The Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site

By Anton Swanepoel

The Cradle of Humankind

Discover the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site with 47 stunning pictures, some of them of the infamous Sterkfontein and Wonder Caves, as well as the Origins Centre in Johannesburg and the Maropeng Centre at the Cradle. This book will give you a unique perspective on the Cradle of Humankind, and help you plan your visit to this remarkable site.

From the beginning, we have wondered where we come from. In 2015, scientists revealed evidence that shocked the world, and rewrote history books. Did they find the answer in the ancient fossils? Seen by many as the Cradle of Humankind, the caves near Krugersdorp in South Africa have delivered the best evidence for where we came from, and who our ancestors were. However, they also shocked the world when they rewrote the timeline for where we thought our ancestors started to be self-aware, capable of complex thought, used fire, and performed rituals. The discovery is unprecedented, and heralded as the greatest fossil discovery ever made on the African continent and that from a site already famous for being the birthplace of humankind.

Discover the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site with 47 stunning pictures, some of them of the infamous Sterkfontein and Wonder Caves, as well as the Origins Centre in Johannesburg and the Maropeng Centre at the Cradle. This book will give you a unique perspective on the Cradle of Humankind, and help you plan your visit to this remarkable site.

Contained in the text you'll learn the following:
A Short history of the Cradle Heritage site, including Sterkfointein and Wonder Cave
Descriptions, GPS coordinates, entrance fees and information pertaining to the Maropeng Centre, Sterkfontein Caves, Wonder Cave, Origins Centre, Rhino and Lion Park, and Kromdraai Mining museum
47 pictures of the Maropeng Centre, Sterkfontein Caves, Wonder Cave, Origins Centre, and Rhino and Lion Park

The Cradle of Humankind is a site to behold. Learn more about it and know what there is on offer so that you do not miss anything on your visit, or marvel at the stunning site in the comfort of your home.

If you want to take your South African experiance to the next level, then This Book is For You

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Anton Swanepoel
• Release date: Apr 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311671639

Anton Swanepoel

Adventurer and world traveler, Anton Swanepoel, hales originally from Pretoria, South Africa, but has called a number of exotic locations home. Educated as a software engineer, he worked for a large multinational company before deciding to travel the globe. Along life's journey, Anton became a skilled scuba diver and technical diving instructor, teaching for seven years while living in the Cayman Islands. His resume touts Tri-Mix instructor levels from multiple licensing agencies, and dive records over 400 feet.Mr. Swanepoel has always loved travel and writing. In the past several years he's combined these passions, authoring and publishing a host of books, sharing secrets he's learned along the way. When he's not exploring an underwater landscape or racing a motorcycle down a stretch of highway, you'll find Anton visiting world destinations and chronicling his experiences.Today, he is a fulltime globetrotter and writer, having penned instructional guides for diving and travel, as well as a pair of fictional novels. His excurtion titles are geared toward do-it-yourself travelers, who enjoy saving money and seeing the out-of-way places. His favorite destinations include, Machu Picchu, the mountains of Vietnam, and the Temples at Angkor Wat.

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The Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site

By Anton Swanepoel

Copyright © 2016 Anton Swanepoel

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Introduction

The Cradle of Humankind is situated on 47,000-hectare of beautiful countryside just outside Krugersdorp and is approximately a 60 minutes’ drive from either Johannesburg or Pretoria. The site is one of eight World Heritage Sites in South Africa, and the only one in Gauteng. Heralded as the place from which all of humankind originated, the area has unearthed the best evidence of our ancestral history. Ongoing scientific study has resulted in new discoveries as late as 2013, with the finding of a new species – Homo Naledi. This discovery, unveiled on 10 September 2015, has caused a rethink in our ancestral history.

At current, there are 13 excavation sites in the area, of which seven have yielded hominid remains. Together, the excavation sites have produced over 850 hominid fossil remains, making it the world's richest concentrations of fossil, hominid-bearing sites. To preserve the area, and any possible remaining fossils and bones, the area was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999.

The caves consist of dolomite limestone formations. Dolomite originated from coral reefs that grew in shallow, warm, ocean water. The coral reefs died off and then later turned to limestone, which then later turned into dolomite. The ocean receded, and slightly acidic groundwater started to dissolve out calcium carbonate from the dolomite rock formations to form underground caverns. As the water level dropped over time, the caverns were exposed to air. As water seeped through the rock formation, the dissolved calcium carbonates formed