The Cradle of Humankind in South Africa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site containing hominid fossils dating back millions of years. The area has an incredible density of hominin remains, with more than 1930 hominids found at Sterkfontein alone. The limestone caves that dot the area make it ideal for preserving fossil history, with over thirty caves scattered throughout the region. While Sterkfontein and Swartkrans are the most important fossil sites, others have also yielded important discoveries. The site is a top destination for those wishing to look back into human history.
The Cradle of Humankind is a collection of various sites in South Africa that contain hominid fossils, dating back millions of years. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and has been since 1999. In 2005, the site was expanded and a visitor center opened.
The Cradle of Humankind is a little less than 200 square miles (500 km squared) in total and is located 30 miles (50 km) north of Johannesburg in South Africa. The site has an incredible density of hominin remains and has been the site of some of the most exciting fossil discoveries since the 1940s.
While it is likely that early hominids actually ranged over a much larger area than South Africa, it is in the Cradle of Humankind that their remains are ideally fossilised, and so it is through this site that we know about them. The area is often touted as the place where we became truly human, where we learned to make tools and stand upright, and where we tamed fire more than a million years ago.
It’s the limestone caves that dot the Cradle of Humankind that make it so ideal for preserving our fossil history. There are more than thirty of these caves scattered throughout the region, but some are of particular importance. The UNESCO World Heritage Site takes its name from what are arguably the three most important: Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Kromdraai.
Sterkfontein was originally discovered in the late 19th century by miners. The miners found some fossils and showed them to others, who eventually made them known to groups of interested scientists. In the 1919s the site began to be excavated and within a couple of years had provided science with the first fully mature Australopithecine. Since this first discovery, more than 1930 hominids have been found at the Sterkfontein site within the Cradle of Humankind, making it the most productive site of its kind in the world.
Swartkrans is a nearby site in the Cradle of Humankind and is owned by the University of the Witwatersrand. Swartkrans yielded several interesting fossils, including those of Homo habilis and the Homo erectus variety of Telanthropus capensis. Swartkrans also provided much of the inspiration for the work of Bob Brain, which showed that these early humans were in fact hunted extensively by big cats.
In Kromdraai is the Wonder Cave. While this site isn’t known for its fossils, like most of the caves within the Cradle of Humankind, it does have the distinction of being the third largest chamber in the world. Wonder Cave is over 11 acres, or nearly 500,000 square feet (46,000 square meters). Wonder Cave at Kromdraii also contains a number of impressive stalagmite and stalactite formations, some reaching heights of over 50 feet (15m).
While Sterkfontein and Swartkrans are by far the most important fossil sites within the Cradle of Humankind, others have also yielded important discoveries. Some of these include Motsetsi, Plovers Lake, Haasgat, Minaars Cave, Drimolen and Cooper’s Cave. The site is one of the world’s top destinations to visit for those wishing to look as far back into human history as possible, and in recent years the government has built more than a tourist infrastructure to support these visitors. Guided tours, comfortable accommodation and visitor centers can now be found within the site.
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