Shum Laka rock shelter (Middle/Upper Horizon; gray ash)
Basic information
Sample name: Shum Laka rock shelter (Middle/Upper Horizon; gray ash)
Reference: P. Lavachery. 2001. The Holocene archaeological sequence of Shum Laka rock shelter (Grassfields, western Cameroon). African Archaeological Review 18(4):213-247 [ER 3768]
Geography
Country: Cameroon
State: Northwest
Coordinate: 5° 51' 31" N, 10° 4' 40" E
Coordinate basis: stated in text
Time interval: Holocene
Section: 3768
Unit number: 4
Unit order: below to above
Max Ma: 0.00215
Min Ma: 0.000885
Age basis: radiocarbon (uncalibrated)
Geography comments: "Shum Laka rock shelter is situated in the Northwest Province of Cameroon, some 17 km southwest of Bamenda, on the territory of Bafochu-Mbu village. It lies in a small gallery forest bordered by savanna, some 1600 m asl".
"Radiocarbon dates for the Middle/Upper Horizon of the gray ash layer range from 2150 B.P. to 885 B.P. (400 cal. BC to cal. 900 AD)".
"Radiocarbon dates for the Middle/Upper Horizon of the gray ash layer range from 2150 B.P. to 885 B.P. (400 cal. BC to cal. 900 AD)".
Environment
Lithology: ash
Taphonomic context: human accumulation,rock shelter
Archaeology: ceramics,stone tools,other artifacts
Habitat comments: "Shum Laka rock shelter covers a surface area of 1200 m2 and contains three main stratigraphic units. The Holocene deposits consist mainly of anthropogenic ashes known as the “A” layer: a lens-shaped mantle that dips from the back to the opening of the cave. It is divided into two members: the ochre ash layer and the gray ash layer".
"The Middle/Upper Horizon of the gray ash layer contains a rich lithic assemblage of 14,490 artifacts. The industry is remarkably similar to that of the Lower Horizon (sample 4037); the only new tool type that appears is a completely ground adze. The proportion of formal tools in basalt, however, is lower than in the Lower Horizon; the same is true for cores. The number of hammerstones, direct evidence of on-site flaking, is also much reduced. Basalt blades remain frequent but are less well prepared since multifaceted butts and specialized flaking patterns decrease. Two hundred and seventy-four pottery sherds were discovered in this horizon, along with two metal objects: an iron ring and a fragment of an iron bracelet".
"The Middle/Upper Horizon of the gray ash layer contains a rich lithic assemblage of 14,490 artifacts. The industry is remarkably similar to that of the Lower Horizon (sample 4037); the only new tool type that appears is a completely ground adze. The proportion of formal tools in basalt, however, is lower than in the Lower Horizon; the same is true for cores. The number of hammerstones, direct evidence of on-site flaking, is also much reduced. Basalt blades remain frequent but are less well prepared since multifaceted butts and specialized flaking patterns decrease. Two hundred and seventy-four pottery sherds were discovered in this horizon, along with two metal objects: an iron ring and a fragment of an iron bracelet".
Methods
Life forms: bats,carnivores,primates,rodents,ungulates,other large mammals,birds,snakes,snails
Sampling methods: quarry
Sample size: 493 specimens
Sampling comments: "A total of 82 m2 of the rock shelter was excavated, opened in two main areas: Sector 1 (in the centre and back of the shelter) and Sector 2 (closer to the entrance). Because of a lack of any finer exploitable stratigraphical features in the very loose ash layers, the excavation proceeded by artificial horizontal spits. In total, the excavations recovered half a million stone artifacts, over 1200 pottery sherds, 18 human skeletons, and thousands of faunal and plant remains".
Metadata
Sample number: 4038
Contributor: Benjamin Carter
Enterer: Benjamin Carter
Created: 2022-10-28 15:02:21
Modified: 2023-05-30 03:09:31
Abundance distribution
18 species
4 singletons
total count 493
extrapolated richness: 29.6
Fisher's α: 3.667
geometric series k: 0.7189
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.6358
Shannon's H: 1.4899
Good's u: 0.9919
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
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Register
| Civettictis civetta | 1 | 14 kg frugivore-insectivore |
| "Viverra civetta" | ||
| Hylochoerus meinertzhageni | 109 | |
| Cephalophus sp. | 18 | |
| Tragelaphus scriptus | 6 | 31 kg browser-grazer |
| Syncerus caffer nanus | 8 | 548 kg grazer-browser |
| Dendrohyrax arboreus | 3 | 2.0 kg browser |
| Thryonomys swinderianus | 33 | 5.2 kg |
| Funisciurus sp. | 1 | |
| Cricetomys sp. | 2 | |
| "Crycetomis"; also 7 Rodentia indet. | ||
| Papio sp. | 16 | |
| also 50 Cercopithecidae indet. | ||
| Pan troglodytes | 3 | 36 kg frugivore-folivore |
| Pteropodidae indet. | 2 | |
| "Megachiroptera" | ||
| Serpentes indet. | 11 | |
| "Ophidia indet." | ||
| Francolinus sp. | 3 | |
| Achatina sp. | 273 | |
| Thapsia sp. | 1 | |
| Pseudoglossula sp. | 2 | |
| Streptostele sp. | 1 | |
| also 1 Gastropoda indet. | ||
Current reference:
Kowalski 1956 (ER 2370)