Sterkfontein Caves and Maropeng
Last Thursday I was in Johannesburg and decided to check out the newly revamped Sterkfontein Caves and Maropeng exhibition which are both part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site. The Cradle of Humankind lies only an hour’s drive from Johannesburg and Pretoria in the beautiful and peaceful hills of Magaliesberg. is actually several different fossil sites, (13 major and several minor sites), which collectively add up to possibly the greatest wealth of prehistorical finds in the world. Within the dolomite hills are a series of underground caverns which have acted as geological time capsules preserving thousands of fossils of extinct animals as well as some of our earliest human ancestors (or hominid species). This includes ‘Mrs Ples’ who was discovered in 1948 and dates from 2.3 million years ago and ‘Little Foot’ one of the most complete early hominid skeletons discovered in 1997.
I first visited Sterkfontein Caves home to some of the most important archaeological finds in the world. The sheer number of fossils found is staggering and they are still excavating the skeleton of Little Foot at the caves. Conducted tours leave every 30 minutes and last approx 45 minutes to one hour. You have to take 120 steps down to the caves and 120 steps up again and in some area you have to crouch very low or sit on your backside to get through from one chamber to another so wear comfortable shoes and clothes. There’s an attractive new exhibition at the top which is worth some time.
Afterwards I headed to the Maropeng inter-active visitor exhibition for the Cradle of Humankind which is only 10 minutes drive from Sterfontein. Maropeng tells the story of mankind’s origins and its continuing journey into the future as well as offering exhibitions about the formation of the earth and its living creatures. This is a great exhibition for families, and it’s good to combine with Sterkfontein. Purists might find it a little too glitzy for their tastes but it certainly works at bringing the fascinating subject of our origins alive. You’ll need about one hour for the exhibition.
If you have the full day to explore the area, you could also add the pretty Wonder Caves to the sights you visit. Though less important in terms of prehistory than Sterkfontein, Wonder Cave is actually one of the loveliest caves in South Africa, a vast cathedral-like cavern full of dramatic rock formations, stalactites and stalagmites.
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