Archeologists stumbled on a significant historical find in East Africa, a cave that has deep historical ties to human civilization.
The Panga Ya Saidi System
Nature Communications released a study showing the discoveries of a group of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. The research team found Panga ya Saidi, a cave system near the coast of East Africa which can be traced to earlier generations of ancient civilizations. Currently, Panga ya Saidi is used by East African residents for traditional purposes such as burials.
Artifacts In The Caves
Inside the cave system, the team found several items that might have been used by the humans that lived over 67,000 years ago. One significant piece of old jewelry that the group found was a bead that the Max Planck Institute research team claimed was the oldest bead in Kenya, estimated to be around 65,000 years old. They also found beads made from ostrich eggshells which were determined to be 25,000 years old.
Other artifacts that were discovered during the archeological investigation were several sets of stone tools that were said to belong to the Later Stone Age. The researchers also found several bones and furniture pieces.
Outside The Cave System
When the Max Planck Institute research team ventured outside the Panga ya Saidi cave system, they found that the surrounding ecosystem has been intact for the last 78,000 years. The ecosystem could be described as a transitional region between forests and grassland. The team believed that the humans that lived in the area were hunter-gatherers who were able to adapt to various areas.
"This information adds to our knowledge that Homo sapiens was living in a variety of environments and that it could adapt to a variety of settings. It is clear that humans entered into an array of environmental settings as they expanded within Africa and migrated outside Africa," said Michael Petraglia, a professor at the Max Planck Institute to Haaretz.
An Africa Update
The Ebola virus has returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The government confirmed two cases of Ebola that were reported in the northwestern town of Bikaro. There were 10 more suspected cases of the virus. This is the eighth reported outbreak of Ebola that the DRC experienced since 1976.
The Uganda Wildlife Authority is looking for a leopard that not only snatched a 3-year-old child that visited the Queen Elizabeth National Park on May 4 but also devoured the kid. The child's parents and law officials found the child's skull and several bones. Authorities believe that since the leopard ate the child, the experience might transform the animal into a dangerous predator.
The same park also experienced a horrific tragedy when 11 lions were found dead. Conservationists believe that villagers poisoned eight lion cubs and three adult lionesses. Authorities saw the deceased lions in a town called Hamukungu. The lions were allegedly poisoned with the inexpensive and readily acquired insecticide Aldicarb.
