Faunal Tooth Research Articles

The Pleistocene high-elevation environments between 2.02 and 0.6 Ma at Melka Kunture (Upper Awash Valley, Ethiopia) based upon stable isotope analysis

Pleistocene environments are among the most studied issues in paleoecology and human evolution research in eastern Africa. Many data have been recorded from archaeological sites located at low and medium elevations (≤ 1500 m), whereas few contexts are known at 2000 m and above. Here, we present a substantial isotopic study from Melka Kunture, a complex of prehistoric sites located at 2000—2200 m above sea level in the central Ethiopian highlands. We analyzed the stable carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of 308 faunal tooth enamel samples from sites dated between 2.02 and 0.6 Ma to investigate the animal diets and habitats. The carbon isotopic results indicate that the analyzed taxa had C4-dominated and mixed C3-C4 diets with no significant diachronic changes in feeding behavior with time. This is consistent with faunal and phytolith analyses, which suggested environments characterized by open grasslands (with both C3 and C4 grasses), patches of bushes and thickets, and aquatic vegetation. However, palynological data previously documented mountain forests, woodlands, and high-elevation grasslands. Additionally, the carbon isotopic comparison with other eastern African localities shows that differences in elevation did not influence animal feeding strategies and habitat partitioning, even though plant species vary according to altitudinal gradients. In contrast, the oxygen isotopic comparison suggests significant differences consistent with the altitude effect. Our approach allows us to detect diverse aspects of animal behavior, habitat, and vegetation that should be considered when reconstructing past environments.

Multiproxy evidence for environmental stability in the Lesser Caucasus during the Late Pleistocene

The Lesser Caucasus, situated between Asia and Europe, has long been recognised as a key region for the study of human evolution in terms of the timing and routes of dispersal, as well as, ecological adaptations. In particular, scholars have argued whether stable environments persisted in the region throughout the last glaciation, serving as a refugium for temperate biota, likely attracting human settlement and use. Here, we present the results of a multidisciplinary study of Karin Tak Cave, which contains sediments that accumulated between 48,000 and 24,000 cal yr BP. We examined biostratigraphic changes at the site by looking at the composition of fauna, which we hypothesise to be naturally accumulated, in different stratigraphic phases using traditional zooarchaeological approaches combined with collagen fingerprinting (ZooMS, Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry). To gain further insights into regional palaeoenvironmental conditions, we also applied stable carbon and oxygen isotope analyses to faunal tooth enamel. The obtained results suggest that the onset of the last glaciation did not cause dramatic changes in regional environments, indicating that the Lesser Caucasus was a climatically and ecologically stable region despite significant global climatic changes during this period.

A Middle Pleistocene Denisovan molar from the Annamite Chain of northern Laos

The Pleistocene presence of the genus Homo in continental Southeast Asia is primarily evidenced by a sparse stone tool record and rare human remains. Here we report a Middle Pleistocene hominin specimen from Laos, with the discovery of a molar from the Tam Ngu Hao 2 (Cobra Cave) limestone cave in the Annamite Mountains. The age of the fossil-bearing breccia ranges between 164–131 kyr, based on the Bayesian modelling of luminescence dating of the sedimentary matrix from which it was recovered, U-series dating of an overlying flowstone, and U-series–ESR dating of associated faunal teeth. Analyses of the internal structure of the molar in tandem with palaeoproteomic analyses of the enamel indicate that the tooth derives from a young, likely female, Homo individual. The close morphological affinities with the Xiahe specimen from China indicate that they belong to the same taxon and that Tam Ngu Hao 2 most likely represents a Denisovan.

