Archaeomagnetism as Geoarchaeology: Using Mineral Magnetic and Palaeomagnetic Measurements to Understand Behaviour, Palaeoenvironmental Change, Occupation Intensity and Fire Use on Palaolithic Sites from South Africa, Australia and China.

English Abstract:

The term Archaeomagnetism is generally synonymous with Archaeomagnetic Dating and the use of geomagnetic secular variation data for understanding the age of sites. However, in a broader sense it should be used to include the use of mineral magnetic and palaeomagnetic measurements on archaeological sites as part of the field of geoarchaeology. It should also be undertaken with a multi-disciplinary perspective in mind and in combination with other geoachaeological methods such as micromorphology and geochemistry. A number of studies have undertaken this approach but archaeomagnetism in this sense remains an underutilized method within the realms of archaeological science despite being able to inform archaeologists about a range of different processes including palaeoenvironmental change, site formation processes and human behavior through fire use and pyrotechnology. To illustrate the potential of archaeomagnetism to the Palaeolithic time period, a range of case studies will be shown that illustrate this. This will include work on the hominin bearing site of Red Deer Cave in China, the Middle Stone Age Pinnacle Point Caves and Erfkroon Later Stone Age site in South Africa and a range of site contexts in Australia. From the Pinnacle Point Caves and caves in Western Australia mineral magnetism in conjunction with micromorphology has been used to understand fire use and inferences for site occupation intensity. At other cave sites in South Africa, Australia and at the Red Deer Cave in China mineral magnetism has been used to show climatic change, including evidence for millennial scale changes during the Holocene and late Pleistocene. At Pinnacle Point archaeomagnetism has also been succesfully used to identify the oldest evidence for the heat treatment of stone by early humans to make stone tools and this work has been continued in Australia. At Erfkroon potentially early Later Stone Age hot rock technology has been identified and in conjunction with work on Australian Clay Balls this will be used to illustrate the need for experimental archaeology as a fundamental part of archaeomagnetic analysis.