A GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF SITE FORMATION PROCESSES IN THE UPPER BROWN SAND AND WHITE ASH STRATIGRAPHIC UNITS AT BORDER CAVE, KWAZULU-NATAL THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF FABRIC ANALYSIS.

D'ERRICO, F.; BACKWELL, L.; BEARD, T.; DE LA PENA, P.

Conferencia; Society of Africanist Archaeologists; 2020

Border Cave, located in the rhyolitic Lebombo Mountains of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, contains a particularly long record of archaeological deposits spanning over 200,000 years. Significant finds include evidence of early burial practices, personal ornamentation and high levels of organic preservation. As part of a larger geoarchaeological program at the site, this study utilises fabric analysis to explore geogenic and anthropogenic contributions and their influences on deposit geometry, particle organisation and assemblage integrity through the stratigraphic facies of the upper sedimentary sequence. Two fabric analyses have been conducted, a dedicated fabric excavation and a GIS based investigation (using context sheets), both of which investigate the upper portion of the sequence (1BS, 1WA, 2BS and 2WA). These analyses will provide spatial data that will elucidate site formation processes. Preliminary results reveal some areas with isotropic organisation and some with anisotropic organisation, the latter suggesting influences of low energy fluvial/colluvial processes.