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116-493: The Hills cover an area of about 3,100 km (1,200 sq mi), of which 424 km (164 sq mi) is National Park , the remainder being largely communal land and a small proportion of commercial farmland. The park extends along the Thuli , Mtshelele , Maleme and Mpopoma river valleys. Part of the national park is set aside as a 100 km (39 sq mi) game park, which has been stocked with game including

232-536: A camp called Gordon Park, in the north of the Mtsheleli Valley. Gordon Park is a 115 ha lease from the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and is maintained as far as possible close to natural conditions. In addition to camping sites for Scout Troops there is a small cottage. The Girl Guides Association of Zimbabwe maintains a camp site at Rowallan Park, in the north of the Mtsheleli Valley. Big Cave Camp

348-457: A common motivation for the continued protection of all national parks around the world. National parks are almost always accessible to the public. Usually national parks are developed, owned and managed by national governments, though in some countries with federal or devolved forms of government, "national parks" may be the responsibility of subnational, regional, or local authorities. The United States established Yellowstone National Park ,

464-522: A crucial element of the symbolic behavioral package in the MSA. Although the advent of anatomical physical modernity cannot confidently be linked with palaeoneurological change, it does seem probable that hominid brains evolved through the same selection processes as other body parts. Genes that promoted a capacity for symbolism may have been selected for, suggesting that the foundations for symbolic culture may well be grounded in biology. However, behavior that

580-464: A greater ability to manufacture symbolic artifacts and social networks. According to the research team in Jebel Irhoud , the discovery means that Homo sapiens —not members of a rival or ancestor species ( Homo heidelbergensis , Homo naledi )—were the ones who left behind Middle Stone Age hand tools that have since been unearthed all over Africa. Numerous sites in southern Africa reflect

696-514: A lower cost basis and a larger geographical coverage (in 1989 when created, it was the largest protected area in Asia). It includes four of the six tallest mountains in the world: Everest , Lhotse , Makalu , and Cho Oyu . The QNNP is contiguous to four Nepali national parks, creating a transnational conservation area equal in size to Switzerland. In 1993, the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park

812-401: A major part of the meat component of the diet of early human inhabitants of the cave, which also included tortoise , baboons and larger game animals. The oldest material on the site is probably pre- Middle Stone Age . White Rhino Shelter is a small site near Gordon Park, on the main tarred road through the park. The frieze includes the outline of large rhinos, which is said to have inspired

928-467: A mental template of the process they would follow), possibly using pyrotechnology to facilitate fat extraction from bone, using a probable recipe to produce the compound, and the use of shell containers for mixing and storage for later use. Ochre is reported from some early MSA sites, for example at Kapthurin and Twin Rivers, and is common after c. 100 ka. Barham argues that even if some of this ochre

1044-488: A national park system, with the creation of the Nahuel Huapi National Park in 1934, through the initiative of Francisco Moreno . After World War II , national parks were founded all over the world. The United Kingdom designated its first national park, Peak District National Park , in 1951. This followed perhaps 70 years of pressure for greater public access to the landscape. By the end of

1160-694: A national park. These include: While the term national park is now defined by the IUCN, many protected areas in many countries are called national park even when they correspond to other categories of the IUCN Protected Area Management Definition, for example: While national parks are generally understood to be administered by national governments (hence the name), in Australia, with the exception of six national parks, national parks are run by state governments and predate

1276-594: A new level of innovation in their increased efficacy and more complex manufacturing process. The ability to conceptualize beyond the mere reduction of stone cores demonstrates cognitive flexibility, and the use of glue, which was often processed with ochre, to attach flakes to hafts demonstrates an understanding of chemical changes that can be utilized beyond the simple use of color. Adhesives were used to construct hafted tools by 70ka at Sibudu Cave in South Africa. Many of these adhesives were made from local conifers of

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1392-609: A part of the Forest of Fontainebleau (France, 1861). Yellowstone was part of a federally governed territory . With no state government that could assume stewardship of the land, the federal government took on direct responsibility for the park, the official first national park of the United States. The combined effort and interest of conservationists, politicians and the Northern Pacific Railroad ensured

1508-455: A remarkable advance. These data have been used to support theories of social and stylistic development throughout the MSA. In southern Africa, we see the technocomplexes of Howiesons Poort and Stillbay , named after the sites at which they were first discovered. Several others have not been dated or have been dated unreliably; these include the Lupemban technocomplex of central Africa,

1624-446: A thorough, albeit significantly overlapping, discussion of behavioral modernity. As early Homo sapiens began to diversify the ecological zones that they inhabited during the MSA, the archaeological record associated with these zones begins to show evidence for regional continuities. These continuities are significant for a number of reasons. The expansion of Homo sapiens into various ecological zones demonstrates an ability to adapt to

1740-580: A variety of environmental contexts including marine environments, savanna grasslands, relatively arid deserts, and forests. This adaptability is reflected in MSA artifacts found in these zones. These artifacts display stylistic variability depending on zone. During the Acheulian, which spanned from 1.5 million years ago to 300 thousand years ago, lithic technology displayed incredible homogeneity throughout all ecological niches. MSA technologies, with their evidence for regional variability and continuity, represent

1856-557: A way that best fits a scenario in which historical contingencies and environmental rather than cognitive changes are seen as main drivers". There have been two migration events out of Africa. The first was the expansion of H. erectus into Eurasia approximately 1.9 to 1.7 million years ago, and the second, by H. sapiens began during the MSA by 80 – 50 ka MSA out of Africa to Asia, Australia and Europe. Perhaps only in small numbers initially, but by 30 ka they had replaced Neanderthals and H. erectus . Each of these migrations represent

