Discover the Palaeo Agulhas Plain: South Africa’s Lost Ancient Landscape

Long before the southern tip of Africa was submerged by rising seas, a vast grassy expanse known as the Palaeo Agulhas Plain stretched into what is now the Indian Ocean. This fertile landscape was home to ancient wildlife, including elephants, lions, buffalo, and antelope, and supported early human civilizations such as the San and Khoi peoples, who hunted, gathered, and thrived here.

Today, much of the plain lies underwater, but its history is preserved in fossils, sediment layers, and archaeological artifacts along the Overberg coastline. Exploring the area offers hikers a unique connection to South Africa’s prehistoric past, where humans and animals once roamed freely across this lost world.

Long before the southern tip of Africa was submerged by rising seas, a vast grassy expanse known as the Palaeo Agulhas Plain stretched into what is now the Indian Ocean. This fertile landscape was home to ancient wildlife, including elephants, lions, buffalo, and antelope, and supported early human civilizations such as the San and Khoi peoples, who hunted, gathered, and thrived here.

Today, much of the plain lies underwater, but its history is preserved in fossils, sediment layers, and archaeological artifacts along the Overberg coastline. Exploring the area offers hikers a unique connection to South Africa’s prehistoric past, where humans and animals once roamed freely across this lost world.

The classified vegetation types of the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain (Cowling et al., 2020) and visual examples of what habitats may have looked like (1-3). Image 1 corresponds with unpalatable and woody fynbos and renosterveld type habitats; 2, floodplain woodlands; and 3, grasslands.