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Past Environments and Plant Use in Holocene Southern Africa: A study of charcoal and seed remains from the Late Stone Age sites of Toteng (Botswana), Leopard Cave and Geduld (Namibia)
Malebogo Mvimi
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This book uses macrobotanical analysis (charcoal and seeds/grains) from Later Stone Age sites in Botswana and Namibia to address past climatic and environmental conditions in Southern Africa during the Holocene period, c. 2000 BP. One of its main objectives is to comprehend subsistence and overall socio-economic stratagems of human communities vis-à-vis their vegetal milieu. The majority of Southern Africa has comparatively few archaeobotanical studies, so this is the first archaeobotanical research from the site of Toteng and Botswana. Hence, this study draws equally from ethnographic inferences to understand current plant distribution and utilisation, which was achieved by using data collected among the San and Damara communities, found in the Erongo region, Namibia. Finally, a botanical reference collection was developed in order to facilitate the macrobotanical identification process, as well as to contribute to the initial reference bank that will later be developed for future research.
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Front Cover
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Title Page
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Copyright
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Titles in the Series
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Of Related Interest
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Dedication
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Acknowledgements
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Contents
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List of Figures
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List of Tables
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Abstract
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Introduction
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Chapter 1: Environmental Background of Southern Africa
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1.1. Delimination of the study area
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1.1.1. Geomorphology and soils
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1.2. Past and present climatic conditions
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1.3. Past and present vegetation
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1.4. Fauna
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Chapter 2: The Late Stone Age with a Special Focus on the Studied Sites
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2.1. The Late Pleistocene and the onset of the LSAin Southern Africa
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2.1.1. Technical changes during the LSA
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2.2. The Holocene LSA and its place among thehistory of the peopling of Southern Africa
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2.3. Chronology and the place of herders: the adventof a Southern African ‘Neolithic’?
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2.3.1. Subsistence strategies
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2.4. Leopard Cave (Erongo, Namibia)
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2.4.1. Stratigraphy and dating
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2.4.2. Lithic materials
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2.4.3. Faunal remains
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2.4.4. Human remains
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2.4.5. Pigments and rock art
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2.4.6. Present day environment
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2.5. Toteng 1 (Botswana)
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2.5.1. Stratigraphy and dating
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2.5.2. Archaeological remains
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2.5.3. Pottery
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2.5.4. Lithics
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2.5.5. Non lithic products
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2.5.6. Faunal remains
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2.5.7. Lake Ngami as an important water source
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2.5.8. Present day landscape and vegetation
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2.6. Geduld (Kunene, Namibia)
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2.6.1. Stratigraphy and datings
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2.6.2. Material cultures
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2.6.3. Faunal remains
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2.6.4. Botanical remains
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Chapter 3: Archaeobotanical Material and Methods
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3.1. Description of the study material
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3.2. Sampling methods
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3.3. Leopard Cave
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3.4. Geduld
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3.5. Toteng 1
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3.6. Laboratory methods and botani cal identifi cations
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3.7. Charcoal analysis
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3.8. Seed analysis
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3.9. Constitution of a reference collection
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Chapter 4: Plant Use Among Present-day Damara and San Populations in the Erongo Region, Namibia
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4.1. Objectives of the ethnobotanical study
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4.2. Description of the Damara village of Tubusis
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4.2.1. The Damara ethnic group
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4.2.2. Methodology
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4.2.3. Description of plant uses for each household
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4.2.4. General observations
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4.3. The San Living Museum in the Omandumba farm
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4.3.1. The San populations of Southern Africa
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4.3.2. Plant use in the San community from Tsumkwe
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Chapter 5: Results
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5.1. Description of identified taxa
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Geduld: FABACEAE - Vachellia/Senegalia /Dichrostachys type
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Geduld: FABACEAE - Vachellia/Senegalia type 1
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Geduld: FABACEAE type
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Geduld: FABACEAE - Vachellia/Senegalia type 2
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Leopard Cave: FABACEAE - Vachellia/Senegalia type 2
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Geduld: FABACEAE - Vachellia/Senegalia type 4
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Geduld: FABACEAE – Vachellia/Senegalia type 5
