It is unknown when exactly human beings first arrived in the Magaliesberg, but stone tools from the area date back hundreds of thousands of years. There are, however, three important archaeological sites in the Magaliesberg where radio-carbon dating has revealed fascinating evidence of the way early occupants lived at least 6 000 years ago. These sites are Kruger Cave, west of Olifantspoort (excavated by Prof Revil Mason - see main image), and Jubilee Shelter and Cave James, east of Silkaatsnek (excavated by Prof Lyn Wadley). All of these sites are extremely vulnerable to damage, and for this reason their exact locations are not disclosed.
The research of Professors Mason and Wadley, and other archaeologists, has shed significant light on the way of life of these people who lived in the Magaliesberg region thousands of years ago. They grew no crops and kept no livestock. They relied entirely on hunting of wild animals and gathering of edible parts of wild plants for their food. These Magaliesberg hunter-gatherers have often been referred to as "San", "Bushmen" or "Khoisan", but for various reasons, all of these terms are problematic. The reality is that we simply do not know what these people called themselves, or what they were called by other people who moved into the area later on. The term "hunter-gatherers" works well as a description which is closely tied to the way that they lived.
The excavation of Kruger Cave by Prof Mason yielded large numbers of small, finely worked stone...