1972-662: A wide range of environments, including coastal and inland areas of southern and eastern Africa, and in at least one case MSA foragers were exploiting high-altitude glaciated environments, at Fincha Habera in Ethiopia. This, however, is not the only evidence of innovativeness that can be seen in early Homo sapiens. The development of new, regionally relevant tools, such as those used for the collection of marine resources seen at Abdur, Ethiopia, Pinnacle Point Cave, South Africa, and Blombos Cave , South Africa. The use of fire demonstrates another innovative aspect of human behavior when it

2088-401: Is a nature park designated for conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protected and owned by a government. Although governments hold different standards for national park designation, the conservation of 'wild nature' for posterity and as a symbol of national pride is

2204-478: Is a privately owned camp, bordering the Matobo National Park. The Camp offers four star accommodation in seven granite under thatch lodges and separate camping facilities elsewhere on the property. Activities on offer include game drives, game walks, bird watching, tours to famous rock art galleries, as well as tours to Rhodes Grave. The Big Cave property is approximately 2,000 acres (8.1 km), and

2320-578: Is considered to be closer to a Park rather than a hunting preserve, is that Neapolitan government already considered the division into the present-day wilderness areas and non-strict nature reserves. In 1810, the English poet William Wordsworth described the Lake District as a "sort of national property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy." The painter George Catlin , in his travels through

2436-721: Is difficult to find beyond 40ka, and indirect evidence is essentially intangible, thus technological evidence is the most fruitful of the three. Today there is widespread agreement among archaeologists that the world's first art and symbolic culture dates to the African Middle Stone Age. Some of the most striking artifacts, including engraved pieces of red ochre, were manufactured at Blombos Cave in South Africa 75,000 years ago. Pierced and ochred Nassarius shell beads were also recovered from Blombos, with even earlier examples (Middle Stone Age, Aterian ) from

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2552-535: Is during this time that we see evidence of the origins of modern human behavior . According to McBrearty and Brooks, there are four features that are characteristic of modern human behavior: abstract thinking, the ability to plan and strategize, "behavioral, economic and technological innovativeness," and symbolic behavior. Many of these aspects of modern human behavior can be broken down into more specific categories, including art, personal adornment, technological advancement, yet these four overarching categories allow for

2668-428: Is ideal for walking and birdwatching. Facilities include a natural rock pool for swimming, the "Leopards Lair" bar and dining area which incorporates a huge granite boulder into the building, as well as separate library area. Camp Amalinda and Matobo Ingwe Lodge are commercial lodges. By road from Bulawayo : Take Robert Mugabe Way in the city centre; this turns into Matopos Road which continues south some 30 km to

2784-587: Is no evidence of crossover in this region. ESA Acheulean sites are well documented across West Africa (except from the most tropical regions) but mostly remain undated. A few late Acheulean sites ("MSA" in the sense of late Acheulean, not Levallois) have been dated. Middle Pleistocene (pre 126 kya) sites are known from the northern Sahelian zones, while Late Pleistocene (post 126 kya) sites are known both from northern and southern West Africa. Unlike elsewhere in Africa, MSA sites appear to persist until very late, down to

2900-531: Is now Royal National Park was established just south of Sydney , Colony of New South Wales , on 26 April 1879, becoming the world's second official national park. Since Mackinac lost its national park status, the Royal National Park is, by some considerations, the second oldest national park now in existence. Banff National Park became Canada's first national park in 1885. New Zealand established Tongariro National Park in 1887. In Europe,

3016-411: Is perceived as a brand name that is associated with nature-based tourism and it symbolizes a "high quality natural environment with a well-designed tourist infrastructure". The duties of a park ranger are to supervise, manage, and/or perform work in the conservation and use of park resources. This involves functions such as park conservation; natural, historical, and cultural resource management; and

3132-504: Is run annually in the park. Supervised horse trails are arranged by the Parks and Wildlife staff. There are two routes: The many dams in the park allow for pleasant fishing, notably for Tilapia and bass. Bass were stocked into seven of the parks dams from the research station at Maleme Dam. The park entry fee includes a fishing license. Boating is possible on the larger dams , such as Maleme, Mtshelele, Toghwana and Lake Matopos. Privately owned boats are permitted subject to approval of

3248-585: Is still discussing the parameters of defining a national park. The largest national park in the world meeting the IUCN definition is the Northeast Greenland National Park , which was established in 1974 and is 972,000 km (375,000 sq mi) in area. In 1969, the IUCN declared a national park to be a relatively large area with the following defining characteristics: In 1971, these criteria were further expanded upon leading to more clear and defined benchmarks to evaluate

3364-512: Is the oldest in Zimbabwe, established in 1926 as Rhodes Matopos National Park , a bequest from Cecil Rhodes . The original park borders extended well to the south and east of the current park. These areas were redesignated for settlement as part of a compromise between the colonial authorities and the local people, creating the Khumalo and Matobo Communal Lands. The park area then increased with

3480-418: Is used in order to create stronger tools, such as the heated silcrete at Blombos, Howiesons Poort and Still Bay, and the heat treated bone tools from Still Bay. Hafted tools are further representative of human innovation. The large cutting tools of the Acheulian technocomplex become smaller, as more complex tools are better suited towards the needs of highly diversified environments. Composite tools represent

