Mystery of a bone is solved: The mystery of the bone discovered by Mr. W. H. Paterson, of Hermanus, in the Bushman cave on Hoy’s Koppie which has baffled many minds for a number of years, has at last been solved – and at the same time new light has been thrown on oceanic conditions of the Cape seas thousands of years ago.
The story of the bone is an interesting example of how a seemingly small and insignificant thing can be the key to important scientific truths. The remnants of a primitive man’s supper thrown carelessly on the floor of his cave dwelling can ages afterwards enable experts to prove facts about the ocean which had hitherto been mere surmise.
Mr. Paterson, who has been carrying out excavations in the Klipkop cave (on Hoy’s Kopje) since 1926 made his discovery in 1935. The bone which was in a fossilised state and measured about two inches in length was shaped rather like a submarine with a small protuberance on the one side like a periscope. Mr. Paterson submitted it to Dr. Barnard of the South African Museum in Cape Town and received the reply: “… the Mystery Bone has now become the Mystery Fish. The bone corresponds with the crest on the top of the skull found in most fish, called the ‘Supraoccipital’. Now the question is, what fish, large fish, has a thick, low supra-occipital instead of the usual high crest? If you have the chance of examining the heads of any large fish, you might do so.”
The pinning down of the actual fish was not an easy task and in fact it was not until this year that further light was thrown on the mystery. Meanwhile Mr. Paterson never lost the opportunity of questioning experts or anyone who might be of help.
