by Scientific breakthroughs can happen in the strangest ways and places. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin by growing mold on a petri dish left out while on holiday. Chinese monks in the 9th century wanted to make a potion for immortality: instead, they discovered gunpowder.
Our own remarkable discovery took place on a rugged, remote stretch east of Still Bay on the southern coast of the Cape of South Africa. It was low tide, and three members of our tech team (people who study tracks and tracks) were searching for the locations of newly exposed Pleistocene vertebrate tracks in aeolianites (cemented dunes).
Ahead we saw a large rock that was falling down from the cliffs above. On its surface there was a pattern of linear groove features in a large triangular shape, and an almost perfect bisected groove. The sides of the triangle were close to a meter long. After extensive research, we came to the conclusion that our human ancestors must have formed on the surface of a dune of unconsolidated sand by our human ancestors in the Middle Stone Age. The patterns are likely to be between 143,000 and 91,000 years old.
It was an important discovery in a significant place. Multiple lines of evidence on this coast show that it is an area where our distant ancestors became truly modern, using fire as an engineering tool and creating abstract images.
Read more: What triangular patterns on rocks could reveal about human ancestry
But there was a problem. On a follow up visit we found a smaller rock nearby with a similar triangular aspect. After that, it was destroyed, probably a storm surge or high tides hitting and overturning it. We knew that the larger rock was surely awaiting a similar fate if we did nothing. From our perspective this is one of the most important rocks in the world: it takes us back to our roots as a species and represents the kind of “proto-art” we were able to create so long ago.
So we embarked on an unusual mission: a “rescue” operation designed to save the approximately 500 kilogram rock – in a museum.
Coordinated mission
Due to the size and weight of the rock, there was only one way to remove it: with a helicopter, a trained pilot, and a strong net attached to a longitudinal cable.
Our research team raised funding through our paid contributions for a book project. That money went towards hiring a private helicopter and pilot, as well as getting ground crew in place on the day. We also obtained permission from the owner of the private land on which the rock was located. We also needed permission from the provincial heritage authority to proceed as the rock is a valuable heritage item.
It was a cloud computing process. The rock may have been broken while being removed from its location on the cliff side, or it may have fallen into the sea. But the 29th of September 2022 – what we call Recovery Day – was a success. The ground crew and the helicopter pilot cooperated very well. Moments after being removed from the remote location the rock was safely on a pallet on a truck at the local airfield. From there, he began a very cautious journey to the Blombos Archaeological Museum in nearby Still Bay. A dozen volunteers lifted it and gently moved it into place.
The rock has subsequently been covered and put on display, with interpretive text panels. It links to similar exhibits in the museum; The eels were an example of an ammoglyph, a term we coined to describe a pattern created by humans in the sand that can now be seen in rock that has been cemented and then re-exposed.
It is not within our area of expertise to give meaning to these geometric patterns made by our ancestors long ago. However, we couldn’t help but notice the similarity of the triangular shape to a purported fertility symbol found in France and dated to around 38,000 years ago. If the pattern on our rock was the same motif, this would not be the first time that South African discoveries have pushed back in time what was seen as an Upper Palaeolithic Eurasian phenomenon.
Our research team now sleeps better at night, knowing that this precious piece of our human heritage has been recovered and is available for others to see, evaluate and review.
More to discover
Happily, there was an unexpected bonus. Next to the eroded remains of the second rock our ground crew noticed a third rock surface that had not been seen before. Near one edge there was a distinct pair of planes that met at a 69 degree angle, which may have been part of another triangular feature.
This is clearly an area we will be returning to again and again, in the hope that tidal forces will turn other rocks over before they are destroyed, and allow us to glimpse – and perhaps recover – more. ammoglyph.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a non-profit, independent news organization that brings you reliable facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by Charles Helm, Nelson Mandela University and Jan Carlo De Vynck, Nelson Mandela University
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The authors do not work for, consult with, or own shares in, or receive funding from, any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