Late Pleistocene human paleoecology in the highland savanna ecosystem of mainland Southeast Asia

The late Pleistocene settlement of highland settings in mainland Southeast Asia by Homo sapiens has challenged our species’s ability to occupy mountainous landscapes that acted as physical barriers to the expansion into lower-latitude Sunda islands during sea-level lowstands. Tham Lod Rockshelter in highland Pang Mapha (northwestern Thailand), dated between 34,000 and 12,000 years ago, has yielded evidence of Hoabinhian lithic assemblages and natural resource use by hunter-gatherer societies. To understand the process of early settlements of highland areas, we measured stable carbon and oxygen isotope compositions of Tham Lod human and faunal tooth enamel. Our assessment of the stable carbon isotope results suggests long-term opportunistic behavior among hunter-gatherers in foraging on a variety of food items in a mosaic environment and/or inhabiting an open forest edge during the terminal Pleistocene. This study reinforces the higher-latitude and -altitude extension of a forest-grassland mosaic ecosystem or savanna corridor (farther north into northwestern Thailand), which facilitated the dispersal of hunter-gatherers across mountainous areas and possibly allowed for consistency in a human subsistence strategy and Hoabinhian technology in the highlands of mainland Southeast Asia over a 20,000-year span near the end of the Pleistocene.

Burned by the fire: Isotopic effects of experimental combustion of faunal tooth enamel

Paleoenvironmental reconstructions of hominin fossil localities and archaeological sites are a critical component of understanding the selective pressures involved in the biological and behavioral evolution of our ancestors. Increasingly, these reconstructions are based on the carbon and oxygen stable isotope (δ13Cenamel and δ18Oenamel) composition of herbivore tooth enamel from these sites. Although tooth enamel is subject to diagenetic processes, it is generally assumed to be a refractory substrate that retains the in vivo isotopic signal during fossilization. However, the effects of burning, for which there is extensive evidence, on the isotopic composition of herbivore tooth enamel is often overlooked. Here, the consequences of burning on δ13Cenamel and δ18Oenamel values of five African herbivore taxa are directly tested in a series of controlled combustion experiments up to 1100 °C. Results suggest that δ13Cenamel values are minimally affected by burning up to 700 °C for all taxa, and up to 1100 °C for all but the thin-enameled Madoqua (dik-dik). δ18Oenamel values, on the other hand, are significantly altered at temperatures beyond 300 °C for all taxa, with enamel becoming increasingly and systematically 18O depleted at higher temperatures. This is suggestive of a temperature-dependent biochemical process of exchange with atmospheric oxygen. These results suggest that while δ13Cenamel values from burned teeth are potentially reliable for typical hearth temperatures, strong caution is needed when interpreting δ18Oenamel values from context with evidence of extensive burning.

Scope and Limitations of Stable Isotope Analysis in Indian Archaeology

Stable isotopes of lighter elements are frequently used to understand diet and ecology of ancient population in the western world. In India however, in spite of the infrastructure being available for stable isotope analysis, its usage to date is limited to geological and oceanographical studies. Its applications in investigating archaeological questions are still uncommon. Stable isotopes can be used to satisfy various hypotheses pertaining to an archaeological site in multiple ways. In this article, taking two recent stable isotope studies into consideration (one based on human teeth and another on faunal teeth), the scope and limitations of use of stable isotope analysis in archaeology are extended in detail. The differences in selection of samples, sampling procedures, methodologies and interpretations while working on human as against faunal teeth are discussed discretely. Publisher's note: The citations and reference for Kalwankar (2013) were originally published with the incorrect date, and they have been corrected on 25/09/2020.

Pastoralism, climate change, and the transformation of the Indus Civilization in Gujarat: Faunal analyses and biogenic isotopes

The Indus Civilization (2600–1900 BCE), South Asia’s first urban society, underwent a momentous social transformation towards the end of the third millennium BC, that culminated in urban decline, cessation of writing, and the dissolution of interregional connectivity. These changes roughly coincide with the 4.2 ka BP climate event, a period of global climate fluctuation manifest in northwestern South Asia as a decline in summer monsoon precipitation. The regions encompassed by the Indus Civilization, however, were ecologically and socially diverse such that both local environmental effects of these climatic fluctuations and human responses to them are expected to vary considerably from region to region. In Gujarat, increased aridity has been hypothesized to have led to increased pastoral mobility. Here we evaluate this hypothesis using faunal analyses and isotopic data in faunal tooth enamel that allow us to directly monitor livestock management, diet, and mobility at a series of three archaeological sites whose occupational sequences span this period of social and climatic change. We find no evidence for significant changes in pastoral land-use practices through time in this sequence, findings that we interpret as indicating considerable resilience on the part of local pastoral producers.

