RESEARCH: OUTCOMES, VIEWPOINTS & PERSPECTIVES

Hyrax dung middens

The potential of hyrax dung studies as a tool in palaeoenvironmental reconstruction has been underestimated, possibly as a result of the relatively poor macrofossil content in these middens.

The dating and pollen analysis of a hyrax dung deposit in a mountain rock shelter was compared with that in a previous study from the same mountain range at the rural town Clarens, in South Africa. The dung started acumulating at the beginning of the twentieth century. A fluctuating pollen sequence was interpreted in terms of the combined effects of rainfall changes, fire and stock grazing, the later of which increased together with town expansion in the area during the course of this century.

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CARRIÓN, J.S., SCOTT, L. & VOGEL, J. 1999. Twentieth century changes in montane vegetation in the eastern Free State, South Africa, derived from palynology of hyrax dung middens. Journal of Quaternary Science 14: 1-16.