Changing Climates, Ecosystems and Environments within Arid Southern Africa and Adjoining Regions: Palaeoecology of Africa 33

237 Pages·2016·7.49 MB·English

by  Bamford

CHANGING CLIMATES, ECOSYSTEMS AND
ENVIRONMENTS WITHIN ARID SOUTHERN
AFRICA AND ADJOINING REGIONS
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Palaeoecology of Africa
International Yearbook of Landscape Evolution
and Palaeoenvironments
ISSN 2372-5907
Volume 33
Editor-in-Chief
J. Runge, Frankfurt, Germany
Editorial board
G. Botha, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
E. Cornellissen, Tervuren, Belgium
F. Gasse, Aix-en-Provence, France
P. Giresse, Perpignan, France
K. Heine, Regensburg, Germany
S. Kröpelin, Köln, Germany
T. Huffmann, Johannesburg, South Africa
E. Latrubesse, Austin, Texas, USA
J. Maley, Montpellier, France
J.-P. Mund, Eberswalde, Germany
D. Olago, Nairobi, Kenya
F. Runge, Altendiez, Germany
L. Scott, Bloemfontein, South Africa
I. Stengel, Windhoek, Namibia
F.A. Street-Perrott, Oxford, UK
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Changing Climates, Ecosystems and
Environments within Arid Southern
Africa and Adjoining Regions
Editor
Jürgen Runge
Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Africa (CIRA/ZIAF),
Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
In collaboration with
Marion K. Bamford
Evolutionary Studies Institute and School of Geosciences,
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Linda Basson
Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa
Joachim Eisenberg
Institute of Physical Geography, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University,
Frankfurt am Main, Germany

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Front cover: Deelpan, situated about 50 km west of Bloemfontein, South Africa (Photo:
L. Scott, October 2014). For a detailed look on Deelpan see the contribution of Karl W. Butzer
and John F. Oswald (Chapter 3).
This edition of Palaeoecology of Africa was generously supported by the “Georg und
Franziska Speyersche Hochschulstiftung”, Konrad-Adenauer-Straße 15, 60313 Frankfurt am
Main, Germany.
CRC Press/Balkema is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, London, UK
Typeset by V Publishing Solutions Pvt Ltd., Chennai, India
Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
All rights reserved. No part of this publication or the information contained herein may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written prior permission from
the publisher.
Although all care is taken to ensure integrity and the quality of this publication and the infor-
mation herein, no responsibility is assumed by the publishers nor the author for any damage to
the property or persons as a result of operation or use of this publication and/or the informa-
tion contained herein.
Published by: CRC Press/Balkema
P.O. Box 11320, 2301 EH Leiden, The Netherlands
e-mail: [email protected]
www.crcpress.com – www.taylorandfrancis.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Changing climates, ecosystems, and environments within arid southern Africa and adjoining
regions/editors, Jürgen Runge, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Africa (CIRA/ZIAF),
Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; in collaboration with
Marion K. Bamford, Evolutionary Studies Institute and School of Geosciences, University of
the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, Linda Basson, Zoology and Entomology, Uni-
versity of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa, Joachim Eisenberg, Institute of Physical
Geography, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
p ages cm.—(Palaeoecology of Africa, international yearbook of landscape evolution
and palaeoenvironments, ISSN 2372-5907 ; volume 33)
S ummary: Discusses climate change impact on both the region of southern Africa, and the
nation of South Africa.
Includes bibliographical references and index.

