# Nelson Bay Cave

- **Country:** South Africa
- **Coordinates:** -34.101131, 23.375611
- **Label:** Nelson Bay Cave|label_position=Top|discovery=First excavated in 1964}}
- **Geology:** Contact Breccia, Table Mountain Group, Uitenhage Group
- **Location:** Plettenberg Bay, Western Cape, South Africa
- **Map Width:** 250
- **Photo Width:** 250
- **Photo Caption:** Entrance to Nelson Bay Cave

Nelson Bay Cave, previously known as Wagenaar's Cave, is a coastal archaeological site in the Robberg Nature Reserve on the Robberg Peninsula in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa, about 250 km east of Cape Town. The cave is 18 meters (59 ft) wide and 35 meters (115 ft) deep, and the cave opening is 21 meters (68 ft) above mean sea level. The cave was amongst the first sites excavated in the southern Cape aimed at recording changes in terrestrial fauna caused by changes in climate and sea levels. It documents environmental changes during glacial and interglacial periods. Additionally, the cave is recognized for its Stone Age artifacts that show the transition from Middle Stone Age (MSA) to Later Stone Age (LSA) technologies. It has been regarded as a type-site (site where a particular industry, period, or any significant evidence was first studied in detail and can be used as a standard to be referenced by other sites)  of the Robberg Later Stone Age Industry.

![Photo of Nelson Bay Cave](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Entrance_to_Nelson_Bay_Cave.jpg)

**Source:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Bay_Cave (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)