This earthcache can only be done by guided tour which costs R25 per
person. To arrange for a tour contact Ernest on 0732748242. You can
arranged your tour at the security gate. Sometimes you had to wait
about half an hour for him to arrive. Ernest is very knowledgeable
and we identified ourselves as Geocachers. Thinking we needed to
explain ourselves he said "I know", which made our visit so much
easier and he guided us accordingly. This was another interesting
heritage site that we would not have known about if it was not for
geocaching. Thanks for an enjoyable earthcache. Thanks for iPajero
for this info. This is the new situation since EC were published.
This Valley, a mere 1.5 km in length, is unique in that it is
possible to study an extended history of human endeavour from more
than 3 million years ago up to the present day.
The history is in the rocks. This valley contains three major
sites, each of which would attract international recognition in
it’s own right; (1) Historic or Makapans Cave (historical),
(2) Cave of Hearths (complete archaeological record from earliest
Stone Age to recent historical times), (3) Limeworks Cave
(Plio-Pleistocene sediments have yielded many hundreds of thousands
of animal remains plus Australopithecus africanus)
The Makapansgat is situated south of Limpopo in the Strypoort
Mountain Range. This valley has numerous caves which not only have
a significant importance to the heritage of South Africa but also
to the rest of the world as it directly links in with the history
of the Cradle of Mankind.(Earthcache
GCQJM6)
Follow signs from old Pietersburg road. R101.Coordinates will
lead you to the parking area from there enjoy the walking trail to
the caves. You can also check on GC15M12 traditional cache by
Jakkals en Eendjie.
This means that the Makapansgat Valley is directly linked to the
history of the Cradle of Humankind, this is where, in February
1925, Professor Raymond Dart announced the discovery of the first
ape-man. Fossils here have been dated back 3.3 million years along
with Stone Age and Iron Age relics.
Makapansgat is an archeological location at S 24° 08'30.7" and E
29° 11' 59.3", within the Makapansgat Valley, northeast of Mokopane
in Limpopo province, South Africa. It is an important
paleontological site with the local limeworks containing
Australopithecus-bearing deposits dating to between 3.0 and 2.6
million years.
(I am in the process of getting permission for a Earthcache at the
limeworks site it’s only assessable after permission and
guided by a field guide.)
Makapansgat caves are Solutional caves. Solutional caves are the
most frequently occurring caves and such caves form in rock that is
soluble, such as limestone, but can also form in other rocks,
including chalk, dolomite, marble, salt, and gypsum. Rock is
dissolved by natural acid in groundwater that seeps through
bedding-planes, faults, joints etc. Over geological epochs cracks
expand to become caves or cave systems.
The largest and most abundant solutional caves are located in
limestone. Limestone dissolves under the action of rainwater and
groundwater charged with H2CO3 (carbonic acid) and naturally
occurring organic acids. The dissolution process produces a
distinctive landform known as karst, characterized by sinkholes,
and underground drainage. Limestone caves are often adorned with
calcium carbonate formations produced through slow precipitation.
These include: flowstones, stalactites, stalagmites, helictites,
soda straws and columns. These secondary mineral deposits in caves
are called speleothems.
Makapansgat Valley sites
Makapansgat limeworks
This is the oldest of the cave sites in the Makapansgat valley,
spanning an age of greater than 4.0 million years until perhaps 1.6
million years ago. This site has yielded many thousands of fossil
bones, amongst which were found remains of the gracile
australopithecine Australopithecus africanus. The A. africanus
fossils are suggested to date to between 3.03 and 2.58 million
years ago based on palaeomagnetism. The site was recently excavated
by a joint project between the University of the Witwatersrand in
South Africa and Arizona State University from the U.S.
Cave of Hearths and Hyaena Mandible
Cave
The Cave of Hearths is part of the Historic Cave complex and
preserves a remarkably complete record of human occupation from
Early Stone Age “Acheulian” times in the oldest
sediments through the Middle Stone Age, the Later Stone Age and up
to the Iron Age Nineteenth Century European relics such as brass
ware and musket balls were found at the surface when excavations
started. The site was re-excavated and re-analysed as part of the
'Makapan Middle Pleistocene Research Project' run by the University
of Liverpool (UK) between 1996 and 2001.[4] This work has shown
that coloured sediment horizons in the Early Stone Age levels are
not from fire use. A Homo mandible also recovered from these layers
may also represent one of the earliest representatives of Homo
sapiens.
Buffalo Cave
A small number of fossils were thought to have been collected by Dr
Robert Broom from this site in 1937, including the remains of the
extinct buffalo Bos makapania. More recent excavations have
revealed an extensive 'Cornelian Land Mammal Age' fauna including
antelope, horses, pigs, monkeys and carnivores. The fauna, along
with palaeomagnetic age estimates suggest an age of between 780,000
and 1.07 million years for the fossil bearing deposits. Basal
flowstone deposits are estimated to go back to around 2 million
years and show evidence for the beginning of the 'Walker
circulation' at around 1.7 million years ago.
