from remains found at Hopefield , Swartkrans , Kanjera , Olorgesailie , Olduvai Bed IV, or the lower Ndutu Beds. Other traits, such as canine crown height and incisor size, are poorly documented for fossil Theropithecus . Thus, the available evidence suggests that Theropithecus darti and its successional species, T. oswaldi , can best be considered as a single fossil species, T. oswaldi , of which the remains from Hopefield are a late representative. Furthermore, lack of morphological differences dictates that Hopefield Theropithecus not be considered a distinct subspecies. Variation within the Hopefield sample shows that only one taxa is found at this site. Hypothesized physical and climatic conditions at Hopefield during the Pleistocene suggest that T. oswaldi lived near vleis or fresh water lagoons. Comparisons with modern T. gelada suggest a graminivorous diet for the fossil form.     

Isolepis namaquana (Cypereae, Cyperaceae), a new endemic species from the winter rainfall area of South Africa

A new species, Isolepis namaquana Muasya & J.Viljoen, is described and illustrated. It is known from two localities in Namaqualand: near Kamieskroon and at the foot of the Matsikammaberge, where it grows in ephemeral wetlands. The tufted annual species is diagnosed by floral and fruit characters including glume size, bifid stigma and colliculate nutlet surface ornamentation.