Pinnacle Point Man

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.Early approaches to modern behaviour of the Homo sapiens (in German Frühe Ansätze modernen Verhaltens bei Homo sapiens - Meeresfrüchte als Nahrungsquelle)

 The discovery 
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. 

The team concluded that humans living in the cave started to eat new foods because of climate change. They added shellfish and other marine resources to their diet. It is the first evidence that mankind was able to adapt to climate change.

According to an article in the magazine Nature, scientists also found evidence that humans in the cave used coloured pigments. 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 caused the changes.

 Searching for beginnings 
The evidence shows that Homo sapiens evolved in Africa 100,000 to 200,000 years ago. At that time, the world was in an ice age, and Africa was a desert. But as archaeologica sites dating to that time period are rare in Africa, palaeonthologist Curtis Marean looked at different information. He studied geologic formations, the sea currents, climate data and much more. As a result, he was able to pinpoint his research to destinations like the Pinnacle Point cave, where the findings have been made.

 References

 Other websites 
  Tagesspiegel vom 18.10.2007
 Paleoanthropologist Curtis Marean in Cave 13B at Pinnacle Point in South Africa 

Category:Hominins