Paleolandscape Reconstruction using Geoproxy Evidence at Erfkroon, South Africa

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dc.contributor.advisorBousman, Britt
dc.contributor.authorMorris, Sarah E.
dc.contributor.committeeMemberToffolo, Michael
dc.contributor.committeeMemberKilby, David
dc.date.accessioned2019-12-02T20:32:49Z
dc.date.available2019-12-02T20:32:49Z
dc.date.issued2019-12
dc.description.abstractThe site of Erfkroon, located in the Western Free State Province, South Africa, is characterized by a complex alluvial system in which paleoenvironmental, fossil, microbotanical and archaeological materials are preserved in abundance during the Late Quaternary period. Multi-disciplinary investigations have demonstrated the presence of Middle and Later Stone Age human occupations in the site’s overbank deposits in which sedimentation and phases of pedogenic development span ~120 ka. Better defining periods of sedimentation, erosion, geomorphic stability and pedogenesis within these deposits is fundamental to understanding Erfkroon’s geological, paleoclimatical and archaeological records. There are currently two competing models describing the genesis of these strata: The Single-Terrace Accretionary Hypothesis (Tooth et al. 2013; Lyons et al. 2014) and the Multiple Terrace Allostratigraphy Hypothesis (Bousman & Brink 2014). This study evaluates the validity both models using multiple theoretical and methodological approaches. Systematic field description of multiple profile exposures across the study area, coupled with magnetic susceptibility, particle size, and micromorphological analytical techniques provides one the highest resolution geological studies of the terrace system to-date, and further clarifies the nature of these deposits within the context of human occupation and paleoclimatic change in the continental interior at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition.
dc.description.departmentAnthropology
dc.formatText
dc.format.extent392 pages
dc.format.medium1 file (.pdf)
dc.identifier.citationMorris, S. E. (2019). <i>Paleolandscape reconstruction using geoproxy evidence at Erfkroon, South Africa</i> (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10877/8980
dc.language.isoen
dc.subjectGeology
dc.subjectGeoarchaeology
dc.subjectQuaternary
dc.subjectPaleolandscape reconstruction
dc.subjectPaleosols
dc.subjectAllostratigraphy
dc.subjectMiddle Stone Age
dc.subjectEarly Later Stone Age
dc.subjectMicromorphology
dc.subjectGeomorphology
dc.subjectQuaternary geology
dc.subjectEfrkroon
dc.subjectSouth Africa
dc.subjectArchaeology
dc.subjectAfrican archaeology
dc.subjectAnthropology
dc.subjectStone Age
dc.subject.lcshExcavations (Archaeology)--South Africa
dc.subject.lcshGeology--South Africa
dc.titlePaleolandscape Reconstruction using Geoproxy Evidence at Erfkroon, South Africa
dc.typeThesis
thesis.degree.departmentAnthropology
thesis.degree.disciplineAnthropology
thesis.degree.grantorTexas State University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts

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