Blombos Cave is a rockshelter located on the southern Cape coast of South Africa, one of several caves located along the coast between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth that have hominid occupations dated during the Middle Stone Age, such as Die Kelders, Klasies River and Pinnacle Point.
Blombos has Middle Stone Age occupations dating back at least 140,000 years, although most of the research led by Christopher Henshilwood and Cedric Poggenpoel beginning in 1992 has focused on the Howieson's Poort and Still Bay occupations, which date between 70,000 and 100,000 years ago.
Important discoveries at Blombos include some of the earliest evidence for modern behaviors, including a range of bone tools, finely crafted bifacial stone points, ochre pieces engraved with deliberate designs, an engraved bone fragment and evidence for 'modern' subsistence practices including fishing.
Sources
For more detailed information about Blombos Cave, see the article Blombos Cave, which includes an extensive bibliography.
The official Blombos project website is an excellent source of information about ongoing excavations, with lots of artifact photographs and details.
Jacobs Z, Duller GAT, Wintle AG, and Henshilwood CS. 2006. Extending the chronology of deposits at Blombos Cave, South Africa, back to 140 ka using optical dating of single and multiple grains of quartz. Journal of Human Evolution 51:255-273.