I SBN 978-1-138-02704-6 (hardcover : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-315-73830-7 (ebook)
1. Climatic changes—Africa, Southern. 2. Global warming—Africa, Southern. 3. Climatic
changes—South Africa. 4. Global warming—South Africa. 5. Arid regions—Africa.
6. Biotic communities—Africa, Southern. I. Runge, Jürgen, 1962-editor. II. Bamford,
M.K., editor. III. Basson, Linda, 1958- editor. IV. Eisenberg, Joachim, 1972-editor.
QC903.2.A35C47 2015
577.2’20968—dc23
2015025688
ISBN: 978-1-138-02704-6 (Hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-73830-7 (eBook PDF)
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Contents
FOREWORD vii
—Jürgen Runge
CONTRIBUTORS ix
CHAPTER 1 FROM PAST TO PRESENT: LOUIS SCOTT TRIBUTE
CONFERENCE 1
—Jürgen Runge & Maitland T. Seaman
CHAPTER 2 GEOMORPHOLOGY AND LATE QUATERNARY
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: AN OVERVIEW
OF CENTRAL SOUTHERN AFRICA 19
—Peter Holmes
CHAPTER 3 DRY LAKES OR PANS OF THE WESTERN FREE
STATE, SOUTH AFRICA: ENVIRONMENTAL
HISTORY OF DEELPAN AND POSSIBLE EARLY
HUMAN IMPACTS 35
—Karl W. Butzer & John F. Oswald
CHAPTER 4 HOMO HABILIS AND AUSTRALOPITHECUS
AFRICANUS, IN THE CONTEXT OF A
CHRONOSPECIES AND CLIMATIC CHANGE 53
—J. Francis Thackeray
CHAPTER 5 THE FAURESMITH AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL
SYSTEMATICS 59

—Michael Chazan
CHAPTER 6 A RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SKULL OF
MEGALOTRAGUS PRISCUS (BROOM, 1909),
BASED ON A FIND FROM ERFKROON, MODDER
RIVER, SOUTH AFRICA, WITH NOTES ON THE
CHRONOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF THE
SPECIES 71
—James S. Brink, C. Britt Bousman & Rainer Grün
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vi Contents
CHAPTER 7 OSTRICH EGGSHELL AS A SOURCE OF
PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
IN THE ARID INTERIOR OF SOUTH AFRICA:
A CASE STUDY FROM WONDERWERK CAVE 95
—Michaela Ecker, Jennifer Botha-Brink, Julia A. Lee-Thorp,
André Piuz & Liora Kolska Horwitz
CHAPTER 8 FIRST CHRONOLOGICAL, PALAEOENVIRON-
MENTAL, AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA FROM
THE BADEN-BADEN FOSSIL SPRING COMPLEX
IN THE WESTERN FREE STATE, SOUTH AFRICA 117
—Andri C. van Aardt, C. Britt Bousman, James S. Brink,
George A. Brook, Zenobia Jacobs, Pieter J. du Preez,
Lloyd Rossouw & Louis Scott
CHAPTER 9 CHARCOAL FROM PRE-HOLOCENE STRATUM 5,
WONDERWERK CAVE, SOUTH AFRICA 153
—Marion K. Bamford
CHAPTER 10 REDISCOVERING THE INTRIGUING
PATRIMONIES DEPICTED IN ROCK SHELTERS
OF IRINGA, TANZANIA 175
—Makarius Peter Itambu
CHAPTER 11 THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON
THE ROCK ART IN THE UKHAHLAMBA-
DRAKENSBERG PARK WORLD HERITAGE SITE,
SOUTH AFRICA 191
—Alvord Nhundu
CHAPTER 12 CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND
MITIGATION THROUGH AGROFORESTRY
SYSTEMS IN WOLAITA ZONE, SOUTHERN
HIGHLAND OF ETHIOPIA 209
—Wondimu Tadiwos Hailesilassie
REGIONAL INDEX 223
SUBJECT INDEX 225
BOOK SERIES PAGE 229
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Foreword
This editon (Volume 33) of the series ‘Palaeoecology of Africa – International Year-
book of Landscape Evolution and Palaeoenvironments’ is presenting the outcome of
a ‘tribute conference’ to the internationally recognized South African researcher and
palynologist Professor Louis Scott from the Botany section, Department of Plant Sci-
ences at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. Louis Scott has
recently retired, but he is still continuing his active research career. The 11 conference
proceedings and articles published here highlight and celebrate Professor Scott’s con-
tribution to palaeoscience and to the natural sciences in general. The conference was
organized in July 2014 by the National Museum, Bloemfontein and the University
of the Free State and was attended by over 60 delegates from numerous countries.
The conference focused on both past and present environments, ecosystems and cli-
mates of the semi-arid to arid regions of southern Africa (and also some adjoining
regions), areas that serve as major foci of Prof. Scott’s research. The contributions in
this book are covering numerous aspects, ideas and methods on former climates, veg-
etation cover in tropical and subtropical ecosystems, and interdisciplinary questions of
landscape dynamics linked to climate change. There are also some more applied papers
on recent questions tackling Global Change issues such as mitigation measures in land
use (agroforestry) and the conservation of rock art as a cultural heritage.
Within the University of Frankfurt Physical Geography working group (IPG)
and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Africa (ZIAF, www.ziaf.de), all
manuscripts have been reviewed and corrected several times. The editorial process was
also assisted by two guest editors, namely Marion K. Bamford from the Evolutionary
Studies Institute and School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johan-
nesburg, and by Linda Basson from the Department of Zoology and Entomology,
University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. Formatting of the papers
for PoA layout and style was done reliably by Joachim Eisenberg (IPG). Apart from
the cartographic art work done by the principle authors themselves, Joachim Eisen-
berg revised numerous figures and assisted by carrying out additional cartographic
work for the book.

