SANDS in PANS

Description

Desert landscapes are compelling places: vast, beautiful and inviting, yet equally intimidating, harsh and inhospitable. By definition, these landscapes have a deficit of moisture, and planning any research trip into the hyper-arid Namib Sand Sea on the west coast of Namibia requires packing plenty of water. However, the landscape contains clues that it has not always been so inhospitable. Our recent research, featured in The Conversation (and the Journal Quaternary Science Advances) found a rich record of stone tools from the African Middle Stone Age, and demonstrates there was a small freshwater lake, first present around 220,000 years ago, fed by an ancient river.