Swartkrans; a cave's chronicle of early man. Stone artefact assemblages from Members 1-3, Swartkrans Cave

The Swartkrans Cave is situated in the Sterkfontein valley, a World Heritage site and the 'Cradle of Humankind'. Public interest in the discoveries there resulted in a revised second edition to the edition first published in 1993. Additional chapters were added in which early hominid bone tools have been reinterpreted and new techniques for the estimation of the numbers of animals that contributed to the bone assemblages have been applied. Seven years of excavation results have been evaluated. The lower bank which yielded stone artefacts sugggested that the outer caves were visited by hominid bands as hominid hand and foot bones were also found there. Burnt bones were excavated and suggested that fires were repeatedly made over thousands of years. Hominid remains are descriptionbed together with dated bone and stone artefacts.