A high-resolution, multi-method palaeoenvironmental record from pan sediments at Maralaleng Pan, southern Kalahari basin
9 affiliations
- 1Institute of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
- 2Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, United States of America
- 3Institute for Ecosystem Research, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
- 4Department of National Museum and Monuments, Gaborone, Botswana
- 5Department of History, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana
- 6State Office for Monument Preservation Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- 7Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Germany
- 8Leibniz Laboratory for Radiometric Dating and Stable Isotope Research, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
- 9Archaeology Department, Kimberley, South Africa
Abstract
Human traces in semi-arid environments such as the Kalahari have been linked to the presence of water in the landscape. However, low organic preservation and an uneven distribution of studied sites have resulted in a gap in the knowledge of the environmental conditions under which Homo sapiens adapted to drylands in the Late Pleistocene. The Kalahari boasts numerous seasonal waterbodies (pans) that may provide stratified sequences containing a variety of palaeoenvironmental proxies. Despite this, these environmental archives have rarely been used. In this study, we report on a multi-method investigation of the palaeoenvironmental context of Maralaleng Pan, a pan site with archaeological material in the southern Kalahari basin. Geoarchaeological methodologies, luminescence dating, and plant wax biomarkers have been combined to create a high-resolution palaeoenvironmental record. This contribution reveals that pan sediments from Maralaleng Pan were deposited in an environment characterised by alternating processes indicative of wet (lake) and dry (evaporative) conditions. The integration of our results with the archaeological investigation of Maralaleng Pan suggests that hominins frequented the landscape during a fluctuating lacustrine environment in MIS 5, while the greatest moisture availability occurred during MIS 3.
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BibTeX
@article{faul2026highresolution,
title = {{A high-resolution, multi-method palaeoenvironmental record from pan sediments at Maralaleng Pan, southern Kalahari basin}},
author = {Inèz Faul and Taylor Grandfield and Chris Green and Elena A. Hensel-Karamalakidou and Phillip Segadika and Rowena Winterhalder and Sarah Mothulatshipi and Stefan Dreibrodt and Nils Andersen and Marine Frouin and Michaela Ecker},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0357461},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0357461},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A high-resolution, multi-method palaeoenvironmental record from pan sediments at Maralaleng Pan, southern Kalahari basin
AU - Inèz Faul
AU - Taylor Grandfield
AU - Chris Green
AU - Elena A. Hensel-Karamalakidou
AU - Phillip Segadika
AU - Rowena Winterhalder
AU - Sarah Mothulatshipi
AU - Stefan Dreibrodt
AU - Nils Andersen
AU - Marine Frouin
AU - Michaela Ecker
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/17
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0357461
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0357461
AB - Human traces in semi-arid environments such as the Kalahari have been linked to the presence of water in the landscape. However, low organic preservation and an uneven distribution of studied sites have resulted in a gap in the knowledge of the environmental conditions under which Homo sapiens adapted to drylands in the Late Pleistocene. The Kalahari boasts numerous seasonal waterbodies (pans) that may provide stratified sequences containing a variety of palaeoenvironmental proxies. Despite this, these environmental archives have rarely been used. In this study, we report on a multi-method investigation of the palaeoenvironmental context of Maralaleng Pan, a pan site with archaeological material in the southern Kalahari basin. Geoarchaeological methodologies, luminescence dating, and plant wax biomarkers have been combined to create a high-resolution palaeoenvironmental record. This contribution reveals that pan sediments from Maralaleng Pan were deposited in an environment characterised by alternating processes indicative of wet (lake) and dry (evaporative) conditions. The integration of our results with the archaeological investigation of Maralaleng Pan suggests that hominins frequented the landscape during a fluctuating lacustrine environment in MIS 5, while the greatest moisture availability occurred during MIS 3.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -