Investigation the use of oxygen and carbon isotopes and sclerochronology on Turbo sarmaticus and Donax serra for palaeoenvironment reconstruction at Pinnacle Point, South Africa
This thesis investigates the validity of oxygen isotope analysis for the gastropod Turbo sarmaticus (operculum and shell) and the bivalve Donax serra to reconstruct sea surface temperatures. These are the species most commonly retrieved from archaeological assemblages of the South Coast of South Africa. The material analysed for this thesis includes modern and archaeological shells from Pinnacle Point, Mossel Bay. Evidence of human occupation of coastal caves here dates as far back as 164 kya. Specimens analysed for this study date between 114 and 91 ky. Analysis of edge increments shows that all the archaeological specimens were collected in winter and/or in spring and autumn, pointing to seasonal exploitation; the first documentation of this kind of seasonal scheduling of activities in Middle Stone Age sites in South Africa.
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