Papers by Emma Loftus
Scientific Data, 2022
Archaeologists increasingly use large radiocarbon databases to model prehistoric human demography... more Archaeologists increasingly use large radiocarbon databases to model prehistoric human demography (also termed paleo-demography). Numerous independent projects, funded over the past decade, have assembled such databases from multiple regions of the world. These data provide unprecedented potential for comparative research on human population ecology and the evolution of social-ecological systems across the Earth. However, these databases have been developed using different sample selection criteria, which has resulted in interoperability issues for global-scale, comparative paleodemographic research and integration with paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental data. We present a synthetic, global-scale archaeological radiocarbon database composed of 180,070 radiocarbon dates that have been cleaned according to a standardized sample selection criteria. This database increases the reusability of archaeological radiocarbon data and streamlines quality control assessments for various types of paleo-demographic research. As part of an assessment of data quality, we conduct two analyses of sampling bias in the global database at multiple scales. This database is ideal for paleo-demographic research focused on dates-as-data, bayesian modeling, or summed probability distribution methodologies.
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Journal of Quaternary Science, 2015
Evidence for human occupation of southern Africa's high-altitude Maloti–Drakensberg Mountains... more Evidence for human occupation of southern Africa's high-altitude Maloti–Drakensberg Mountains is surprisingly common in the last glacial, yet the attraction of this relatively severe, cold region for hunter-foragers remains unclear. Sehonghong Rockshelter (1870 m asl), in the eastern Lesotho Highlands, provides evidence for human occupation spanning Marine Isotope Stage 3 through the late Holocene. Excellent organic preservation provides opportunities for establishing multiple palaeoenvironmental proxy records to address this conundrum. In high-altitude zones, the proportions of C3 and C4 plants archived in soil organic matter and faunal enamel provide sensitive indicators of past temperature shifts. We first extended the radiocarbon chronology to ca. 35 ka using ABOx-SC radiocarbon dates of charcoals. Next we analysed stable isotopes in soil organic matter from the sedimentary sequence, and in faunal tooth enamel from the newly dated lower strata. The results suggest, predictab...
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20 This study assesses the seasonal scheduling of shellfish harvesting among hunter-gatherer 21 p... more 20 This study assesses the seasonal scheduling of shellfish harvesting among hunter-gatherer 21 populations along the southernmost coast of South Africa, based on a large number of serial 22 oxygen isotope analyses of marine mollusc shells from four archaeological sites. The south 23 coast of South Africa boasts an exceptional record of coastal hunter-gatherer occupation 24 spanning the Holocene, the last glacial cycle and beyond. The significance of coastal 25 adaptations, in this region in particular, for later modern human evolution has been 26 prominently debated. Shellfishing behaviours are an important focus for investigation given 27 the dietary and scheduling implications and the abundant archaeological shell remains in 28 numerous sites. Key to better understanding coastal foraging is whether it was limited to one 29 particular season, or year-round. Yet, this has proven very difficult to establish by conventional 30 archaeological methods. This study reconstructs seasonal ...
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The African archaeological record is particularly remarkable in that it covers timescales relevan... more The African archaeological record is particularly remarkable in that it covers timescales relevant to all human history and prehistory. Different dating techniques are therefore fundamental to constructing reliable chronologies for the continent. The principal factors that determine the usefulness of a dating technique are (1) applicability to the material in question, (2) the expected precision of the technique, and (3) the age range over which it is expected to be useful. Radiocarbon is applicable to the past fifty thousand years of human history, encompassing the Later Stone Age, Iron Age, and historical periods, and is a highly-refined method applicable to organic materials such as bones, plant matter, charcoal, teeth, and sometimes eggshell. However, African archaeological contexts often present challenges to the preservation of material, and it is important to establish the context of the material under investigation. Materials of preference for radiocarbon dating, such as pla...
