Apollo 11 Cave
Apollo 11 Höhle · Goachanas
Later Stone Age (Upper Palaeolithic 27 ka) to Historical (27 ka–1400 CE)·San ancestors (Early LSA humans; Howieson's Poort industry)·🇳🇦 //Karas Region (Huns Mountains), Namibia
About
About Apollo 11 Cave
Remote quartzite cave in Huns Mountains yielding seven painted stone plaquettes (small portable slabs 12×7 cm) with naturalistic animal paintings (feline, ?rhino) dated by charcoal via C14 to 27,500–25,500 BCE – among world's oldest portable art, comparable to Chauvet. Named for Apollo 11 moon landing 1969 when excavated by W. E. Wendt. Stratigraphy shows LSA occupation 27 ka to 15th c CE with Howieson's Poort segment. Painted slabs were transported into cave, broken deliberately – iconoclasm? Also ostrich eggshell beads, decorated eggs. Namib desert interior. Looted fragment returned 1990. National remoteness restricts access. plaquettes at State Museum Windhoek.
Why it mattersWorld-top-two oldest portable art; interface of symbolism and Howieson's Poort symbolic explosion debate.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Whether 27 ka date on charcoal directly dates paint or associated layer (Vogelsang cautions terminus post quem)
- 02Why slabs broken – ritual killing of images vs taphonomy
Theories
- 01McBrearty & Brooks revolution vs Klein traditional view – Apollo 11 supports gradual symbolic evolution
- 02Lewis-Williams shamanism unknown for such early period
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Plaquettes 27,500–25,500 BCE; occupation LSA 27 ka–15th c CE (Howieson's Poort present)
- Period
- Later Stone Age (Upper Palaeolithic 27 ka) to Historical (27 ka–1400 CE)
- Culture
- San ancestors (Early LSA humans; Howieson's Poort industry)
- Builders
- Early Homo sapiens gatherer-hunters
- Purpose
- Sheltered workshop and symbolic portable art production possibly ritual
- Excavation
- Excavated
Plaquettes 27,500–25,500 BCE; occupation LSA 27 ka–15th c CE (Howieson's Poort present)
Initial construction
c. 1047 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
27.7531° S · 17.1056° E · 840 m · 3 mapped features
Plaquette Findspot (Inner Cave)
plaquetteCompact area where 7 painted plaquettes found in 27 ka layer
27.7532° S · 17.1057° ECave Mouth
caveWest-facing quartzite cave mouth 4 m high in Huns Mts
27.7531° S · 17.1056° EOstrich Eggshell Deposit
middenShell beads scatter associated with 27 ka layer
27.7530° S · 17.1058° E
Gallery