Sterkfontein at 75: review of palaeoenvironments, fauna and archaeology from the hominin site of Sterkfontein (Gauteng Province, South Africa)

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dc.contributor.authorReynolds, Sally Christine
dc.contributor.authorKibii, Job Munuhe
dc.date.accessioned2014-02-18T07:42:17Z
dc.date.available2014-02-18T07:42:17Z
dc.date.issued2011-12
dc.description.abstractSeventy-five years after Robert Broom’s discovery of the first adult Australopithecus in 1936, the Sterkfontein Caves (Gauteng Province, South Africa) remains one of the richest and most informative fossil hominin sites in the world. The deposits record hominin and African mammal evolution from roughly 2.6 million years (Ma) until the Upper Pleistocene. Earlier excavation efforts focused on the Member 4 australopithecine-bearing breccia and the Member 5 stone tool-bearing breccias of Oldowan and Early Acheulean age. Ronald J. Clarke’s 1997 programme of understanding the cave deposits as a whole led to the discovery of the near-complete StW 573 Australopithecus skeleton in the Member 2 deposit of the Silberberg Grotto, and the exploration of lesser known deposits such as the Jacovec Cavern, Name Chamber and the Lincoln Cave. Our aim is to produce a cogent synthesis of the environments, palaeodietary information, fauna and stone artefacts as recorded in the Sterkfontein sequence. We begin with an overview of the site and early accounts of the interpretations of the site-formation processes, after which we discuss each Member in turn and summarize the various types of evidence published so far. Finally, we review the most pertinent debates about the site, including the ages of Sterkfontein Member 2 and 4, and the types of habitats represented at the site through time.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0078-8554
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net10539/13827
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherBernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, University of the Witwatersranden_ZA
dc.subjectSterkfonteinen_ZA
dc.subjectAustralopithecusen_ZA
dc.subjectParanthropusen_ZA
dc.subjectHomoen_ZA
dc.subjectmammalsen_ZA
dc.subjecthomininsen_ZA
dc.subjectstable isotopesen_ZA
dc.subjectclimatic changeen_ZA
dc.subjectcave formationen_ZA
dc.titleSterkfontein at 75: review of palaeoenvironments, fauna and archaeology from the hominin site of Sterkfontein (Gauteng Province, South Africa)en_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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Volume 46 December 2011