Eswatini: Lion Cavern, the Lubombo range and ancient gneiss

At Lion Cavern, a highveld site on the Ngwenya Massif’s ironstone and hematite deposit, six samples dated by optically stimulated luminescence give an age of about 48,000 years. Excavation records point to four or more prehistoric mining locations on the massif; later industrial mining destroyed Castle Cavern and Castle Quarry. Earlier radiocarbon work at Lion Cavern reported dates to about 43,000 years BP; the higher estimates came from outside the shelter, while lower ones came from near its back wall. MacDonald and colleagues’ statistical comparison assigns one iron-oxide artefact group to Ngwenya outcrops with more than 80% probability: the study records 66 examples at Sibebe and reports this material from Nyonyane, Hlalakahle, Nsangwini, Siphiso and Mlawula. In its 2008 nomination, Eswatini gives the siSwati terms libovu for red pigment and ludumane for a glittering variety, associating their use with historical times; the entry dates the modern iron-ore mine to 1964.[1][2][3]

Bristow’s 1980 thesis describes Jurassic–Cretaceous Karoo volcanics along the Lebombo monocline, called Lubombo in Eswatini: basalt is overlain by massive rhyolite flows that are notably thinner north of Eswatini. A team from the German Archaeological Institute and partners, including the Eswatini National Trust Commission, reports that excavations began at Muti Muti shelter in 2023. Surface finds include pottery attributed to Early Farming Communities and stone artefacts that suggest Middle and Later Stone Age occupation. Rock paintings may represent several periods, and pottery was submitted for luminescence dating. MacDonald and colleagues also include Siphiso on the Lubombo range among the stratified Late Stone Age sites in their study.[6][7][1]

Kröner and Todt’s 1988 paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research reports zircon ages up to 3,644 ± 4 million years in tonalitic orthogneisses of the Ancient Gneiss Complex, adjacent to the Barberton Greenstone Belt.[8]