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PLOS ONE, Apr 16, 2020
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Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology
Stable isotope methods are firmly established as a key tool for investigating the diets of ancien... more Stable isotope methods are firmly established as a key tool for investigating the diets of ancient humans, offering insights into broad dietary composition at the scale of an individual’s life. African archaeology and ecosystems have played an important role in the global development of stable isotope approaches, but archaeological applications have been constrained in many African settings by poor preservation conditions for organic remains and limited institutional capacity for large analytical sampling programs. Yet growing numbers of research and training laboratories around the world, declining relative analytical costs, and increasing familiarity among archaeologists and paleoecologists with both the prospects and limitations of stable isotope approaches, all indicate that such methods will continue to increase in importance for modern archaeological practice. Complex ecological patterning in carbon, nitrogen, and other isotopes within Africa offers a rich background for inter...
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Journal of Human Evolution, 2019
This study assesses the seasonal scheduling of shellfish harvesting among hunter-gatherer populat... more This study assesses the seasonal scheduling of shellfish harvesting among hunter-gatherer populations along the southernmost coast of South Africa, based on a large number of serial oxygen isotope analyses of marine mollusk shells from four archaeological sites. The south coast of South Africa boasts an exceptional record of coastal hunter-gatherer occupation spanning the Holocene, the last glacial cycle and beyond. The significance of coastal adaptations, in this region in particular, for later modern human evolution has been prominently debated. Shellfishing behaviors are an important focus for investigation given the dietary and scheduling implications and the abundant archaeological shell remains in numerous sites. Key to better understanding coastal foraging is whether it was limited to one particular season, or year-round. Yet, this has proven very difficult to establish by conventional archaeological methods. This study reconstructs seasonal harvesting patterns by calculating water temperatures from the final growth increment of shells. Results from two Later Stone Age sites, Nelson Bay Cave (together with the nearby Hoffman's Robberg Cave) and Byneskranskop 1, show a pronounced cool season signal, which is unexpected given previous ethnographic documentation of summer as the optimal season for shellfishing activities and inferences about hunter-gatherer scheduling and mobility in the late Holocene. Results from two Middle Stone Age sites, Klasies River and Pinnacle Point 5–6, show distinct seasonal patterns that likely reflect the seasonal availability of resources in the two locations. The Pinnacle Point 5–6 assemblage, which spans the MIS5-4 transition, records a marked shift in shellfishing seasonality at c. 71 ka that aligns with other indications of archaeological and environmental change at this time. We conclude that the scheduling and intensity of shellfishing in this region is affected by a suite of factors, including environmental and cultural drivers, rather than a single variable, such as population growth.
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Quaternary Science Reviews, 2017
The southern Cape coastal region is important for understanding both the behavioural history of m... more The southern Cape coastal region is important for understanding both the behavioural history of modern humans, and regional and global climate dynamics, because it boasts a long archaeological record and occupies a key geographical location near the intersection of two major oceans. The western boundary Agulhas Current, implicated in global heat exchange dynamics, is an important modulator of southern African climates and yet we understand its past behaviour only broadly as the Current itself scours the coastal shelf and marine sediment core records necessarily provide little detail. Numerous archaeological sites from both the late Pleistocene and Holocene provide the opportunity for reconstruction of near-shore seasonal SST records, which respond both to localized wind-driven upwellings and Agulhas temperature shifts, corresponding in turn with terrestrial precipitation trends in the near-coastal and summer rainfall regions. Here we present a record of seasonal SSTs extending over MIS5, MIS4, and the Holocene, from serial d 18 O measurements of a single gastropod species, Turbo sarmaticus. The results show that mean SST shifts accord well with global SST trends, although they are larger than those recorded in the Agulhas Current from coarser-scale marine sediment records. Comparison with a record of Antarctic sea-ice suggests that annual SST amplitude responds to Antarctic sea-ice extent, reflecting the positioning of the regional wind systems that drive upwelling dynamics along the coast. Thus, near-shore SST seasonality reflects the relative dominance of the westerly and easterly wind systems. These data provide a new climate archive for an important but understudied climate system.
