This ancient artifact was discovered by archaeologists at the beginning of the last century in one of the cave burials in South Africa. The stone was in the ground at a depth of about a meter.
Interestingly, the paint on it was so bright as if it had been applied yesterday. And this despite the fact that he has lain in the ground for hundreds or thousands of years. The find immediately interested the researchers.
It should be noted that stones with ancient drawings were found on the territory of Africa even earlier, starting from the 19th century. However, they all had one characteristic feature - over time, the drawings were erased so much that they could hardly be distinguished.
And this stone is remarkable for its amazing image preservation. The stone itself was discovered in 1911. Who created it and when is unclear. There is no single point of view on this issue.
However, at the beginning of the last century, archaeologists suggested that the local burial stones could belong to the mysterious Strandloopers - there was such a nomadic people living on the southeastern coast of South Africa.
This is one of the peoples about which practically nothing is known - who they are, when they appeared here and why they disappeared. The local peoples have legends that these were people of a different species, very different from modern people, both culturally and anatomically.
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Strandlepur studies began a long time ago, back in the 17th century. And the first Europeans to study them was the French traveler Francois Valentin.
The first information about this people was found in his field notes from the times of 1681. Valentine called this people "water people" or "fishermen". According to the archaeologist, this people got their own food right on the seashore, collecting everything that the water brought to the sand.
Archaeologists have found painted stones that belonged to this people before. However, up to a certain point, there were exclusively monochrome specimens. The Coldstream Stone is the exception to the rule.
Its history as a museum exhibit is very interesting. For several years he was within the walls of one of Cape Town's museums. Then it was removed from the stand for safekeeping and put in a safe, after which the stone was safely forgotten.
He lay there for several decades. The stone was remembered only at the end of the last century. For researchers, it remains a mystery how the drawings on the stone have not lost their clarity and brightness.
No one can explain this riddle. It got to the point that some representatives of official science seriously thought that the stone was a fake.
However, in 1989, an analysis of the stone paint was carried out. It was compared to the paint found by archaeologists on other stones belonging to this people.
The analysis results showed that the paints are identical and the stone is not a fake. The stones are also similar in style of painting.