The Cradle of Humankind ... right here in South Africa

Maropeng Centre

The Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO world her­it­age site loc­ated approx­im­ately 50kms from the met­ro­polis of Johannesburg, has been the site of many archae­olo­gical and anthro­po­lo­gical finds since the early 20^th cen­tury. The most fam­ous of these dis­cov­er­ies was the unearth­ing of “Mrs. Ples” (Australopithecus afric­anus), dat­ing back 2.3 mil­lion years, at the Sterkfontein caves.

This evid­ence of our early ancest­ors promp­ted the nam­ing of the 474 square kilo­meter site, home to more than three dozen other caves bear­ing fos­sil­ized hom­inid remains. Ever since these dis­cov­er­ies first became known, tour­ists have been flock­ing to the area to exper­i­ence a part of our his­tory as a spe­cies, but it was only in 2005 that the South African gov­ern­ment opened the offi­cial vis­it­ors’ centre, Maropeng, which lit­er­ally trans­lates as “the place where we come from”.

At Maropeng

The site allows vis­it­ors to visit actual archae­olo­gical dig sites, to exper­i­ence the unearth­ing of our his­tory first hand. Within this award-winning centre, one can take an under­ground boat ride through 2500 square meters of exhib­its, essen­tially a trip back through our own his­tory, includ­ing the ice age, and cul­min­at­ing in a breath­tak­ing recre­ation of the big bang, thought to have been the event that formed the uni­verse as we know it. Guided tours of all the exhib­i­tions are on offer, both to tour­ists, and the many school groups that visit the site. Within the com­plex are hotels, res­taur­ants and other amen­it­ies, so vis­it­ors have the option of stay­ing on the premises to fur­ther explore the area.

Like the Sterkfontein caves, Swartkrans is owned by the University of the Witwatersrand. Fossil remains, as well as stone tools have been unearthed at this site. Extinct animal remains have also been found in the area, par­tic­u­larly at Plover’s lake, a col­lapsed cave where extens­ive dig­ging has also taken place.

At Maropeng

Wonder Cave, while not the site of any archae­olo­gical finds, rivals the famed Kango Caves in terms of rock form­a­tions, and offers guided tours through the enorm­ous cav­ern, which has a volume in the region of 46 000 cubic meters. Many other caves and dig sites are loc­ated within the cradle, some of which are open to the pub­lic. Anyone plan­ning a trip to the area should con­tact the local tour­ism author­it­ies for more information.

After spend­ing so much time explor­ing ancient won­ders, and mar­veling at our own his­tory, it may seem strange to return to mod­ern amen­it­ies, but rest assured, these abound in the area. Three, four and five star hotels are loc­ated in the area, as well as bed and break­fast accom­mod­a­tion. Some of these offer spa treat­ments fly fish­ing, horse rid­ing, and excel­lent res­taur­ants offer­ing fine dining.Also on offer within the Cradle are hot air bal­loon rides, game view­ing, bird watch­ing, hikes and guided trails and many other activities.

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Cradle of Humankind Accommodation
Things to Do in Cradle of Humankind