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Pleistocene palaeoclimates and palaeoenvironments of southernmost Africa are important for unders... more Pleistocene palaeoclimates and palaeoenvironments of southernmost Africa are important for understanding southern hemisphere climate dynamics and for reconstructing human evolution and early human settlement in this region. Measurements of d 13 C in tooth enamel of 136 faunal specimens from the archaeological site of Boomplaas Cave, South Africa, show significant shifts in proportions of C 3 and C 4 vegetation from the earliest deposits, probably dating to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, to the late Holocene. Vegetation communities during the Last Glacial Maximum were strongly C 3-dominated, indicating an eastward expansion of the winter rainfall zone at this time. This is consistent with climate models postulating northwards shift and/or intensification of the circumpolar westerly frontal systems during glacials. Winter rainfall and lower temperatures, both of which favour C 3 grasses, were clearly more important than lower pCO 2 (which favours C 4 grasses) in determining the nature of the vegetation. The intervals 40–36 and 17–14k cal a BP supported substantial quantities of C 4 grasses, indicating a greater proportion of summer rainfall at these times. These two intervals correspond with warmer climates as reflected in Antarctic ice cores. d 13 C of an as yet unnamed caprine indicate that these animals were primarily C 3 grazers.
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The application of stable isotope analysis in African archaeology has a long and distinguished pe... more The application of stable isotope analysis in African archaeology has a long and distinguished pedigree. Many new developments were inspired by questions in the archaeology of the continent, helped considerably by the availability of African landscapes as natural laboratories for providing the essential underpinning of isotope ecology systematics. Stable isotopes are now regularly built into multi-disciplinary archaeological projects spanning the very long temporal and geographical span of human history on the African continent. On the fiftieth anniversary of Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa we evaluate these endeavours — the achievements, problems, constraints and potential of stable isotopic research in African archaeology. We begin with a discussion of the continent’s role in developing understandings of stable carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and strontium isotope systematics, as used to interpret change in the archaeological record. We discuss the application of these principles within several areas of archaeological research, drawing on case studies from among late Pleistocene/Holocene hunter-gatherers, early food producers, complex societies of the African Iron Age and the individual life histories of the African slave trade. There is clearly much potential for further application in African archaeology.
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The southern African Later Stone Age sequence is widely considered to be well dated based on radi... more The southern African Later Stone Age sequence is widely considered to be well dated based on radiocarbon dates from dozens of archaeological sites, and apparently shows more or less synchronous cultural shifts across an extensive area. Yet, closer examination reveals the inadequacy of many of the decades-old and uncalibrated individual site chronologies that underpin this regional chronology, making robust comparisons of the chronology of technological change across this region impossible. Here, we present 26 new AMS 14C dates and Bayesian modeled chronologies for two important archaeological cave sites in southernmost Africa, Nelson Bay Cave and Byneskranskop 1. The results provide more robust age estimates for these cultural and paleoenvironmental sequences and revise interpretations of these sites in several instances. This project demonstrates the necessity of redating key sites, and the value of currently underutilized methods, including calibration and Bayesian modeling, for southern African archaeology.
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Oxygen isotope thermometry from archaeological mollusc shells relies on preservation of the origi... more Oxygen isotope thermometry from archaeological mollusc shells relies on preservation of the original crystal structure; in particular that metastable aragonite has not undergone recrystallization to calcite. Conventional methods for detecting recrystallization, however, require large sample sizes and extensive calibration, so that they cannot address variable shifts across sampling surfaces and in practice are rarely fully applied. Here we show that attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) can be applied to rapidly quantify biogenic aragonite and recrystallized calcite contents in mollusc shells at a sufficient level of accuracy. We established a series of calibration curves based on artificial mixtures of calcite and aragonite for comparison with archaeological samples. This method offers an improvement over existing tools. Most importantly, spectra can be determined from small samples that can be recovered for subsequent isotope analysis, thus allowing assessments of crystal structure at high spatial resolution across the shell surface and within an entire assemblage.
