Taphonomic interpretations of the Haasgat HGD assemblage: A case study in the impact of sampling and preparation methods on reconstructing South African karstic assemblage formation

摘要

The Haasgat fossil-bearing karstic system is situated within the Skurweberg Mountain range in the northeastern portion of the Fossil Hominids of South Africa UNESCO World Heritage Site in South Africa. As is the case for the nearby Gondolin hominin locality, Haasgat occurs in an area of substantial modern topographic relief that contrasts with the low-relief landscape of the southwestern extent of the World Heritage Site surrounding the Blauubank Stream Valley sites (e.g., Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai, Bolt's Farm). This suggests differential landscape formation processes during the Neogene and potentially novel palaeoecosystems and taphonomic processes governing karstic fossil assemblage composition across even a small geographic region. This is particularly critical given the overall paucity of taphonomic data from the region, the substantial cercopithecoid primate assemblage that is uniquely dominated by the basal baboon species Papio angusticeps, and the recent announcement of the first hominin specimen from Haasgat.