Category Archives: Mossel Bay

During a typical field season here in Mossel Bay, the excavation team enjoys themselves with other activities when not digging in the dirt. Weekends are filled with investigating the tide pools at the beach in front of the “Bobby House” … Continue reading →

Every field season is different. Not just because we find more new artifacts and excavate more sediment but also because we have new students and experts who visit us. Every season also has a different pace. Some seasons jump out … Continue reading →

The SACP4 (an acronym for the South Africa Coast Paleoclimate, Paleoenvironment, Paleoecology, Paleoanthropology) Project is an international research project that involves many scientists from all over the world. The project is not run as a field school, but we do … Continue reading →

Pinnacle Point Site 5-6 has a very long and deep archaeological sequence both physically and chronologically. The excavation sequence is approximately 12 meters long and deep at the moment, dating at the top to 48,000 years ago and at the … Continue reading →

Warm and sunny weather welcomed us, the jet-lagged travelers, to lovely Mossel Bay this field season. Mossel Bay—known as the place where you can “enjoy” four seasons in five minutes—showed us her good side this first week. Of course, the … Continue reading →

As I mentioned last week, this is our last week of work at PP5-6 for the May–June season. The final days of excavating include cleaning the profiles so that all the layers are readily visible, taking rectified photographs of the … Continue reading →

In the same way it’s true that “you can never step in the same river twice,” when excavating archaeology you are never on the same site twice. Excavations proceed dynamically and once an artifact—be it a stone tool, broken bone, … Continue reading →

“It is a very exciting time to be South African.” Jan de Vynck, South African ethnobotanist As South Africa is being thrust on the world stage for the World Cup soccer tournament for the next month, it will be interesting … Continue reading →

One part of working on the project for a few years that has been particularly rewarding is getting to know and work with the local South African crew and townspeople. This year, fellow grad student Simen Ostmo and I are … Continue reading →

This is my fourth season working in the caves at Pinnacle Point with Professor Curtis Marean, and it is a little different season this year since it is a small-scale excavation mostly in preparation for a much larger fall dig. … Continue reading →