Quaternary International 129 (2005) 49–59 Holocene pollen from swamp, cave and hyrax dung deposits at Blydefontein (Kikvorsberge), Karoo, South Africa L. Scott a, *, C.B. Bousman b , M. Nyakale a a Department of Plant Sciences, University of the Orange Free State, P.O. Box 339, Nelson Mandela Avenue, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa b Department of Anthropology, Center for Archaeological Studies, Texas State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA Available online 2 June 2004 Abstract Pollen analysis of material from a variety of sediment types including those from ponds, streams, a rock-shelter and hyrax dung accumulations in the Blydefontein Basin (31  09 0 S, 25  05 0 E, Fig. 1b) provide a record of vegetation change in the eastern Karoo over the last 10,000 years. The pollen composition fluctuated as a result of different taphonomic processes inherent in the various sampled deposits. Results further demonstrate that long-term vegetation changes alternated between Karoo shrub and grassland plant communities. Karoo shrubs suggesting relatively dry conditions were generally prominent in the early Holocene until ca. 5400yr BP when more grassy vegetation began to flourish presumably in response to increased summer-rain conditions. Pollen representation of the early Holocene is not detailed enough to trace millennial scale variations during this period but more detailed middle to late Holocene data show millennial or shorter scale shifts between grassland and drier karroid veld. r 2004 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Blydefontein Basin, the Kikvorsberg, in the Eastern Cape Karoo region is known for its archaeological shelter (Sampson, 1970, 1974; Bousman, 1991) but it was also the focus of a palaeoenvironmental study (Bousman et al., 1988; Scott and Bousman, 1990; Bousman and Scott, 1994). The results of this multi- disciplinary research showed that the basin and adjacent basins such as the one at Hughdale ca. 5 km to the north-east of the main cluster of sites at Blydefontein (Fig. 1b), is important in reconstructing the Holocene environmental history of the Karoo as well as the wider Southern African region. Research at Blydefontein is aimed at elucidating (1) vegetation change during the Holocene in the Karoo region, (2) the process of southward-spreading summer rain across southern Africa following precession change, and (3) millennial- scale climate extremes and variability during this time. Previous palynological work, which was not fully published, comprised analyses of several early to late Holocene pollen sequences of different source materials. These include surface and buried soils in alluvium, fossil hyrax dung, swamp deposits and pond deposits (Bous- man et al., 1988; Bousman, 1991; Scott and Bousman, 1990). In an attempt to investigate the dynamics of Karoo-shrub invasion over the last millennium, Bous- man and Scott (1994) calibrated the chronological sequence of hyrax dung from Blydefontein. New pollen analyses of sediment sequences from the Blydefontein region are presented here, and previous results which were only partly published are fully presented in order to improve the reconstruction of vegetation history of the area. The combination of these results allows a comparison between diverse sources of pollen sequences. The pollen sequences that were reported previously represent alluvial, soil, swamp and pond sediments from USP (Upper Section Pond), Channel 2, BSM (Blydefontein Stream Mouth), BFS (Blydefontein Section), the Hughdale basin and hyrax- dung pollen data from Meerkat and Oppermanskop rock shelters (Bousman et al., 1988; Scott and Bousman, 1990; Bousman, 1991; Scott, 1993; Bousman and Scott, 1994). The new data include results from swamp and pond sediments from the Base Section, Gutter Section, and BSM97 at Blydefontein Stream Mouth (Nyakale, 1999), and cave deposits from the Blydefontein Shelter (Fig. 1b). ARTICLE IN PRESS *Corresponding author. Tel.: +27-51-401-2594; fax: +27-51-448- 8772. E-mail address: scottl.sci@mail.uovs.ac.za (L. Scott). 1040-6182/$-see front matter r 2004 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2004.04.006