Wee Jasper 99
Basic information
Sample name: Wee Jasper 99
Sample aka: WJ99
Reference: F. Theden-Ringl, K. P. Hislop, K. Aplin, R. Grün, and M. R. Schurr. 2018. The chronology and environmental context of a cave deposit and associated faunal assemblage including megafauna teeth near Wee Jasper, southeastern Australia. The Holocene 28(9):1467-1482 [ER 3690]
Geography
Country: Australia
State: New South Wales
Coordinate: 35° 0' 0" S, 148° 39' 30" E
Coordinate basis: estimated from map
Time interval: Pleistocene - Holocene
Max Ma: 0.01426
Min Ma: 0.00175
Age basis: radiocarbon (calibrated)
Geography comments: "Wee Jasper 99 (WJ99) is a cave site in the the foothills of the Namadgi Ranges, a region of the Great Dividing Range".
"The site lies at 400 m a.s.l. in the protected Wee Jasper Valley".
A total of 10 AMS calibrated radiocarbon dates were obtained for the sequence from Square 10B, indicating a fairly continuous sedimentary deposit ranging from c. 14 000 to 2000 cal. BP.
"The site lies at 400 m a.s.l. in the protected Wee Jasper Valley".
A total of 10 AMS calibrated radiocarbon dates were obtained for the sequence from Square 10B, indicating a fairly continuous sedimentary deposit ranging from c. 14 000 to 2000 cal. BP.
Environment
Lithology: limestone
Taphonomic context: bird accumulation,carnivore accumulation,cave
Archaeology: bone tools,hearths,stone tools
Habitat comments: "The WJ99 cave is located in a low outcrop of Taemas Limestone overlooking the Goodradigbee River".
"Archaeological finds consist of a low density of stone artefacts (flakes, cores, etc.), several burnt areas including four hearth remains and a handful of worked bone points and fragments".
Despite clear periodical use of the site by humans, the faunal remains most likely accumulated through a combination of natural death in the cave and accumulation by predators, primarily by sooty owls with "dasyurids acting as a secondary accumulation agent".
The remains are mostly contemporaneous with the sediments with the exception of two extinct Pleistocene sthenurine kangaroos (Procoptodon spp.). These were dated to 30-45 ka, and thus are chronologically anomalous to the radiocarbon sequence. They are therefore excluded from the register.
"Fluoride absorption dating by ion selective electrode method", comparing the sthenurine remains to those of 12 extant macropodids, strongly suggests that the remainder of the faunal assemblage is in a "stable chronological context based on the chronostratigraphy established by the AMS radiocarbon dates" (see reference for further details).
"Archaeological finds consist of a low density of stone artefacts (flakes, cores, etc.), several burnt areas including four hearth remains and a handful of worked bone points and fragments".
Despite clear periodical use of the site by humans, the faunal remains most likely accumulated through a combination of natural death in the cave and accumulation by predators, primarily by sooty owls with "dasyurids acting as a secondary accumulation agent".
The remains are mostly contemporaneous with the sediments with the exception of two extinct Pleistocene sthenurine kangaroos (Procoptodon spp.). These were dated to 30-45 ka, and thus are chronologically anomalous to the radiocarbon sequence. They are therefore excluded from the register.
"Fluoride absorption dating by ion selective electrode method", comparing the sthenurine remains to those of 12 extant macropodids, strongly suggests that the remainder of the faunal assemblage is in a "stable chronological context based on the chronostratigraphy established by the AMS radiocarbon dates" (see reference for further details).
Methods
Life forms: bats,rodents,other large mammals,other small mammals,birds,lizards,frogs,fishes
Sampling methods: quarry,screenwash
Sample size: 4511 specimens
Years: 2013
Sampling comments: "In early 2013, a 2 × 1 m trench was excavated at a low point in the main chamber (Squares 10A and 10B), in 100 mm vertical excavation units (XUs) and in 500 × 500 mm spatial quadrants".
"The uppermost layer (XU1) was not sieved and no faunal remains were recovered. XUs 2 to 5 were dry-sieved through 3 mm mesh; the deposit from XU6 and below was wet sieved through a 1.5 mm mesh, and the residue was dried before being sorted".
"The only significant anomalous feature encountered during the excavation was Stratigraphic Unit 7, a vertical pit with fine horizontal stratigraphy, tentatively identified as a filled-in burrow".
"To avoid cross-contamination of material from different chronological events", the remains from SU7 were excluded.
Some taxa, represented by small numbers of postcranial elements, were not included in the NISP table. These include vertebrae of snakes (Elapidae spp., Pythonidae spp. and Typhlopidae spp.), monitor lizards (Varanidae spp.) and fish, as well as other postcranial elements".
"The uppermost layer (XU1) was not sieved and no faunal remains were recovered. XUs 2 to 5 were dry-sieved through 3 mm mesh; the deposit from XU6 and below was wet sieved through a 1.5 mm mesh, and the residue was dried before being sorted".
"The only significant anomalous feature encountered during the excavation was Stratigraphic Unit 7, a vertical pit with fine horizontal stratigraphy, tentatively identified as a filled-in burrow".
"To avoid cross-contamination of material from different chronological events", the remains from SU7 were excluded.
Some taxa, represented by small numbers of postcranial elements, were not included in the NISP table. These include vertebrae of snakes (Elapidae spp., Pythonidae spp. and Typhlopidae spp.), monitor lizards (Varanidae spp.) and fish, as well as other postcranial elements".
Metadata
Sample number: 3867
Contributor: Benjamin Carter
Enterer: Benjamin Carter
Created: 2022-01-28 13:48:36
Modified: 2022-04-07 03:10:24
Abundance distribution
46 species
6 singletons
total count 4511
geometric series index: 58.4
Fisher's α: 7.130
geometric series k: 0.8659
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.9255
Shannon's H: 2.9078
Good's u: 0.9987
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
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