World shorelines were reconfigured after the Last Glacial Maximum due to rising sea levels. A few South African sites are known to document human adaptive responses on this trajectory, and Elands Bay Cave (EBC) is one among them. EBC faunal and cultural assemblages have been studied, but marine invertebrate remains have not received due attention until now. Successive stages of socio-economic and settlement changes moved in tandem with an approaching coastline. EBC chrono-stratigraphy shows an increasing use of the cave and a domestic character since ~13.2 cal BP when coastal foraging began. Terrestrial resources were common initially, but marine invertebrates were increasingly incorporated into peoples’ diet, with the heaviest predation and smallest limpet sizes by ~11.5 cal BP. Black mussels were dominant almost throughout and, because of unfavourable ecological conditions affecting their growth, sizes were small. Subsistence was reformulated immediately thereafter, around 10.9 cal BP, to include large quantities of marine and terrestrial vertebrates in order to satisfy the demands posed by frequent and long visits at EBC. Some visits seem to have had a ritual component associated with them, probably related to wide and active social networks. This trend ended ~9.0 cal BP when people stopped using EBC.

由于海平面上升，世界海岸线在末次冰川盛期之后重新配置。已知一些南非站点记录了人类对这条轨迹的适应性反应，Elands Bay Cave (EBC) 就是其中之一。已经研究了 EBC 动物群和文化组合，但直到现在，海洋无脊椎动物遗骸还没有受到应有的关注。随着海岸线的临近，社会经济和定居点变化的连续阶段发生了变化。EBC 年代地层学显示，自从沿海觅食开始时大约 13.2 cal BP 开始使用洞穴和家庭特征。陆地资源最初很常见，但海洋无脊椎动物越来越多地融入人们的饮食中，捕食量最大，帽贝尺寸最小，约 11.5 cal BP。黑贻贝几乎自始至终都占主导地位，由于不利的生态条件影响了它们的生长，它们的体型很小。此后立即重新制定了大约 10.9 cal BP 的生计，包括大量海洋和陆地脊椎动物，以满足频繁和长时间访问 EBC 提出的需求。一些访问似乎具有与之相关的仪式成分，可能与广泛而活跃的社交网络有关。当人们停止使用 EBC 时，这种趋势结束了约 9.0 cal BP。可能与广泛而活跃的社交网络有关。当人们停止使用 EBC 时，这种趋势结束了约 9.0 cal BP。可能与广泛而活跃的社交网络有关。当人们停止使用 EBC 时，这种趋势结束了约 9.0 cal BP。