Approximately 74 thousand years ago (ka), the Toba caldera erupted in Sumatra. Since the magnitude of this eruption was first established, its effects on climate, environment and humans have been debated. Here we describe the discovery of microscopic glass shards characteristic of the Youngest Toba Tuff—ashfall from the Toba eruption—in two archaeological sites on the south coast of South Africa, a region in which there is evidence for early human behavioural complexity. An independently derived dating model supports a date of approximately 74 ka for the sediments containing the Youngest Toba Tuff glass shards. By defining the input of shards at both sites, which are located nine kilometres apart, we are able to establish a close temporal correlation between them. Our high-resolution excavation and sampling technique enable exact comparisons between the input of Youngest Toba Tuff glass shards and the evidence for human occupation. Humans in this region thrived through the Toba event and the ensuing full glacial conditions, perhaps as a combined result of the uniquely rich resource base of the region and fully evolved modern human adaptation.

中文翻译：

---

大约 74,000 年前，人类通过多巴火山喷发在南非繁衍生息

大约 7.4 万年前（ka），多巴火山口在苏门答腊喷发。自从首次确定这次喷发的规模以来，它对气候、环境和人类的影响一直存在争议。在这里，我们描述了在南非南海岸的两个考古遗址中发现的具有最年轻多巴凝灰岩特征的微观玻璃碎片——多巴火山喷发的火山灰——该地区有证据表明早期人类行为的复杂性。一个独立推导的测年模型支持包含最年轻的 Toba Tuff 玻璃碎片的沉积物的日期约为 74 ka。通过定义相距 9 公里的两个站点的分片输入，我们能够在它们之间建立密切的时间相关性。我们的高分辨率挖掘和采样技术能够将最年轻的 Toba Tuff 玻璃碎片的输入与人类占领的证据进行精确比较。该地区的人类在多羽事件和随之而来的全冰川条件下蓬勃发展，这可能是该地区独特的丰富资源基础和现代人类完全进化适应的综合结果。