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05 June 2018 Photo Supplied
Digging up truth South Africa was way different to what you thought
Archaeological excavations in the Wonderwerk Cave, north of Kuruman in the Northern Cape.

Research fellow Dr Lloyd Rossouw from the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently published an article in the Nature Ecology and Evolution journal with Dr Michaela Ecker from the University of Toronto as lead author, and Dr James Brink, research fellow at the UFS Centre for Environmental Management. The findings described in “The palaeoecological context of the Oldowan-Acheulean in southern Africa” provides the first extensive paleoenvironmental sequence for the interior of southern Africa by applying a combination of methods for environmental reconstruction at Wonderwerk Cave, which have yielded multiple evidence of early human occupation dating back almost two million years ago.

Where water once was
The Wonderwerk Cave is found north of the Kuruman hills (situated in Northern Cape) a 140m long tube with a low ceiling. The surroundings are harsh. Semi-arid conditions allow for the survival of only hardy bushes, trees, and grasses. But during the Early Pleistocene, stepping out of the Wonderwerk Cave you would have been greeted by a completely different site, the researchers found. Using carbon and oxygen stable isotope analysis on the teeth of herbivores (Dr Ecker), fossil faunal abundance (Dr Brink), as well as the analysis of microscopic plant silica remains (phytoliths) excavated from fossil soils inside the cave (Dr Rossouw), the results show that ancient environments in the central interior of southern Africa were significantly wetter and housed a plant community unlike any other in the modern African savanna. 

What difference does it make?
While East African research shows increasing aridity and the spread of summer-rainfall grasslands more than a million years ago, the results from this study indicate an interesting twist. During the same period, shifts in rainfall seasonality allowed for alternating summer and winter-rainfall grass occurrences coupled with prolonged wetlands, that remained major components of Early Pleistocene (more or less the period between one and two million years ago) environments in the central interior of southern Africa. That means our human ancestors were also living and evolving in environments other than the generally accepted open, arid grassland model.

News Archive

All activities on UFS Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses postponed until Monday 26 October 2015
2015-10-22

All academic and administrative activities on the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses of the University of the Free State (UFS) have been postponed until Monday 26 October 2015.

UFS students joined the national protests against the increases in class and study fees at universities across the country on Tuesday 20 October 2015.

All campuses of the UFS were closed down on Wednesday 21 October 2015 and a court interdict was granted the same day against conduct by anyone who intends to damage the property of the university or who interferes with the rights of others.

Additional security measures have been implemented at all residences on the Bloemfontein Campus today, and no acts of violence or intimidation have been reported in residences. The situation on the Bloemfontein Campus grounds is monitored carefully to ensure calmness.

Messages doing the round on social media today that management agreed to a 0% increase in fees in 2016 are not true. The university management are continuously communicating with the Student Representative Council (SRC), while working incessantly to restore peace and stability on the Bloemfontein Campus.

“Although the university management supports the right of students to protest, it has a responsibility towards the university community to ensure the safety of property and people, as well as the rights of other students who do not feel inclined to participate in this movement. The university management calls on non-protesting students to remain calm and to refrain from getting into any confrontation with protesting students. This is a trying time for universities across the country, and the main concern of the UFS management is to maintain stability on the campuses,” says Prof Nicky Morgan, Acting Rector of the UFS.

 “We are committed to working together as institution in finding viable solutions to the plight of poor students at our university. The university management is also committed to participate in national initiatives to revise the manner in which universities are funded,” says Prof Morgan.

Information about the predicates and upcoming exam will be shared with students on the various communication platforms of the university on Friday 23 October 2015. Students who had to write tests or exams, but could not do so due to the protest action, will not be prejudiced.

 
Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
news@ufs.ac.za
+27(0)51 401 3422
+27(0)83 645 2454


Facebook message from UFS SRC (26 October 2015)

UFS welcomes Pres Jacob Zuma’s statement about 0% increase in tuition fees for 2016 (23 October 2015)

UFS postpones examinations to Monday 2 November 2015 (23 October 2015)

Letter to students from Prof Jonathan Jansen about student protest actions at the UFS (22 October 2015)

UFS obtains court interdict against protesting students - classes will resume on 22 October 2015 (21 October 2015)

UFS management closes down all three campuses on 21 October 2015 (20 October 2015)

UFS responds to concerns around high costs of higher education (Letter from Prof Jonathan Jansen -19 October 2015)


 

 

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