Integrating palaeocaves into palaeolandscapes: An analysis of cave levels and karstification history across the Gauteng Malmani dolomite, South Africa

New radiometric dating of the Drimolen Palaeocave System in South Africa's UNESCO-listed Fossil Hominid Sites reveals critical insights into early hominin evolution. The Main Quarry deposits, yielding Paranthropus robustus remains and bone tools, are dated to 1.712 ± 0.269 million years ago (Ma), aligning with biochronological estimates for the Swartkrans Member 1 Hanging Remnant. A nearby deposit, Drimolen Makondo, discovered in 2013, is older at 2.706 ± 0.428 Ma, predating the Main Quarry and overlapping with the end of Australopithecus-bearing Sterkfontein deposits. This challenges prior age estimates, suggesting the Drimolen site records a pivotal hominin and faunal turnover around 2.3–1.7 Ma. The study also integrates cave levels across the Malmani dolomite, revealing that older caves are likely eroded away, explaining the scarcity of pre-2 Ma deposits in this region.

Herries, A., Adams, J. W., Joannes-Boyau, R., Armstrong, B., Baker, S., Blackwood, A., Boshian, G., Caruana, M. V., Penzo-Kajewski, P., Murszewski, A., & Rovinsky, D. S. (2019). Integrating palaeocaves into palaeolandscapes: An analysis of cave levels and karstification history across the Gauteng Malmani dolomite, South Africa. La Trobe. https://doi.org/10.26181/28443971