University of Witwatersrand
Strewn across the Namib desert is a treasure trove of stone tools of which little is known because getting to them is so difficult.
There are few roads and vehicles have limited access in this protected area that lies in the desert of western Namibia.
So, when two researchers, Professor Dominic Stratford and Dr George Leader, decided to explore possible archaeological sites in what is considered to be one of the driest, most inhospitable deserts in the world, they had no option but to traverse the landscape on foot.
The two academics are associated with the University of the Witwatersrand and College of New Jersey, USA and have had a long association with Namibia.
The plan was to follow the course of the ancient Tsondab River that flowed from the central escarpment west towards the sea, an area that is now the Namib Naukluft National Park. By following the river the two archaeologists hoped to find evidence of human and hominin use of this ancient landscape.
The arid Namib desert in Namibia. (Dmitry Pichugin/Adobe Stock)
Ahead of them would be a trek of over 160 kilometers (100 miles) through a landscape of gravel plains and sand dunes, some of which tower over 100 meters (330 ft) above the interdune flats.
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* This article was originally published here