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Evidence for human occupation of southern Africa’s high-altitude Maloti–Drakensberg Mountains is ... more Evidence for human occupation of southern Africa’s high-altitude Maloti–Drakensberg Mountains is surprisingly common in the last glacial, yet the attraction of this relatively severe, cold region for hunter-foragers remains unclear. Sehonghong Rockshelter (1870m asl), in the eastern Lesotho Highlands, provides evidence for human occupation spanning Marine Isotope Stage 3 through the late Holocene. Excellent organic preservation provides opportunities for establishing multiple palaeoenvironmental proxy records to address this conundrum. In high-altitude zones, the proportions of C3 and C4 plants archived in soil organic matter and faunal enamel provide sensitive indicators of past temperature shifts. We first extended the radiocarbon chronology to ca. 35 ka using ABOx-SC radiocarbon dates of charcoals. Next we analysed stable isotopes in soil organic matter from the sedimentary sequence, and in faunal tooth enamel from the newly dated lower strata. The results suggest, predictably, that C3 vegetation and low temperatures prevailed until early warming at ca. 15 ka, with a series of sharp shifts thereafter. Low values for d13C and d18O in faunal enamel ca. 33 ka suggest a negative temperature excursion at this time, and potentially greater precipitation as snowfall in the highlands compared with lower altitudes.
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American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Jan 1, 2012
Stable isotope analysis of skeletal tissues is widely used in archeology and paleoanthropology to... more Stable isotope analysis of skeletal tissues is widely used in archeology and paleoanthropology to reconstruct diet. In material that is poorly preserved or very old, the tissue of choice is frequently tooth enamel, since this is less susceptible to diagenesis. The relationships between carbon isotope ratios in tooth enamel (d13Cenamel), bone collagen (d13Ccollagen), and bone apatite (d13Cbone apatite) are, however, not well understood. To elucidate these, we have measured all three indicators in archeological humans from the western and southern Cape coastal regions of South Africa. The correlation between d13Cenamel and 13Ccollagen is good (R2 50.71 if two outliers are excluded, n 5 79). The correlation between d13Cenamel and d13Cbone apatite is weaker (R25 0.37, n 5 33) possibly due to bone diagenesis. No systematic offset between d13Cbone apatite and d13Cenamel was observed in this sample of archeological humans. Intertooth comparisons of d13Cenamel in three individuals showed little variation, despite the different ages of crown formation. Carbon isotope ratios in both enamel and bone collagen are good proxies for d13Cdiet.
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Conference Presentations by Emma Loftus
Rose Cottage Cave in the southern African interior preserves an exceptional record of hunter-gath... more Rose Cottage Cave in the southern African interior preserves an exceptional record of hunter-gatherer occupation across the late Pleistocene and Holocene. The site is situated to the west of the Maluti-Drakensberg Escarpment, which structures regional temperature and precipitation gradients between the eastern coastal lowlands, mountainous highlands and the interior plateau. Here, we present an updated chronology for the late Pleistocene and Holocene levels of Rose Cottage Cave, based upon previously published conventional and new AMS radiocarbon dates. We compare the sequence from Rose Cottage Cave to other well-dated archaeological sequences nearby, including the highlands site of Sehonghong. We also summarise numerous dates from several sites across the Maluti-Drakensberg
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Seasonality plays a critical role for shaping environments in southern Africa. Particularly, seas... more Seasonality plays a critical role for shaping environments in southern Africa. Particularly, seasonal rainfall regimes are key in determining ecosystem patterning across the subcontinent. Unfortunately, the region has few highly resolved intra-annual records useful for investigating seasonality. Archaeological shell middens along the southern coast of Africa have enormous potential as archives of intra-annual sea surface temperature (SST) from the late Holocene to the Last Interglacial.
