Cooper's Cave: one of the richest early stone tool sites in South Africa

Located almost exactly between the well-known hominid-bearing sites of Sterkfontein and Kromdraai, Cooper's Cave is a South African National Heritage Site. The cave consists of a series of breccia-filled dolomitic cavities that formed in fissures along geological faults. Excavations are still underway and are currently being directed by Christine Steininger and Lee Berger of the Institute for Human Evolution and the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Cooper's Cave is now recognised as the fifth richest hominid site in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. It is one of the richest sites for early hominid stone tools of the Developed Olduwan culture. The cave has provided a rich tool assemblage that has been provisionally assigned to the Developed Olduwan, making it arguably the second richest early stone tool site in the Cradle of Humankind area.

The deposits at Cooper's Cave have been dated using uranium-lead methods. Cooper's D has been dated to between 1.5 and 1.4 million years ago, while Cooper's A is thought to be about the same age based on the animals recovered.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons