South Africa: Graffiti Threatens Precious Evidence of Ancient Life On South Africa's Coast

analysis

The rocky outcrops that dot much of South Africa's coastline contain hidden treasure: the cemented remains of the dune and beach surfaces that existed hundreds of thousands of years ago.

These cemented remains, or aeolianites, and the tracksites they contain, provide a snapshot of the Pleistocene Epoch, which started around 2.6 million years ago and lasted until about 11,700 years ago. During this time, what is today South Africa's Cape south coast looked very different. Our research team has found more than 300 vertebrate tracksites in these rock surfaces on a 350km stretch of this coast. The oldest surfaces are about 400,000 years old, and the youngest about 35,000 years old.

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