Isotopic evidence for initial coastal colonization and subsequent diversification in the human occupation of Wallacea

The resource-poor, isolated islands of Wallacea have been considered a major adaptive obstacle for hominins expanding into Australasia. Archaeological evidence has hinted that coastal adaptations in Homo sapiens enabled rapid island dispersal and settlement; however, there has been no means to directly test this proposition. Here, we apply stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis to human and faunal tooth enamel from six Late Pleistocene to Holocene archaeological sites across Wallacea. The results demonstrate that the earliest human forager found in the region c. 42,000 years ago made significant use of coastal resources prior to subsequent niche diversification shown for later individuals. We argue that our data provides clear insights into the huge adaptive flexibility of our species, including its ability to specialize in the use of varied environments, particularly in comparison to other hominin species known from Island Southeast Asia.

Movement of agricultural products in the Scandinavian Iron Age during the first millennium AD: 87Sr/86Sr values of archaeological crops and animals in southern Sweden

ABSTRACT In this paper, we examine the exchange of crops and livestock through the application of strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotope analysis on cereal grains and faunal tooth enamel from the regional center of Uppåkra and three nearby settlements in Scania, southern Sweden, dating to the first millennium AD. Around a third of the fauna have non-local 87Sr/86Sr values, indicating the import of livestock from several different regions. After cleaning, almost all of the cereal grains have non-local 87Sr/86Sr values, which is surprising given the nearby abundance of fertile agricultural soils. We therefore suggest considering non-locally grown crops to be those whose 87Sr/86Sr values fall outside the normal distribution; if this approach is used, around 20% of the analyzed crop samples are interpreted as having grown non-locally. This study demonstrates the potential of combining strontium isotopic data of archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological material for gaining insights into the movement of agricultural products in prehistory.

Late Pleistocene to Holocene human palaeoecology in the tropical environments of coastal eastern Africa

The ecological adaptations that stimulated the dispersal and technological strategies of our species during the Late Pleistocene remain hotly disputed, with some influential theories focusing on grassland biomes or marine resources as key drivers behind the rapid expansion and material culture innovations of Homo sapiens within and beyond Africa. Here, we present novel chronologically resolved, zooarchaeological taxonomic and taphonomic analysis, and stable isotope analysis of human and faunal tooth enamel, from the site of Panga ya Saidi (c. 78–0.4 ka), Kenya. Zooarchaeological data provide rare insights into the fauna associated with, and utilized by, Late Pleistocene-Holocene human populations in tropical coastal eastern Africa. Combined zooarchaeological and faunal stable isotope data provide some of the only dated, ‘on-site’ archives of palaeoenvironments beyond the arid interior of eastern Africa for this time period, while stable isotope analysis of humans provides direct snapshots of the dietary reliance of foragers at the site. Results demonstrate that humans consistently utilized tropical forest and grassland biomes throughout the period of site occupation, through a transition from Middle Stone Age to Later Stone Age technological industries and the arrival of agriculture in the region. By contrast, while coastal resources were obtained for use in symbolic material culture, there is limited evidence for consumption of marine resources until the Holocene. We argue that the ecotonal or heterogeneous environments of coastal eastern Africa may have represented an important refugium for populations during the increasing climatic variability of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, and that tropical environments were one of a diverse series of ecosystems exploited by H. sapiens in Africa at the dawn of global migrations.

Detecting riparian habitat preferences in "savanna" chimpanzees and associated Fauna with strontium isotope ratios: Implications for reconstructing habitat use by the chimpanzee-human last common ancestor.

