Importance Score: 45 / 100 🔵
“The skill of animal tracking might very well be the genesis of science.” This insightful statement opens a 2013 publication by Louis Liebenberg, a co-founder of an organisation dedicated to environmental monitoring. The profound link between trace identification in nature, a practice dating back to prehistoric times, and contemporary science holds particular significance for ichnologists, specialists in the study of tracks and traces. Our expertise in this field developed later in our lives. However, envision the enhanced visual and cognitive capabilities we might possess as scientists if we had honed these skills from childhood and tracked with the urgency of survival.
Our primary aim is to locate and document fossilized tracks and traces of creatures that inhabited the Cape coast of South Africa during the Pleistocene Epoch, spanning from 35,000 to 400,000 years ago. Since 2008, the Cape South Coast Ichnology project, anchored at the African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, has catalogued over 370 vertebrate tracksites. These discoveries have significantly enriched the traditional record of body fossils, including notable trackways of colossal tortoises and giraffes.
Considering the inherent difficulties in recognising these ancient imprints, we sought the perspective of seasoned hunters with lifelong tracking experience. We were curious to understand how their traditional indigenous expertise might complement our scientific methodologies.
Fortunately, we were able to consult with such experts in southern Africa. The Ju/’hoansi San people from north-eastern Namibia stand out as perhaps the last indigenous group in southern Africa who have fully preserved their ancient environmental proficiencies. Residing within the Nyae Nyae conservancy, they maintain access to a portion of their ancestral lands and its remaining wildlife. They continue to practice subsistence hunting using bows and poison arrows and gather naturally growing food.
Among them, a select few have earned the designation of Indigenous Master Tracker, a title conferred by Liebenberg’s CyberTracker initiative to acknowledge their exceptional hunter-gatherer prowess. Consequently, in late 2023, Master Trackers #oma Daqm and /uce Nǂamce journeyed to Cape Town.
Our approach was not entirely novel. Ju/’hoansi Master Trackers have previously assisted scientists in interpreting hominin tracksites in French caves and prehistoric tracks within Namibian rock art. Nevertheless, we anticipated a greater challenge with our tracksites in aeolianites (cemented dunes), which are often poorly preserved.
Our objective was to compare our interpretations of fossil trackways with those of the Master Trackers and to potentially uncover previously unnoticed traces. As detailed in a recently published study co-authored with the Ju/’hoansi trackers and our colleague Jan De Vynck, they succeeded in this, notably confirming the first fossil hyena trackway ever documented.
Exchanging Methodologies
The Late Pleistocene epoch is chronologically close to our era, merely 125,000 years removed. Many species that left tracks on the Cape south coast at that time still exist today. Some, while extinct, possess recognisable tracks, such as the giant long-horned buffalo and the enormous Cape zebra.
However, we recognised that tracking in Kalahari sand, as practiced by the Ju/’hoansi, differs from tracking on Pleistocene rock surfaces. Many of our tracks are preserved on ceiling undersides and overhangs or appear in profile within cliff exposures. Our track-bearing surfaces are generally limited in size and lack associated contextual clues. We cannot follow a continuous spoor trail. Details such as the time of day the tracks were imprinted or the influence of dew are unknown, and we have never successfully followed a track to its source. Coprolites – fossilised droppings – are rarely found conveniently adjacent to the tracks.
We presented our new collaborators with known fossil tracksites, refraining from offering our pre-existing interpretations. #oma and /uce engaged in discussions, subsequently sharing their conclusions regarding the track creators and their behaviours. We then disclosed our insights and relevant 3D photogrammetry data, leading to collaborative agreements.
They quickly began identifying recently exposed tracksites independently, providing insightful, novel interpretations for locations that had previously perplexed us. For instance, they detected ostrich tracks we had overlooked, situated near ostrich egg remnants, inferring that we were possibly examining a fossilised ostrich nest. In another instance, they highlighted the distinct track pattern of a scrub hare on the overhanging section of an eroded cliff.
Discovery of the First Fossilized Hyena Trackway
One particularly memorable experience involved a 400,000-year-old trackway situated on a rock surface at Dana Bay, initially identified by local geologists Aleck and Ilona Birch several years prior. This rock formation had only been briefly visible for a few days in the last decade, typically concealed by beach sand.
Our initial assessment suggested the track maker might have been a hyena, most likely a brown hyena.
Our hypothesis was validated when our master tracker colleagues independently reached an identical conclusion. Collaborative examination of our digital 3D images strengthened our shared assessment.
This discovery was significant; it represented the first confidently identified fossil hyena trackway. Previous examples had only included isolated tracks or fragmented, possible trackway segments. Hyena trackways possess a distinctive characteristic: the forefoot tracks are notably larger than the hindfoot tracks.
Diverse Perspectives in Observation
We are fortunate to possess university degrees and affiliations with academic institutions. However, competence can be judged through alternative metrics: the capacity to employ time-honored methods of perception and pattern recognition to sustain and provide for one’s family and community via tracking, hunting, and gathering.
We believe our work exemplifies a unique merging of established and contemporary approaches to unveil captivating aspects of the past. We employ geological knowledge, satellite technology, palaeontological databases, tracking guides, and advanced dating techniques. Yet, hunter-gatherers perceive details that elude us and our drones: subtle markings and enigmatic configurations on weathered surfaces. They access a different body of knowledge, both culturally transmitted and developed from early childhood.
The subsequent crucial step is to cultivate this partnership for reciprocal discovery and benefit, understanding the past to better prepare ourselves for an uncertain future.