3596-494: The 22nd United States Congress had enacted to set aside four sections of land around what is now Hot Springs, Arkansas , to protect the natural, thermal springs and adjoining mountainsides for the future disposal of the U.S. government. It was known as Hot Springs Reservation , but no legal authority was established. Federal control of the area was not clearly established until 1877. The work of important leaders who fought for animal and land conservation were essential in

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3712-515: The American West , wrote during the 1830s that Native Americans in the United States might be preserved "(by some great protecting policy of government) ... in a magnificent park ... A nation's Park , containing man and beast, in all the wild and freshness of their nature's beauty!" The first effort by the U.S. Federal government to set aside such protected lands was on 20 April 1832, when President Andrew Jackson signed legislation that

3828-568: The American frontier and were meant to be monuments to America's true history. Yet, in some instances, the lands that were to be set aside and protected in formerly colonized lands were already being inhabited by native communities, who were then removed off of these lands to create pristine sites for public consumption. Critics claim that the removal of people from national parks enhances the belief that nature can only be protected when humans do not exist within it, and that this leads to perpetuating

3944-650: The Bambatan in southeast Africa, 70–80ka, and the Aterian technocomplex of northern Africa, 160–90ka. Evidence of abstract thinking can be seen in the archaeological record as early as the Acheulean–Middle Stone Age transition, approximately 300,000–250,000 years ago. This transition involves a shift in stone tool technology from Mode 2, Acheulean tools, to Mode 3 and 4, which include blades and microliths. The manufacture of these tools requires planning and

4060-530: The Federation of Australia ; similarly, national parks in the Netherlands are administered by the provinces. In Canada, there are both national parks operated by the federal government and provincial or territorial parks operated by the provincial and territorial governments, although nearly all are still national parks by the IUCN definition. In many countries, including Indonesia, the Netherlands, and

4176-662: The Howiesons Poort (c. 70–55 ka) is indicative of modern human behavior . A family basis to foraging groups, color symbolism and the reciprocal exchange of artifacts and the formal organization of living space are, he suggests, further evidence for modernity in the MSA. Lyn Wadley et al. have argued that the complexity of the skill needed to process the heat-treated compound glue (gum and red ochre) used to haft spears would seem to argue for continuity between modern human cognition and that of humans 70,000 BP at Sibudu Cave . In 2008, an ochre processing workshop likely for

4292-712: The Kapthurin Formation in Kenya and Kathu Pan in South Africa. Backed pieces from the Twin Rivers and Kalambo Falls sites in Zambia , dated at sometime between 300 and 140,000 years, likewise indicate a suite of new behaviors. A high level of technical competence is also indicated for the c. 280 ka blades recovered from the Kapthurin Formation, Kenya . The stone tool technology in use during

4408-636: The Memorable Order of Tin Hats (MOTH), an organization that seeks to commemorate the sacrifice of Rhodesian servicemen and women during World War One and World War Two, can be accessed in the Park. This is the main camp in the centre of the park, and hosts the park headquarters. All accommodation is self-catering. There are eighteen lodges and six chalets, the former fully equipped and the latter with communal ablutions and without crockery or cutlery. Three of

4524-557: The Middle Paleolithic of Europe, especially due to their roughly contemporaneous time span; however, the Middle Paleolithic of Europe represents an entirely different hominin population, Homo neanderthalensis , than the MSA of Africa, which did not have Neanderthal populations. Additionally, current archaeological research in Africa has yielded much evidence to suggest that modern human behavior and cognition

4640-782: The Omo Kibish Formation , the Herto Member of the Bouri Formation , and Mumba Cave contain fossil evidence to support this conclusion as well. There have been a number of theories proposed regarding the development of modern human behavior, but in recent years the mosaic approach has been the most favored perspective in regards to the MSA, especially when taken in consideration with the archaeological evidence. Some scholars including Klein have argued for discontinuity, while others including McBrearty and Brooks have argued that cognitive advances can be detected in

4756-697: The Taforalt Caves . In addition, ostrich egg shell containers engraved with geometric designs dating to 60,000 years ago were found at Diepkloof , South Africa, beads and other personal ornamentation have been found from Morocco which might be as much as 130,000 years old, and the Cave of Hearths in South Africa has yielded a number of beads dating from significantly prior to 50,000 years ago. At Panga ya Saidi in Kenya, marine shell beads appear perhaps as early as 67,000 years ago and certainly by 33,000 years ago, and engraved ochre by 48,500 years ago. Evidence for

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4872-637: The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias (later becoming Yosemite National Park ) to the state of California. According to this bill, private ownership of the land in this area was no longer possible. The state of California was designated to manage the park for "public use, resort, and recreation". Leases were permitted for up to ten years and the proceeds were to be used for conservation and improvement. A public discussion followed this first legislation of its kind and there

4988-572: The 431 sites managed by the National Park Service of the United States, only 63 carry the designation of National Park. Countries with a large ecotourism industry, such as Costa Rica, often experience a huge economic effect on park management as well as the economy of the country as a whole. Tourism to national parks has increased considerably over time. In Costa Rica for example, a megadiverse country , tourism to parks has increased by 400% from 1985 to 1999. The term national park

5104-531: The African continent, conventionally divided into five regions: northern Africa, comprising parts of the modern countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya; eastern Africa, stretching roughly from the highlands of Ethiopia to the southern part of Kenya; central Africa, stretching from the borders of Tanzania and Kenya to include Angola; southern Africa, which includes the numerous cave sites of South Africa; and western Africa. In northern and western Africa,

5220-471: The Central African site of Katanda dating to about 90,000 years ago. The arrows and needle, along with hide working tools, from Sibudu Cave are seen as evidence of making weapons with compound heat treated gluing technology. Evidence also exists for the systematic heat treating of silcrete stone to increase its flake-ability for the purpose of toolmaking, beginning approximately 164,000 years ago at

5336-551: The Central Rift Valley of Kenya constituted a major center for behavioural innovation. It is likely that the large terrestrial mammal biomass of these regions supported substantial human populations with subsistence and manufacturing patterns similar to those of ethnographically known foragers. Archaeological evidence from eastern Africa extending from the Rift Valley from Ethiopia to northern Tanzania represents

5452-725: The First Chimurenga —which ended with the assassination of the Mlimo by Frederick Russell Burnham , the American scout, in one of the Matobo caves. Upon learning of the death of the Mlimo, Cecil Rhodes boldly walked alone and unarmed into this Ndebele stronghold and persuaded the impi to lay down their arms. During the indaba it was also in these hills that Robert Baden-Powell , the Founder of Scouting , first learned woodcraft ,

5568-553: The Holocene boundary (12 kya), pointing to the possibility of late survival of archaic humans , and late hybridization with H. sapiens in West Africa. Furthermore, such results highlight significant spatiotemporal cultural variability and suggest that long inter-group cultural differences played a major role in later stages of human evolution in Africa. Early blades have been documented as far back as 550–500,000 years in

5684-438: The MSA and that the origin of our species is linked with the appearance of Middle Stone Age technology at 250–300 ka. The earliest remains of Homo sapiens date back to approximately 300 thousand years ago in Africa. The continent was mainly populated by groups of hunter-gatherers . In the archaeological record of both eastern Africa and southern Africa, there is immense variability associated with Homo sapiens sites, and it

5800-658: The Middle Stone Age is presented in Marwick (2003) in which the distance between the source of raw material and location in which a stone artifact was found was compared throughout sites containing early stone artifacts. Five Middle Stone Age sites contained distances between 140–340 km and have been interpreted, when compared with ethnographic data, that these distances were made possible through exchange networks. Barham also views syntactic language as one aspect of behavior that in fact allowed MSA people to settle in

5916-624: The Middle Stone Age shows a mosaic of techniques. Beginning approximately 300 kya, the large cutting tools of the Achuelian are gradually displaced by Levallois prepared core technologies, also widely used by Neanderthals during the European Middle Palaeolithic . As the MSA progresses, highly varied technocomplexes become common throughout Africa and include pointed artifacts, blades, retouched flakes, end and side scrapers, grinding stones, and even bone tools. However,

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6032-482: The Middle Stone Age shows a pattern of innovation followed by disappearance. This occurs with technology such as the manufacture of shell beads , arrows and hide working tools including needles, and gluing technology. These pieces of evidence provide a counterpoint to the classic "Out of Africa" scenario in which increasing complexity accumulated during the Middle Stone Age. Instead, it has been argued that such technological innovations "appear, disappear and re-appear in

6148-494: The South African site of Pinnacle Point and becoming common there for the creation of microlithic tools at about 72,000 years ago. Characteristically modern human behaviors, such as the making of shell beads, bone tools and arrows, and the use of ochre pigment, are evident at Panga ya Saidi in Kenya by 78,000–67,000 years ago. Evidence of early stone-tipped projectile weapons (a characteristic tool of Homo sapiens ),

6264-652: The United Kingdom, national parks do not adhere to the IUCN definition, while some areas which adhere to the IUCN definition are not designated as national parks. As many countries do not adhere to the IUCN definition, the term "national park" may be used loosely. In the United Kingdom , and in some other countries such as Taiwan , a "national park" simply describes a general area that is relatively undeveloped, scenic, and attracts tourists, with some form of planning restrictions to ensure it maintains those characteristics. There may be substantial human settlements within

6380-566: The ability to plan subsistence strategies based on this awareness demonstrates an ability to think beyond the present tense and act upon this knowledge. This planning depth is also seen in the presence of exotic raw materials at a variety of sites throughout the MSA. Procurement of local raw materials would have been a simple task to accomplish, yet MSA sites regularly contain raw materials that were obtained from sources over 100 km away, and sometimes farther than 300 km. Obtaining raw materials from this distance would require an awareness of

6496-455: The acquisition of World's View and Hazelside farms to the north. The current name Matobo reflects the correct vernacular pronunciation of the area. The Matobo Hills were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. The area "exhibits a profusion of distinctive rock landforms rising above the granite shield that covers much of Zimbabwe". The Matobo Hills is an area of high botanic diversity, with over 200 species of tree recorded in

6612-486: The actual end of the Achaeulean around 130 kya is taken as the beginning of the MSA. The MSA so defined is associated with the gradual replacement of archaic humans by anatomically modern humans . In a different convention, MSA refers to sites characterized by the use of Levallois methods for flake production, to the exclusion of Acheulean sites with large cleavers or handaxes. Following McBrearty and Tryon (2006),

6728-544: The best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst." The first area to use "national park" in its creation legislation was the U.S.'s Mackinac National Park , in 1875. (The area was later transferred to the state's authority in 1895, thus losing its official "national park" status. ) Following the idea established in Yellowstone and Mackinac, there soon followed parks in other nations. In Australia, what

