In the article below, journalist Lucille Davie delves into the history and significance of Border Cave. The article was first published on the Media Club South Africa website on 7 March 2013. Click here to view more of Davie's work.
The Border Cave offers a spectacular view 800m down into the plains of Swaziland which is enough to sweep you down if you don’t have the head for it. But that’s not the best reason to visit the cave.
Border Cave is a rock shelter on the cliff face of the Lebombo Mountains in the far north-east of KwaZulu-Natal, on the border with Swaziland.
The cave is remarkable because it reveals a continuous record of occupation for 120 000 years. Among the fossils found in the cave is an almost complete skeleton of a child, dating back almost 82 000 years, but also the remains of five adult hominins in excess of 66 000 years.
A question that has concerned scientists for some time has been when human cultures similar to ours emerged. Until the Border Cave findings were made, archaeologists believed that the oldest evidence of Bushmen hunter-gatherer culture in southern Africa dated back 20 000 years ago.
Of significance is the fact that the child was buried in a ritual way, covered in ochre. Although the exact meaning of the ochre is not known, it indicates that 82 000 years ago humans were engaging in symbolic cultural practices.
The findings also reveal...
