FLORISBAD
LOCATION
Spring deposit about 45 km NNW of Bloemfontein,
South Africa.DISCOVERY
G. Venter and T. Dreyer, February 1932.
MATERIAL
Partial face and cranial vault of adult, with isolated
M3.
DATING AND STRATIGRAPHIC CONTEXT
Found at a depth of 5.5 m in the debris choking a for-
mer vent of a mineral spring that had periodically
introduced sand and clay layers into the local sedi-
mentary sequence. This sequence thus consists of
“peat” layers, representing the former land surface,
alternating with white spring-laid sands and clays.
The hominid cranium and extensive faunal remains
were recovered at the level of the lowest peat layer,
Peat I, in a debris cone of the Western Eye of the
spring (Dreyer, in Clarke, 1985). Although this vent
erupted up through higher levels, preservation of the
specimen strongly indicates a general Peat 1 prove-
nance (Clarke, 1985). Early dating attempts showed
that the deeper layers at Florisbad lay well beyond the
limits of radiocarbon, and gave a U-series date of over
100 Ka for Peat 1 (Clarke, 1985). Subsequently, Grun
et al. (1996) performed ESR and OSL analyses on
teeth from the original and later excavations, which
yielded a considerable spread of dates. They also dated
the hominid molar, which yielded a weighted mean
age of 259 2 35 Ka. This accords reasonably well with
a mean age of ca. 125 Ka for an overlying Middle
Stone Age (MSA) occupation site between Peats 2
and 3, in which the range of dates was relatively
compact.ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT
Dreyer (1935) reported lithics of general MSA type
from the Peat 1 level, indeed in all levels below Peat 3.
The cranium itself bears evidence of hyena gnawing
(Clarke, 1985).PREVIOUS DESCRIPTIONS AND ANALYSES
In his initial description of the Florisbad hominid,
Dreyer (1935) gave the specimen the new name Homo
(Afiicantbropus) belmei, emphasizing its differences
from other fossil Homo that were then known. In a
note on the endocast in the same publication, how-
ever, Kappers emphasized its similarities with “Homo
sapiens fossilis”; bat soon thereafter, Drennan (1935,
1937) was urging recognition of its metrical resem-
blances to the Neanderthals, and its renaming as
Homo Jiorisbadensis (belmei). Hardly was the ink dry
on Drennan’s second publication than Galloway
(1937) drew attention to its resemblances to modern
Homo sapiens, specifically “Australoids.” Several more
recent commentators (e.g., Singer, 1958; Tobias, 1968;
and Rightmire, 1978) have drawn attention to simi-
larities with other “archaic” African forms such as79