Sterkfontein — The Cradle of Humankind

As things currently stand, and barring some major new finds elsewhere in the future, it seems safe say that whatever your race or culture, and wherever you currently reside in the world, your earliest ancestor was from South Africa!
From an area called Sterkfontein, just outside of a town called Krugersdorp, about 50km west of Johannesburg, to be more precise.
This geology of particular area is unique, because it is largely composed of dolomitic (limestone) rock that lends itself to the formation of caves and this is one of the main reasons why the entire region is such a treasure trove of early hominid finds.
Sterkfontein alone has already produced more than one third of all hominid remains discovered prior to 2010, some dating back as far as 3.5 million years ago, and there are ongoing excavations at 15 other sites in the region.
The entire area around Sterkfontein is one of the richest sites in the world for early hominid fossils, but the first hominin fossil to be found in South Africa was discovered by Professor Raymond Dart in 1924, in Taung, almost 500km away from Sterkfontein.
The fossil was the skull of a juvenile and was subsequently named the “Taung Child”. Dart identified the skull as that of Australopithecus africanus, and boldly declared that he believed that it was probably the ancestor of Homo Sapiens. This claim was immediately dismissed by the broader scientific community!
Since then, many more Australopithecus africanus fossils have been discovered at various sites around Sterkfontein.
The most important of these was a 2.3-million-year-old fossil (originally mistakenly identified as Plesianthropus transvaalensis — hence the nick-name “Mrs. Ples”) in 1936, by Professor Robert Broom. It was later re-classified as Australopithecus africanus.
Work continued at Sterkfontein and surrounding sites, and there were regular discoveries of various Hominid species, including fragments of a skull from nearby Kromdraai in 1938, which were later were identified as Paranthropus robustus, which is believed to be a branch of the hominid family which became extinct.
Later in 1948, Robert Broom identified the first hominid remains from Swartkrans cave, and in 1954, C.K. Brain began his work at Swartkrans Cave, which would continue for 3 decades, ultimately recovering the second-largest sample of hominid remains within the Sterkfontein area. Significantly, evidence of the oldest controlled use of fire by Homo erectus was also discovered at Swartkrans and dated to over 1 million years ago. This evidence was confirmed in 2004 at Wonderwerk Cave, by Francesco Berna’s team from Boston University.
In 1966, Professor Phillip Tobias from the University of the Witwatersrand assumed the mantle from Raymond Dart and expanded the excavations at Sterkfontein, which continue to this day, and are the longest continuously operating fossil excavations anywhere in the world.
Numerous hominid discoveries have been made at the other sites over the years as well.
In 1997, Ron Clarke, also from the University of the Witwatersrand, after much effort, excavated an almost complete Australopithecus (prometheus) skeleton which was named “Little Foot” and was dated between 2.5million and 3 million years ago.
In 2001, Steve Churchill and Lee Berger found early modern human remains at the Plovers Lake site, and the first hominid fossils, including stone tools were discovered at Coopers.
In 2008, Lee Berger discovered the partial remains of two hominids (Australopithecus sediba) in the Malapa Fossil Site that lived between 1.78 and 1.95 million years ago.
In 2013, Berger commissioned an extensive geological survey of the cave systems in the Sterkfontein area, and his efforts were rewarded when hominid fossils were discovered in a previously unexplored section of the Rising Star and Westminster cave systems near Swartkrans.
In a matter of weeks, an international team of 6 scientists, all women, recovered over 1,200 specimens of previously unidentified hominin fossil species, which are still in the process of being dated.
In September 2015, Lee Berger announced the discovery of a new species from the cave, which Berger named Homo naledi.
Finally, and most interestingly, there is some additional evidence that the hominins in the Sterkfontein area, had mastered the use of fire. If this is indeed true, it is an absolute game-changer in the evolution of a species!
In 2004, Francesco Berna, an archeology professor from Boston University, found evidence inside Wonderwerk Cave, a site of human and early hominin habitation for 2 million years. Based on the evidence found at the site, Berna’s team described as ”the earliest secure evidence for burning in an archeological context”. The team is convinced that this innovation was not just used as a source of heat and light, but that it was used to cook meat, an important advance in the ascent of early man over his competitors.
Berna’s researchers found the evidence in a layer of rock containing hand axes, stone flakes and other tools attributed by previous excavations to a particular human ancestor Homo erectus.
It would seem that South Africa has long been a world leader in pioneering revolutionary new technologies.
Essentially, it would seem that these early hominins gradually, move up into East Africa, and their ancestors then spread throughout the world.
You’re welcome!