Cradle of Humankind

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Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa
UNESCO World Heritage Site
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Cradle of Humankind
Location South Africa
Criteria Cultural: iii, vi
Reference 915
Inscription1999 (23rd Session)
Extensions2015

The Cradle of Humankind [1] [2] [3] is a paleoanthropological site that 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 known concentration of human ancestral remains anywhere in the world. [5] The site currently occupies 47,000 hectares (120,000 acres) [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.

Contents

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 nineteenth and early twentieth 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 by Raymond Dart of the juvenile Australopithecus africanus skull known as the "Taung Child" 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 found prior to 2010. [9] The Dinaledi Chamber contains more than 1,500 H. naledi bone specimens from at least 15 individuals, the most extensive discovery of a single hominid species ever found in Africa. [10]

Etymology

The name Cradle of Humankind reflects the fact that the site has produced a substantially large number of hominin fossils, some of the oldest yet found, dating as far back as 3.5 million years ago. [1] [2] [3]

History of discoveries

In 1935, Robert Broom found the first human fossils at Sterkfontein and began work at this site. In 1938, a young schoolboy, Gert Terrblanche, brought Raymond Dart fragments of a skull from nearby Kromdraai that later were identified as Paranthropus robustus . Also in 1938, a single human tooth was found at the Cooper's Cave site between Kromdraai and Sterkfontein.

In 1948, the Camp-Peabody Expedition from the United States worked at Bolts Farm and Gladysvale looking for fossil hominids, but failed to find any. Later in 1948, Robert Broom identified the first hominid remains from Swartkrans cave.

In 1954, C. K. Brain began working at sites in the Cradle, including Cooper's Cave. He then initiated his three-decade work at Swartkrans cave, which resulted in the recovery of the second-largest sample of hominid remains from the Cradle. The oldest controlled use of fire by Homo erectus also was discovered at Swartkrans and dated to more than 1 million years ago. [11] [12]

In 1966, Phillip Tobias began his excavations of Sterkfontein that are still continuing and are the longest continuously running fossil excavations in the world.

In 1991, Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand discovered the first hominid specimens from the Gladysvale site, making it the first new early hominid site to be discovered in South Africa in 48 years. In 1994, Andre Keyser discovered fossil hominids at the site of Drimolen. In 1997, Kevin Kuykendall and Colin Menter of the University of the Witwatersrand found two fossil hominid teeth at the site of Gondolin. Also in 1997, the near-complete Australopithecus skeleton of "Little Foot", then dated to approximately 3.3 million years ago (more recent dating suggests it is closer to 2.5 million years ago), was discovered by Ron Clarke.

In 2001, Steve Churchill of Duke University and Lee Berger found early modern human remains at Plovers Lake. Also in 2001, the first hominid fossils and stone tools were discovered in-situ at Cooper's Cave. In 2008, Lee Berger discovered the partial remains of two hominids ( Australopithecus sediba ) who lived between 1.78 and 1.95 million years ago in the Malapa Fossil Site.

In October 2013, Berger commissioned geologist Pedro Boshoff to investigate cave systems in the Cradle of Humankind for the express purpose of discovering more fossil hominin sites. Cavers Rick Hunter and Steven Tucker discovered hominid fossils in a previously unexplored area of the Rising Star-Westminster Cave System that is assigned site designation UW-101. In November 2013, Berger led a joint expedition of the University of the Witwatersrand and National Geographic Society to the Rising Star Cave System near Swartkrans. In just three weeks of excavation, the six-woman international team of advance speleological scientists (K. Lindsay Eaves, Marina Elliott, Elen Feuerriegel, Alia Gurtov, Hannah Morris, and Becca Peixotto), chosen for their paleoanthropological and caving skills, as well as their small size, recovered more than 1,200 fossil specimens of an unidentified hominin species. As of 2015, the site remained in the process of being dated. In September 2015, Berger, in collaboration with National Geographic, announced the discovery of a new species of human relative, named Homo naledi , from UW-101. [13] [14] [15] Most remarkably, besides shedding light on the origins and diversity of the Homo genus, H. naledi also appears to have intentionally deposited bodies of its dead in a remote cave chamber, a behaviour previously thought limited to later Homo species. [16] [17] In the last days of the Rising Star Expedition, cavers Rick Hunter and Steven Tucker discovered additional fossil hominid material in another portion of the cave system. Preliminary excavations at this site, designated UW-102, had begun by 2013 and yielded complete hominid fossil material of its own. The relationship of site 101 to 102 is not known. [18] [19] [20]

