Klasies River Caves — Middle Stone Age Shelter
Klasies River Mouth · KRM
Middle Stone Age (120–55 ka)·Early Homo sapiens (MSA I–Howiesons Poort)·🇿🇦 Eastern Cape / Tsitsikamma, South Africa
About
About Klasies River Caves — Middle Stone Age Shelter
Klasies River Main site (KRM) is 5 caves/shelters on Tsitsikamma coast (34°06′29″S 24°23′24″E) with 120–55 ka MSA deposits containing anatomically modern human fossils (KRM 13400 mandible 115 ka), Howiesons Poort blades, bone tools and early projectile points. Singer & Wymer 1967– excavations exposed 14 m stratigraphy of MSA I–IV and Howiesons Poort. Hominin cranial fragments and foot bones show gracile modern morphology earliest in South Africa. Part of UNESCO Pleistocene Occupation serial 2024.
Why it mattersKey proof for early anatomically modern humans 115 ka and Howiesons Poort innovative toolkit.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why cannibalism cut-marks on human remains
- 02What caused Howiesons Poort disappearance
Theories
- 01Klasies was seasonal aggregation site (Deacon)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Not built — wave-cut caves in Table Mountain sandstone
- Period
- Middle Stone Age (120–55 ka)
- Culture
- Early Homo sapiens (MSA I–Howiesons Poort)
- Builders
- MSA modern humans
- Purpose
- Coastal foraging shelter with shellfishing and hunting, early symbolic burial
- Abandoned
- c.55 ka dune plugging
- Rediscovered
- 1967 Singer & Wymer
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
120 ka
MSA I basal occupation
65 ka
Howiesons Poort bladelet horizon
1967
Singer-Wymer intensive 14 months excavation
On the ground
Structures & features
34.1081° S · 24.3901° E · 12 m · 3 mapped features
Cave 1 — Howiesons Poort Level
lithic65 ka horizon with geometric backed blades, bone points and ochre pieces
34.1085° S · 24.3900° ECave 1A — MSA I Human Fossils
fossil site115 ka mandible KRM 13400 and 3 cranial fragments of early modern human
34.1079° S · 24.3905° EMidden & Hearth Complex
midden1 m thick shell midden (Perna) with hearths and burnt bone across 20 m trench
34.1082° S · 24.3898° E