A central motivation for this study is to investigate the role of the wind belts in regional precipitation patterning. The south coast is affected by localised upwelling cells driven by easterly winds that occur predominantly in summer in association with the South Atlantic anticyclone. Cohen and Tyson (1995) proposed that, because the incidence of upwelling at key locations along the coast reflects these prevailing seasonal wind directions, upwelling frequency (reflected in intra-annual SST variation) is a proxy for the average position of the westerly wind belt. Models proposed to explain the influence of the Southern Hemisphere westerly wind belt for southern African climate suggest that their position is a key factor in long-term precipitation variation in the region. Thus seasonal SST variations may correspond with wet-dry conditions along the southern coast and in the southern African interior. A seasonal SST record, interbedded with the human cultural material, can also provide details of ancient human lifeways. Given that shellfish resource exploitation among hunter-–gatherers may have had a seasonal dimension shaped by overarching systems of settlement and social organisation, it is valuable to know at which times of the year populations lived at the coast.
This paper reports the preliminary results of oxygen isotope analyses of micromilled opercula from Holocene aged sites along the south coast, including Nelson Bay Cave and Byneskranskop 1. We assess the comparable Holocene SST record of Cohen and Tyson, and discuss the implications of our findings for interpretations of atmospheric dynamics during the Holocene, and hence the relationship with southern African climate. We also consider this seasonal climate record in the light of regional and local technological changes observed in the archaeological sites across this period.
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Peer-reviewed publications by Emma Loftus
Boomplaas Cave, South Africa, contains a rich archaeological record,
with evidence of human occup... more Boomplaas Cave, South Africa, contains a rich archaeological record,
with evidence of human occupation from >66,000 years ago until
the protohistoric period. Notwithstanding a long history of research
at the site, its existing chronology can benefit from revision. Many
of the site’s members are currently delimited by only a single
conventional radiocarbon date and some of the existing dates were
measured on materials now known to be unsuitable for
radiocarbon dating. Here we present the results of an ongoing
effort to redate key late/terminal Pleistocene sequences in southern
Africa. This paper presents a Bayesian-modelled radiocarbon
chronology for the late/terminal Pleistocene horizons at Boomplaas.
Our model incorporates previously published radiocarbon dates as
well as new accelerator mass spectrometry ages. We also present
archaeological evidence to examine in greater detail than was
previously possible the nature of occupation patterning across the
late/terminal Pleistocene and to assess technological change across
two of the site’s Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) members. The new
dates and archaeological data confirm that the site was occupied in
a series of low intensity events in the early LGM and immediately
thereafter. The site was occupied intensively in the terminal
Pleistocene in line with major changes in palaeoenvironments and
sea-level fluctuations. The lithic data show the use of variable
technological strategies in contexts of shifting mobility and site
occupation patterns. Our discussion informs upon hunter-gatherer
behavioural variability that did not, and should not be expected to,
reflect the strategies adopted and adapted by a handful of wellknown
arid-zone hunter-gatherers in the twentieth-century Kalahari.
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Sehonghong rock shelter is situated in the eastern Lesotho highlands, a climatically extreme regi... more Sehonghong rock shelter is situated in the eastern Lesotho highlands, a climatically extreme region of southern Africa. The site is one of a handful in southern Africa that preserves human occupations before, during, and after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The site's long and well-preserved sequence makes it relevant to addressing questions of human mobility, subsistence, and technology in relation to broader environmental change. Here we present a Bayesian-modelled radiocarbon chronology for the LGM and terminal Pleistocene occupations at Sehonghong. Our model incorporates previously published radiocarbon dates and new accelerator mass spec-trometry ages. We also present archaeological evidence to test the hypothesis that Sehonghong was occupied in a series of punctuated events, and that some of these occupations were more intensive than others. Previous chronological and archaeological data were insufficient for testing these hypotheses. The new dates and archaeological data confirm that the site was occupied intensively in the early LGM and immediately thereafter. The site was otherwise occupied sporadically. We find that greater site occupation density is not always correlated with intensified use of local resources as measured by increased bipolar reduction and fish consumption. The new dates further confirm that Sehonghong contains some of the oldest evidence for systematic freshwater fishing in southern Africa. The availability of fish, a high fat protein source, probably stimulated human occupation, however sporadic, of such montane environments during cooler and drier periods. These findings suggest behavioural variability in response to shifting mobility and subsistence strategies. Our brief discussion informs upon hunter-gatherer occupation of southern African montane environments more broadly and human behavioural variability during the LGM.