Riparian or gallery forests are critical habitats for numerous plants and animals today. Paleoanthropologically, reliance on such habitats informs behavioral and ecological reconstructions; for example, gallery forest habitats likely played a critical role in the transition from ape to hominin in the early Pliocene and may represent a preferred habitat for the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans. Direct indicators for gallery forest habitats preference are lacking. The objective of this article is to assess whether strontium isotope ratios are a reliable indicator of habitat preference for fauna living in and around gallery forests. We report bioavailable strontium isotope ratios from the Mugiri River, its tributaries, and its gallery forest (Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve, southwestern Uganda), and compare them to surrounding savanna-grassland values. We compare these environmental values to strontium isotopes ratios in faunal tooth enamel to determine if habitat preferences are accurately reflected. Gallery forest and savanna-grassland vegetations have significantly different strontium isotope ratio profiles. We trace these isotopic differences to the influence of the Mugiri tributaries, which originate on Paleoproterozoic gneiss deposits on top of the surrounding escarpments. These isotopic differences in vegetation are mirrored in the tissues of fauna with habitat preferences for either the gallery forest or the surrounding grasslands. This research demonstrates the potential of strontium isotope ratios to identify habitat preferences in modern or fossil fauna under proper geologic variability. It provides a methodological model for future studies seeking to reconstruct habitat preferences in early hominins.

New Statistical Approaches to Intra‐individual Isotopic Analysis and Modelling of Birth Seasonality in Studies of Herd Animals

This paper introduces improved methods for statistically assessing birth seasonality and intra‐annual variation in δ18O from faunal tooth enamel. The first method estimates input parameters for use with a previously developed parametric approach by C. Tornero et al. The second method uses a non‐parametric clustering procedure to group individuals with similar time‐series data and estimate birth seasonality. This method was successful in analysing data from a modern sample with known season of birth, as well as two heterogeneous archaeological data sets. Modelling indicates that the non‐parametric approach estimates birth seasonality more successfully than the parametric method when less of the tooth row is preserved. The new approach offers a high level of statistical rigour and flexibility in dealing with the time‐series data produced through intra‐individual sampling in isotopic analysis.

Stable isotope evidence for (mostly) stable local environments during the South African Middle Stone Age from Sibudu, KwaZulu-Natal

Site-specific environmental and climatic records are crucial to our understanding of human behavior and cognition during the African Middle Stone Age. This is particularly true of the South African Middle Stone Age record with its enigmatic and relatively short lived Still Bay and Howieson's Poort industries. Existing environmental models for the South African Middle Stone Age are primarily contingent on global climatic data which are temporally, spatially, and/or stratigraphically separated from archaeological sites. The well-dated and extensive Middle Stone Age sequence of Sibudu provides a rare opportunity to gather the high-resolution on-site data which are sorely needed to evaluate behavior-environment links ‘on the ground.’ Stable carbon and oxygen isotope data were collected from faunal tooth enamel samples spanning the entire Sibudu sequence excavated by Wadley from >77 to ∼38 thousand years ago (ka). Two periods of habitat change are identified at Sibudu. The pre-Still Bay (>73 ka) is characterized by more closed, likely forested, and mesic conditions than the rest of the sequence. Late and final Middle Stone Age industries (∼48–38 ka) at Sibudu are associated with more open and likely drier conditions than earlier. No major environmental or habitat changes based on stable isotope data, however, are identified in the Sibudu record concordant with the Still Bay, Howieson's Poort, or post-Howieson's Poort techno-complexes. These results suggest that social and demographic changes were presumably as significant as environmental conditions, if not more so, in behavioral transitions at Sibudu.

Testing the savannah corridor hypothesis during MIS2: The Boh Dambang hyena site in southern Cambodia

The Boh Dambang karstic site in southern Cambodia, Kampot province, is a mammal bone-rich deposit in a hyena site. Very few hyena sites have been recovered in the Pleistocene of Southeast Asia, thus little information is known about the foraging abilities of hyenas during that period and their decline in the region, while the other hypercarnivores (tiger, leopard, and dhole) persisted until present day.To constrain the site we applied luminescence (red TL and single-grain OSL), ESR and U/Th dating methods to the sediments and faunal teeth, respectively. The resulting age estimatessuggest that the site represents an accumulation of a young deposit with faunal teeth in the range of 25–18 ka that was last exposed to sunlight between 8 and 7 ka, and an older deposit containing older teeth (∼100–80 ka) that have been eroded from the upper caves in the system and incorporated into the younger deposit. Thus, the faunal age of 25–18 ka (MIS2), provides the best estimate for the age of the hyena site during LGM (26.5–19 ka).We analysed the assemblage of isolated teeth in terms of taxonomic diversity and abundance. The role of bone accumulators, either carnivores or rodents, has been precised through a taphonomic analysis. Diet was reconstructed through measurement of δ13C values of tooth enamel. The taphonomic analysis reveals that the hyenas were the main bone accumulators at Boh Dambang. Porcupines were aslo a factor in the accumulation of remains. The results show that the spotted hyenas hunted large-sized herbivores (>600 kg), in a mixed environment dominated by grassland.These data along with evidence from other Pleistocene faunas from Southeast Asian mainland, in terms of prey preference of hyenas (“rhinoceroses versus large bovines”) also reveal marked differences in relation to habitat type. Possible causes of the decline of the spotted hyena in the Indochinese sub-region (hypercarnivory, high trophic level, comparable foraging strategies with hunters-gatherers, and climatic changes) are tentatively proposed at this point.

