Ecker Michaela, Rhodes Sara, Andersen Nils, Horwitz Liora Kolska, Chazan Michael, Makarewicz Cheryl A
Institute of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology, Kiel University, 24118, Kiel, Germany.
Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour, Universidade do Algarve, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal.
Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 26;15(1):14667. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-99054-0.
Sediment biomarkers are important archives of regional, and global climate signatures, particularly in regions which lack continuous terrestrial archives such as the semi-arid deserts of Africa. We measured carbon and hydrogen stable isotopes from plant wax n-alkanes recovered from the Holocene Later Stone Age (LSA) sedimentary sequence at Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa), that comprises several technocomplexes (Kuruman/Oakhurst, Wilton, Ceramic Wilton and Historic). The plant wax n-alkane results were integrated with published palaeoenvironment reconstructions from the cave based on faunal, botanical, geological and sedimentological proxies which provides a robust comparative framework. The findings match well with other proxy records from the same strata and indicate a semi-arid to semi-humid early Holocene, with a mix of woody C plants and C grasses. In contrast, the mid-late Holocene environment was increasingly arid, open and dominated by C grasses. A distinct humid period at 5300-6200 cal. BP is evident, associated with a high density of archaeological material and a change in cultural expression in the Wonderwerk record. This study provides a step forward in using stable isotopes from biomarkers to create terrestrial environmental records in semi-arid regions.
沉积物生物标志物是区域和全球气候特征的重要档案，特别是在缺乏连续陆地档案的地区，如非洲的半干旱沙漠。我们测量了从南非万德沃克洞穴全新世晚期石器时代（LSA）沉积序列中回收的植物蜡正构烷烃的碳和氢稳定同位素，该序列包含几个技术复合体（库鲁曼/奥克赫斯特、威尔顿、陶瓷威尔顿和历史时期）。植物蜡正构烷烃的结果与基于动物、植物、地质和沉积学指标的该洞穴已发表的古环境重建结果相结合，提供了一个强大的比较框架。这些发现与同一地层的其他指标记录非常吻合，表明全新世早期为半干旱至半湿润，有木本C植物和C草混合生长。相比之下，全新世中后期环境日益干旱、开阔，以C草为主。公元前5300 - 6200年有一个明显的湿润期，这在万德沃克记录中与高密度的考古材料和文化表达的变化相关。这项研究在利用生物标志物的稳定同位素创建半干旱地区陆地环境记录方面向前迈进了一步。