Geological context

The hominin remains that fossilised over time at the Cradle of Humankind are found in dolomitic caves, and are often encased in a mixture of limestone and other sediments called breccia. Early hominids may have lived throughout Africa, but their remains are found only at sites where conditions allowed for the formation and preservation of fossils. [21]

Visitor centres

On 7 December 2005, South African President Thabo Mbeki opened the new Maropeng Visitors Centre at the site. [22] Per the maropeng.co.za website, visitors may see fossils, view stone tools, and learn about the birth of humankind in the visitors centre. The visitors centre also offers a tour of the Sterkfontein Caves and the exhibition at Sterkfontein. A light, moveable, steel structure known as the Beetle has been placed over the Malapa site, to allow the paying public to view excavations, once they resume at the site. (Digging has been on hold since 2009, when the remains of four A. sediba individuals were removed.) [23] [ needs update ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sterkfontein</span> Archaeological site in Gauteng, South Africa

Sterkfontein is a set of limestone caves of special interest in paleoanthropology located in Gauteng province, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa in the Muldersdrift area close to the town of Krugersdorp. The archaeological sites of Swartkrans and Kromdraai are in the same area. Sterkfontein is a South African National Heritage Site and was also declared a World Heritage Site in 2000. The area in which it is situated is known as the Cradle of Humankind. The Sterkfontein Caves are also home to numerous wild African species including Belonogaster petiolata, a wasp species of which there is a large nesting presence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mrs. Ples</span> Hominin fossil

Mrs. Ples is the popular nickname for the most complete skull of an Australopithecus africanus ever found in South Africa. Many Australopithecus fossils have been found near Sterkfontein, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of Johannesburg, in a region of Gauteng now designated as the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. Mrs. Ples was discovered by Robert Broom and John T. Robinson on April 18, 1947. Because of Broom's use of dynamite and pickaxe while excavating, Mrs. Ples's skull was blown into pieces and some fragments are missing. Nonetheless, Mrs./Mr. Ples is one of the most "perfect" pre-human skulls ever found. The skull is currently held at the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History in Pretoria.

Taung is a small town situated in the North West Province of South Africa. The name means place of the lion and was named after Tau, the Chief of the Legoya or Bataung people. Tau is the Tswana word for lion.

<i>Australopithecus africanus</i> Extinct hominid from South Africa

Australopithecus africanus is an extinct species of australopithecine which lived between about 3.3 and 2.1 million years ago in the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene of South Africa. The species has been recovered from Taung, Sterkfontein, Makapansgat, and Gladysvale. The first specimen, the Taung child, was described by anatomist Raymond Dart in 1924, and was the first early hominin found. However, its closer relations to humans than to other apes would not become widely accepted until the middle of the century because most had believed humans evolved outside of Africa. It is unclear how A. africanus relates to other hominins, being variously placed as ancestral to Homo and Paranthropus, to just Paranthropus, or to just P. robustus. The specimen "Little Foot" is the most completely preserved early hominin, with 90% of the skeleton intact, and the oldest South African australopith. However, it is controversially suggested that it and similar specimens be split off into "A. prometheus".

<i>Paranthropus robustus</i> Extinct species of hominin of South Africa

Paranthropus robustus is a species of robust australopithecine from the Early and possibly Middle Pleistocene of the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa, about 2.27 to 0.87 million years ago. It has been identified in Kromdraai, Swartkrans, Sterkfontein, Gondolin, Cooper's, and Drimolen Caves. Discovered in 1938, it was among the first early hominins described, and became the type species for the genus Paranthropus. However, it has been argued by some that Paranthropus is an invalid grouping and synonymous with Australopithecus, so the species is also often classified as Australopithecus robustus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swartkrans</span> Fossil-bearing cave in South Africa

Swartkrans or Swartkranz is a fossil-bearing cave designated as a South African National Heritage Site, located about 32 km (20 mi) from Johannesburg. It is located in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and is notable for being extremely rich in archaeological material, particularly hominin remains. Fossils discovered in the limestone of Swartkrans include Homo ergaster, Paranthropus and Homo habilis. The oldest deposits present at the site are believed to be between 1.9 and 2.1 million years old.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronald J. Clarke</span> South African paleoanthropologist

Ronald John Clarke is a paleoanthropologist most notable for the discovery of "Little Foot", an extraordinarily complete skeleton of Australopithecus, in the Sterkfontein Caves. A more technical description of various aspects of his description of the Australopithecus skeleton was published in the Journal of Quaternary Science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">STS 14</span> Hominin fossil

STS 14 is a fossilized partial skeleton of the species Australopithecus africanus. It was discovered at Sterkfontein, South Africa by Robert Broom and John T. Robinson in August 1947, and is estimated to be about 2.5 million years old.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Berger (paleoanthropologist)</span> Paleoanthropologist, physical anthropologist, archaeologist

Lee Rogers Berger is an American-born South African paleoanthropologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. He is best known for his discovery of the Australopithecus sediba type site, Malapa; his leadership of Rising Star Expedition in the excavation of Homo naledi at Rising Star Cave; and the Taung Bird of Prey Hypothesis.

