Border Cave in the Lebombo Mountains is named such because it lies near the border of South Africa and eSwatini (formerly Swaziland). Humans have lived in the cave at least as far back a 227,000 years ago, according to artifacts excavated there. A layer of grass has been identified as bedding, and has been dated to 200,000 years ago! That's more than twice as old as the oldest human bedding we previous knew, dated at 77,000 years ago and also in South Africa. How do they know this ancient mat of grass was human bedding? Because it was cleverly constructed.
The top of the bedding was made of once fresh grass, with remains of camphor bushes mixed in. Camphor is a known insect repellent. The grass was laid over a layer of ashes, which would also serve to repel or kill insects. The ashes are the remnants of the same grass/camphor mixture as the top layer, indicating that the bedding was burned and rebuilt, another clever way to kept the bed clean and vermin-free. Fragments of other materials were found on top of the grass, indicating that people sat there doing everyday activities. Read about this early bed and what scientists have learned about it at Archaeology World. -via Strange Company
(Image credit: L. Wadley)