6844-500: The bounds of a national park. Conversely, parks that meet the criteria may be not be referred to as "national parks". Terms like "preserve" or "reserve" may be used instead. Starting in 1735 the Naples government undertook laws to protect Natural areas, which could be used as a game reserve by the royal family; Procida was the first protected site; the difference between the many previous royal hunting preserves and this one, which

6960-499: The creation of Yellowstone, Yosemite, and nearly 37 other national parks and monuments, another 44 years passed before an agency was created in the United States to administer these units in a comprehensive way – the U.S. National Park Service (NPS). The 64th United States Congress passed the National Park Service Organic Act , which President Woodrow Wilson signed into law on 25 August 1916. Of

7076-582: The decade a further nine national parks had been designated in the UK. Europe has some 359 national parks as of 2010. The Vanoise National Park in the Alps was the first French national park, created in 1963 after public mobilization against a touristic project . In 1971, Lahemaa National Park in Estonia was the first area to be designated a national park in the former Soviet Union . In 1973, Mount Kilimanjaro

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7192-519: The development and operation of interpretive and recreational programs for the benefit of the visiting public. Park rangers also have fire fighting responsibilities and execute search and rescue missions. Activities also include heritage interpretation to disseminate information to visitors of general, historical, or scientific information. Management of resources such as wildlife, lake shores, seashores, forests, historic buildings, battlefields, archaeological properties, and recreation areas are also part of

7308-697: The development of legal action. Some of these leaders include President Abraham Lincoln, Laurance Rockefeller, President Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and First Lady Lady Bird Johnson to name a few. John Muir is today referred to as the "Father of the National Parks" due to his work in Yosemite. He published two influential articles in The Century Magazine , which formed the base for the subsequent legislation. President Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress on 1 July 1864, ceding

7424-464: The dichotomy between nature and humans (also known as the nature–culture divide ). They see the creation of national parks as a form of eco- land grabbing . Others claim that traveling to national parks to appreciate nature there leads people to ignore the nature that exists around them every day. Still others argue that tourism can actually negatively impact the areas that are being visited. Middle Stone Age The Middle Stone Age (or MSA )

7540-639: The dominion parks under the administration of the Dominion Park Branch (now Parks Canada ), within the Department of the Interior. The branch was established to "protect sites of natural wonder" to provide a recreational experience, centred on the idea of the natural world providing rest and spiritual renewal from the urban setting. Canada now has the largest protected area in the world with 450,000 km of national park space. Even with

7656-473: The earliest MSA sites. Faunal preservation, however, is not spectacular, and standardization in site excavation and lithic classification was, until recently, lacking. Unlike northern Africa, shifts between lithic technologies were not nearly as pronounced, likely due to more favorable climatic conditions that would have allowed for more continuous occupation of sites. Central Africa reflects similar patterning to eastern Africa, yet more archaeological research of

7772-507: The east, this camp offers campings and caravan sites. Located in the west of Lake Matopos Recreational Park, near the Hazelside Office, this camp offers campings and caravan sites. Located in the east of Lake Matopos Recreational Park, this camp offers campings and caravan sites. Located in the north of Lake Matopos Recreational Park, this camp offers campings and caravan sites. The Boy Scouts Association of Zimbabwe operates

7888-613: The first "public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people," in 1872. Although Yellowstone was not officially termed a "national park" at the time, in practice it is widely held to be the first and oldest national park in the world. However, the Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve (in what is now Trinidad and Tobago; established in 1776) and the area surrounding Bogd Khan Uul Mountain (Mongolia, 1778), which were restricted from cultivation to protect surrounding farmland, are considered

8004-752: The first national parks were a set of nine parks in Sweden in 1909, followed by the Swiss National Park in 1914. Africa's first national park was established in 1925 when Albert I of Belgium designated an area of what is now Democratic Republic of Congo centred on the Virunga Mountains as the Albert National Park (since renamed Virunga National Park ). In 1895, the Groenkloof Nature Reserve

8120-420: The form of shellfish exploitation for food. Based on his analysis of the MSA bovid assemblage at Klasies , Milo reports MSA people were formidable hunters and that their social behavior patterns approached those of modern humans. Deacon maintains that the management of plant food resources through deliberate burning of the veld to encourage the growth of plants with corms or tubers in the southern Cape during

8236-430: The fundamentals of scouting , from Burnham. Today much of the pottery and artifacts found on cave floors and most of the clay grain bins in the hills are remnants from the 1896 rebellion era. There are other reminders too - bronze plaques dotting the area mark the sites of armed forts or brief skirmishes. Cecil Rhodes, Leander Starr Jameson , and several other leading early white settlers, including Allan Wilson and all

8352-496: The game park on the Kezi- Bulawayo road. The frieze includes elephants, giraffes, warthogs, tsessebe and mongoose. Inanke Cave has the most extensive paintings, located in a remote cave accessible by a three-hour hike from Toghwana Dam. Along the route of the hike is an Iron Age furnace. Nswatugi Cave contains friezes of giraffes, elephants and kudu. Access is from Circular Drive, west of Maleme Dam. A human skeleton

8468-483: The genus Podocarpus , using a process based on distillation. Other technological innovations of the period include specialized projectile weapons found at various sites in Middle Stone Age Africa such as: bone and stone arrowheads at South African sites such as Sibudu Cave (along with an early bone needle also found at Sibudu) dating approximately 60,000–70,000 years ago, and bone harpoons at

