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Approximate age:495,000 years old=average of minimum (0.480 Ma) and maximum (0.510 Ma)

Date based on: Inferred from surrounding dated units See map of sites with similar ages

Dating reference: Beaumont PB, Vogel JC (2006) On a timescale for the past million years of human history in central South Africa; Chazan, M., Ron, H., Matmon, A., Porat, N., Goldberg, P., Yates, R., et al. (2008). Radiometric dating of the Earlier Stone Age sequence in excavation I at Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa: preliminary results. Journal of Human Evolution, 55(1), 1-11

Hominids: Middle Fauresmith      

Archaeology:      

Important specimens:

Notes: incised slabs that often feature well-spaced parallel curved lines; prepared cores, blades, Levallois points, convex 'scrapers,' and small handaxes that are much more refined than those in MU3; haematite pigment pieces

Location: Kuruman Hills, situated between Danielskuil and Kuruman in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa
Map location/coordinates reference: Johnson CR, McBrearty S Archaeology of middle Pleistocene lacustrine and spring paleoenvironments in the Kapthurin Formation, Kenya. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 31(4): 485-499.

Key references:   Beaumont PB, Vogel JC (2006) On a timescale for the past million years of human history in central South Africa; Chazan, M., Ron, H., Matmon, A., Porat, N., Goldberg, P., Yates, R., et al. (2008). Radiometric dating of the Earlier Stone Age sequence in excavation I at Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa: preliminary results. Journal of Human Evolution, 55(1), 1-11