Taxonomic and taphonomic interpretations of newly excavated in situ GD 2 faunal remains at Gondolin
Date
2024-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Evolutionary Studies Institute
Abstract
Gondolin is one of the fossil-bearing karstic localities in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. Periodic excavations of calcified and
decalcified sediments at several loci (GD 1,GD2 andGDA) over the last few decades have yielded a sizeable sample of Plio-Pleistocene
fauna, including two hominin teeth from ex situ deposits. In 2015, renewed excavations were conducted at the GD 2 locality, which
consists of decalcified in situ deposits, in order to shed more light on the site’s complex formation processes as well as to try finding new
hominin material from a stratigraphically secured context. While these excavations did not yield any hominin material, abundant
macrovertebrate remains were recovered. This paper presents the taxonomic composition and taphonomic characteristics of this new
faunal assemblage. The occurrence of Equus sp. as well as the extinct species Metridiochoerus andrewsi and Hystrix makapanensis places the
assemblage in a depositional age bracket of 2.33–1.78 Ma, which is consistent with ages already proposed forGD2. No primate material
was recovered. The assemblage displays a taxonomic and bodyweight bias towards small-bodied (size classes I and II) bovids. The
taphonomic characteristics of the bovid remains suggest the selective action of a leopard-like carnivore and while there is no direct
evidence that the locality was used as a hyaena den, secondary scavenging by hyaenids cannot be excluded. Porcupines played an
ancillary role in the bone accumulation. We performed intra- and inter-site taxonomic and taphonomic comparisons between this
faunal sample and fossil assemblages from previously excavated localities at Gondolin (GD 1, GD 2 and GD A), as well as from other
Paranthropus robustus-bearing sites in the Cradle of Humankind. These comparisons indicate that this new sample closely resembles the
faunal assemblage previously collected from in situ calcified sediments at the GD 2 locality, in terms of species composition, bovid size
class distribution, carnivore to ungulate ratio, and general taphonomic characterization.
Description
Keywords
Plio-Pleistocene, South Africa, Cradle of Humankind, Hystrix makapanensis, Metriodiochoerus andrewsi, Paranthropus robustus