This project entails the excavation and analysis of material contained in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits of Die Kelders Cave 1, on the southwestern coast of South Africa. Previous excavations revealed substantial Later Stone Age (LSA) materials overlaying a thick MSA deposit. Some human teeth were found which are similar to those of modern southern African indigenes, tentatively date at prior to 40,000 years before the present. A team of specialists will excavate the cave, and analyze the MSA and the LSA material. Given the depth and volume of the MSA deposit in this cave, the demonstrated richness of the deposits, the excellent quality of boner preservation, and the substantial amount that will be excavated, the potential is high that the site will yield new fossils that can help resolve the issue of modern human origins. This research is important because it can contribute important information to the possibility that modern humans lived in Africa while more "primitive" Neanderthal contemporaries were living in Europe and the Levant, and so help us trace the history of modern humans.
