South Africa’s Ice Age Landscape Reevaluated

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN—According to a statement released by the University of Michigan, interior areas of South Africa that are now arid and inhospitable were more fertile and temperate for longer periods of time during the Ice Ages than previously thought. Archaeologist Brian Stewart and his international team of colleagues analyzed and dated layers of soil cores from inland ancient lake beds surrounded by higher ground left behind by their shorelines. The presence of lakes indicates that there was sufficient rainfall and humidity to support vegetation, animals, and human populations during two glacial periods. “In various parts of the interior, between about 60,000 to about 12,000 years ago, we can see that there were enduring phases of pretty large bodies of water kicking around what used to be thought of as an arid and inhospitable environment,” Stewart explained. Tools and other artifacts dating from about 280,000 to about 25,000 years ago have been found near the lake beds, he added. The researchers will continue to study the archaeology in the region to explore how humans adapted to the environment and lived in the region over time. To read about the shift to more settled living among hunter-gatherers in South Africa, go to "Our Coastal Origins."