Cave stratigraphies and cave breccias: Implications for sediment accumulation and removal models and interpreting the record of human occupation

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
File version

Version of Record (VoR)

Author(s)
O'Connor, Sue
Barham, Anthony
Aplin, Ken
Maloney, Tim
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2017
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract

Many of the key debates in archaeology hinge on the chronology and interpretation of data gathered from cave and rockshelter stratigraphies, especially those in karstic limestone environments which are selectively targeted by archaeologists because of their superior preservation characteristics. It has long been recognized that such sites often contain a variety of cemented deposits including cave breccias and that some breccias contain anthropogenic inclusions such as stone artefacts, shell and burnt animal bones. Cementation enhances the survival through time of such brecciated deposits. This can result in chrono-stratigraphic intervals surviving on cave walls and speleothems that are no longer represented in the stratigraphy of cave floors. This has important implications for understanding apparent presence/absence of human occupation and cultural continuity as seen in archaeo-stratigraphy in caves and rockshelters, especially in relation to human migration in the humid tropics in SE Asia and the Pacific, and over Pleistocene to Holocene timescales. Here we discuss localized breccia formation, the erosional processes that leave remnant deposits adhering to walls and speleothems at heights well above current cave floors, and the possible significance of local and regional processes, especially changing base levels, in triggering gutting out phases impacting cave floor sediment architectures. Equally significant in terms of chronological completeness, representativeness and bias is the contribution made by cultural materials encased in older breccias as they erode and are (re-)incorporated into younger accumulating cultural deposits. Case studies from cave sites in Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste are used to illustrate these issues.

Journal Title

Journal of Archaeological Science

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume

77

Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement

© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License, which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, providing that the work is properly cited.

Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Geochemistry

Geology

Archaeology

Science & Technology

Social Sciences

Life Sciences & Biomedicine

Physical Sciences

Anthropology

Persistent link to this record
Citation

O'Connor, S; Barham, A; Aplin, K; Maloney, T, Cave stratigraphies and cave breccias: Implications for sediment accumulation and removal models and interpreting the record of human occupation, Journal of Archaeological Science, 2017, 77, pp. 143-159

Collections