Journal Article


Ecological stability of Late Pleistocene-to-Holocene Lesotho, southern Africa, facilitated human upland habitation

Abstract

Investigation of Homo sapiens’ palaeogeographic expansion into African mountain environments are changing the understanding of our species’ adaptions to various extreme Pleistocene climates and habitats. Here, we present a vegetation and precipitation record from the Ha Makotoko rockshelter in western Lesotho, which extends from ~60,000 to 1,000 years ago. Stable carbon isotope ratios from plant wax biomarkers indicate a constant C3-dominated ecosystem up to about 5,000 years ago, followed by C4 grassland expansion due to increasing Holocene temperatures. Hydrogen isotope ratios indicate a drier, yet stable, Pleistocene and Early Holocene compared to a relatively wet Late Holocene. Although relatively cool and dry, the Pleistocene was ecologically reliable due to generally uniform precipitation amounts, which incentivized persistent habitation because of dependable freshwater reserves that supported rich terrestrial foods and provided prime locations for catching fish.

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Authors

Patalano, Robert
Arthur, Charles
Carleton, William Christopher
Challis, Sam
Dewar, Genevieve
Gayantha, Kasun
Gleixner, Gerd
Ilgner, Jana
Lucas, Mary
Marzo, Sara
Mokhachane, Rethabile
Pazan, Kyra
Spurite, Diana
Morley, Mike W.
Parker, Adrian
Mitchell, Peter
Stewart, Brian A.
Roberts, Patrick

Oxford Brookes departments

School of Law and Social Sciences

Dates

Year of publication: 2023
Date of RADAR deposit: 2024-04-24


Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License


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