Research Outputs (School of Geosciences)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/21117

Browse

Filters

2006 - 200912010 - 20171

Settings

Author: search.filters.author.Berger, L.R.Subject: search.filters.subject.Gauteng

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Osteopathology and insect traces in the Australopithecus africanus skeleton StW 431
    (Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2017-01) Zipfel, B.; Jakata, K.; Bonney, H.; Odes, E.J.; Parkinson, A.H.; Randolph-Quinney, P.S.; Berger, L.R.
    We present the first application of high-resolution micro computed tomography in an analysis of both the internal and external morphology of the lumbar region of StW 431 - a hominin skeleton recovered from Member 4 infill of the Sterkfontein Caves (South Africa) in 1987. The lumbar vertebrae of the individual present a number of proliferative and erosive bony processes, which were investigated in this study. Investigations suggest a complex history of taphonomic alteration to pre-existing spinal degenerative joint disease (SDJD) as well as post-mortem modification by an unknown insect. This study is in agreement with previous pathological diagnoses of SDJD which affected StW 431 and is the first time insect traces on this hominin are described. The results of this analysis attest to the complex series of post-mortem processes affecting the Sterkfontein site and its fossil assemblages.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    An Acheulean handaxe from Gladysvale Cave site, Gauteng, South Africa.
    (Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2006-03) Hall, G.; Pickering, R.; Lacruz, R.; Hancox, J.; Berger, L.R.; Schmid, P.
    WE DESCRIBE A SINGLE HANDAXE FROM fossiliferous breccias at Gladysvale Cave, South Africa. The artefact is the only known tool so far discovered during the controlled excavations conducted at this site over the last decade, and was recovered from decalcified sediments near the stratigraphic interface of two breccia units, making it difficult to assign it with confidence to either. The morphology of the handaxe indicates a middle-late Acheulean industry, and preliminary electron spin resonance and palaeomagnetic dating suggest an age of greater than 780 000 years.