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Peter Beaumont (archaeologist)
Peter Bernhard Beaumont (November 1935 Cape Town - 31 August 2016 Kimberley) was a South African archaeologist noted for his excavation and finds at Wonderwerk Cave, Kathu, Canteen Kopje and Border Cave, all in South Africa. His work led to the conviction that, rather than trailing Europe and Asia, Southern Africa's Stone Age technology and culture had set the pace. Education and career Beaumont matriculated at Rondebosch Boys' High School before studying archaeology at the University of Cape Town under Astley John Hilary Goodwin (1900–59), graduating with a B.Sc. in 1956 having taken geology as a major. His first appointment was that of Research Officer (1958–64) at the Archaeological Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand and after that under Raymond Dart of the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research (1965–77). Finally he became Head of Archaeology (1978-2000) at the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, Northern Cape. His name is associated w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is the capital and largest city of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is located approximately 110 km east of the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The city has considerable historical significance due to its diamond mining past and the siege during the Second Anglo-Boer war. British businessmen Cecil Rhodes and Barney Barnato made their fortunes in Kimberley, and Rhodes established the De Beers diamond company in the early days of the mining town. On 2 September 1882, Kimberley was the first city in the Southern Hemisphere and the second in the world after Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States to integrate electric street lights into its infrastructure. The first stock exchange in Africa was built in Kimberley, as early as 1881. History Discovery of diamonds In 1866, Erasmus Jacobs found a small brilliant pebble on the banks of the Orange River, on the farm ''De Kalk'' leased from local Griquas, near Hopetown, which was his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ngwenya Mine
The Ngwenya Mine is located on Bomvu Ridge, northwest of Mbabane and near the northwestern border of Eswatini (Swaziland). This mine is considered to be the world's oldest. The haematite ore deposit was used in the Middle Stone Age to extract red ochre, while in later times the deposit was mined for iron smelting and iron ore export. Etymology Ngwenya means "crocodile" in Swazi.Ngwenya Mine & Lion Cavern ''Thekingdomofeswatini.com'' (accessed 13 May 2019) This name comes from the fact that the mountains containing the mine was crocodile-shaped, before heavy-mining began in the 1960s and defaced this ancestral shape. Background Phase 1 Several stone age artefacts have been found in the mine during[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaal River
The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. It then flows westwards to its conjunction with the Orange River southwest of Kimberley in the Northern Cape. It is long, and forms the border between Mpumalanga, Gauteng and North West Province on its north bank, and the Free State on its south. It is the third largest river in South Africa after the Orange River (2200 km long) and the Limpopo River (1750 km long) and was established as the main source of water for the great Witswatersrand area after the gold rush during the 19th century. The Vaal Dam lies on the Vaal River in Deneysville just south of the border between Gauteng and the Free State. It is also important to note that the Vaal River is the longest river wholly within the borders of South Africa. ''Vaal'' is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Postmasburg
Postmasburg is a town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Location The Town is located approximately 170 km east of Upington. The town is north of Griquatown and west-south-west of Daniëlskuil. History Originally a station of the London Missionary Society called Sibiling, it became a Griqua village with the name Blinkklip. It was proclaimed a town on 6 June 1892 and named after the Reverend Dirk Postma (1818-1890), founder of the Reformed Church. The town achieved municipal status in 1936. Army The South African Army's Combat Training Centre is located nearby, at Lohatla. Sport The town is home to Hungry Lions, a soccer team playing in the National First Division. Economy Postmasburg is home to Kolomela Mine which is owned by Anglo American. The Iron Ore mine officially opened in June 2012 provides job opportunities for the local communities and a green hydrogen plant is estimated to be built by 2029 by Thabiso Dube to form more job opportunities. S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Cape
The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and an international park shared with Botswana. It also includes the Augrabies Falls and the diamond mining regions in Kimberley and Alexander Bay. The Namaqualand region in the west is famous for its Namaqualand daisies. The southern towns of De Aar and Colesberg found within the Great Karoo are major transport nodes between Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. Kuruman can be found in the north-east and is known as a mission station. It is also well known for its artesian spring and Eye of Kuruman. The Orange River flows through the province of Northern Cape, forming the borders with the Free State in the southeast and with Namibia to the northwest. The river is also used to irrigate the many vineyards ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radiometric Dating
Radiometric dating, radioactive dating or radioisotope dating is a technique which is used to date materials such as rocks or carbon, in which trace radioactive impurities were selectively incorporated when they were formed. The method compares the abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope within the material to the abundance of its decay products, which form at a known constant rate of decay. The use of radiometric dating was first published in 1907 by Bertram Boltwood and is now the principal source of information about the absolute age of rocks and other geological features, including the age of fossilized life forms or the age of Earth itself, and can also be used to date a wide range of natural and man-made materials. Together with stratigraphic principles, radiometric dating methods are used in geochronology to establish the geologic time scale. Among the best-known techniques are radiocarbon dating, potassium–argon dating and uranium–lead dating. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sedimentology
Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, silt, and clay, and the processes that result in their formation (erosion and weathering), transport, deposition and diagenesis. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of modern processes to interpret geologic history through observations of sedimentary rocks and sedimentary structures. Sedimentary rocks cover up to 75% of the Earth's surface, record much of the Earth's history, and harbor the fossil record. Sedimentology is closely linked to stratigraphy, the study of the physical and temporal relationships between rock layers or strata. The premise that the processes affecting the earth today are the same as in the past is the basis for determining how sedimentary features in the rock record were formed. By comparing similar features today to features in the rock record—for example, by comparing modern sand dunes to dunes preserved in ancient aeolian sandstones—geologists reconstruct past envir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palynology
Palynology is the "study of dust" (from grc-gre, παλύνω, palynō, "strew, sprinkle" and ''-logy'') or of "particles that are strewn". A classic palynologist analyses particulate samples collected from the air, from water, or from deposits including sediments of any age. The condition and identification of those particles, organic and inorganic, give the palynologist clues to the life, environment, and energetic conditions that produced them. The term is commonly used to refer to a subset of the discipline, which is defined as "the study of microscopic objects of macromolecular organic composition (i.e., compounds of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen), not capable of dissolution in hydrochloric or hydrofluoric acids". It is the science that studies contemporary and fossil palynomorphs (paleopalynology), including pollen, spores, orbicules, dinocysts, acritarchs, chitinozoans and scolecodonts, together with particulate organic matter (POM) and kerogen found in sed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America
''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of Sciences, published since 1915, and publishes original research, scientific reviews, commentaries, and letters. According to ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2021 impact factor of 12.779. ''PNAS'' is the second most cited scientific journal, with more than 1.9 million cumulative citations from 2008 to 2018. In the mass media, ''PNAS'' has been described variously as "prestigious", "sedate", "renowned" and "high impact". ''PNAS'' is a delayed open access journal, with an embargo period of six months that can be bypassed for an author fee (hybrid open access). Since September 2017, open access articles are published under a Creative Commons license. Since January 2019, ''PNAS'' has been online-only, although print issues are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nature (journal)
''Nature'' is a British weekly scientific journal founded and based in London, England. As a multidisciplinary publication, ''Nature'' features peer-reviewed research from a variety of academic disciplines, mainly in science and technology. It has core editorial offices across the United States, continental Europe, and Asia under the international scientific publishing company Springer Nature. ''Nature'' was one of the world's most cited scientific journals by the Science Edition of the 2019 '' Journal Citation Reports'' (with an ascribed impact factor of 42.778), making it one of the world's most-read and most prestigious academic journals. , it claimed an online readership of about three million unique readers per month. Founded in autumn 1869, ''Nature'' was first circulated by Norman Lockyer and Alexander Macmillan as a public forum for scientific innovations. The mid-20th century facilitated an editorial expansion for the journal; ''Nature'' redoubled its efforts in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johann Carl Vogel
Johann Carl "John" Vogel (7 September 1932 – 30 January 2012) was a South African isotope physicist with a specific interest in archeology for which he used radiocarbon dating to establish timeframes. Career Vogel was born on 7 September 1932 in Pretoria. He obtained a BSc in chemistry in 1951, and a MSc in 1955, both from the University of Pretoria. He moved to Germany to study at Heidelberg University where he obtained a doctorate under Otto Haxel in 1959. The subject of his thesis was determination of carbon isotope fractionation factors. In 1961 Vogel wanted to move back to South Africa, but there being no suitable job available for him he instead moved to the Netherlands and obtained the position of head of the Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory at the University of Groningen. The position had become available after the death of Hessel de Vries. Vogel later became a professor of isotope geology at Groningen. In 1967 Vogel returned to South Africa and set up a laboratory at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Rand Daily Mail
''The Rand Daily Mail'' was a South African newspaper published from 1902 until it was controversially closed in 1985 after adopting an outspoken anti-apartheid stance in the midst of a massive clampdown on activists by the security forces. The title was based in Johannesburg as a daily newspaper and best known for breaking the news about the apartheid state's Muldergate Scandal in 1979. Renowned South African journalist to teach at School of Journalism and Mass Communication University of North Carolina It also exposed the truth about the death in custody of anti-apartheid activist , in 1977. The ''Rand Daily Mail'' was resur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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