An international team of archaeologists has found evidence of complex symbolic and technological behavior at Ga-Mohana Hill in the Northern Cape, South Africa, dating back to 105,000 years ago – the same age when this behavior occurred on the coast. The discovery disputes the idea that the origin of our species is linked to coastal environments.
Non-utilitarian objects were collected at Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter and in southern Africa. Abbreviations: A11 – Apollo 11, CoH – Cave of Hearths, HRS – Hollow Rock Shelter, KRM – Klasies River Main Site, PP – Pinnacle Point Sites, VR3 – Fresh River 3, WC – Miracle Cave. Scale bar – 5 cm. Image Credit: Wilkins et al., doi: 10.1038 / s41586-021-03419-0.
The Archaeological Report of Africa provides the earliest evidence for the origin of the complex behaviors that characterize Homo sapiens.
The coastal environment of many late Pleistocene sites and the abundant shellfish remains recovered from it have led to a dominant narrative in which modern human origins in southern Africa have been linked to coastal and marine resources.
However, late Pleistocene sites with good conservation and robust chronologies are rare in the interior of southern Africa, and the coastal hypothesis has so far remained untested.
“Archaeological evidence for early Homo sapiens was largely discovered on coastal sites in South Africa, which supports the idea that our origins are linked to coastal environments, ”said dr. Jayne Wilkins, an archaeologist at the Australian Research Center for Human Evolution at Griffith University, said.
‘There were very few preserved, dateable archaeological sites in the interior of southern Africa that we could tell Homo sapiens‘origin from the coast.’
“A rock outcrop on Ga-Mohana Hill that stands above a vast savannah in the Kalahari is such a place.”
Ga-Mohana Hill is located in the southern Kalahari basin, 12 km north-west of Kuruman in South Africa and more than 600 km from the nearest modern coastline.
The name Kalahari is derived from the Tswana word Kgala, meaning ‘great thirst’. Ancient evidence of abundant water in the landscape, however, is evident from striking tufa formations.
“We are showing a record of water in the rocks that not only agrees with the archaeological report but also provides evidence of an important source for the people living in Ga-Mohana,” said Jessica von der Meden, a doctor said. candidate in the Human Evolution Research Institute and the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Cape Town.
“It’s a story of water in what we now know as a dry landscape, and of adaptable people who use the landscape not only to survive, but also to flourish,” said dr. Robyn Pickering, director of the Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI), said. at the University of Cape Town.
Dr. Wilkins and colleagues excavated three areas of Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter, the larger of two main shelters and several small overhangs occurring within the dolomitic Gamohaan formation.
They excavated 22 white calcite crystals and fragments of ostrich eggshell, thought to be water containers, from deposits dating to 105,000 years ago.
“Our analysis indicates that the crystals were not introduced into the deposits via natural processes, but were deliberately collected objects that were probably linked to spiritual beliefs and rituals,” said Dr. Wilkins said.
‘The crystals indicate 105,000 years ago spiritual or cultural use of the shelter. This is remarkable as the site is still used today to practice ritual activities, ”said dr. Sechaba Maape, an archaeologist at the University of the Witwatersrand, added.
The chronology of the Ga-Mohana North Rockshelter was determined by the team using luminescence dating.
“This technique measures natural light signals that accumulate in sedimentary quartz and feldspar grains over time,” said Dr. Michael Meyer, a researcher in the Department of Geology at the University of Innsbruck, said.
“You can think of every grain as a miniature clock, from which we can read aloud this natural light or brightness signal, which gives us the age of the archaeological sediment layers.”
The researchers were delighted to discover that the composition of crystals collected by humans and fragments of the ostrich eggshell at Ga-Mohana Hill was significantly older than reported in domestic environments elsewhere.
“In coastal areas, the earliest evidence for this type of behavior is about the same time, 105,000 years ago,” said Dr. Wilkins said.
“This suggests that early people in the Kalahari were no less innovative than those on the coast.”
The research is described in a paper in the journal Nature.
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J. Wilkins et al. Innovative Homo sapiens behavior 105,000 years ago in a wetter Kalahari. Nature, published online on March 31, 2021; doi: 10.1038 / s41586-021-03419-0