Here we present charcoal identifications for Rose Cottage Cave, Eastern Free State, from layers dated between about 96,000 and 35,000 years ago (~96 and ~35 ka ago). We then suggest plant community types that might have been established in the area in warm Marine Isotope Stage 5 (MIS5) versus cooler MIS4/MIS3 phases. The hypothesis is that frost-tender plants should occur in warm phases while hardy Leucosidea sericea, Protea spp. and Erica spp. should be more common during cooler phases more recent than ~74 ka ago. Leucosidea sericea thrives under moist conditions and its presence in late MIS4 and in several MIS3 layers at Rose Cottage implies that the area may have been moister than many other sites in the interior of southern Africa, thereby making it attractive for occupation. The charcoal identifications at ~96 ka ago included taxa like Buddleja salvifolia that need somewhat warmer conditions than taxa such as Leucosidea sericea. Taxa diversity based on the charcoal identifications is generally low at the site throughout the Middle Stone Age, but the vegetation from relatively warm MIS5 seems more diverse than that of MIS4 and MIS3. Some taxa identified, for example, Calodendrum capense, Leucosidea sericea, Erica caffra and Protea caffra no longer grow near the cave although they are commonly found in other parts of eastern South Africa.

在这里，我们展示了东部自由州 Rose Cottage Cave 的木炭鉴定，来自约 96,000 至 35,000 年前（约 96 至约 35 ka 前）的层。然后，我们建议在温暖的海洋同位素第 5 阶段 (MIS5) 与较冷的 MIS4/MIS3 阶段可能已在该地区建立的植物群落类型。假设是霜冻植物应该在温暖的阶段出现，而耐寒的Leucosidea sericea，Protea spp。和埃丽卡spp。在比 74 ka 之前更近的较冷阶段应该更常见。银杏在潮湿条件下茁壮成长，它在 MIS4 晚期和 Rose Cottage 的几个 MIS3 层中的存在意味着该地区可能比南部非洲内陆的许多其他地点更潮湿，从而使其对占领具有吸引力。大约 96 ka 前的木炭鉴定包括像Buddleja salvifolia这样的分类群，它们需要比Leucosidea sericea等分类群更温暖的条件。在整个中石器时代，基于木炭鉴定的分类群多样性普遍较低，但相对温暖的 MIS5 的植被似乎比 MIS4 和 MIS3 的植被更加多样化。一些分类群已确定，例如Calodendrum capense、Leucosidea sericea、Erica caffra和Protea caffra不再生长在洞穴附近，尽管它们在南非东部的其他地区很常见。