Fields of study

The Makapan Valley in Limpopo province is a World Heritage Site, containing numerous deposits dating to the last several million years of hominin evolution. One of the most important sites in this region is the Cave of Hearths (CoH), with evidence for hominin occupations during the Early, Middle and Later Stone Ages, Iron Age and historical period. The site was excavated in the 1940s and 1950s, and has never been properly dated. There are some indications that during certain times, wetter periods were experienced in the region. Some broad dates are available for the deposits at the CoH, but these are excessively vague. A large faunal collection was excavated at the CoH, which have not yet been properly analysed. Unfortunately, the lack of secure, refined dates inhibit the re-analyses and interpretation of the faunal remains. With this study, a comprehensive geochronological approach is proposed, in order to properly date the beds, and obtain reliable information from the sediments to reconstruct the palaeoenvironment of the region during the late Quaternary.