Paleosols of the Southern Cape Coast, South Africa

L ~ATERITES and lateritic soils sparked what probably has become the longest and most obfuscating discussion in the history of earth science. Sources'of the confusion surrounding the word laterite can be identified in terms of two general problems with past research.1 The all-important problem has been the general failure to develop a functional definitional framework for laterite. Agronomists, geologists, geomorphologists, and pedologists have applied the term specifically to variably cemented, sesquioxide-rich soil horizons. It has also been widely used to describe any soil profile that contains such a horizon and has even been applied indiscriminately to any reddish colored soil or sediment at or near the earth's surface.2 In addition, assorted mineralogical definitions have been used, particularly by soil scientists. It is unclear whether any or all of these definitions should be considered correct. The definitional problem has been compounded by the different genetic explanations that have been provided for all possible definitions. The second problem with past laterite research has been the general lack of concern for recognition and dating of laterite-like paleosols, which reflect past rather than contemporary weathering conditions. Even when laterites have been identified according to an acceptable definition, they have often been uncritically ascribed contemporary formation in the environment in which they are now found. It is frequently not appreciated that a surficial sediment or weathering profile may be a relict of past environmental settings yet serves in an only slightly modified fashion as the substrate for the modern vegetation cover.3 Furthermore, when laterites have indeed been identified as fossil, dating has generally proved to be difficult. Laterites

Archaeology · Cape · Earth science · Geography · Laterite · Paleosol · Quaternary · Geology · Paleontology · Pasture and Agricultural Systems

• Late Cenozoic Paleoclimates of the Gaap Escarpment, Kalahari margin, South Africa

  Open Access•Karl W Butzer, Robert Stuckenrath et al.•Quaternary Research•1978

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• Beginnings of pastoralism and cultivation in north-west Africa and the Sahara

  Open Access•Gabriel Camps•The Cambridge History of Africa•1982

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• The palaeo-ecology of the African continent

  Open Access•Karl W Butzer, H B S Cooke•The Cambridge History of Africa•1982

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• The cultures of the Middle Palaeolithic/Middle Stone Age

  Open Access•J Desmond Clark•The Cambridge History of Africa•1982

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• Pollen, charcoal and plant macrofossil evidence of Neogene and Quaternary environments in southern Africa

  Open Access•M K Bamford, Frank Neumann et al.•Quaternary Environmental Change…•2016

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• The earliest archaeological traces

  Open Access•Glynn Ll Isaac•The Cambridge History of Africa•1982

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• Sediment Stratigraphy of the Middle Stone Age Sequence at Klasies River Mouth, Tsitsikama Coast, South Africa

  Karl W Butzer•The South African Archaeological…•1978

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• Coastal eolian sands, paleosols, and Pleistocene geoarchaeology of the Southwestern Cape, South Africa

  Open Access•Karl W Butzer•Journal of Archaeological Science•2004

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• Acheulean artifact accumulation and early hominin land use, Garden Route Casino Road, Pinnacle Point, South Africa

  Open Access•Erin Thompson•Geoarchaeology•2009

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• Lithostratigraphy of Border Cave, KwaZulu, South Africa

  Open Access•Karl W Butzer, Peter Beaumont et al.•Journal of Archaeological Science•1978

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• The Knysna Basin, South Africa

  Open Access•Margaret E Marker•Geographical Journal•2003

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