Abstract
Klipdrift Shelter (KDS; 34.45° S, 20.72° E) is situated in De Hoop Nature Reserve on the southern Cape coast, about 150 km east of Cape Town, South Africa. KDS forms part of a larger archaeological cliff-face complex consisting of multiple truncated archaeological sites (Fig. 1). The larger, western cave is c. 21 m deep and contains at least two sites, Klipdrift Cave (KDC) and Klipdrift Cave Lower (KDCL), where KDC contains Later Stone Age deposits, while KDLC needs further dating to establish association. KDS is separated from KDC and KDCL by a quartzite promontory and is c. 7 m deep. KDS is characterized by Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits and was first excavated in 2011 with subsequent seasons in 2012, 2013 and 2018. Sedimentary rocks of the Table Mountain Group, Bokkeveld Group (shales) and Uitenhage Group (mainly shale conglomerates) form the basal geology of the area, on top of which Pliocene calcarenites, Pleistocene aeolianites and unconsolidated Holocene dune systems are deposited (the Bredasdorp Group formations) (Bateman et al., 2004; Malan, 1990). Towards the seaside of the nature reserve, the TMG quartzites form topographically rugged wave-cut platforms and sea cliffs exposing the overlying Bredasdorp Group formations. It is within one of these south-facing coastal cliffs that KDS is located, c. 15 m from the Indian Ocean and c. 19 m above sea level.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Christopher S. Henshilwood who led the Klipdrift Shelter excavations and the excavation teams during the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2018 seasons. Dr. Karen van Niekerk kindly helped improve an early draft of this manuscript. THN and MMH received financial support by the Research Council of Norway through its Centres of Excellence funding scheme, Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), project number 262618.
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Nel, T.H., Haaland, M.M. (2023). Klipdrift Shelter, South Africa. In: Beyin, A., Wright, D.K., Wilkins, J., Olszewski, D.I. (eds) Handbook of Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20290-2_100
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