The lay of land: Strontium isotope variability in the dietary catchment of the Late Iron Age proto-urban settlement of Basel-Gasfabrik, Switzerland

Basel-Gasfabrik (Switzerland) comprises an extensive La Tène (chiefly Lt D, 150–80BCE) settlement and two associated cemeteries at which strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotope analysis of human and animal teeth investigated regional and supra-regional contacts. The interpretation of the analytic data, however, requires information on the isotopic baseline values around the site. Using 102 modern vegetation and 9 water samples from 51 localities, this study characterizes the isotopic ratios of the biologically available strontium of geological units and watercourses around Basel and compares these to 28 human infant, 6 pig, and 5 dog teeth from the site. Furthermore, pedological criteria evaluate the suitability of landforms for crop and pasturelands. The 87Sr/86Sr ratios of the environmental samples from geological units in up to 50km distance varied between 0.70776 and 0.71794. Human infant teeth exhibited much more homogeneous 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.70847–0.70950), which coincided largely with those of potential arable soils around Basel and indicate targeted exploitation of landscapes for agriculture. The more variable values of the faunal teeth suggest more widely ranging habitats or imports from the site's hinterlands. Two local isotope ranges were defined based on archaeological enamel samples and modern vegetation data from a confined radius around Basel. The study documents the complexity of distinguishing local and non-local individuals in a geologically heterogeneous region as well as the potential of isotope analyses to explore prehistoric land-use patterns.

Fruits of the forest: Human stable isotope ecology and rainforest adaptations in Late Pleistocene and Holocene (∼36 to 3 ka) Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has yielded some of the earliest dated fossil evidence for Homo sapiens (∼38-35,000 cal. years BP [calibrated years before present]) in South Asia, within a region that is today covered by tropical rainforest. Archaeozoological and archaeobotanical evidence indicates that these hunter-gatherers exploited tropical forest resources, yet the contribution of these resources to their overall subsistence strategies has, as in other Late Pleistocene rainforest settings, remained relatively unexplored. We build on previous work in this tropical region by applying both bulk and sequential stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis to human and faunal tooth enamel from the sites of Batadomba-lena, Fa Hien-lena, and Balangoda Kuragala. Tooth enamel preservation was assessed by means of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. We use these data to produce a detailed stable isotope ecology for Late Pleistocene–Holocene foragers in Sri Lanka from ∼36-29,000 to 3000 cal. years BP, allowing us to test the degree of human tropical forest resource reliance over a considerable time period. Given that non-human primates dominate the mammalian assemblages at these sites, we also focus on the stable isotope composition of three monkey species in order to study their ecological preferences and, indirectly, human hunting strategies. The results confirm a strong human reliance on tropical forest resources from ∼36-29,000 cal. years BP until the Iron Age ∼3 cal. years BP, while sequential tooth data show that forest resources were exploited year-round. This strategy was maintained through periods of evident environmental change at the Last Glacial Maximum and upon the arrival of agriculture. Long-term tropical forest reliance was supported by the specialised capture of non-human primates, although the isotopic data revealed no evidence for niche distinction between the hunted species. We conclude that humans rapidly developed a specialisation in the exploitation of South Asia's tropical forests following their arrival in this region.

