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Early humans far from the South African coast collected unusual objects

Ostrich eggshells and crystals gathered more than 100,000 years ago shed light on the cultural evolution of early humans. Found in South Africa’s interior, they reveal that technological innovations occurred beyond its coast.
  1. Pamela R. Willoughby

    1. Pamela R. Willoughby is in the Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H4, Canada.

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Ex Africa semper aliquid novi, the ancient Roman Pliny the Elder once remarked — there is always something new from Africa. Writing in Nature, Wilkins et al.1 present an example of such news in their report of material excavated from a rock shelter in a northern inland region of South Africa. The objects they found suggest it is time to revise current thinking about the emergence of cultural innovations among early human populations.

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Nature 592, 193-194 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00795-5

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