Fire and grass-bedding construction 200 thousand years ago at Border Cave, South Africa

Author

Lyn Wadley
Irene Esteban
Paloma de la Peña
Marine Wojcieszak

Files

Publication Date

8-14-2020

Publication Title

Science

Volume Number

369

Issue Number

6505

Abstract

Early plant use is seldom described in the archaeological record because of poor preservation. We report the discovery of grass bedding used to create comfortable areas for sleeping and working by people who lived in Border Cave at least 200,000 years ago. Sheaves of grass belonging to the broad-leafed Panicoideae subfamily were placed near the back of the cave on ash layers that were often remnants of bedding burned for site maintenance. This strategy is one forerunner of more-complex behavior that is archaeologically discernible from ~100,000 years ago.

Document Type

Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc7239

Recommended Citation

Wadley, Lyn; Esteban, Irene; de la Peña, Paloma; and Wojcieszak, Marine, "Fire and grass-bedding construction 200 thousand years ago at Border Cave, South Africa" (2020). KIP Articles. 7610.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/7610