The Sterk­fontein Caves, sit­u­at­ed in the Cra­dle of Humankind, rep­re­sent one of the world’s rich­est fos­sil sites, and dis­cov­er­ies there con­tin­ue to astound the inter­na­tion­al sci­en­tif­ic com­mu­ni­ty. Here is a col­lec­tion of some­times sur­pris­ing facts about the caves.

In the late 1890s gold min­ers dyna­mit­ed the Sterk­fontein caves in search of lime­stone which they con­vert­ed into the quick lime required for pro­cess­ing gold. Their explo­sions revealed entrances to the cave system.

Around 2.5-billion years ago, the area now known as the Cra­dle was a shal­low inland sea.

  Fossils discovered at the caves date back more than 4-million years and are commonly accepted as representative of the birth of humanity.

An estimated 40% of all the world’s human ancestor fossils have been found in the Cradle.

he Cra­dle of Humankind is one of 10 World Her­itage Sites in South Africa, and the only one in Gaut­eng. It is wide­ly recog­nised as the place from which all of humankind originated.

The 47 000-hectare site has unearthed the best evi­dence of the com­plex jour­ney that our species has tak­en to make us what we are – and is there­fore a place of pil­grim­age for all humankind. The area is not only a place of ongo­ing sci­en­tif­ic dis­cov­ery into our ori­gins, but also a place of con­tem­pla­tion – a place that allows us to reflect on who we are, where we come from and where we are going to.

MAROPENG “THE CRADLE OF HUMAN KIND” including sterkfontein caves

Departure Daily at : 08h30 – about 6 hours

Departing from your hotel we will take you on a visit to this world heritage sight – The Sterkfontein Caves, located just north of Johannesburg, South Africa. For the people interested the beginnings of our civilisation this tour can not be missed.

These caves consist of many limestone formations and an underground lake. It is said to be the “cradle of mankind” In 1947 the skull of Mrs Ples was found, a perfect cranium of an adult Australopithecine.

These magnificent caves have yielded many discoveries of our human evolutionary past such as a three to four million year-old hominid and its legendary “little foot” lying in a limestone pit in the Sterkfontein Caves. The discovery of bones protected the caves from being mined for their limestone and other mineral content.

Sterkfontein is one of the worlds most productive and important palaeoanthropological sites. From Sterkfontein we drive to Maropeng, the newly opened site where you will go on a boat ride on an underground river and see the 4 elements: earth, wind, fire and water. Here you will find a gallery that you can spend time looking through. You will see the birth of the Cradle, the path to humanity, what it means to be human and then a real fossil display.

1 Day