Piping, a geomorphological process relevant to African palaeontology and archaeology :sedimentary, taphonomic and biostratigraphic implications

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of piping, a geomorphological process relevant to interpretingthe fossil and archaeological records of Africa. Until now, piping has not been reported from Africanpalaeontological or archaeological contexts. However, under suitable circumstances piping processeswere active in the continent as elsewhere in the world, throughout the Neogene and Quaternary, whichcould explain some apparent anomalies in the African fossil record such as the presence of MiddleMiocene fossils at Bukwa II, Uganda, in strata that have traditionally been correlated to the EarlyMiocene on the basis of radio-isotopic dating of subjacent volcanic layers. Examples of fossil-rich pipesediments are described from Napak, Uganda, and at two sites on Rusinga Island, Kenya, one of whichwas previously interpreted to be the infilling of a hollow tree. Neogene and modern examples fromNamibia are important for understanding the implications of the process. Implementiferous pipe depositsare known in South Africa, and are likely to be present in East Africa, but are currently unrecognised assuch.