Apollo 11 Cave

The Apollo 11 Cave, located in the ǀAi-ǀAis/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park of Namibia, is an archaeological site renowned for its ancient rock art. Accumulated over at least 40 millennia, the site's deposits indicate a series of human occupational phases dating from around 71,000 to 29,000 years ago. The cave, more of a rock shelter, is famous for its seven quartzite slabs known as the Apollo 11 Stones, which include some of the oldest mobile and figurative art ever discovered in Africa, carbon-dated to approximately 30,000 years BP. The art features therianthropic depictions, combining human and animal features, alongside simpler geometric paintings and riverbed engravings. Despite its significance, the site was found vandalized in 2007, prompting calls for its preservation.