34,000-Year-Old Active Termite Hills Discovered Near the Buffels River in South Africa
In the arid region of Namaqualand near the Buffels River in South Africa, scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery: termite mounds that are still inhabited and have been standing for more than 30,000 years. These ancient termite hills, now confirmed as the oldest known active termite mounds in the world, have stunned researchers with their age and resilience. Radiocarbon dating of samples from these mounds, conducted by researchers from Stellenbosch University, revealed their astonishing age of 34,000 years. "We knew they were old, but not that old," said Michele Francis, a senior lecturer in the university's Department of Soil Science who led the study. Her research, published in May, indicates that these mounds existed during a time when sabre-toothed cats and woolly mammoths roamed the Earth, and large parts of Europe and Asia were covered in ice. These termite mounds predate some of the earliest cave paintings in Europe. Prior to this discovery, the ol...
