3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item A taphonomic analysis of the ungulate fauna from the early Howiesons Poort at Klasies River site(2019) Achieng, Pamela AkukuThe Howiesons Poort (HP), a key Middle Stone Age techno-complex investigated by several recent studies in South Africa, is characterized by innovative lithic reduction techniques and projectile weapons hinting at human behavioural complexity in the Late Pleistocene. This complexity is also evident in the 1.8 metre HP sequence from Klasies River main site (KRM). The subsistence behaviours and occupational activity at KRM has received much less attention than the lithic technology, leading to an underdeveloped understanding of behavioural complexity of the HP at KRM. In this study taphonomic analyses, a crucial step in establishing subsistence strategies and site formation processes, have been undertaken for two layers from the lowermost HP deposits in Cave 1A, from square J51 layers YSx5 and CPx4. The relatively high incidence of acid etching, weathering, tooth marks and low degree of burning and cut marks suggest both human and carnivore accumulators in layer YSx5. Layer CPx4 on the other hand records relatively higher levels of burning, percussion marks and cut marks indicating human accumulators. The higher levels of trampling and abrasion in CPx4 indicates a period of higher occupational intensity while the lower levels of acid etching, tooth marks and weathering indicate lower carnivore activity as well post depositional exposure of bone. The abundance of the bovid size classes varies in the two layers with YSx5 exhibiting a prevalence of size 1(0-23kg) and CPx4 exhibiting size 2 (23 86kg). This most likely signifies variation in subsistence strategies with larger size classes showing higher degrees of human modification.Item Images of human evolution in South African life sciences textbooks(2017) Nyagwaya, MartinImages in human evolution play a pivotal role in helping learners understand the nature and characteristics of early humans which are central to understanding human ancestry and identity. These images, like any sign systems, were created from a particular perspective and are prone to have multiple interpretations depending on the ideological and cultural disposition of both the creator and the reader. Therefore, there is a potential that unintended meanings and associations with the representations could propagate misconceptions about human evolution. This study aims to investigate how Grade 12 Life Sciences textbooks portray human evolution through the use of a semiotic analysis based on Barthes’ (1977) semiotic theory. Through conducting my analysis, I found out that multiple modes of representation were used to portray human evolution. I also found that the degree of accuracy varied with graphs being the most accurate in comparison to other modes of representations. Furthermore, some images latently communicate race and gender related biases as well as the idea that apes are ancestors of human beings. The implications of this study are that there is need to make Life Sciences teachers more aware of the multiple meanings associated with images of human evolution so that they can articulate the multiple meanings of these images. Furthermore, there is a need for further study regarding how teachers and learners interpret the meanings associated with human evolution images with an aim of revising them if need be so as to enhance learning of the relevant concepts about the broader concept of human evolution.