气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Palaeoenvironments and plant availability during MIS 6 to MIS 3 on the edge of the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain (south coast; South Africa) as indicated by phytolith analysis at Pinnacle Point

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DOI	10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.02.022
	Palaeoenvironments and plant availability during MIS 6 to MIS 3 on the edge of the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain (south coast; South Africa) as indicated by phytolith analysis at Pinnacle Point
	Esteban I.; Marean C.W.; Cowling R.M.; Fisher E.C.; Cabanes D.; Albert R.M.
发表日期	2020
ISSN	0277-3791
卷号	235
英文摘要	The Cape south coast presents some of the world's most significant early modern human sites preserving evidence for complex human behaviour during the Middle Stone Age (MSA), and it is centrally located in the megadiverse Greater Cape Floristic Region. The extinct Palaeo-Agulhas Plain (PAP) once abutted this region, forming an important habitat for the subsistence strategies of past hunter-gatherers during the MSA. Here, we use phytoliths — amorphous silica particles that formed in cells of plants — extracted from archaeological deposits of two sites at Pinnacle Point (PP; cave 13B [PP13B] and site 5–6 [PP5-6]) to investigate the interactions between environments and hunter-gatherer foraging strategies along the Cape south coast during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6 to MIS 3. To do this, we developed an analytical approach built on a modern plant and soil reference collection for using phytoliths from archaeological deposits for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. In the latter phases of MIS 6, phytoliths indicate shrubby vegetation, possibly limestone fynbos, which might have occurred in inland landscapes, and this was the area preferred for plant foraging practices by the inhabitants of PP13B. During MIS 4, phytoliths at PP5-6 indicate the presence thicket and riparian vegetation on the rocky cliffs and the exposed PAP, along with some type of fynbos vegetation above the actual coastal cliffs. During interglacials MIS 5(c-e) and MIS 3 when the PAP was less exposed, the phytolith record points towards a mosaic of habitats with fynbos and thicket/forest, but also a constant presence of vegetation with high grass content dominated by a mix of both C3 and C4 species. Our data suggests a continuous inland regional mosaic of habitats with fynbos, thicket/forest and grassy vegetation that persisted during the glacial-interglacial periods. The changes observed in the phytolith record might be indicative of changes in plant foraging preferences along with slight vegetation movements in accordance with climate changes and sea level fluctuations. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd
英文关键词	C3-C4 grass distribution; Cape south coast; Climate dynamics; Greater cape floristic regions; Humans landscape-adaptation; Palaeovegetation; Phytoliths; Pleistocene; South Africa; Vegetation dynamics
语种	英语
scopus关键词	Behavioral research; Climate change; Deposits; Ecosystems; Lime; Sea level; Silica; C4 grass; Climate dynamics; Greater cape floristic regions; Humans landscape-adaptation; Palaeovegetation; Phytoliths; Pleistocene; South Africa; Vegetation dynamics; Vegetation; Cape Floristic Region; climate change; fynbos; glacial-interglacial cycle; hunter-gatherer; interglacial; marine isotope stage; Mesolithic; paleoenvironment; phytolith; reconstruction; riparian vegetation; sea level change; Stone Age; Agulhas Plain; Pinnacle Point; South Africa; South Africa; Western Cape
来源期刊	Quaternary Science Reviews
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/151523
作者单位	Evolutionary Studies Institute and School of Geoscience, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001, South Africa; African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape 6031, South Africa; ERAAUB. Dept. Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Montalegre, 6, Barcelona, 08001, Spain; Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, PO Box 872402, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, United States; Department of Anthropology and Center for Human Evolutionary Studies, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Biological Sciences Building, 32 Bishop Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8558, United States; ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, Barcelona, 08010, Spain
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Esteban I.,Marean C.W.,Cowling R.M.,et al. Palaeoenvironments and plant availability during MIS 6 to MIS 3 on the edge of the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain (south coast; South Africa) as indicated by phytolith analysis at Pinnacle Point[J],2020,235.
APA	Esteban I.,Marean C.W.,Cowling R.M.,Fisher E.C.,Cabanes D.,&Albert R.M..(2020).Palaeoenvironments and plant availability during MIS 6 to MIS 3 on the edge of the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain (south coast; South Africa) as indicated by phytolith analysis at Pinnacle Point.Quaternary Science Reviews,235.
MLA	Esteban I.,et al."Palaeoenvironments and plant availability during MIS 6 to MIS 3 on the edge of the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain (south coast; South Africa) as indicated by phytolith analysis at Pinnacle Point".Quaternary Science Reviews 235(2020).