8584-613: The gradual displacement of Acheulian by MSA technologies is further supported by this layering and contemporaneous placement, as well as by the earliest appearance of MSA technologies at Gademotta and the latest Acheulian technologies at the Bouri Formation of Ethiopia, dated to 154 to 160 kya. This suggests a possible overlap of 100–150 thousand years. Late Acheulean artefacts associated with Homo sapiens have been found in South African cave sites. The Cave of Hearths and Montague Cave in South Africa contain evidence of Acheulian technologies, as well as later MSA technologies, however there

8700-572: The granite mountains, narrow valleys form. These are often swampy valleys known as dambos or vleis, due to runoff from the whaleback mountains. These valleys form the headwaters of the Maleme , Mpopoma and Mtsheleli rivers, and the source of the Thuli River is just east of the park. San (Bushmen) lived in the hills about 2,000 years ago, leaving a rich heritage in hundreds of rock paintings . There are over 3,000 registered rock art sites, with

8816-498: The highest concentration of black eagles, and breeding pairs of these birds, worldwide. A limnological research centre has operated since 1950 at Maleme Dam and researched species such as the yellow-fish, Barbus mattozi . The Matobo Hills are composed entirely of granite, making up the Matopos Batholith. The granite weathers into fantastic shapes, such as the balancing rocks known as Mother and Child Kopje . Between

8932-461: The increased flexibility of the genus Homo to survive in widely varied climates. Based on the measurement of a large number of human skulls a recent study supports a central/southern African origin for Homo sapiens as this region shows the highest intra-population diversity in phenotypic measurements. Genetic data supports this conclusion. However, there is genetic evidence to suggest that dispersal out of Africa began in eastern Africa. Sites such as

9048-755: The job of a park ranger. Since the establishment of the National Park Service in the US in 1916, the role of the park ranger has shifted from merely being a custodian of natural resources to include several activities that are associated with law enforcement. They control traffic, manage permits for various uses, and investigate violations, complaints, trespass/encroachment, and accidents. National parks in former European colonies have come under criticism for allegedly perpetuating colonialism . National parks were created by individuals who felt that pristine, natural sections of nature should be set aside and preserved from urban development. In America, this movement came about during

9164-516: The largest archaeological evidence of the shift from the Late Acheulian to the Middle Stone Age tool technologies. This transition is characterized by stratigraphic layering of Acheulian stone tools, a bifacial handaxe technology, underneath and even contemporaneous with MSA technologies, such as Levallois tools, flakes, flaked tools, pointed flakes, smaller bifaces that are projectile in form, and, on rare occasions, hafted tools. Evidence of

9280-463: The late afternoon to early evening visitors, can be lucky enough to spot leopard , with many nights being disturbed by the ruckus of baboons screaming due to leopard attacks. There are two game viewing hides. With its scenery, climate and safe environment, Matobo has a number of hiking trails. Shorter hikes and walks include: Longer hikes include: Accompanied hikes, with an armed game scout are available from Maleme Rest Camp The 33 miler road race

9396-489: The lodges, Imbila, Black Eagle and Fish Eagle, offer views over the Maleme Gorge. Imbila Lodge offers a higher standard of luxury with ensuite bathrooms and teak furniture. Camping and caravan sites are situated along the eastern shores of Maleme Dam. Located in the south, this camp offers campings and caravan sites. Located on Circular Drive, west of Maleme Dam, this camp offers campings and caravan sites. Located in

9512-491: The main periods of painting being between 320 and 500 C.E.. In the many crevices and caves, clay ovens and other historic artefacts have been found, and various archaeological finds date back as far as the Pre- Middle Stone Age , around 300,000 B.P. The following major sites have been developed for tourist access: Bambata Cave is a major archaeological site, located in the west of the national park, north of

9628-427: The making of paints by a complex process also exists dating to 100,000 years ago in South Africa, and for the use of pigments in Kenya dating to about 320,000 years ago. A series of innovations have been documented by 170–160,000 years ago at the site of Pinnacle Point 13B on the southern Cape coast of South Africa . This includes the oldest confirmed evidence for the utilization of ochre and marine resources in

9744-699: The members of the Shangani Patrol killed in the First Matabele War , are buried on the summit of Malindidzimu , the 'hill of the spirits' -- this is a great source of controversy in modern Zimbabwe as this is considered a sacred place by nationalists and indigenous groups. This mount is also referred to as the World’s View. (Not to be confused with the World's View, Nyanga ). Mzilikazi is also buried at Matopos Hill. A memorial shrine, erected by

9860-450: The more diversified toolkit of the Middle Stone Age, as well as in the subsistence patterns of the period. As MSA hominins began to migrate into a range of different ecological zones, it became necessary to base hunting strategies around seasonally available resources. Awareness of seasonality is evident in the faunal remains found at temporary sites. In less forgiving ecological zones, this awareness would have been essential for survival and

9976-470: The most difficult aspects of modern human behavior to distinguish archaeologically. When searching for evidence of symbolic behavior in the MSA, there are three lines of evidence that can be considered: direct evidence reflecting concrete examples of symbols; indirect evidence reflecting behaviors that would have been used to convey symbolic thought; and technological evidence reflecting the tools and skills that would have been used to produce art. Direct evidence

10092-409: The national park, including the mountain acacia , wild pear and the paperbark acacia . There are also many aloes , wild herbs and over 100 grass species. Many types of rare endemic plants have been recorded. Matobo National Park has a wide diversity of fauna: 175 bird, 88 mammal, 39 snake and 16 fish species. Game include white rhinos , sable antelopes , impala and leopards . The park contains

