Preliminary results of excavations at Lincoln Cave, Sterkfontein, South Africa

Abstract

Recent excavations of undisturbed deposits within the Lincoln Cave, Sterkfontein, have conclusively demonstrated that at least one of the deposits is mid-late Pleistocene in age. The artefacts recovered from this excavation are in a datable context, sandwiched between two flowstone layers which could be dated using uranium series methods. The excavation furthermore yielded good indications that a portion of an older breccia has been eroded and that fauna and artefacts from this older, reworked breccia have been redeposited within the younger deposit. These findings suggest that the Lincoln Cave system may be connected to the Sterkfontein Cave system and that the location of the possible link lies in the vicinity of grid square L/63 in the main Sterkfontein excavation.