Cooper's Cave is a series of fossil-bearing breccia filled cavities. The cave is located almost exactly between the well known South African hominid-bearing sites of Sterkfontein and Kromdraai and about 40 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa and has been declared a South African National Heritage Site.

Gladysvale Cave is a fossil-bearing breccia filled cave located about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) northeast of the well-known South African hominid-bearing sites of Sterkfontein and Swartkrans and about 45 kilometres (28 mi) north-northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is situated within the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and is itself a South African National Heritage Site.

Motsetsi Cave is a fossil-bearing breccia filled cavity located about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) east of the well known South African hominid-bearing sites of Sterkfontein and Kromdraai and about 45 kilometres (28 mi) north-northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. Motsetsi has been declared a South African National Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plovers Lake</span> Paleontological site

Plovers Lake Cave is a fossil-bearing breccia-filled cavity in South Africa. The cave is located about 4 km southeast of the well-known South African hominid-bearing sites of Sterkfontein and Kromdraai and about 36 km northwest of Johannesburg. Plovers Lake has been declared a South African National Heritage Site.

Kromdraai is a fossil-bearing breccia-filled cave located about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) east of the well-known South African hominid-bearing site of Sterkfontein and about 45 kilometres (28 mi) northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is situated within the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and is itself a South African National Heritage Site.

<i>Australopithecus sediba</i> Two-million-year-old hominin from the Cradle of Humankind

Australopithecus sediba is an extinct species of australopithecine recovered from Malapa Cave, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. It is known from a partial juvenile skeleton, the holotype MH1, and a partial adult female skeleton, the paratype MH2. They date to about 1.98 million years ago in the Early Pleistocene, and coexisted with Paranthropus robustus and Homo ergaster / Homo erectus. Malapa Cave may have been a natural death trap, the base of a long vertical shaft which creatures could accidentally fall into. A. sediba was initially described as being a potential human ancestor, and perhaps the progenitor of Homo, but this is contested and it could also represent a late-surviving population or sister species of A. africanus which had earlier inhabited the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malapa Fossil Site, Cradle of Humankind</span> Cave

Malapa is a fossil-bearing cave located about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) northeast of the well known South African hominid-bearing sites of Sterkfontein and Swartkrans and about 45 kilometres (28 mi) north-northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is situated within the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andre Keyser</span>

André Werner Keyser, was a South African palaeontologist and geologist noted for his discovery of the Drimolen hominid site and of numerous hominid remains.

The Rising Star cave system is located in the Malmani dolomites, in Bloubank River valley, about 800 meters southwest of Swartkrans, part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in South Africa. Recreational caving has occurred there since the 1960s. In 2015, fossils found there two years prior were determined to be a previously unknown extinct species of hominin named Homo naledi.

<i>Homo naledi</i> South African archaic human species

Homo naledi is an extinct species of archaic human discovered in 2013 in the Rising Star Cave system, Gauteng province, South Africa, dating to the Middle Pleistocene 335,000–236,000 years ago. The initial discovery comprises 1,550 specimens of bone, representing 737 different skeletal elements, and at least 15 different individuals. Despite this exceptionally high number of specimens, their classification with other Homo species remains unclear.

<i>Dawn of Humanity</i> 2015 American documentary film

Dawn of Humanity is a 2015 American documentary film that was released online on September 10, 2015, and aired nationwide in the United States on September 16, 2015. The PBS NOVA National Geographic film, in one episode of two hours, was directed and produced by Graham Townsley. The film describes the 2013 discovery, and later excavation, of the fossil remains of Homo naledi, an extinct species of hominin assigned to the genus Homo, found within the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star Cave system, located in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. Additionally, the National Geographic Society has multiple videos on its website covering different phases of the discovery and excavation of the fossils during a two-year period. As of September 2015, fossils of at least fifteen individuals, amounting to 1550 specimens, have been excavated from the cave.

