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<p>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 <i>n</i>-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 <i>n</i>-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<sub>3</sub> plants and C<sub>4</sub> grasses. In contrast, the mid-late Holocene environment was increasingly arid, open and dominated by C<sub>4</sub> grasses. A distinct humid period at 5300–6200&#xa0;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.</p>

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A holocene n-alkane stable isotope record from Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa and its implications for the later stone age record

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年4月26日

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  • Michaela Ecker,
  • Sara Rhodes,
  • Nils Andersen,
  • Liora Kolska Horwitz,
  • Michael Chazan,
  • Cheryl A. Makarewicz

摘要

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 C3 plants and C4 grasses. In contrast, the mid-late Holocene environment was increasingly arid, open and dominated by C4 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.