Liora Kolska Horwitz

Microstratigraphic evidence of in situ fire in the Acheulean strata of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa

The ability to control fire was a crucial turning point in human evolution, but the question when hominins first developed this ability still remains. Here we show that micromorphological and Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (mFTIR) analyses of intact sediments at the site of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa, provide unambiguous evidence—in the form of burned bone and ashed plant remains—that burning took place in the cave during the early Acheulean occupation, approximately 1.0 Ma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the earliest secure evidence for burning in an archaeological context.

Radiometric dating of the Earlier Stone Age sequence in Excavation I at Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa: preliminary results

We present here the results of 44 paleomagnetic measurements, and single cosmogenic burial and optically stimulated luminescence ages for the Earlier Stone Age deposits from Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape, South Africa. The resulting paleomagnetic sequence: N>R>N>R>N constrains the Earlier Stone Age strata in this part of the site to between approximately 0.78-1.96 Ma. A single cosmogenic date of approximately 2.0 Ma from the base of the section offers some corroboration for the paleomagnetic sequence. Preliminary results indicate that the small lithic assemblage from the basal stratum may contain an Oldowan facies. This is overlain by several strata containing Acheulean industries. The preliminary radiometric dates reported here place the onset of the Acheulean at this site to approximately 1.6 Ma, which is roughly contemporaneous with that of East Africa.

A study of Pleistocene and Holocene hyaena coprolites

Abstract Hyaena coprolites from a diachronic series of archaeological sites in Israel were examined and compared with recent faecal material from striped hyaena dens and zoos. Three methods were applied in the analysis of all samples: gross morphometrical attributes, X-ray diffraction and petrological thin sections. This last method is an innovation in the field of coprolite studies and facilitates the long-term preservation of the original textural characteristics and fabric of sections of the coprolite. The combination of these three approaches facilitated, among other things, the assessment of hyaena diet in the past as well as in the present, and determination of local environmental factors affecting the composition of the coprolite; we also obtained some indication of changes related to ageing of the material.

The effects of striped hyaena activity on human remains

Abstract Human skeletal remains recovered from two striped hyaena dens in Israel showed damage similar to that found on other bones from the same dens. All bones showed gnawing, but relatively few showed puncture marks. The frequency of attacked areas on both human and other remains showed a distinctive pattern that differs markedly from that resulting from diagenesis or butchery practices.

Body size diminution under domestication: Unconscious selection in primeval domesticates

Abstract The unique habitats that were created around permanent settlement sites encouraged certain animals to invade and rapidly colonize the newly opened anthropogenic niches. Most of the species became facultative or obligatory commensals, with extensive morphological and behavioral changes, and in a few cases, with full speciation taking place. The approach outlined here is based on the model of K- and r-selection, and favors the view that changes in body size (as well as other traits) observed in animals undergoing domestication were due to spontaneous morphogenetical responses to the special anthropogenic milieu. The observed reduction in body size of most domesticates is a function of changing reproductive strategies in the face of changes in selection pressures. It is suggested that changes in body size under domestication reflect a shift along the continuum from the selection for individual viability toward selection for higher reproductive rate. The shift in body size occurred as a response to the unique habitats that induced new conditions of food and water availability, relaxation in competition/predation pressures, low species diversity and hence low interspecific competition, but a significant increase in intraspecific competition due to the artificial decrease in the niche volume of each individual, by permitting higher population densities. The relieved selective pressures and high intrapopulation competition for resources associated with domestication set in motion a cyclical reaction of accelerated maturation, increased reproductive capacity with a tendency for larger litter sizes, and shortened generation time, leading tooverall size reduction in the population, and other traits connected with r-selection strategy.

Reconstructing the history of sediment deposition in caves: A case study from Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa

