South Africa - The Emergence of Modern Humans: The Pleistocene occupation sites of South Africa

Serial nomination including: Blombos (BBC), Border Cave (BC), Diepkloof (DKF), Klasies River (KR), Pinnacle Point (PP), Sibudu Cave (SC) and comparable sites relating to the emergence of modern humans. Homo sapiens, ancestors of all modern people, emerged about 200 000 years ago. Debates around the origin of these anatomically modern humans and the modernity of their behaviour are crucial to understanding the history of all modern people. The South African sites; Blombos, Border Cave, Diepkloof, Klasies River, Pinnacle Point and Sibudu Cave have contributed outstanding evidence for palaeoenvironmental conditions via the rich mid to Late Pleistocene African mammal fauna with a number of species now extinct, as well as extensive other palaeoenvironmental data from well-dated stratigraphic horizons. Evidence in artefacts such as stone tools, in indications of pigment use and hearths has been interpreted as showing the occupants made significant social, behavioral and technical innovations. Blombos has some of the earliest evidence for symbolic behaviour. Klasies River main site, Blombos, Pinnacle Point and other sites provide some of the earliest evidence for the systematic use of marine resources in the last Interglacial. Border Cave and Klasies River have remains of early anatomically modern humans. As a group, these sites have been vital to our understanding of the origin of anatomically modern humans and their modern cognitive abilities.