The sites

The cradle of human culture

Blombos Cave is famous for its contributions to our understanding of symbolism and cognition in early modern humans. These finds includes the discovery of the world’s oldest drawing, engravings and shell beads.

Blombos Cave (BBC) is situated in the Blombos Private Nature Reserve on the Southern Cape coast of South Africa. The cave is about 40 m² (behind drip line), and it was first excavated in 1991. 

Symbolic communication

Professor Christopher Henshilwood, today the Director of SapienCE, has led the excavations since the beginning, which has secured consistency in excavation techniques and methods even when new technology has been introduced to the site. This is important because it facilitates comparisons between layers and different excavation phases.

Early modern humans visited Blombos Cave repeatedly between 101 000 to 70 000 years ago, before a sand dune partially sealed the cave entrance. Above the sand dune is material from the Later Stone Age. The discovery of two pieces of ochre with geometric engravings, published in 2002, marked one of the earliest (75 000 years old) indications of symbolic communication among early modern humans. More engraved ochre pieces have been discovered in later excavations, confirming that this type of communication has a long history. In addition, red lines of ochre drawn on a rock discovered at Blombos Cave shows that also painting was practiced at 73 000 years ago.

Early modern lifeways

The processing of ochre is another significant piece of the puzzle of early modern human cognition. A 100 000 year old ochre processing workshop with two toolkits was discovered at Blombos Cave in 2008. The toolkits consists of two abalone shells containing an ochre mixture, possibly used for painting or other purposes.

Blombos Cave also contains information on other parts of early modern human lifeways, including faunal remains that reveal subsistence patterns and hunting techniques.

Harvesting the sea

Human fossils, stone tools, faunal remains and an abundance of shell are but some of the stunning finds from Klasies River main site, situated in the Eastern Cape region, South Africa. The current excavations are led by Professor Sarah Wurz, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Klasies River main site (KRM) is situated in on the Tsitsikamma coast, close to the Klasies River mouth. The site consists of two caves (named Cave 1 and 2) and three shelters (named Cave 1A, 1B and 1C). Groups of humans visited the site repeatedly over long time spans. 

Extensive marine archive

Early modern humans used the site from approximately 120 000 to 59 000 years ago, and the site was more recently visited by groups of hunters, gatherers and fishers during the Later Stone Age up to today. The shoreline is about 6 meters from Cave 1 today. Fluctuations in climate and sea level during prehistory means that the sea at times would have been further from the site. This would also have affected the flora and fauna in the area.

Human activities have left an extensive archive of 20 meters of archaeologically important deposits (layers).The environment in times of human presence and absence can be reconstructed in part from bone fragments, owl pellets and other traces left behind by humans or visiting birds and animals. This is among the research currently conducted at Klasies River main site.

Lifeways by the sea

Klasies River main site became known to archaeological researchers in the 1960’s. The first excavation phase in 1967-68 was lead by Ronald Singer and John Wymer. South African archaeologist Hilary Deacon led the excavations of and research on the site between 1984 and 1995 and Sarah Wurz started a new excavation phase in 2013.

The extensive excavations of Klasies River main site has provided fantastic insight into life in the Middle Stone Age. Several fossils of early modern humans were found at the site and some of these were among the oldest Homo sapiens fossils in Africa. Additionally, stone tools, shellfish, bone fragments and other finds revealed much new information on human lifeways in prehistory.

Tools for change

The Klipdrift Complex provides a unique opportunity to study two sites that are in close proximity and have an association that spans the Middle Stone Age (MSA) through to the Later Stone Age (LSA). The archaeological sequence at the complex shows substantial evidence for material culture change through time.

The complex is located within coastal cliffs in the De Hoop Nature Reserve, situated along the southern Cape coast of South Africa. Excavations commenced in 2010, led by Christopher Henshilwood, and the complex consists of Klipdrift Shelter and Klipdrift Cave.

Exceptional preservation

Klipdrift Shelter contains rich MSA deposits that are at least 65 000 years old. The preservation of faunal remains and other objects is exceptional at the site. The distinct layers at the shelter have yielded engraved ostrich eggshell, hominin teeth, marine shells and terrestrial fauna. Klipdrift Cave contains LSA material dated between 13 000 to 10 000 years ago. Analyses of the deposits have aided the interpretation of lithic technology, shellfish subsistence patterns and climate change during this time period.

Significant stone tools

Klipdrift Shelter is recognised as only one of a few sites that contain a long archaeological sequence of Howiesons Poort typified stone tools. Howiesons Poort is one of the significant stone tool periods that typifies changes in technology and culture during the MSA. Analysis of the stone tool assemblage at Klipdrift Shelter has highlighted the cultural changes that occurred during the transition to the post-Howiesons Poort period. These changes are associated with the complex behaviours of the early Homo sapiens in southern Africa. A change in the tool production methods may be an indication of cultural changes relating to subsistence economy strategies.