Taphonomic implications of orientation of plotted finds from Pinnacle Point 13B (Mossel Bay, Western Cape Province, South Africa)

Abstract

An understanding of site taphonomy is crucial to stratigraphic and artifact/ecofact interpretation. Numerous geogenic, biogenic, and anthropogenic activities have the potential to move artifacts after deposition and distort the patterning once present in hominid discarded debris. Taphonomy at a Middle Stone Age cave (Pinnacle Point 13B) near Mossel Bay, South Africa is investigated here using artifact orientation data collected during excavation. Two angle measurements (bearing and plunge) were taken for all artifacts with a distinct long axis. The data are analyzed here using both graphical and statistical approaches, and a new graphical approach is presented. Using these measurements it is possible to distinguish between layers and areas of the site that are minimally disturbed and those that have been reworked to varying degrees. Data of this type are still not usually presented in publications of stone age sites. Given the complexities of the taphonomic history of these ancient sites, such data and analyses should become standard practice.