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Research Project Updates by Emma Loftus
This NSF funded project will study how hunter-gatherers lived in persistent coastal contexts duri... more This NSF funded project will study how hunter-gatherers lived in persistent coastal contexts during glacial and interglacial phases. For many years, scholars have studied how people interact with their environment when faced with ecological pressures. Like modern people, prehistoric hunter-gatherers are known to have adapted their subsistence, technological, and social behaviors in response to changes in their local environments. These adaptations influenced, among other things, what they ate, where they lived, what kinds of tools they made, and also how they interacted with each other. The archaeological sciences are ideally suited to studying the relationship between people and their environment over long timespans – spanning centuries to tens of thousands of years – because these kinds of behavioral changes can be detected in the multivariate archaeological record. Coastal zones are dynamic and rich environments with abundant, diverse, and predictable foods and other resources. Scholars have been intrigued by the way coastal environments may have supported and even protected humans living in these places from larger ecological changes that detrimentally affected human groups living in inland locations. Yet considerable gaps remain in these records due to changes in sea levels during glacial phases that shifted the locations of many coastlines by tens to hundreds of kilometers. Understanding how hunter-gatherers adapted to coastal zones over long timeframes, and how these groups compared to populations living inland, therefore, provides new insights into the ways that humans used subsistence, social and technological strategies to mediate ecological pressures in dynamic environments. It also gives the scientific community a broader point of reference for understanding human impacts on coastal environments, which can inform 21 st century marine and coastal conservation strategies.
South Africa has one of the oldest and richest records of human coastal occupation. This research project focuses on South Africa's East Coast where very narrow continental shelf has limited coastline movements during glacial periods. This prevented large coastline movements and created stable coastal ecosystems. In one these places, known as Pondoland, rare records of coastal occupation and resource use during the Last Glacial Maximum (ca. 26,000-19,000 years ago) have already been recovered by the P5 Project. These records provide a unique opportunity to study hunter-gatherers living in stable coastal contexts over long time periods and compare evidence of their behaviors to hunter-gatherer groups living inland. The project synergizes researchers from numerous international universities and disciplines to answer complex questions about the evolution of human behavior in a unique and persistent environment along Pondoland's coastline. Detailed archaeological, zooarchaeological, and paleoenvironmental information from excavations at two coastal archaeological sites will be collected as well as datasets from systematic landscape studies and ethnographic observations of modern plant foods and coastal foraging. The research will generate new evidence to test questions about coastal ecological variability across glacial and interglacial periods and how these changes impacted hunter-gatherer food-choice patterns, social networks, settlement patterns, and technology. Situating these data within the broader southern African paleolandscape will bring renewed focus on hunter-gatherer's use of coastal and inland resources across glacial and interglacial cycles and it will provide a more nuanced understanding of human evolution and social complexity across broad bio-geographical contexts. The project's interdisciplinary
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Papers by Emma Loftus
Conference Presentations by Emma Loftus
A central motivation for this study is to investigate the role of the wind belts in regional precipitation patterning. The south coast is affected by localised upwelling cells driven by easterly winds that occur predominantly in summer in association with the South Atlantic anticyclone. Cohen and Tyson (1995) proposed that, because the incidence of upwelling at key locations along the coast reflects these prevailing seasonal wind directions, upwelling frequency (reflected in intra-annual SST variation) is a proxy for the average position of the westerly wind belt. Models proposed to explain the influence of the Southern Hemisphere westerly wind belt for southern African climate suggest that their position is a key factor in long-term precipitation variation in the region. Thus seasonal SST variations may correspond with wet-dry conditions along the southern coast and in the southern African interior. A seasonal SST record, interbedded with the human cultural material, can also provide details of ancient human lifeways. Given that shellfish resource exploitation among hunter-–gatherers may have had a seasonal dimension shaped by overarching systems of settlement and social organisation, it is valuable to know at which times of the year populations lived at the coast.