The CRC Press/Taylor & Francis team in Leiden (The Netherlands) and especially
Senior Publisher Janjaap Blom and his team helped streamline the editing process.
Financial support for this edition of Palaeoecology of Africa was generously given by
the “Georg and Franziska Speyersche Hochschulstiftung”, Konrad Adenauer Straße
15, 60313 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. To these workers and to other colleagues
who indirectly contributed and helped to make this book a reality, I am greatly obliged.
Jürgen Runge
Frankfurt
May 2015
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Contributors
Andri C. van Aardt
Department of Plant Sciences, University of the Free State, PO Box 339,
Bloemfontein, 9301, South Africa, Email: [email protected]
Marion K. Bamford
Evolutionary Studies Institute and School of Geosciences, University of the
Witwatersrand, P Bag 3, WITS 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa,
Email: [email protected]
Jennifer Botha-Brink
National Museum Bloemfontein, PO Box 266, Bloemfontein 9300,
South Africa; Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State,
Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa, Email: [email protected]
C. Britt Bousman
Department of Anthropology, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas 78666,
USA; GAES, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa,
Email: [email protected]
James S. Brink
Florisbad Quaternary Research Department, National Museum, PO Box 266,
Bloemfontein, South Africa; Centre for Environmental Management, University
of the Free State. Bloemfontein, South Africa, Email: [email protected]
George A. Brook
Department of Geography, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA,
Email: [email protected]
Karl W. Butzer

Department of Geography and the Environment, University of Texas at Austin,
Austin, Texas, USA, Email: [email protected]
Michael Chazan
Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Canada; Evolutionary
Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa,
Email: [email protected]
Michaela Ecker
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of
Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK, Email: [email protected]
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x Contributors
Rainer Grün
Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University,
Canberra ACT 0200, Australia, Email: [email protected]
Wondimu Tadiwos Hailesilassie
National Meteorological Agency, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
Email: [email protected]
Peter Holmes
Department of Geography, University of the Free State, PO Box 339,
Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa, Email: [email protected]
Liora Kolska Horwitz
Natural History Collections, Faculty of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University,
Jerusalem 91904, Israel, Email: [email protected]
Makarius Peter Itambu
Department of Archaeology and Heritage, University of Dar es Salaam,
PO Box 35050, Dar es Salaam, Email: [email protected]
Zenobia Jacobs
Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences,
University of Wollongong, Wollongong 2522, Australia, Email: [email protected]
Julia A. Lee-Thorp
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of
Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK, Email: [email protected]
Alvord Nhundu
Anthropology and Archaeology Department, University of Pretoria, South Africa,
Email: [email protected]
John F. Oswald
Department of Geography and Geology, Eastern Michigan University,
205 Strong Hall, Ypsilanti Michigan 48197, USA, Email: [email protected]
André Piuz
Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, CH-1208 Genève, Switzerland,
Email: [email protected]
Pieter J. du Preez
Department of Plant Sciences, University of the Free State, PO Box 339,
Bloemfontein, 9301, South Africa, Email: [email protected]
Lloyd Rossouw
Department of Plant Sciences, University of the Free State, PO Box 339,
Bloemfontein, 9301, South Africa; Archaeology Department, Museum,
PO Box 266, Bloemfontein, South Africa, Email: [email protected]
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