Amanzi Springs, South Africa

The Amanzi Springs Archaeological site is located c. 40 km north of Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It consists of eleven thermal spring eyes, two of which (Area 1 and 2) were excavated in the 1960s. These excavations identified a series of stratified Acheulian layers some of which were associated with wood. Reinvestigation of the site started in 2015 and has shown that the Acheulian occupations are dated to between 530 and 390 ka, during Marine Isotope Stages 13 and 11. Analysis of the Acheulian artifacts suggests that Amanzi Springs represents a raw material source and workshop for the production of large cutting tools. Our work has also identified the first Middle Stone Age (MSA) archaeology at the new site of Area 7. Some Area 1 layers that also contain MSA material have been dated to ~190 ka. This makes the MSA the oldest identified along the southern Cape coast of South Africa.