10208-414: The oldest legally protected areas . Parks Canada , established on May 19, 1911, is the world's oldest national park service. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and its World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) have defined "National Park" as its Category II type of protected areas . According to the IUCN, 6,555 national parks worldwide met its criteria in 2006. IUCN

10324-583: The park boundary. This is a two-lane tarred road. A single lane tarred road continues to Maleme Dam and Rest Camp. The remaining roads in the park are gravel or earth, but suitable for most vehicles. However, access to Toghwana Dam during the rainy season may require four wheel drive. The park can also be reached from Gwanda : taking the Thuli-Makwe road towards Kezi and turning north on the main Kezi-Bulawayo road. Some game can be seen throughout

10440-504: The park, with regular sightings of white rhino, sable antelope and impala. However, the best viewing is to be had in the 105 km Game Park, in the west of the national park. The game park, also known as Whovi or Hove Wild Area was established with animals translocated from the border areas of Hwange National Park . It has been restocked with white and black rhinos . Other animals to be seen include sable antelope , giraffe , zebra , impala , wildebeest and ostrich . On rare occasion in

10556-438: The parks' officials. A Zimbabwean cheese has been named Matopos , after the hills. The name of the park has been used twice in films: According to director Stéphanie Machuret, the title and landscape in her 2007 film Matopos , about a traditional healer, were inspired by the park. The name was also used for the fictional Democratic Republic of Matobo in the film The Interpreter . National Park A national park

10672-543: The passage of enabling legislation by the United States Congress to create Yellowstone National Park. Theodore Roosevelt and his group of conservationists, the Boone and Crockett Club , were active campaigners and were highly influential in convincing fellow Republicans and big business to back the bill. Yellowstone National Park soon played a pivotal role in the conservation of these national treasures, as it

10788-456: The possible making of projectile points. It is observed by the authors of three 2018 studies on the site, that the evidence of these behaviors is approximately contemporary to the earliest known Homo sapiens fossil remains from Africa (such as at Jebel Irhoud and Florisbad ), and they suggest that complex and modern behaviors had already begun in Africa around the time of the emergence of Homo sapiens . Symbolic behavior is, perhaps, one of

10904-440: The production of paints was uncovered dating to ca. 100,000 years ago at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Analysis shows that a liquefied pigment-rich mixture was produced and stored in the two abalone shells, and that ochre, bone, charcoal, grindstones and hammer-stones also formed a composite part of the toolkits. Evidence for the complexity of the task includes procuring and combining raw materials from various sources (implying they had

11020-616: The re-introduction of the species in the 1960s. The grandeur and stillness of the hills has contributed to their hallowed reputation, especially to the Shona and Ndebele people. Many rituals and other religious activities are performed in the hills. Before the colonial era, it was the headquarters of the spiritualist oracle, the Mlimo. The hills were the scene of the famous indaba between white settlers and Ndebele leaders in 1896—the Second Matabele War , known in Zimbabwe as

11136-528: The region is certainly required. Southern Africa consists of many cave sites, most of which show very punctuated starts and stops in stone tool technology. Research in southern Africa has been continuous and quite standardized, allowing for reliable comparisons between sites in the region. Much of the archaeological evidence for the origins of modern human behavior is traced back to sites in this region, including Blombos Cave , Howiesons Poort , Still Bay , and Pinnacle Point . The term "Middle Stone Age" (MSA)

11252-441: The resources, a perceived value in the resources, whether it be functional or symbolic, and, possibly, the ability to organize an exchange network in order to obtain the materials. The ability to expand into new environments throughout Africa and, ultimately, the world, displays a level of adaptability and, consequently, innovativeness that is often seen as characteristic of behavioral modernity. Middle Stone Age sites are found in

11368-513: The stone tips of javelins or throwing spears, were discovered in 2013 at the Ethiopian site of Gademotta , and date to around 279,000 years ago. Evidence was found in 2018, dating to about 320,000 years ago, at the Kenyan site of Olorgesailie , of the early emergence of innovations and behaviors including: long-distance trade networks (involving goods such as obsidian), the use of pigments, and

11484-548: The term "early MSA" (EMSA) refers to sites predating the 126 kya interglacial, and "later MSA" (LMSA) refers to site younger than 126 kya. In this convention, Fauresmith sites of 500 to 300 kya are within the ESA, and the MSA begins after about 280 kya and is largely associated with H. sapiens , the earliest reliably dated MSA site in East Africa being Gademotta in Ethiopia, at 276 kya. The Middle Awash valley of Ethiopia and

11600-557: The tropical forest environments of what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Many authors have speculated that at the core of this symbolic explosion, and in tandem, was the development of syntactic language that evolved through a highly specialized social learning system providing the means for semantically unbounded discourse. Syntax would have played a key role in this process and its full adoption could have been

11716-494: The understanding of how striking a stone will produce different flaking patterns. This requires abstract thought, one of the hallmarks of modern human behavior. The shift from large cutting tools in the Acheulian to smaller and more diversified toolkits in the MSA represents a better cognitive and conceptual understanding of flintknapping, as well as the potential functional effects of distinct tool types. The ability to plan and strategize, much like abstract thinking, can be seen in

11832-709: The use of blades (associated mainly with the Upper Palaeolithic in Europe) is seen at many sites as well. In Africa, blades may have been used during the transition from the Early Stone Age to the Middle Stone Age onwards. Finally, during the later part of the Middle Stone Age, microlithic technologies aimed at producing replaceable components of composite hafted tools are seen from at least 70 ka at sites such as Pinnacle Point and Diepkloof Rock Shelter in South Africa. Artifact technology during

