Boomplaas Cave is located in the Cango Valley in the foothills of the Swartberg mountain range, north of Oudtshoorn, Eden District Municipality in the Western Cape Province, South Africa.

[1][2][3][4] The cave has served multiple functions during its occupation, such as a kraal (enclosure) for animals, a place for the storage of oil rich fruits, and as a home-base for hunter-gatherers.

Deacon (in affiliation with the University of Stellenbosch) from 1974 to 1979 as part of an archaeological and palaeo-ecological study to provide information on changes in vegetation and fauna, the cultural sequence, and the function of the cave in the area.

[10] Boomplaas was selected as the site for investigation due to its extensive stratigraphic sequence of human occupation during the Holocene and Upper Pleistocene and it being a limestone cave with conditions favorable for preserving bone.

[15] Ostrich egg shells were selected as the cultural material to date with AAR as they were thought to represent a closed amino acid system.

[15] Uranium series analysis was conducted on dripstone at the site in an attempt to date the Howiesons Poort OCH member of Boomplaas.

[1] The formation process for Boomplaas Cave is slow, resulting from a combination of washed in silts and sand and the natural weathering of limestone.

[1] The current environment is characterized by high evapotranspiration rates corresponding to its proximity to semi-arid Karoo and a large presence of C4 vegetation.

[1] The abundance of proxy climate indicators within the archaeological record and the dynamics between the meteorological systems make Boomplaas a favorable site to study human behavioral variability with environmental change.

[1][8] Faunal remains are dispersed throughout the layers and are a product of human occupational discard and nonoccupational micromammal debris from roosting owls.

[10] Richard G. Klein conducted early excavation efforts and analyzed larger taxa, and D. Margaret Avery evaluated the micromammal assemblages.

[6][7] Faunal remains were used as proxy climate indicators to chronologically reconstruct the environmental conditions of Boomplaas, with a particular emphasis on the Late Pleistocene and Holocene.

[7] In her 1982 publication, Avery argued that there was a harsh and arid environment during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), citing low taxonomic diversity and the dominance of Saunder's vlei rat and forest shrew in the archaeological record.

[6] On the other hand, members representing the end of the Pleistocene and the Holocene (CL, BLD, and BRL) showed a high taxonomic frequency with a low rate of Asteraceae trees.

A paper written by J. Tyler Faith, Brian M. Chase, and Justin Pargeter used the data from the faunal and botanical remains at Boomplaas to reinterpret climatic conditions during the LGM.

These conclusions are reached through consideration of modern vegetal regimes and an understanding of how climate, temperature, and soil impact the ungulate species fluctuations in the Southern Cape.

[6] In 2016, Judith Sealy and colleagues conducted isotopic analysis (δ13C) on teeth from bovid, equid, and unknown caprine specimens, finding that the LGM was characterized by a prevalence of C3 grasses.

[8] Higher distributions of C3 grasses match with an expansion of the WRZ and colder temperatures during this time, corroborating that Boomplaas was humid and cold during glacial periods.

[9] J. Tyler Faith's 2013 publication detailing the taphonomic and paleoenvironmental implications of the faunal remains at Boomplaas shows a size preference for mammals in the human diet.

The paper highlights four potential sources of accumulation, including rodents (mainly porcupines), raptors (the Cape eagle owl), leopards, and humans.

The BOL to GWA members exhibit periods of brief human occupation, with the anthropogenic remains suggesting a size preference for large ungulates.

[5] Humans were the primary accumulator of large faunal remains at Boomplaas Cave in the LSA deposits, consistent with previous assertions of an increase in occupation intensity at the site from the end of the LGM through the Holocene.

[11] The preservation of hafted lithic implements in the Holocene members allows archaeologists to examine the relationship between the size of the stone tools and how they are shaped to fit their handles.

[13] The majority of pottery sherds from this member are made from fine clay and have a red coloring, indicating firing at a high temperature with oxidation.

[4] A recently published article by Marlize Lombard and Justin Pargeter details the botanical taxonomies surrounding Boomplaas and the inferences that can be drawn about the plant based food sources available to Stone Age foragers.

[9] The published data will be employed in future excavation efforts to interpret how plant frequencies fluctuated over time with climatic change.