Re-investigation of the Matjes River rock shelter

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The rehabilitation of the Matjes River rock shelter on the eastern side ofPlettenberg Bay, South Africa, provided an opportunity to obtain newinformation on the deposits. A metre wide column was excavated through sixmetres of shell-rich deposits at the junction of two cuttings made in the 1920sand 1950s and known as the Apex. A small section was cut into the upperlayers in the entrance area. A suite of radiocarbon dates shows the depositsto be between 6300 and 10 600 years old with a possible hiatus in depositionbetween 9000 and 8000 years ago. The hiatus is marked by a disconformitythat separates an upper loose shelly deposit from a series of finely beddedloams. The sequence includes artefacts of the Wilton and Albany industriesand the transition between these industries is dated to 7400 BP. In therelative frequencies of Donax serra and Pema pema, the shellfish remainsshow there was a change from a sandy to a rocky shore environment thatcan be accounted for by the rise of sea level in the Holocene. There is noevidence that shellfish were intensely exploited and farmed down. Asobserved at Nelson Bay Cave, Choromytilus meridionalis is more common indeposits 9000 years and older. This suggests that the low sea surfacetemperatures of the Late Pleistocene persisted in the beginning of theHolocene. Information obtained on the deposits is being presented ineducational displays for visitors to the site.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University