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Geduld: FABACEAE - Peltophorum africanum
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Geduld: FABACEAE/CAESPALPINACEAE- Colophospermum mopane
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Toteng: FABACEAE - Vachellia/Senegalia type 7
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Leopard Cave: FABACEAE - Vachellia/Senegalia type 7
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Leopard Cave: FABACEAE - Vachellia/Senegalia /Dichrostachys type 2
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Geduld: CAPPARACEAE - Maerua/Boscia
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Leopard Cave: CAPPARACEAE - Maerua/Boscia
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Leopard Cave: CAPPARACEAE
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Leopard Cave: CAPPARACEAE - Boscia type
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Leopard Cave: COMBRETACEAE - Terminalia prunoides type
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Leopard Cave: COMBRETACEAE - Combretum molle
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Leopard Cave: COMBRETACEAE - Terminalia type
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Leopard Cave: ANACARDIACEAE- Sclerocarya birrea
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5.2. Leopard Cave: results of the anthracological study
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5.2.1. Results of the seed analysis
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5.2.2. First observations on the macrobotanical record at Leopard Cave
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5.3. Geduld: results of the anthracological study
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5.3.1. Results of the seed analysis
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5.3.2. First observations on the macrobotanical record at Geduld
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5.4. Toteng: results of the anthracological study
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5.5. Preliminary conclusions
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Chapter 6: Discussion
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6.1. Leopard Cave’s arboreal species from charcoal
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6.2. Arboreal species from seed analysis
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6.3. Geduld’s arboreal species from charcoal
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6.4. Arboreal species from seed analysis
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6.5. Annual plants from seeds analysis
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6.6. Toteng’s arboreal species from charcoal
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6.7. Making inferences from today’s vegetation
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6.8. Wild fauna to complement the environmental setting
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6.9. Subsistence strategies and use of biological resources
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6.10. The choice of species
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6.11. Two exceptional species of Colophospermum mopane and Sclerocarya birrea
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6.12. Seasonality of fruit collection and possible processing
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Appendix 1: Wood Anatomy for Identification Purposes
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Appendix 2: List of Identified Families Featuring in the Wood Atlas (Accordingto Coates and Palgrave 2002; van Wyk and van Wyk 2007)
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● Anacardiaceae
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● Burseraceae
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● Capparaceae
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● Combretaceae
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● Cucurbitaceae
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● Ebanaceae
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● Euphorbiaceae
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● Fabaceae/Caesalpinaceae
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● Fabaceae/Mimosoideae
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● Olacaceae
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● Poaceae
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● Rhamnaceae
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● Rubiaceae
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● Tiliaceae
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A4 - FABACEAE - Senegalia mellifera subsp. detines, Swarthaak (Erongo, Namibia)
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A5 - FABACEAE - Vachelia robusta (Burch) (Southeastern Botswana)
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A6 - BOMBACACEAE - Adansonia digitata L. (Northwestern Botswana)
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A7 – MALVACEAE - Azanza garckeana (F. Hoffm.) Exell & Hillcoat (Southeastern Botswana)
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A8 – FABACEAE - Adenolobus garipensis (E. Mey.) Torre & Hills. (Erongo, Namibia)
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A9 – COMBRETACEAE - Combretum apiculatum subsp. boreal Exell (South-eastern Botswana)
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A10 – BURSERACEAE - Commiphora glandulosa Schinz (South-eastern Botswana)
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A11 – BURSERACEAE - Commiphora mossambicensis Engl. (North-western Botswana)
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A12 – FABACEAE - Dichrostachys cinerea (L.) Wight & Arn (Erongo, Namibia)
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A13 - MALVACEAE - Dombeya rotundifolia Planch. (South-eastern Botswana)
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A14 – CAPPARACEAE - Boscia foetida Schinz. (Erongo, Namibia)
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A15 – RUBIACEAE - Gardenia volkensii K. Schum (South-eastern Botswana)
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A16 – TILIACEAE - Grewia flava DC. (South-eastern Botswana)
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A17 – MORINGACEAE - Moringa ovalifolia Denter&Berger (Erongo mountains)
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A18 – SAPOTACEAE - Sideroxylon inerme L. (South-eastern Botswana)
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A19 – CAESALPINIACEAE - Colophospermum mopane (J. Kirk ex Benth.) J. Léonard (North-western Botswana)
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A20 – VITACEAE - Cissus cornifolia Planch. (North-western Botswana)
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A21 – ANACARDIACEAE - Lannea schweinfurthii Engl. (South-eastern Botswana)
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A22 – COMBRETACEAE - Terminalia prunoides M.A Lawson (North-western Botswana)
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A23 - OLACACEAE - Ximenia americana L. (Erongo, Namibia)
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A24 – RHAMNACEAE - Ziziphus mucronata Willd. (Erongo, Namibia)
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A25 – RUBIACEAE - Vangueria infausta Burch. (Erongo, Namibia)
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A26 – FABACEAE - Cassia abbreviata Oliv. (Southeastern Botswana)
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References
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Back Cover
Citable Link
Published: 2022
Publisher: BAR Publishing
- 9781407357188 (ebook)
- 9781407357171 (paper)
BAR Number: S3072