Arthur Greene
The world’s oldest home was built in South Africa, according to archaeologists who have made the discovery in the Kalahari Desert.
An international team of scientists has discovered evidence dating as far back as 1.8 million years of activity in Wonderwerk Cave by early ancestors of humans.
The 140 metre-deep cave is in the Kuruman Hills in the Northern Cape.
The cave is also home to the earliest known use of fire – about a million years ago.
Publishing their findings in Quarternary Science Reviews, the team found that one of mankind’s early ancestors both sheltered in the cave and left their tools in them.
“We can now say with confidence that our human ancestors were making simple Oldowan stone tools inside the Wonderwerk Cave 1.8 million years ago,” said Professor Ron Shaar, one of the researchers.
The team analysed a 2.5-m thick sedimentary layer in the cave, and found that it contained stone tools, animal remains and fire remnants.
“We carefully removed hundreds of tiny sediment samples from the cave walls and measured their magnetic signal,” Professor Shaar said.
Shaar says that this magnetic signal first happened when clay particles settled on the prehistoric cave floor, allowing the researchers to pinpoint the time in history when these tools were used.
Picture Source: @HumanOrigins
