In addition to discovering the oldest man-made axes ever found under the sea in Table Bay, an archaeologist working with the South African Navy has found a bone belonging to a mammal believed to be tens of thousands of years old in the same area.
Bruno Werz, a maritime archaeologist at the South African Institute of Maritime Archaeologists, started a research programme supported by the South African Navy after he discovered the Acheulean hand-axes.
Werz said the fossilised bone found last Saturday would be sent to a zoologist to determine which species it belonged to.
Werz found the hand-axes, dating back between 300 000 and 1,4 million years, beneath a 3,5m-thick layer of deposits in 1995. They are the oldest man-made objects ever found under the sea.
Continues Below ↓
'Table Bay is the most prehistoric site in the world' British archaeologist Nicholas Flemming, who is in Cape Town to give lectures on the two discoveries, said: "As far as I am concerned, Table Bay is the most prehistoric site in the world. This is what I have been waiting for for 10 years."
The research programme named Operation Zembe, hopes to identify other prehistoric sites around the Cape Coast. Its prime objective was to stimulate studies of southern Africa's past with an emphasis on people's relationship to the sea.
Werz has urged others who are interested in the discoveries to write to him at: PO Box 2505, Durbanville, Cape Town, 7551.
-
This article was originally published on page 4 of Cape Times on February 25, 2003
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
