News of the week

ARCHAEOLOGISTS working at Wonderwerk Cave in the Kalahari Desert have found what they believe to be the earliest signs of human life from over 1,8 million years ago.

They believe the 140 metre-long cave near Kuruman in the Northern Cape, whose name means “miracle” in Afrikaans, is the oldest known place to have been inhabited by prehistoric humans.

The team of international researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and University of Toronto working at the cave found evidence of fires and simple stone tools.

Some of the archaeologists (people who study human history and prehistory through the analysis of artefacts and other physical remains) have worked at the excavation (see Word of the Week) site since 2004.

The aim of their work at the cave has been to find out how humans lived during the later stages of the Early Stone Age.

The stone equipment found, also known as Oldowan tools, included hand axes and chopping tools that were made and used by our ancestors all those years ago. Burnt bones, ash and animal remains were also found in the cave.

The rocks and sand that form the floor and walls of the cave were all examined by geologists (experts who study rocks and natural processes associated with rocks) together with the archaeological team. The samples of rock and sand particles underwent extensive lab examinations to discover when the sand first entered the cave.

Research at Wonderwerk Cave began in the 1940s. Farmers in the area first dug up parts of the cave to use it as fertiliser on their land. It’s been an important site for studying how ancient humans lived on Earth.

The rocks, some of which are covered in paintings, are thought to be over 2 billion years old. Researchers don’t yet know exactly when the cave was formed.