Archaeologists Make 20,000-Year-Old Ice Age Find at the End of a Physically Challenging 46-Mile

Experts are always in pursuit of understanding past civilizations and periods for a myriad of reasons. Every civilization has its own way to leave its 'imprints' on the world. Archaeologists analyze these 'imprints' and try to understand the lives that human ancestors possibly lived in past periods. One of these tokens left behind by human ancestors was unearthed in South Africa, stated Popular Science. Findings regarding this evidence were published in the Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology.

The objects were present in a series of caves, part of the Robberg technocomplex on the country’s southern coast. Examinations identified the objects as stone tools that were utilized by ancestors around 20,000 years ago. Researchers believe the tools survived for so long because of the place in which they were embedded. "The site itself is 23 meters [75.4 feet] above sea level, which we have to climb up there every day to get up to the site," explained archaeologist Sara Watson. "It makes it hard to get up to now, but that’s also one of the things that has helped preserve it over so long." The trek was not easy for the team to make, as they had to carry photography equipment and excavation apparatus throughout the journey.

Researchers were elated to be able to examine the tools, as it gave them meaningful insights regarding the Pleistocene period, which was very distinct from present-day Earth. "The Pleistocene was actually a very, very different world from what we see today. It’s only been in the last 10,000 years or so that we’ve experienced such a relatively stable, warm, and relatively pleasant climate that made things like agriculture and what I like to call ‘Big C Civilization’ possible," said Watson. During this period, multiple ice ages came and went on Earth. The environmental conditions during these ice ages did not support many practices that are currently typical for human civilization. This implies that their lifestyle was quite distinct, and evidence like this helps experts in figuring out the differences.

The team used dental equipment to remove sediment and dust from the rocks where the tools were embedded. From the rock, the experts found several small but sharp blades along with large rocks from which the blades appeared to have been carved out. The large rocks from which the blades are carved out are called cores. "When your average person thinks about stone tools, they probably focus on the detached pieces, the blades and flakes. But the thing that is the most interesting to me is the core, because it shows us the particular methods and order of operations that people went through in order to make their tools," explained Watson, Phys.org stated. Researchers noted that in almost all the cores, the pattern of breaking down was similar. 

The next steps for the team are to figure out if the characteristics exhibited by these stone tools are also found on artifacts in other sites. If the features are similar, then that means the methodology of making such tools was shared across several places. "In a lot of these technologies, the core reduction is very specific, and it’s something that you are taught and learn, and that’s where the social information is," said Watson. "If we see specific methods of core reduction at multiple sites across the landscape, as an archaeologist, it tells me that these people were sharing ideas with one another." To date, researchers have found a similar style of tools in sites located in Namibia and Lesotho. This sheds some light on the social makeup of human civilizations during the ice age. 

Though researchers are not exactly sure regarding the purpose of these tools, they have many speculations. One of these claims is that the tools were used to hunt animals that inhabited this region 20 millennia ago. Analysis of rocks in the caves implies that the site was not on the coast but some miles inland in the country during the period. This possibly means that the caves were surrounded by plains, where large groups of animals could have been grazing. "They may have been a component in composite tools and projectile weapons, so things like bows and arrows," said Watson. "Since the site was 75 kilometers [46 miles] inland during the time period I was looking at it, these were open plains that would have been able to support large herds of migratory animals."

The features of these tools indicated to the team that they could have been used for preying on animals. "People hunted those animals, and to do that, they developed new tools and weapons," added Watson.