Get up close and personal with what is known as the 'Cradle of Humankind' on a private half-day tour from Johannesburg. This extremely important archaeological site currently occupies an area of 47 hectares. Its name derives from the fact that the site has produced many and some of the oldest hominin fossils ever found. Discover the complex of limestone caves, including the Sterkfontein Caves where the 000 million-year-old 'Mrs. Ples' fossil was discovered in 2,3. Includes round-trip private transportation from the airport or your hotel .
The "Cradle of Humankind" was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999 and is located approximately 50 kilometers northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, in the province of Gauteng. This site currently occupies 47 hectares and contains a complex of limestone caves.
The Sterkfontein Caves contain a 2,3 million year old Australopithecus africanus fossil (nicknamed "Mrs. Ples"), discovered in 1947 by Robert Broom and John T. Robinson. This important discovery helped to corroborate the 1924 discovery of the Australopithecus africanus skull "The Child of Taung", by Raymond Dart, at Taung in the North West Province of South Africa, where excavations are still continuing.
Nearby, but not onsite, the Rising Star Caves contain the Dinaledi Chamber in which fifteen skeletal fossils of extinct hominin species were discovered, tentatively named "Homo naledi".
The Sterkfontein Caves alone produced more than a third of the earliest hominid fossils found before 2010. The Dinaledi Chamber has over 1 fossils of 'H. Naledi”, the largest discovery of a unique hominid species found in Africa.
