ABSTRACT

Even though numerous studies have explored the layout, location, and chronology of Bokoni settlements of the second millennium AD (Mpumalanga province, South Africa), relatively little is known about the type of food cultivated by its people. In pursuit of direct evidence for crops and to understand the environmental conditions that prevailed during the site’s occupation we conducted a phytolith analysis of sediments collected from a terrace at Buffelskloof (BFK1). While we were able to determine that Zea mays (maize) was not cultivated in the sampled terrace, we were not able to determine if any African domesticates were grown on the terraced area. Iph and Ic indexes were used to determine that BFK1 received more rainfall during the site’s occupation than at present and temperatures fluctuated. The Broadleaf index (D/P°) was used to determine the amount of tree cover and showed that BFK1 was situated in an open grassland during some periods of the site’s occupation.

摘要

尽管大量研究探索了公元第二个千年博科尼定居点（南非姆普马兰加省）的布局、位置和年代，但对其人民种植的食物类型知之甚少。为了寻找农作物的直接证据并了解该地点占领期间普遍存在的环境条件，我们对从 Buffelskloof (BFK1) 的一个梯田收集的沉积物进行了植硅体分析。虽然我们能够确定玉米（玉米）没有在梯田样本中种植，我们无法确定梯田区域是否种植了任何非洲驯化植物。Iph 和 Ic 指标用于确定 BFK1 在站点占用期间比现在接收更多的降雨和温度波动。阔叶指数 (D/P°) 用于确定树木覆盖量，并表明 BFK1 在该地点被占用的某些时期位于开阔的草地中。