The Cradle of Humankind

The Cradle of Humankind, an area of dolomitic limestone caves in the countryside near Johannesburg, is one of the richest sources of early human fossils in the world and a World Heritage Site, having produced finds that have reshaped our understanding of where we come from. Its most famous caves, at Sterkfontein, yielded the celebrated skull nicknamed Mrs Ples and the near-complete skeleton known as Little Foot, both belonging to Australopithecus, human relatives that walked the region millions of years ago, and later discoveries nearby have added whole new species to the story. Visitors can tour the Sterkfontein caves themselves, descending past the excavation where these fossils were found, and the nearby Maropeng visitor centre presents the wider story of human origins through exhibits and an underground boat ride. It turns the vast, abstract span of human evolution into something you can stand inside, an hour from the city.

History

Robert Broom found the first human fossils at Sterkfontein in 1935, in 1938 a schoolboy brought Raymond Dart skull fragments from nearby Kromdraai later identified as Paranthropus robustus, and in 1947 Broom and John T. Robinson found the 2.3-million-year-old skull nicknamed Mrs Ples at Sterkfontein. At Swartkrans, where Broom identified hominid remains in 1948 and C. K. Brain worked for three decades, lies the oldest evidence of controlled fire by Homo erectus, more than a million years old; Phillip Tobias began excavating Sterkfontein in 1966, the longest continuously running fossil dig in the world, and in 1997 Ron Clarke found the near-complete skeleton Little Foot there. Lee Berger found the first hominids at Gladysvale in 1991 and the remains of Australopithecus sediba, between 1.78 and 1.95 million years old, at Malapa in 2008, and the area became a World Heritage Site in 1999 as part of the Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa (Wikipedia, Cradle of Humankind).

Highlights

• The Sterkfontein caves - a guided descent past the excavations that produced the fossils.
• The Maropeng centre - the exhibition and boat ride telling the human-origins story.
• The story of the fossils - Mrs Ples, Little Foot and the species found here.
• The excavation site - the working dig where discoveries are still being made.

When to go

Open year-round; the caves keep a comfortable temperature whatever the weather outside. Weekdays are quieter than weekends. It combines easily with a day trip from Johannesburg or Pretoria, and the two main sites, the caves and the visitor centre, are a short drive apart.

Things to know

The actual fossils on display are mostly casts, with the originals kept in research institutions, so this is about the place, the caves and the story rather than seeing the famous originals up close. The cave tour involves stairs, low passages and some tight, damp sections that do not suit everyone. The caves and the Maropeng centre are separate ticketed sites a drive apart, so allow time for both to get the full picture.

Nearby

Johannesburg and Pretoria are within an hour; the Magaliesberg hills lie nearby for a wider day out.

Key facts