Diepkloof Rock Shelter
Western Cape, South Africa
Diepkloof Rock Shelter is a rock shelter in Western Cape, South Africa in which has been found some of the earliest evidence of the human use of symbols, in the form of patterns engraved upon ostrich eggshell water containers. These date around 60,000 years ago. The symbolic patterns consist of lines crossed at right angles or oblique angles by hatching. It has been suggested that "by the repetition of this motif, early humans were trying to communicate something. Perhaps they were trying to express the identity of the individual or the group." In 2024, the Diepkloof Rock Shelter became a part of the World Heritage Site of Pleistocene Occupation Sites of South Africa.
Archaeological site data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).