Paleoanthropological site near Johannesburg, South Africa
For other uses, see Cradle of Humankind (disambiguation).
Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Cradle of Humankind
Location
South Africa
Criteria
Cultural: iii, vi
Reference
915
Inscription
1999 (23rd Session)
Extensions
2015
Maropeng Visitor Centre
The Cradle of Humankind[1][2][3] is a paleoanthropological site and is located about 50 km (31 mi) northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, in the Gauteng province. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999,[4] the site is home to the largest concentration of human ancestral remains anywhere in the world.[5] The site currently occupies 47,000 hectares (180 sq mi)[6] and contains a complex system of limestone caves. The registered name of the site in the list of World Heritage Sites is Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa.
According to the South African Journal of Science, Bolt's Farm is the place where the earliest primates were discovered.[7] Bolt's Farm was heavily mined for speleothem (calcium carbonate from stalagmites, stalactites and flowstones) in the terminal 19th and early 20th centuries.[8]
The Sterkfontein Caves were the site of the discovery of a 2.3-million-year-old fossil Australopithecus africanus (nicknamed "Mrs. Ples"), found in 1947 by Robert Broom and John T. Robinson. The find helped corroborate the 1924 discovery of the juvenile Australopithecus africanus skull known as the "Taung Child", by Raymond Dart, at Taung in the North West Province of South Africa, where excavations still continue.
Nearby, but not in the site, the Rising Star Cave system contains the Dinaledi Chamber (chamber of stars), in which were discovered fifteen fossil skeletons of an extinct species of hominin, provisionally named Homo naledi.
Sterkfontein alone has produced more than a third of early hominid fossils ever found prior to 2010.[9] The Dinaledi Chamber contains over 1,500 H. naledi fossils, the most extensive discovery of a single hominid species ever found in Africa.[10]
^Cite error: The named reference Fleminger2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Fleminger was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Wayman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Why is the Cradle of Humankind important?".
^"Fossils in the Cradle of Humankind site reignite debate over origins of humans". NBC News. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
^"Maropeng a'Afrika and the Cradle of Humankind". maropeng.co.za. Archived from the original on 23 April 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
^"Research Briefs". South African Journal of Science. 109 (5/6): 1–2. 2013. doi:10.1590/sajs.2013/a0017. ISSN 0038-2353.
^Edwards, Tara R.; Armstrong, Brian J.; Birkett-Rees, Jessie; Blackwood, Alexander F.; Herries, Andy I.R.; Penzo-Kajewski, Paul; Pickering, Robyn; Adams, Justin W. (14 January 2019). "Combining legacy data with new drone and DGPS mapping to identify the provenance of Plio-Pleistocene fossils from Bolt's Farm, Cradle of Humankind (South Africa)". PeerJ. 7: e6202. doi:10.7717/peerj.6202. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 6336010. PMID 30656072.
^Smith, David (15 January 2010). "Visit to the Cradle of Humankind". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
^Wong, Kate (10 September 2015). "Mysterious New Human Species Emerges from Heap of Fossils". Scientific American. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
and 22 Related for: Cradle of Humankind information
The CradleofHumankind is a paleoanthropological site and is located about 50 km (31 mi) northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, in the Gauteng province...
A cradleof civilization is a location and a culture where civilization was developed independent of other civilizations in other locations. The formation...
extinct species of archaic human discovered in 2013 in the Rising Star Cave system, Gauteng province, South Africa (See CradleofHumankind), dating to the...
sites in the CradleofHumankind – Maropeng and Sterkfontein Caves". www.maropeng.co.za. Official Visitor Centres for the CradleofHumankind World Heritage...
most popular of all the craft routes around South Africa. Muldersdrift is the gateway to the West Rand, and forms part ofCradleofHumankind World Heritage...
the CradleofHumankind. The Sterkfontein Caves are also home to numerous wild African species including Belonogaster petiolata, a wasp species of which...
Australopithecus sediba is an extinct species of australopithecine recovered from Malapa Cave, CradleofHumankind, South Africa. It is known from a partial...
and Plovers Lake form part of the conservancy. Part of the Kromdraai conservancy also falls within the CradleofHumankind World Heritage Site, proclaimed...
reconstruction of the CradleofHumankind during the Plio-Pleistocene transition, inferred from the analysis of fossil birds from Member 2 of the hominin-bearing...
catches CradleofHumankind, a World Heritage Site near Johannesburg in South Africa, where many early hominid remains were discovered Cradleof civilization...
Paranthropus robustus is a species of robust australopithecine from the Early and possibly Middle Pleistocene of the CradleofHumankind, South Africa, about 2.27...
rich in fossil remains of early hominids. In 1999, the area was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO as the CradleofHumankind. As a World Heritage...
about 800 meters (0.50 miles; 2,600 feet) southwest of Swartkrans, part of the CradleofHumankind World Heritage Site in South Africa. Recreational caving...
the CradleofHumankind World Heritage Site and is itself a South African National Heritage Site. In 1938, the site was brought to the attention of Robert...
remains of hominids discovered in Malawi's remote northern district of Karonga provides further proof that the area could be the cradleofhumankind. Professor...
widespread. They have been found in the fossil-bearing caves at the CradleofHumankind north of Johannesburg. Elsewhere in South Africa, they are plentiful at...
southwest of Pretoria, South Africa. By 1988, at least six individuals were unearthed in around the same area, now known as the CradleofHumankind. In 1948...
Coon Creek Formation Cowan Lake (Ohio) Crab Island (Lake Champlain) CradleofHumankind Crato Formation Cumnor Hurst Cunswick Scar Dinosaur Valley State...
north-northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is situated within the CradleofHumankind World Heritage Site and is itself a South African National Heritage...
(Carnivora: Canidae) from the Plio-Pleistocene hominin-bearing site of Kromdraai (CradleofHumankind, Gauteng, SouthAfrica)". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 97:...
dominated by the urban areas of Johannesburg and Pretoria, it has several nature reserves. Gauteng is home to the CradleofHumankind UNESCO World Heritage Site...
Global Information