Thinking locally: Environmental reconstruction of Middle and Later Stone Age archaeological sites in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zambia based on ungulate stable isotopes

Our knowledge of the Pleistocene environments of Africa consists primarily of data at a scale too coarse to capture the full habitat variation important to hominins ‘on the ground.’ These environments are complex, highly variable, and poorly understood. As such, data from individual sites are a needed addition to our current paleoenvironmental reconstructions. This study offers a site-based approach focusing on stable isotope analyses of fossil faunal tooth enamel from three archaeological sites in tropical Africa. Carbon and oxygen stable isotope data are reported from the sites of Porc Epic, Ethiopia, Lukenya Hill, Kenya, and Kalemba Rockshelter, Zambia. Stable isotope data from tooth enamel are used to measure two environmental variables: (1) aridity based on oxygen isotope composition and (2) dietary reconstructions of fossil ungulates based on the relative proportions of C3 browse and C4 graze in the diet. These data allow for a preliminary assessment of existing models that attempt to explain the behavioral and technological variation characteristic of the transition between the Middle and Later Stone Ages. Results indicate spatial and temporal variation in aridity and phytogeography in tropical Africa during the Pleistocene, suggesting that no single model is likely to provide an explanation for the transition at all sites across Africa.

Late Quaternary environmental change in the Southern Cape, South Africa, from stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in faunal tooth enamel from Boomplaas Cave

ABSTRACTPleistocene 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 δ13C in tooth enamel of 136 faunal specimens from the archaeological site of Boomplaas Cave, South Africa, show significant shifts in proportions of C3 and C4 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 C3‐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 C3 grasses, were clearly more important than lower pCO2 (which favours C4 grasses) in determining the nature of the vegetation. The intervals 40–36 and 17–14k cal a BP supported substantial quantities of C4 grasses, indicating a greater proportion of summer rainfall at these times. These two intervals correspond with warmer climates as reflected in Antarctic ice cores. δ13C of an as yet unnamed caprine indicate that these animals were primarily C3 grazers.

A comprehensive chronology of the Neanderthal site Moula-Guercy, Ardèche, France

The Baume (cave) Moula-Guercy, in southeast France, contains an important sedimentary sequence, which includes the remains of a cannibalised group of Neanderthals. The chronology of the upper layers of the cave is currently constrained by a thermoluminescence date of 72±12ka, obtained from a tephra deposit (layer VI). The middle and lower layers of the cave have been constrained by biostratigraphy, pointing towards the end of MIS 5 for the Neanderthal bearing layer XV. In order to refine the chronology of the site, we applied radiocarbon, 40Ar/39Ar, U-series and ESR dating analyses. Radiocarbon dates on bone samples from layer IV showed ages older than 50ka. 40Ar/39Ar dating on sanidines from tephra of layer VI revealed, that these volcanic minerals derived probably from the Hercynian basement, and thus provided no tangible chronological constrain. Combined CSUS/ESR results on faunal teeth place layer IV at the end of MIS 3 to MIS 4, in agreement with the radiocarbon dates and in stratigraphic order with the thermoluminescence age for layer VI. Layer VIII, with only one sample, is tentatively placed to the end of MIS 4. The age estimates for layer XIV are not conclusive, preventing an age estimation for this layer. The younger age result for layer XIV does not agree with the stratigraphy and biostratigraphy of the site and more direct dating of material from this layer is needed to resolve this discrepancy. Located just below, the crucial Neanderthal bearing layer XV is placed to the end of MIS 5 and younger than MIS 6, in agreement with the climatological and chronological deductions from the stratigraphy and biostratigraphy of the site. Direct U-series analyses on two Neanderthal teeth agree with an age for layer XV corresponding to at least MIS 5 sensu lato. The U-series results on the Neanderthal tooth 3525 show that U-mobilisation even into small teeth is highly complex, but nevertheless give an indication that this sample corresponds to MIS 5e. This is in agreement with the CSUS/ESR results from faunal teeth as well as the stratigraphy and biostratigraphy of the cave. The refined chronology corroborates the existing stratigraphic and biostratigraphic framework. Moula-Guercy layer XV, with its many human remains showing cannibalism, now stands as a reference site for this particular aspect of human behaviour.

Stable isotope evidence of late MIS 3 to middle Holocene palaeoenvironments from Sehonghong Rockshelter, eastern Lesotho

ABSTRACTEvidence 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, 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 δ13C and δ18O 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.