Stone tool points to much earlier inhabitants

A Cango Caves archaeological find of a stone tool dating back 80 000 years has shaken off the long-held belief that only inhabitants from the last 12 000 to 15 000 years, during the later Stone Age, inhabited this bit of Oudtshoorn.The formal stone point instrument, which was probably used on the end of a spear as a blade or knife, is classed as a Still Bay point and its discovery is "quite significant", according to Cango Caves manager Hein Gerstner, as it is not just a flake or a chip.The scrapers and bladelets that were usually found from the later Stone Age were smaller tools than those of the middle Stone Age.He said it was not possible to know whether the user of the tool was an occupant of the cave or a hunter who had simply thrown it into the cave.

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