This paper reports the preliminary results of oxygen isotope analyses of micromilled opercula from Holocene aged sites along the south coast, including Nelson Bay Cave and Byneskranskop 1. We assess the comparable Holocene SST record of Cohen and Tyson, and discuss the implications of our findings for interpretations of atmospheric dynamics during the Holocene, and hence the relationship with southern African climate. We also consider this seasonal climate record in the light of regional and local technological changes observed in the archaeological sites across this period.
Peer-reviewed publications by Emma Loftus
with evidence of human occupation from >66,000 years ago until
the protohistoric period. Notwithstanding a long history of research
at the site, its existing chronology can benefit from revision. Many
of the site’s members are currently delimited by only a single
conventional radiocarbon date and some of the existing dates were
measured on materials now known to be unsuitable for
radiocarbon dating. Here we present the results of an ongoing
effort to redate key late/terminal Pleistocene sequences in southern
Africa. This paper presents a Bayesian-modelled radiocarbon
chronology for the late/terminal Pleistocene horizons at Boomplaas.
Our model incorporates previously published radiocarbon dates as
well as new accelerator mass spectrometry ages. We also present
archaeological evidence to examine in greater detail than was
previously possible the nature of occupation patterning across the
late/terminal Pleistocene and to assess technological change across
two of the site’s Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) members. The new
dates and archaeological data confirm that the site was occupied in
a series of low intensity events in the early LGM and immediately
thereafter. The site was occupied intensively in the terminal
Pleistocene in line with major changes in palaeoenvironments and
sea-level fluctuations. The lithic data show the use of variable
technological strategies in contexts of shifting mobility and site
occupation patterns. Our discussion informs upon hunter-gatherer
behavioural variability that did not, and should not be expected to,
reflect the strategies adopted and adapted by a handful of wellknown
arid-zone hunter-gatherers in the twentieth-century Kalahari.
Research Project Updates by Emma Loftus
South Africa has one of the oldest and richest records of human coastal occupation. This research project focuses on South Africa's East Coast where very narrow continental shelf has limited coastline movements during glacial periods. This prevented large coastline movements and created stable coastal ecosystems. In one these places, known as Pondoland, rare records of coastal occupation and resource use during the Last Glacial Maximum (ca. 26,000-19,000 years ago) have already been recovered by the P5 Project. These records provide a unique opportunity to study hunter-gatherers living in stable coastal contexts over long time periods and compare evidence of their behaviors to hunter-gatherer groups living inland. The project synergizes researchers from numerous international universities and disciplines to answer complex questions about the evolution of human behavior in a unique and persistent environment along Pondoland's coastline. Detailed archaeological, zooarchaeological, and paleoenvironmental information from excavations at two coastal archaeological sites will be collected as well as datasets from systematic landscape studies and ethnographic observations of modern plant foods and coastal foraging. The research will generate new evidence to test questions about coastal ecological variability across glacial and interglacial periods and how these changes impacted hunter-gatherer food-choice patterns, social networks, settlement patterns, and technology. Situating these data within the broader southern African paleolandscape will bring renewed focus on hunter-gatherer's use of coastal and inland resources across glacial and interglacial cycles and it will provide a more nuanced understanding of human evolution and social complexity across broad bio-geographical contexts. The project's interdisciplinary
A central motivation for this study is to investigate the role of the wind belts in regional precipitation patterning. The south coast is affected by localised upwelling cells driven by easterly winds that occur predominantly in summer in association with the South Atlantic anticyclone. Cohen and Tyson (1995) proposed that, because the incidence of upwelling at key locations along the coast reflects these prevailing seasonal wind directions, upwelling frequency (reflected in intra-annual SST variation) is a proxy for the average position of the westerly wind belt. Models proposed to explain the influence of the Southern Hemisphere westerly wind belt for southern African climate suggest that their position is a key factor in long-term precipitation variation in the region. Thus seasonal SST variations may correspond with wet-dry conditions along the southern coast and in the southern African interior. A seasonal SST record, interbedded with the human cultural material, can also provide details of ancient human lifeways. Given that shellfish resource exploitation among hunter-–gatherers may have had a seasonal dimension shaped by overarching systems of settlement and social organisation, it is valuable to know at which times of the year populations lived at the coast.
