Early Maritime Desert Dwellers in Namaqualand, South Africa: A Holocene Perspective on Pleistocene Peopling

Sporadic human activity in the Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape, part of South Africa's arid Namaqualand coast, was most intense during a period of heightened humidity around 50,000 to 17,000 years ago. This finding contrasts with the region's current harsh conditions and suggests that early human movements were linked to environmental shifts, particularly increased winter rainfall. The study analyzes chronological and subsistence data from Spitzkloof A Rockshelter, using late Pleistocene records to infer patterns of occupation and resource use. By comparing these insights with better-documented Holocene archaeological evidence, researchers predict how the earliest coastal desert dwellers adapted to fluctuating environmental conditions.

Dewar, G., & Stewart, B. A. (2016). Early Maritime Desert Dwellers in Namaqualand, South Africa: A Holocene Perspective on Pleistocene Peopling. The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 12(1), 44–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2016.1216476