Archaeologists have discovered the first ever reported archaeological find of leopard seal remains along the coast of South Africa.
Leopard seals do not occur naturally in South African waters; because it is too warm for them.
But these recent finds indicate the environment may have been cold enough to allow these creatures to come as far as the north.
Researcher, Sandee Oster, published the rare finds in her paper, titled “Late Pleistocene and Holocene fauna from Waterfall Bluff Rock Shelter, Mpondoland, South Africa, South African Journal of Science (2024).”
The remains of the seal were found at the Waterfall Bluff Rock Shelter (WB) in the Eastern Cape. There archaeological deposits demonstrating persistent and continuous human occupation, were found previously, spanning from Late Marine Isotope Stage 3 (~39ka–29ka) to the mid-Holocene (~8ka).
Waterfall Bluff is a rock shelter located around 24m above the Mlambomkulu River waterfall.
A blog written by Oster, the main researcher, for the Southern African Archaeology Student Society (SAASS), suggests remains of human occupation spanning as far back as Marine Isotope Stage 3, was during a relatively warm period, which interspersed thousands of years of colder ones, around 39,000 BP until around 5,000 years BP.
“This is pretty impressive as the sea levels across the globe would rise and fall during glacial and inter-glacial periods. This means that usually, during warmer periods, when sea levels were higher, coastal sites would be submerged and thus unsuitable for human occupation. However, Waterfall Bluff is unique in that its positioning meant it never submerged during these interglacial times. This makes it one of only a few sites that provide unique glimpses into the lives of hunter-gatherers who lived at coastal sites during interglacial times” said Oster.
The findings also included an African giant buffalo phalange (finger/toe bone).
This species was first collected from Modder River in the Free State in 1839 by Mr. Martin Smith, whom naturalist Andrew Geddes Bain eventually persuaded to inform the Geological Society of London of his intriguing find. Since then, many more specimens have been found, and it was determined the creature had horns measuring 3m from tip to tip and weighed in at almost 2,000kg (~4,410 lbs). It had lived in Southern Africa from about 1 million years BP until it went extinct roughly 10,000 years BP.
Picture: Voyagers Travel