Hematite mining (Lion Cavern)
Minería subterránea de hematites (Lion Cavern)
- Date
- c. 48 ka · confidence high
- Place
- Lion Cavern, Ngwenya, Eswatini
- Credited to
- Homo sapiens
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Galleries dug into the hillside to extract tonnes of haematite (specular red ochre) with stone picks. The oldest known mine.
Dating of 43–41 ka (2024) has confirmed previously questioned dates.
What it led to
- Organised extraction of non-food resources
- Distribution networks carrying pigment hundreds of kilometres
- Permanent modification of the landscape: the first mining impact
Built on
- Ochre pigment usec. 300 ka
- Ochre pigment use
Made possible
- Underground chert miningc. 33 ka
- Underground chert mining