Table 1.
Dating of the overlying hiatus level and the M1 and M2 Upper phases comprising the Still Bay sequence at BBC.
Fig 1.
Location of BBC and other sites mentioned in the text.
The blue and red lines indicate the approximate positions of the winter rainfall (WRZ) and summer rainfall zones (SRZ) respectively. The area between the contour lines is the intermediate gradient rainfall zone (YRZ), characterised by all year rainfall at transient intervals moving from west to east. The map includes a topography transect of the offshore platform marked in orange and based on data from Fischer et al. [32] (the topography transect of the offshore platform is similar but not identical to the original image from Bar-Matthews et al. [33] and is for illustrative purposes only). Satellite maps: A: Maplibrary.org (public domain): http://www.maplibrary.org/index.php. B: NASA Earth Observatory (public domain): http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/.
Fig 2.
The sampled quadrates for the study presented in this paper are marked in light grey. Modified with permission after [34].
Fig 3.
Stratigraphy, phases and dating from the South section of the BBC SB sequence.
Table 2.
Synopsis of the BBC material culture, subsistence and palaeoenvironmental information from the M1 and M2 Upper phases.
Fig 4.
Skeletal element abundance for the SB sequence at BBC.
Examples of modern skeletal element abundances with similar compositions are based on Andrews [65].
Table 3.
Recorded breakage of humeri in the M1 and M2 Upper phase.
Table 4.
Percentage representation of digestion on incisors (combined in situ and isolated), femora and humeri from the SB sequence at BBC.
Fig 5.
Bray-Curtis index showing similarity distances based on digestion of incisors from modern samples and the BBC micromammal samples from the M1 and M2 Upper phases.
The results are presented as a dendrogram with unconstrained pair groups and have been bootstrapped (n = 9999). SEO = spotted eagle owl (Bubo africanus), CEO = Cape eagle owl (Bubo capensis capensis). Values of modern samples are based on Nel [115].
Fig 6.
Examples of the most frequent post-depositional damage on the elements in the M1 and M2 Upper phases.
(A) Pitting of humerus and (B) etching of humerus (both from layer CC, sub-quadrant E5b).
Fig 7.
Point by point individual rarefaction curves for M1 and M2 Upper layers at BBC with estimated species richness and 95% confidence interval.
Fig 8.
Diversity indices for the layers of the Still Bay sequence at BBC.
Species richness, diversity H, evenness E and dominance D are expressed with 95% confidence intervals.
Table 5.
P values of the t test based on the results of the Shannon Wiener and Simpson indices.
Table 6.
Stratigraphic distribution of the taxonomic representation in M1 and M2 Upper at BBC.
Fig 9.
Similarity indices evaluating species composition.
(A) Jaccard similarity is illustrated by unconstrained paired groups based on presence-absence of taxa. (B) Bray-Curtis similarity is illustrated by unconstrained paired groups based on relative abundance of taxa. The results were bootstrapped (n = 9999). Layers dating to MIS 5a are in turquoise and layers dating to MIS 5a/4 in gold.
Table 7.
Taxonomic habitat index for the micromammal species present in the M1 and M2 Upper phases at BBC.
Fig 10.
Reconstructed microhabitat at BBC during the SB based on the taxonomic habitat index.
Results are given as stacked percentage distribution of the various vegetation and substrate types.
Table 8.
Reconstructed microhabitat at BBC during the SB based on the taxonomic habitat index.
Fig 11.
Linear relationship between proportional abundance of large vs. small ungulates and shrubland vegetation in the M1 phase at BBC.
R = -0.86, R2 = 0.7, p<0.03, 95% confidence intervals. *Proportional abundance of vegetation component in CA-CCC and CD based on THI. The numbers of large and small ungulates are based on data presented in Discamps and Henshilwood [19].