Accommodation near Sterkfontein Caves - 5

Located an hour’s drive from Johannesburg in the small town of Maropeng, lies the world-famous Sterkfontein Caves.

Sterkfontein Caves, which forms part of the World Heritage Site: The Cradle of Humankind, is the richest, most productive paleo-anthropological enclosure in the world and as a result, attracts thousands of tourists per year. Owned by the University of Witwatersrand, scientists have excavated a vast amount of fossils from the site over the past 6 decades.

The first fossils were uncovered from the caves in 1936 and brought to light an earth-shattering discovery. These fossils, which date back 2.6 - 3.2 million years, belonged to Australopithecus Africanus – an ape-like hominid and early decedent of modern man. This early hominid existed in Southern Africa alone. From this information, experts can discern that Africa is the ‘Cradle of Humankind’ from which humanity began.

Unarguably, the most remarkable finding to date is the famous Mrs. Ples, which was the first complete Australopithecus skull to be found. The skull was extracted by the Witwatersrand professor Dr. Robert Bloom in 1947. While the size of the skull is minuscule, similar to that of chimpanzees, it was revealed that Mrs. Ples stood in an upright position – a commonality shared between the ape-like hominid and modern man. Her nickname ‘Mrs. Ples’ was the result of an inaccurate identification of the hominid – where Bloom mistook her to be a member of the Plesianthropus transvaalensis species. Later, it was discovered that she was, in fact, Australopithecus africanus. However, the name stuck, and she is referred to as ‘Mrs. Ples’ to this day.

Other major discoveries include ‘Little Foot’, a 4.16 million-year-old almost complete ape-man skeleton. Having been discovered fairly recently points to the fact that there is much to be uncovered from the caves, and an enormous wealth of information still to be attained. Considering that evacuations on the site have been occurring for 62 years, it is astounding to know that there is still so much to be revealed about our ancestors.

With so much to be explored it simply cannot be done in one day, find somewhere nearby and settle in for a night’s stay.

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