PALAEOCLIMATIC AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF ORGANIC- RICH SEDIMENTS AT TIFFTIDELL SKI RESORT, NEAR RHODES, EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA

SUMMARY

Analyses of organic-rich deposits from Tiffindell Ski Resort indicates that organic accumulation began somewhat before 4720 BP. This correlates well with the moister conditions known to have existed in the north eastern uplands of Eastern Cape Province (and in upland eastern Lesotho) in the later as compared with the earlier part of the Holocene. Palynological analyses of sediments dating from somewhat before 2790 BP to the present suggests that only limited environmental changes occurred in the pollen spectra. The wettest conditions apparently existed around 2700 BP, probably correlating with an increase in human occupation in the Eastern Cape (Southern) Drakensberg following the possible abandonment of that area during the dry phase(s) of preceding millennia.

Key Words:

• South Africa
• Lesotho
• Holocene
• Peat
• Palaeoclimate
• Pollen Analysis