The site contains an enormous number of hominin remains, over 400 separately numbered bones of Paranthropus and Homo. In addition, 900 stone tools and nearly 400,000 faunal specimens have been recovered from the site. The massive quantities of materials, and the depth of deposits have led one group of researchers to develop a GIS database of the materials, including a 3-dimensional map of the site.
In addition to the massive quantities of Australopithecus robustus and Homo erectus skeletal elements as well as stone and bone tools, Swartkrans contains evidence for purposeful cooking of meat about 1.5 million years ago.
Sources
Avery, D. M. 2001. The Plio-Pleistocene vegetation and climate of Sterkfontein and Swartkrans, South Africa, based on micromammals. Journal of Human Evolution 41(2):113-132
Francesco d’Errico and Lucinda R. Backwell. 2003. Possible evidence of bone tool shaping by Swartkrans early hominids. Journal of Archaeological Science 30:1559–1576.
Nigro, Joseph D., Peter S. Ungar, Darryl J. de Ruiter, and Lee R. Berger. 2003. Developing a Geographic Information System (GIS) for Mapping and Analysing Fossil Deposits at Swartkrans, Gauteng Province, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science 30:317-324.
Pickering, Travis R., Manual Dominguez-Rodrigo, Charles P. Egeland, and C. K. Brain 2004 Beyond leopards: Tooth marks and the contribution of multiple carnivore taxa to the accumulation of the Swartkrans Member 3 fossil assemblage. Journal of Human Evolution 46:595-604.
