page_title: Pinnacle Point Man
section_title: The Discovery
hierarchical_section_title: Pinnacle Point Man / The Discovery
caption_attribution_description: English: Excavations in progress in one of the Pinnacle Point Caves, 2011 This media shows a South African Protected Site with SAHRA file reference 0000000000.
context_page_description: The Pinnacle Point Man is a name given to a group of Homo sapiens believed to have lived in a cave at Pinnacle Point 164,000 years ago. This cave is near Mosselbaai/Mossel Bay on the south coast South Africa. Discoveries in the cave show that these early humans were able to work with haematite pieces, and used ochre to paint their bodies. The discovery challenges the widely held belief that modern human behaviour began only 45,000 years ago. It also challenges the view that this behaviour was reached through a "large cultural leap".
  Because the African climate became cool and dry, the food resources were reduced dramatically. This was the reason why the Pinnacle Point man moved to the shores. There, they could eat marine creatures like mussels, snails and crabs. These men also used amazingly subtle tools. Microliths were mounted on wood shafts
context_section_description: The startling discovery was made in 2007 by an international team, including the palaeoanthropologist Curtis Marean from the Institute of Human Origins of the Arizona State University and three graduate students of the School of Human Evolution and Social Change. They came to the conclusion that humans living in the cave started to eat new foods. They added shellfish and other marine resources to their diet. The cause for this evolution was the climate change. It is the first evidence that mankind was able to this. The report in the magazine Nature also reports that the evidence for using coloured pigments was also found. This is much earlier than the earliest known usage which had been from 70,000 years ago.
  The findings give rise to the assumption that living near the coast has caused the changes.
caption: Excavations in progress in one of the Pinnacle Point Caves, 2011
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