Though, earlier studies had suggested hunter-gatherers in South Africa adopted modern culture some 20,000 years ago. A study published recently in the journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" has pointed towards the fact that South Africans had started showing modern behaviour some 40, 000 years back.

The findings are being based on artifacts found by researchers at Border Cave, located with Swaziland near South Africa's northeastern border. It is being said that the remnants are only possible of those San hunter-gatherers.

Also, the team affirms that even the carbon dating found on all items, including arrows and jewelry, signifies that modern culture had started some 44,000 years before. It has been told that the remains carried a comprehensive package, which had poisoned-tipped arrows and ostrich egg beads-made jewelry.

“They adorned themselves with ostrich egg and many marine shell beads, and notched bones for notational purposes”, the report has found.

Poison arrows were used by hunters for putting spiral engraving on arrowheads, while the same showed ownership, the team from the French National Research Centre told in the mean time. It is being said that the artifacts have been found to serve the same purposes as these do in the present era.