Thousands of Stone Age artifacts found in South Africa

Archaeologists working at Kathu in South Africa have found tens of thousands of Stone Age artifacts which date back between 700,000-1,000,000 years.

Today, Kathu is a major iron mining centre. Walker adds that the fact that such an extensive prehistoric site is located in the middle of a zone of intensive development poses a unique challenge for archaeologists and developers to find strategies to work cooperatively.

The Kathu Townlands site is one component of a grouping of prehistoric sites known as the Kathu Complex. Other sites in the complex include Kathu Pan 1 which has produced fossils of animals such as elephants and hippos, as well as the earliest known evidence of tools used as spears from a level dated to half a million years ago.

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Story: Science Daily | Photo: Steven James Walker & et al. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103436.g006