Activity Description

The Sudwala Caves in Mpumalanga, South Africa, are set in Precambrian dolomite rock, which was first laid down about 2800 million years ago. The caves themselves formed about 240 million years ago. They are one of the oldest caves in the world.¹

There are a number of speleothem structures in the cave, known by names such as the “Lowveld Rocket”, “Samson’s Pillar”, and the “Screaming Monster”; some have been dated to 200 million years old. There are also microbial fossils of a cyanobacterium known as collenia in the rock; these formed 2000 million years ago.²

The caves were used for shelter in prehistoric times, probably due in part to a constant supply of fresh air from an unknown source in the caves.

History
Creation and early inhabitants
The Sudwala Caves are one of the oldest known caves in the world, and began to form around 240 million years ago. Their formation was caused when natural acid in the groundwater seeped through the faults and joints of the Precambrian dolomite rock.³ Whilst there are not many signs of life inside the cave, the discovery of primitive stone tools indicate that early humans may have inhabited the cave from as far back as the early Stone Age era (2.5 million years ago), spanning until the late Stone Age era up to a few thousand years B.C.⁴

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