NEUTRON TOMOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF INCISIONS ON PREHISTORIC STONE SLABS: A CASE STUDY FROM WONDERWERK CAVE, SOUTH AFRICA*

2012/03/30 by L. JACOBSON, L. Jacobson, Frikkie de Beer +7 · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology #Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies

paper · doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2012.00670.x

Abstract

This study presents the application of neutron tomography to the analysis of ironstone slabs found in a late Earlier Stone Age context (Fauresmith industry) at the back of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. These slabs have markings on the surface that might be anthropogenic, and thus significant to understanding the emergence of human symbolic behaviour. Neutron tomography proved to be an effective tool for distinguishing surface incisions from lines that are the expression of internal fissures in the rock.

Citations

• Some Precambrian banded iron-formations (BIFs) from around the world: Their age, geologic setting, mineralogy, metamorphism, geochemistry, and origins
• A 100,000-Year-Old Ochre-Processing Workshop at Blombos Cave, South Africa

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• An initial report of circa 241,000- to 335,000-year-old rock engravings and their relation to Homo naledi in the Rising Star cave system, South Africa. [europepmc]

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