References

  1. 1 2 Fleminger, David (2008). The Cradle of Humankind. 30° South Publishers. pp. 7–10. ISBN   978-0-9584891-3-3.
  2. 1 2 "Cradle of Humankind – David Fleminger". Archived from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  3. 1 2 Wayman, Erin. "The Human Evolution World Tour". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  4. ↑ "Why is the Cradle of Humankind important?".
  5. ↑ "Fossils in the Cradle of Humankind site reignite debate over origins of humans". NBC News. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  6. ↑ "Maropeng a'Afrika and the Cradle of Humankind". maropeng.co.za. Archived from the original on 23 April 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  7. ↑ "Research Briefs". South African Journal of Science. 109 (5/6): 1–2. 2013. doi:10.1590/sajs.2013/a0017. ISSN   0038-2353.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ Smith, David (15 January 2010). "Visit to the Cradle of Humankind". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  10. ↑ Wong, Kate (10 September 2015). "Mysterious New Human Species Emerges from Heap of Fossils". Scientific American . Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  11. ↑ Brain, CK; Sillen, A (1988). "Evidence from the Swartkrans Cave for the earliest use of fire". Nature. 336 (6198): 464:466. Bibcode:1988Natur.336..464B. doi:10.1038/336464a0. S2CID   4318364.
  12. ↑ Hilton Barber, Brett; Berger, Lee R (December 2004). Field Guide to the Cradle of Human Kind: Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai and Environs World Heritage Site (First ed.). Cape Town: Penguin Random House. p. 75. ISBN   9781770070653 . Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  13. ↑ "New Species of Human Discovered in South Africa". IFLScience. Archived from the original on 24 May 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  14. ↑ Photograph Mark Thiessen, National Geographic (10 September 2015). "This Face Changes the Human Story. But How?". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015.
  15. ↑ Berger, Lee R.; Hawks, John; De Ruiter, Darryl J.; Churchill, Steven E.; Schmid, Peter; Delezene, Lucas K.; Kivell, Tracy L.; Garvin, Heather M.; Williams, Scott A.; Desilva, Jeremy M.; Skinner, Matthew M.; Musiba, Charles M.; Cameron, Noel; Holliday, Trenton W.; Harcourt-Smith, William; Ackermann, Rebecca R.; Bastir, Markus; Bogin, Barry; Bolter, Debra; Brophy, Juliet; Cofran, Zachary D.; Congdon, Kimberly A.; Deane, Andrew S.; Dembo, Mana; Drapeau, Michelle; Elliott, Marina C.; Feuerriegel, Elen M.; Garcia-Martinez, Daniel; Green, David J.; et al. (2015). "Homo naledi, a new species of the genus Homo from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa". eLife. 4. doi: 10.7554/eLife.09560 . PMC   4559886 . PMID   26354291.
  16. ↑ Johannesburg, The University of the Witwatersrand. "Homo naledi - Wits University". www.wits.ac.za.
  17. ↑ Dirks, Paul HGM; Berger, Lee R.; Roberts, Eric M.; Kramers, Jan D.; Hawks, John; Randolph-Quinney, Patrick S.; Elliott, Marina; Musiba, Charles M.; Churchill, Steven E.; De Ruiter, Darryl J.; Schmid, Peter; Backwell, Lucinda R.; Belyanin, Georgy A.; Boshoff, Pedro; Hunter, K. Lindsay; Feuerriegel, Elen M.; Gurtov, Alia; Harrison, James du G.; Hunter, Rick; Kruger, Ashley; Morris, Hannah; Makhubela, Tebogo V.; Peixotto, Becca; Tucker, Steven (2015). "Geological and taphonomic context for the new hominin species Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa". eLife. 4. doi: 10.7554/eLife.09561 . PMC   4559842 . PMID   26354289.
  18. ↑ "Rising Star Expedition". Archived from the original on 7 November 2013.
  19. ↑ "Scientists bag more than 1000 fossils at Cradle 'treasure trove'".
  20. ↑ "Johannesburg Update".
  21. ↑ Esterhuysen, Amanda (6 December 2019). "If we are all African, then I am nothing: Hominin evolution and the politics of identity in South Africa". In Porr, Martin; Matthews, Jacqueline M. (eds.). Interrogating Human Origins: Decolonisation and the Deep Human Past. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 279–292. doi:10.4324/9780203731659. ISBN   978-0-203-73165-9. OCLC   1128062043. S2CID   242503326.
  22. ↑ "Mbeki opens Maropeng centre". News24 . 8 December 2005. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Maropeng, which means 'the place where we come from,' is expected to receive over 500 000 visitors annually, according to the Gauteng provincial government.
  23. ↑ Cherry, Michael (2015). "Human evolution: The cradle of humankind revisited". Nature. 523 (7558): 33. Bibcode:2015Natur.523...33C. doi: 10.1038/523033a . ISSN   1476-4687. S2CID   4446278.

Further reading