PAGES South Africa

organisations

Quaternary Dating Research Unit
QUADRU is the only facility within Africa to offer stable isotope analysis, radiocarbon and luminescence dating. Pioneering research was directed towards using stable isotopes to solve ecological, hydrological and palaeoclimatic problems. The dating service has become an essential component of most archaeological work within southern Africa.

University of the Free State
The Palynology Research Group has studied pollen spectra from across the subcontinent. The determination of carbon isotope ratios on hyrax dung has enabled vegetation shifts over the last 20,000-years to be inferred. Phytolith analysis offers potential in detecting changes in grassland composition that relate to seasonal moisture and temperature variability.

University of the Witwatersrand
On-going collaborative research by members of the Climatology Research Group include the investigation of Antarctic influences upon southern African climate and examination of a 200,000-year core recovered from the Tswaing impact crater. In Archaeology, large-scale excavations in the eastern Free State and KwaZulu-Natal have helped to establish the environmental context for cultural changes in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene.

University of Cape Town
In Archaeology, materials from hunter-gatherer sites on the West and Southern Cape coasts are used to build comparative records for marine and terrestrial environments. Members of the Stable Light Isotope Laboratory have been instrumental in developing new isotope-based approaches to palaeoecology and palaeoclimates, including high resolution records from stalagmites.

Quaternary Research Centre
This interdisciplinary grouping of institutions in the Western Cape facilitates local and international collaboration among Quaternary scientists in academia and industry. The Centre is responsible for the only dedicated postgraduate courses in Quaternary Sciences in the region.

National Research Foundation
The NRF provides research facilities and funds research capacity development in South Africa. The careful and systematic study of paleoresources etc. is seen by the NRF as a national responsibility

Council for Geoscience
Research activities in the sphere of Quaternary research are linked to regional mapping programmes.

SASQUA
The Southern African Society for Quaternary Research has about 140 members. Biennial meetings are held. Contact is via the current Hon. Secretary, Dr John Rogers (jrogers@science.uct.ac.za).