Diagenesis of bone from Border Cave: implications for the age of the Border Cave hominids
نویسندگان
چکیده
Hominids from the site of Border Cave purportedly provide direct evidence for the early emergence of anatomically modern humans (AMH) in Southern Africa. ESR dating of Border Cave faunal enamel has confirmed the antiquity of the sediments, although questions persist regarding the provenience of the hominid specimens. Here we establish that, at Border Cave as elsewhere, bone mineral crystallinity, measured as the infrared (IR) splitting factor (SF), distinguishes between contemporary and recent bones on the one hand, from Middle Stone Age (MSA) bones on the other. Two hominid postcranial bones recovered in 1987 from a slumped profile, having essentially no provenience, are shown to have crystallinity indices consistent with the MSA fauna, while two of the purportedly ancient AMH specimens (BC3 and BC5) have values consistent with recent fauna. We conclude that BC3 and BC5 may be considerably younger than the sediments from which they were recovered. ? 1996 Academic Press Limited
منابع مشابه
Border Cave
Border Cave exhibits a detailed sequence of MSA strata, with probable Homo sapiens sapiens remains within these layers, arguing for an early appearance of modern humans in South Africa. Supporters of an early appearance place hominids BC1, 2, and 3 at ~115 kyr by correlation to C 14 dated soils (Butzer et al, 1978), while skeptics, using ERS methods, believe these individuals are younger than 9...
متن کاملEarly evidence of San material culture represented by organic artifacts from Border Cave, South Africa.
Recent archaeological discoveries have revealed that pigment use, beads, engravings, and sophisticated stone and bone tools were already present in southern Africa 75,000 y ago. Many of these artifacts disappeared by 60,000 y ago, suggesting that modern behavior appeared in the past and was subsequently lost before becoming firmly established. Most archaeologists think that San hunter-gatherer ...
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An enamel fragment from the Border Cave 5 specimen was analysed with non-destructive ESR combined with laser ablation ICP-MS for uranium profiling. We obtained an age of 74+/-5 ka which fits exactly into the chronological framework that has been previously established for Border Cave by a variety of dating techniques. The result lays at rest the view that BC5 could be of Iron Age, as was implie...
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