On the Cape Coast of South Africa, a cemented sand sculpture supposedly discovered in Pleistocene aeolianite deposits depicts something resembling a sting ray without the tail. The sand sculpture portraying the image of a stingray on South Africa’s coast is one of the earliest examples of humans carving images of other animals. Since 2008, The Conversation research team has been studying this area and fossilized tracks have been found for large Pleistocene animals such as lions, rhinoceros, elephants, giant buffaloes, and crocodiles, as well as hominin footprints.
A citizen scientist supporter, Emily Brink, spotted an intriguing rock east of Still Bay, about 330km (1082677.2 feet) east of Cape Town, in 2018. Despite its unusual symmetry, the rock looked uncannily like a stingray, minus its tail. “After careful study of the rock, we have published an academic article in the journal Rock Art Research in which we posit that it represents a sand-sculpture of a blue stingray (Dasyatis chrysonata). We believe that the sculpture might have begun with tracing a specimen in the sand,” said a publication by The Conversation.
