Cradle of Humankind (Gauteng, South Africa)
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- Duration: 7 mins
- Publisher: Tourvest Travel Services Learning & Development.Â
- Watch the Video below.
This site has yielded many significant fossil finds, including the famous fossils “Mrs. Ples” & ‘Little Foot”. The Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site is also home to the Maropeng Visitor Centre, which offers an interactive exhibition on the history of humankind.
The Cradle of Humankind is a paleoanthropological site and is located about 50 km (31 mi) northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, in the Gauteng province.
Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999, the site is home to the largest concentration of human ancestral remains anywhere in the world.
The site currently occupies 47,000 hectares (180 sq mi) and contains a complex system of limestone caves.
The find helped corroborate the 1924 discovery of the juvenile Australopithecus africanus skull known as the “Taung Child”, by Raymond Dart, at Taung in the North West Province of South Africa, where excavations still continue.
The Maropeng Visitor Centre is an award-winning, world-class exhibition, focusing on the development of humans and our ancestors over the past few million years.