Nelson’s Cave and Robberg – “Out of Africa” 100 000 years BC
Where do we come from, where do we belong – the Out of Africa Assumption by Grahame Thomson
Genetic studies and fossil evidence show that archaic Homo sapiens evolved to anatomically modern humans solely in Africa between 200 000 and 150 000 years ago, that members of one branch of Homo sapiens left Africa between 125 000 and 60 000 years ago, and that over time these humans replaced earlier human populations such as Homo erectus and Neanderthals, who were resident in Asia and Europe
How did this happen, how did we evolve into our current state of human consciousness, where language, symbolic behaviour, the use of oche for decorative purposes and the creation of stone tools, which created in essence the modern form of our species.
The story begins in the rugged coastline of the Southern Cape, where recent archaeological excavations at Pinnacle Point near Mossel Bay, Klasies River, Blombos Cave and Nelson’s Cave on the Robberg peninsula, have established that modern man originated solely from this region and from a small population of around 400 -700 individuals, who survived an ice-age in the mild temperate climate of this coastline, existing primarily on shell fish. They lived in a true Garden of Eden and abundance, our ancestors in time and space. The timeline was between 150 000 to 200 000 years ago!
And here lies the clue to our transition from “cave man” to the human state of human consciousness, which is unique to our species on planet earth. During the process of our evolution, the human brain reached it’s present size of 1500cc only quite recently, some 200 000 years ago. What could have caused this “Big Bang in Human Consciousness” or “the Great Leap Forward”?
The puzzle of the “Big Bang” change involved putting together pieces, which at first look, had no connection or relation, whatsoever. The first piece of the puzzle involved discovering early human populations that demonstrated greater intelligence. These are known to be found in the East African Rift Valley and also at Blombos Cave, Klasies river, Nelson’s cave and Pinnacle Point in the southern Cape. The second piece of the puzzle was the discovery that decosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a major contributor to brain growth. The third piece of the discovery was that DHA is found almost exclusively in seafood, primarily shellfish.
It is therefore concluded by the above and also all relevant recent palaeontology studies, that modern thinking man originated from the southern Cape around 100 000 – 150 000 years ago. The “Out of Africa” theory now seems confirmed and factual and the sites located at Pinnacle Point, the Robberg peninsula, Klasies river and Blomberg cave are of international importance. Due to the significance of these findings, the southern Cape sites have been nominated as a World Heritage Site through UNESCO.
With thanks for the Extracts and Adaptations from the article by Adv De Waal Lubbe – The Origin of Modern Thinking Man
