School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies

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Browsing School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies by Keyword "archaeology"

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    A multi-disciplinary review of late Quaternary palaeoclimates and environments for Lesotho
    (2016-07) Fitchett, J.M.; Grab, S.W; Bamford, M.K.; Mackay, A.W.
    Lesotho provides a unique context for palaeoclimatic research. The small country is entirely landlocked by South Africa, yet has considerable variation in topography, climate, and associated vegetation over an approximate east–west transect. The region has been of archaeological interest for over a century, and hosts many Early to Late Stone Age sites with occupation preceding 80 000 years before present. The eastern Lesotho highlands are of interest to periglacial and glacial geomorphologists because of their well-preserved relict landforms and contentious evidence for permafrost and niche glaciation during the late Quaternary. However, continuous proxy records for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions for Lesotho are scarce and hampered by a range of methodological shortfalls. These challenges include uncertain ages, poor sampling resolution, and proxies extracted from archaeological excavations for which there may be bias in selection. Inferences on palaeoclimates are thus based predominantly on archaeological and palaeogeomorphological evidence for discrete periods during the late Quaternary. This review paper presents a more detailed multidisciplinary synthesis of late Quaternary conditions in Lesotho. We simultaneously considered the varying data that contribute to the under-studied palaeoenvironmental record for southern Africa. The collective palaeoenvironmental data for eastern Lesotho were shown to be relatively contradictory, with considerable variations in contemporaneous palaeoclimatic conditions within the study area. We argue that although methodological challenges may contribute to this variation, the marked changes in topography result in contrasting late Quaternary palaeoenvironments. Such environments are characterised by similar contrasting microclimates and niche ecologies as are witnessed in the contemporary landscape. These spatial variations within a relatively small landlocked country are of importance in understanding broader southern African palaeoenvironmental change.
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    A study of inter-analyst variability in the classification of stone-walled structures in southern Gauteng, South Africa
    (2013-04-18) MacRoberts, Rebecca
    The study of stone-walled structures within the last 1000 years in southern Africa can help archaeologists to understand how the landscape was peopled. Google Earth and GIS can make data capture easier, but when diferent analysts are involved, there can be significant variability in their results. By comparing data classified by three researchers in the same study area, it was possible to quantify inter-analyst variability and to query where and why it occured. The quality of Google Earth imagery had much influence in introducing inter-analyst variability. Subjective decisions on classification also introduced high amounts of variability. With more intensive training on classification and better imagery, inter-analyst variability can be reduced.