We conducted an anthracological analysis of charcoal remains from Border Cave’s member 1RGBS to provide environmental context for the site’s occupation ca. 74 ka. Charcoal specimens were analyzed to assess their quality and quantity, and identify their tree taxa to reconstruct the vegetation communities available to the site’s occupants. Specimens were analyzed using light stereomicroscopy and following standard anthracology methods. We identified the tree taxa that grow predominantly in the savanna, forest, and grassland vegetation communities. Using the current distribution of these communities as a reference, we suggest that the archaeological Border Cave landscape included vegetation types that now grow in southern Africa’s interior warm parts. Our data revealed that Tarchonanthus sp. was collected most abundantly at this time, possibly for its medicinal and cosmetic properties. Euphorbia species were also collected, perhaps for their latex before their wood was burned. Furthermore, green wood logs of Tarchonanthus sp. were burned or discarded into the fire; this is evidenced by the high proportion of fragments of this species bearing radial cracks. There may have been unfavorable environmental conditions in the archaeological landscape that resulted in the wood vessel occlusion of many trees. These were likely episodic microclimatic conditions around the cave during some growth phases of the trees. These conditions and their intensity, however, were not fatal to the trees in this dataset.

我们对 Border Cave 成员 1RGBS 的木炭遗骸进行了炭疽学分析，以提供该地点约 100 年的职业环境背景。74 卡。对木炭标本进行分析以评估其质量和数量，并确定其树木分类群，以重建该场地居住者可用的植被群落。使用光学立体显微镜并遵循标准的人类学方法分析样本。我们确定了主要生长在热带稀树草原、森林和草原植被群落中的树木类群。使用这些社区的当前分布作为参考，我们建议考古边界洞穴景观包括现在生长在南部非洲内部温暖地区的植被类型。我们的数据显示，Tarchonanthussp. 当时收集得最多，可能是因为它的药用和美容特性。还收集了大戟属物种，可能是为了在木材被烧毁之前收集它们的乳胶。此外，Tarchonanthus sp. 的绿色原木。被烧毁或丢弃在火中；带有径向裂纹的该物种碎片的比例很高就证明了这一点。考古景观中可能存在不利的环境条件，导致许多树木的木容器被遮挡。在树木的某些生长阶段，这些可能是洞穴周围偶发的小气候条件。然而，这些条件及其强度对该数据集中的树木并不致命。