Picture: THINKSTOCK

ARCHAEOLOGICAL sites at Mossel Bay’s Pinnacle Point have been declared provincial heritage sites, laying the groundwork for them to become world heritage sites, says Prof Curtis Marean, who heads up the South African Coastal Palaeoenvironment, Palaeoecology and Palaeoanthropology Project.

Pinnacle Point has some of the earliest evidence of modern human behaviour, including the first use of fire for heat treatment, the earliest use of pigments, as well as small blades as spears, and the harvesting of shell fish.

"This is a significant step towards having Pinnacle Point declared a world heritage site," said Prof Marean, who is an associate director of the Institute of Human Origins at the US’s Arizona State University.

"Pinnacle Point is significant because it’s a uniquely dense concentration of well-preserved archaeological sites, which contain a record of human occupation over a period of about 170,000 years — from the time when modern human behaviour first emerged to the precolonial period."

The Department of Science and Technology has identified palaeosciences as an important research discipline because South Africa has a competitive geographic advantage in the field.

According to the palaeosciences draft strategy: "South Africa holds the key to advancing our understanding of various aspects of the story of life on earth.… Work on South African palaeoscience is therefore of crucial national and international importance."

The site was first discovered during an environmental impact assessment of land that would later become the Pinnacle Point Beach and Golf Resort.

Prof Marean said the sites would be proposed as national heritage sites and — if that was successful — as world heritage sites.

Mossel Bay mayor Alderlady Marie Ferreira said the declaration — in terms of section 27 of the National Heritage Resources Act — would benefit the local economy.

"It’s already drawing visits from quite a large number of scientists, students and volunteers," she said. There were also plans for a museum and "we believe that Mossel Bay will soon rank alongside places like the Cradle of Humankind and Olduvai Gorge as one of Africa’s most sought-after eco-tourism destinations."

However, the sites were not open to the public at the moment, said Carl van der Linde, the CEO of the Pinnacle Point Homeowners Association, which now owns the golf estate.

Most of the sites are on Pinnacle Point property.

"None of the sites are accessible to the public at the moment, but we’re working with (the archaeologists and environmentalists) to develop science-based tours that will bring the experience of the caves to as many people as possible, while still retaining the archaeological integrity of the findings.

"We hope to announce a starting date in the near future, but the tours can only begin once all the legal conditions have been met, and all the permissions have been put in place," he said.