11948-450: The wet-dry cycles of the modern Sahara desert has led to fruitful archaeological sites followed by completely barren soil and vice versa. Preservation in these two regions can vary, yet the sites that have been uncovered document the adaptive nature of early humans to climatically unstable environments. Eastern Africa represents some of the most reliable dates, due to the use of radiocarbon dating on volcanic ash deposits, as well as some of

12064-509: The white rhinoceros . The highest point in the hills is the promontory named Gulati (1,549 m; 5,082 ft) just outside the north-eastern corner of the park. Administratively, Matobo National Park incorporates the Lake Matopos Recreational Park , being the area around Hazelside, Sandy Spruit and Lake Matopos. The national park is located within the southern Africa bushveld ecoregion . The national park

12180-546: The world's densest population of the latter, due to the abundance of hyrax , which make up 50% of their diet. The game park in the west has been restocked with white and black rhinos , the former from KwaZulu-Natal in the 1960s and the latter from the Zambezi Valley in the 1990s. It has been designated as an Intensive Protection Zone for the two species, as well as hyenas , hippopotami , giraffes , zebras , wildebeests and ostriches . Matobo National Park contains

12296-645: Was a heated debate over whether the government had the right to create parks. The perceived mismanagement of Yosemite by the Californian state was the reason why Yellowstone was put under national control at its establishment six years later. In 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established as the United States' first national park, being also the world's first national park. In some European and Asian countries, however, national protection and nature reserves already existed - though typically as game reserves and recreational grounds set aside for royalty, such as

12412-500: Was a period of African prehistory between the Early Stone Age and the Late Stone Age . It is generally considered to have begun around 280,000 years ago and ended around 50–25,000 years ago. The beginnings of particular MSA stone tools have their origins as far back as 550–500,000 years ago and as such some researchers consider this to be the beginnings of the MSA. The MSA is often mistakenly understood to be synonymous with

12528-584: Was beginning to develop much earlier in Africa during the MSA than it was in Europe during the Middle Paleolithic. The MSA is associated with both anatomically modern humans ( Homo sapiens ) as well as archaic Homo sapiens , sometimes referred to as Homo helmei . Early physical evidence comes from the Gademotta Formation in Ethiopia, the Kapthurin Formation in Kenya and Kathu Pan in South Africa. There are MSA archaeological sites from across

12644-602: Was classified as a National Park and was opened to public access in 1977. In 1989, the Qomolangma National Nature Preserve (QNNP) was created to protect 3.381 million hectares on the north slope of Mount Everest in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. This national park is the first major global park to have no separate warden and protection staff—all of its management consists of existing local authorities, allowing

12760-462: Was established as the first game sanctuary in Africa. In 1926, the government of South Africa designated Kruger National Park as the nation's first national park, although it was an expansion of the earlier Sabie Game Reserve established in 1898 by President Paul Kruger of the old South African Republic , after whom the park was named. Argentina became the third country in the Americas to create

12876-601: Was established in Jamaica to conserve and protect 41,198 hectares, including tropical montane rainforest and adjacent buffer areas. The site includes Jamaica's tallest peak ( Blue Mountain Peak ), hiking trails and a visitor center. The Park was also designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015. The world's first national park service was established May 19, 1911, in Canada. The Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act placed

12992-404: Was found here dating 42000 BC belonged to Middle Stone Age. Pomongwe Cave , near Maleme Dam, was damaged by a preservation attempt in 1965, where linseed oil was applied to the paintings. Archaeological digs within and downslope of the cave revealed 39,032 stone tools, several hearths, with the main fire-making areas were in the centre of the cave floor. Bone fragments showed that hyrax formed

13108-491: Was mediated by symbolism may have only come later, even though this physical capacity was already in place much earlier. Skoyles and Sagan, for example, argue that human brain expansion by increasing the prefrontal cortex would have created a brain capable of symbolizing its previously non-symbolic cognition, and that this process, slow to begin with, increasingly accelerated during the last 100,000 years. Symbolically mediated behavior may then feed back upon this process by creating

13224-585: Was proposed to the African Archaeological Congress by Goodwin and Van Riet Lowe in 1929. The use of these terms was officially abandoned in 1965, although the term remains in use in the context of sub-Saharan Africa , beginning with a transitional late Acheulean period known as the Fauresmith industry . The Fauresmith industry is poorly dated, according to Herries (2011) beginning around 511–435 kya. This time, rather than

13340-535: Was suffering at the hands of poachers and others who stood at the ready to pillage what they could from the area. Theodore Roosevelt and his newly formed Boone and Crockett Club successfully took the lead in protecting Yellowstone National Park from this plight, resulting in laws designed to conserve the natural resources in Yellowstone and other parks under the Government's purview. American Pulitzer Prize -winning author Wallace Stegner wrote: "National parks are

13456-625: Was used in a symbolic, color-related role then this abstraction could not have worked without language. Ochre, he suggests, could be one proxy for trying to find the emergence of language. Formal bone tools are frequently associated with modern behaviour by archaeologists. Sophisticated bone harpoons manufactured at Katanda, West Africa at c. 90 ka and bone tools from Blombos Cave dated at c. 77 ka may then also serve as examples of material culture associated with modern language. Language has been suggested to be necessary to maintain exchange networks. Evidence of some form of exchange networks during

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