The ‘Kathu Pan Handaxe’, an Earlier Stone Age large cutting tool (LCT), estimated at about a million years old and found during a 1980 archaeological project at the site of Kathu Pan 1 in the Northern Cape, has acquired iconic status at exhibitions in Europe and North America, and is illustrated in numerous books. It has been featured on a postage stamp, and is celebrated in poetry and prose. The site of Kathu Pan 1 is part of a series of in-filled sinkhole deposits in a shallow depression on the north-western outskirts of Kathu. Archaeological localities of importance in the vicinity are referred to as the Kathu Archaeological Complex. For those in the know, the name Kathu would conjure up the striking handaxe, but it also happens to be the name of a large town, burgeoning in size, in the midst of major iron ore and manganese deposits, with some of the largest open pit mines in the world. Provincial spatial planning identifies Kathu as a major Industrial Park within the Gamagara Mining Corridor. It is not envisaged as a key area in terms of the tourism or heritage sectors.

Discussions in meetings over the last quarter century have failed to result in an interpretative/information centre or small museum, proposed time and again to increase local awareness. Inexorable expansion of the town has encroached on the sites: the edge of one was damaged by mall development, while urban development extends to within metres of the Kathu Pan sites. The presentation will outline the significance of the sites, their present plight and future prospects, which require serious consideration and co-operation by different sectors at national, provincial and local level.

David Morris (PhD) is an archaeologist and Honorary Research Associate at Kimberley’s McGregor Museum, having retired from the museum in June 2022. He has been affiliated with the Heritage Department at Sol Plaatje University. His principal research interest is in the rock art of the Northern Cape, while he has helped develop public archaeology and heritage consciousness through the Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre, Wonderwerk Cave and other museum contexts. His involvement in issues around mining and archaeological landscapes includes defending the declared site of Canteen Kopje where illegal mining commenced in 2016 and is subject to on-going legal procedures. David is currently the President, and Trans-!Garib Branch Representative on the Council, of the South African Archaeological Society.