Ficus Cave and Iron Age Site
The cave gets its name from the fig tree Ficus ingens roots which
curtain its entrance. This cave contains Iron Age and 19th Century
relics, a large bat colony and an underground lake. An Iron Age
site close by yields occupational debris from approximately Early
Iron Age (550 AD), 870 AD and the Late Iron Age (1560 AD). The
slopes adjacent to the cave are artificially terraced and
archaelogical finds from these include patsherds, grindstones,
hammer stones and relics of iron smelting operations, including
ore, slag and fragments of tuyeres.
Peppercorn's Cave
This cave contains Iron Age and ancient relics and an underground
lake. It is also home to a large colony of migratory long-fingered
bats, Miniopterus schreibersii.
Rainbow Cave
This cave is situated immediately below the Historic Cave and
contains the remains of several putative hearths, suggesting both
human occupation and the controlled us of fire. The exposed
sediments have yielded Middle Stone Age artifacts of the
Piertersburg Culture of between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago.
recent studies have shown that the coloured horizons are not
hearths but are more likely ancient pool deposits.
Historic Cave or Makapansgat
This site lies immediately adjacent to the Cave of Hearths and
preserves Iron Age and Mfecane relics. It is most famous as the
clash between a Boer Commando and local Langa and Kekana people
after the murders of Voortrekkers at Moorddrift, Mapela and
Pruizen. Chief Makapan (Mokopane), together with a large number of
his tribespeople and their cattle were besieged in the cave for
nearly a month between 25 October and 21 November 1854, during
which time many hundreds died of hunger and thirst. Piet Potgieter
was shot during the siege and the name of the nearby town was
changed from Vredenburg to Pieter Potgietersrust, which in time
changed to Potgietersrus. The cave was proclaimed a National
Monument in 1936.
Cold Air Cave
Stable isotope analyses of a uranium-series-dated stalagmite
from Cold Air Cave provided a record of climate changes for the
periods 4400–4000 years and approximately 800 years ago until
the present day.
Gutentight Cave
This cave was located and explored in 2000 by A. Herries, A. Latham
and W. Murzel. After breaking through a number of tight squeezes
the cave opened out into a large chamber. The floor of the chamber
was covered in hearths. An inscription on the wall of the cave was
from the 19th Century and indicated that a previous entrance to the
cave had collapsed and sealed the cavity after this date.
Murzel's Cave
This cave was located and explored in 1998 by A. Herries and A.
Latham. Digging out of the entrance led to a climb and traverse
down into a series of lower decorated chambers.[9]
Katzenjammer Cave or Herries' Hole
Katzenjammer Cave is located adjacent to Peppercorn's Cave. An
entrance shaft leads down to a narrow climb and entrance to a
network of passages at the same level as the far reaches of
Peppercorn's Cave. The entrance shaft has formed by the collapse of
fossil bearing deposits (including the Giant Dasie) into the lower
modern cave system, Katzenjammer Cave. The entrance shaft area and
fossil deposits were collectively termed Herries' Hole by the
Makapan Middle Pleistocene Research Project.
Stromatolites
Stromatolites are quite common in the Malmani Dolomites;- over
two billion year old mark fossil algal colonies. Stromatolites
reflect vast algal colonies that for a long time puzzled geologist,
but which are now universally accepted as 2500 million-year-old
fossil remnants of the simplest single-celled organisms, and
earliest producers of Earth Oxygen.
Must involve visitors undertaking some educational task that
relates to the Earth science at the site. This could involve
measuring or estimating the size of some feature or aspect of the
site, collecting and recording data (such as time of a tidal bore),
or sending an e-mail to the cache owner with the answer to Earth
science related questions they obtained by reading an information
display. While photographs may be requested, they do not take the
place of other logging requirements. Taking a photograph alone or
asking people to do internet research does NOT meet these logging
guidelines. Requests for specific content in the photograph (must
include the visitor's face, for example) will be considered an
additional logging requirement and must be optional. Cache owners
may not delete the cache seeker's log based solely on optional
tasks.
To Log your earthcache find, please do the
following (answers by email please, not in your log): You can go
ahead and log your find then email the answers to me within 7 days,
if not your log will be deleted.
Click on hennieventer top of the page and
Send Message
Questions:
1. How big is the opening (entrance) to the Historic cave width
and height?
2. At the Cave of Hearths there is an information board. How
many archaeological horizons ranging in age from the late Acheulean
of the Earlier Stone Age to the historic Iron Age did Revil Manson
identified from 1953 to 1955?
3.Looking at the wall opposite the Cave of Hearts. Can you
identify Stromatolites? Optional:Take a picture of you next to the
Stromatolites
4. Take a photo with your GPS at the Makapansgat Cave
(Historical cave) info board. Place photo with your log
I am not a geologist. Since Earth caching is educational I also
leant a lot through the research. Hope you will enjoy this
Earthcache.