We applied cosmogenic isotope burial dating, magnetostratigraphy, and grain-size distribution analysis to elucidate the history of the sedimentary sequence, composed of fine quartz sands and silts, of Wonderwerk Cave, located on the southern edge of the Kalahari Desert, South Africa. The source for the quartz sand is the Kalahari sand dunes, presently located ∼100 km to the north of the cave. Field observations and grain-size analysis suggest a sediment transport scenario that includes eolian transport of Kalahari sand, abraded to a size of 70–100 µm, to the Kuruman Hills, temporary storage on the hill slopes and valleys surrounding Wonderwerk Cave, and later transport and deposition inside the cave. Our results suggest simple burial ages for sediments from both the front and back of the cave that range between 2.63 ± 0.17 Ma and 1.56 ± 0.10 Ma following initial exposure of 310–620 k.y. However, 26 Al/ 10 Be ratios of 3.98 ± 0.24 and 4.08 ± 0.22 measured in a sand sample collected from the surface outside the cave may imply an initial burial signal equivalent to 0.78 ± 0.15 Ma, thus reducing the possible age range of the buried samples to between 1.85 ± 0.23 and 0.78 ± 0.18 Ma. The paleomagnetic results for the front of the cave gave a polarity sequence of N > R > N||N, where N indicates normal polarity, and R indicates reverse polarity. This sequence can be correlated with both the older and younger cosmogenic burial age ranges. The correlation suggests that in the cave front, cosmogenic burial ages and the acquisition of stable remanent magnetization were not significantly affected by chemical and physical processes and that postburial production of cosmogenic isotopes was insignificant. In contrast, at the back of the cave, the paleomagnetic polarity sequence of R > N cannot be correlated with the cosmogenic burial ages, since the temporal gap between the initial penetration of the sediment into the cave and the final acquisition of a stable remanent magnetization may have been long (∼10 5 yr), and the single polarity transition can be correlated to any reverse-normal transition that occurred during the Quaternary. This highlights the need for caution when cosmogenic burial ages and paleomagnetic sequences are compared. The buried sediments in Wonderwerk Cave show similar grain-size distributions to the fine sand sediment presently exposed at the surface in the vicinity of the cave. Furthermore, calculated preburial 10 Be concentrations for the buried sediment are similar to those measured in sediment outside the cave. These similarities suggest that the environmental conditions and rates of geomorphic processes that persisted during sand deposition in Wonderwerk Cave during the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene may have been similar to those currently experienced in the southern Kalahari, the Kuruman Hills, and the western Ghaap Plain. These conditions favor the transport of fine-grained quartz sand to the vicinity of the cave.

Magnetostratigraphy of the Evron Member--implications for the age of the Middle Acheulian site of Evron Quarry.

The Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel The Geophysical Institute of Israel, P.O.Box 182, Lod 71100, Israel The Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel St., Jerusalem 95501, Israel The Zinman Institute of Archaeology, The University of Haifa, Haifa 31095, Israel Department of Evolution, Systematics and Ecology, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel

Protein sequences bound to mineral surfaces persist into deep time

Proteins persist longer in the fossil record than DNA, but the longevity, survival mechanisms and substrates remain contested. Here, we demonstrate the role of mineral binding in preserving the protein sequence in ostrich (Struthionidae) eggshell, including from the palaeontological sites of Laetoli (3.8 Ma) and Olduvai Gorge (1.3 Ma) in Tanzania. By tracking protein diagenesis back in time we find consistent patterns of preservation, demonstrating authenticity of the surviving sequences. Molecular dynamics simulations of struthiocalcin-1 and -2, the dominant proteins within the eggshell, reveal that distinct domains bind to the mineral surface. It is the domain with the strongest calculated binding energy to the calcite surface that is selectively preserved. Thermal age calculations demonstrate that the Laetoli and Olduvai peptides are 50 times older than any previously authenticated sequence (equivalent to ~16 Ma at a constant 10°C). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.17092.001

Ancient DNA and Population Turnover in Southern Levantine Pigs- Signature of the Sea Peoples Migration?

Near Eastern wild boars possess a characteristic DNA signature. Unexpectedly, wild boars from Israel have the DNA sequences of European wild boars and domestic pigs. To understand how this anomaly evolved, we sequenced DNA from ancient and modern pigs from Israel. Pigs from Late Bronze Age (until ca. 1150 BCE) in Israel shared haplotypes of modern and ancient Near Eastern pigs. European haplotypes became dominant only during the Iron Age (ca. 900 BCE). This raises the possibility that European pigs were brought to the region by the Sea Peoples who migrated to the Levant at that time. Then, a complete genetic turnover took place, most likely because of repeated admixture between local and introduced European domestic pigs that went feral. Severe population bottlenecks likely accelerated this process. Introductions by humans have strongly affected the phylogeography of wild animals, and interpretations of phylogeography based on modern DNA alone should be taken with caution.

Milestones in the development of symbolic behaviour: a case study from Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa

Abstract Wonderwerk Cave (Northern Cape Province, South Africa) is an example of a natural locality that, in the past as in the present, was imbued with meaning and symbolism. Today, local communities associate the cave with a snake spirit, while rock art adorning the cave walls attests to the special status of the cave during the Later Stone Age. In the terminal Acheulean (over 180,000 years ago), hominins introduced manuports with special sensory properties into the back of the cave, a locality with singular acoustic and visual qualities. Thus, the archaeological record of Wonderwerk Cave serves as a unique and extensive diachronic record of milestones in the development of symbolic behaviour. It provides evidence to support the position that elements of symbolic behaviour emerged long before the dispersal of modern humans out of Africa.