This paper reports the preliminary results of oxygen isotope analyses of micromilled opercula from Holocene aged sites along the south coast, including Nelson Bay Cave and Byneskranskop 1. We assess the comparable Holocene SST record of Cohen and Tyson, and discuss the implications of our findings for interpretations of atmospheric dynamics during the Holocene, and hence the relationship with southern African climate. We also consider this seasonal climate record in the light of regional and local technological changes observed in the archaeological sites across this period.
with evidence of human occupation from >66,000 years ago until
the protohistoric period. Notwithstanding a long history of research
at the site, its existing chronology can benefit from revision. Many
of the site’s members are currently delimited by only a single
conventional radiocarbon date and some of the existing dates were
measured on materials now known to be unsuitable for
radiocarbon dating. Here we present the results of an ongoing
effort to redate key late/terminal Pleistocene sequences in southern
Africa. This paper presents a Bayesian-modelled radiocarbon
chronology for the late/terminal Pleistocene horizons at Boomplaas.
Our model incorporates previously published radiocarbon dates as
well as new accelerator mass spectrometry ages. We also present
archaeological evidence to examine in greater detail than was
previously possible the nature of occupation patterning across the
late/terminal Pleistocene and to assess technological change across
two of the site’s Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) members. The new
dates and archaeological data confirm that the site was occupied in
a series of low intensity events in the early LGM and immediately
thereafter. The site was occupied intensively in the terminal
Pleistocene in line with major changes in palaeoenvironments and
sea-level fluctuations. The lithic data show the use of variable
technological strategies in contexts of shifting mobility and site
occupation patterns. Our discussion informs upon hunter-gatherer
behavioural variability that did not, and should not be expected to,
reflect the strategies adopted and adapted by a handful of wellknown
arid-zone hunter-gatherers in the twentieth-century Kalahari.
South Africa has one of the oldest and richest records of human coastal occupation. This research project focuses on South Africa's East Coast where very narrow continental shelf has limited coastline movements during glacial periods. This prevented large coastline movements and created stable coastal ecosystems. In one these places, known as Pondoland, rare records of coastal occupation and resource use during the Last Glacial Maximum (ca. 26,000-19,000 years ago) have already been recovered by the P5 Project. These records provide a unique opportunity to study hunter-gatherers living in stable coastal contexts over long time periods and compare evidence of their behaviors to hunter-gatherer groups living inland. The project synergizes researchers from numerous international universities and disciplines to answer complex questions about the evolution of human behavior in a unique and persistent environment along Pondoland's coastline. Detailed archaeological, zooarchaeological, and paleoenvironmental information from excavations at two coastal archaeological sites will be collected as well as datasets from systematic landscape studies and ethnographic observations of modern plant foods and coastal foraging. The research will generate new evidence to test questions about coastal ecological variability across glacial and interglacial periods and how these changes impacted hunter-gatherer food-choice patterns, social networks, settlement patterns, and technology. Situating these data within the broader southern African paleolandscape will bring renewed focus on hunter-gatherer's use of coastal and inland resources across glacial and interglacial cycles and it will provide a more nuanced understanding of human evolution and social complexity across broad bio-geographical contexts. The project's interdisciplinary