Landmark Africa
Cradle of Humankind
The Cradle of Humankind is a grassy, hilly place in South Africa. Scientists have found very old bones of early human relatives in its caves!
The Cradle of Humankind is a landscape of grassy hills and limestone caves near Johannesburg, South Africa. Its caves, such as Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Kromdraai, have held fossils of early human relatives, other animals and stone tools. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.
The Cradle of Humankind, the Fossil Hominid Sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai and Environs, is a dolomite landscape near Johannesburg whose caves have yielded hominid fossils, animal fossils and stone tools. UNESCO says the sites have produced abundant scientific information on human evolution over at least the past 3.5 million years. Inscribed in 1999, the World Heritage Site was extended in 2005 with the Makapan Valley and the Taung Skull Fossil Site.
Photo: Olof Somell (Nobel Museum), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover the Cradle of Humankind
The Cradle of Humankind is in South Africa, at the southern tip of Africa.
It has grassy hills, trees by the rivers and many caves under the ground.
The Cradle of Humankind lies near Johannesburg in South Africa. A band of rock called dolomite runs through it and makes a hilly land, covered mostly in grass, with thicker plants along the rivers.
Under the hills are many caves. Inside them, scientists have found fossils of early human relatives, of other animals, and of the tools they left behind.
In its 1999 evaluation, ICOMOS, UNESCO's advisor, described the site as lying about 45 km west of Johannesburg, where a band of dolomites and their breccias creates hilly terrain, covered mainly by grass with denser vegetation along the rivers.
UNESCO's statement adds that most of the fossil sites are in caves or near rocky outcrops and water sources. Some caves were found because of lime mining, which has since stopped. Today mining and prospecting are completely prohibited in the World Heritage Site.
- Where
- Gauteng and North West Province, South Africa
- World Heritage Site
- 1999 (extended 2005)
- Main caves
- Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai
- Visitor center
- Maropeng
Famous finds
One fossil found here has a nickname: Mrs Ples!
Another find is a skeleton called Little Foot.
In 1936 the scientist Robert Broom found the first adult australopithecine at Sterkfontein. Australopithecines were early relatives of humans who walked upright.
In 1947 the fossil nicknamed "Mrs Ples" was found there, and in the 1990s a nearly complete skeleton nicknamed "Little Foot". At Swartkrans, burned bones are thought to show that early humans controlled fire between 1.8 and 1 million years ago.
ICOMOS records that Sterkfontein gave the earliest discovery of an adult australopithecine, by Robert Broom in 1936, and that Kromdraai gave the first recognized robust australopithecine in 1938. Wits University lists "Mrs Ples" (1947) and the nearly complete "Little Foot" skeleton, excavated in the 1990s, among the caves' best-known finds; Maropeng describes Mrs Ples as an Australopithecus africanus.
Since 1966, Member 4 at Sterkfontein alone has produced more than 600 hominid fossils. At Swartkrans, charred bones are taken as evidence for the controlled use of fire 1.8 to 1 million years ago.
- First adult australopithecine
- 1936, Sterkfontein
- Mrs Ples
- 1947
- Hominid fossils from Member 4
- more than 600 (since 1966)
Caves full of fossils
Long, long ago, bones of animals and early human relatives fell into deep caves here.
The bones turned into fossils. Now scientists dig them out and study them!
The Sterkfontein Caves formed in dolomite rock about 20 to 30 million years ago. Wits University explains that the remains of early human relatives and other animals fell into the deep caves through tall, narrow shafts.
For more than three million years, those remains piled up underground. They became a fossil record spanning several million years of human evolution.
Wits University describes the Sterkfontein Caves as a dolomite cave system that formed about 20 to 30 million years ago, with more than 2.5 kilometers of mapped chambers and passages. Remains fell into the caves through tall, narrow shafts and, over more than three million years, built up huge deposits.
UNESCO notes that the cave fillings, called breccia, hold hominid fossils, stone tools from about 2 million years ago onward, fossils of other animals and plants, pollen, and clues to the conditions in which each layer formed.
Why it matters
These fossils help scientists learn how people came to be the way we are today.
That is why the place is called the Cradle of Humankind.
For many years some scientists did not accept that these early fossils were relatives of humans. South Africa's nomination, summarized by ICOMOS, explains that the adult skulls, teeth and bones found at Sterkfontein from 1936 onward helped convince them.
It adds that these finds helped establish Africa, not Asia, as the cradle of humankind, as Charles Darwin had predicted in 1871.
South Africa's 1998 nomination, summarized by ICOMOS, argued that the Sterkfontein adult specimens converted the opponents of the idea that Australopithecus belonged in the human family, and helped establish Africa rather than Asia as the cradle of mankind, as Charles Darwin had predicted in The Descent of Man (1871).
UNESCO inscribed the site under criteria (iii) and (vi): it holds some of the most important australopithecine specimens, more than 3.5 million years old, in natural settings that captured and preserved human and animal remains.
Visiting today
In this photo, golden grass covers the land, and hills sit far away under a blue sky.
Visitors can learn about early humans at a visitor center here.
This photo was taken on 13 October 2015 at the Maropeng Visitor Centre. Dry golden grass fills the front, with a low tree-dotted hill on the left and flat, hazy hills far away.
Maropeng is the official visitor center. Its name means "returning to the place of origin" in Setswana. Nearby, Wits University reopened the Sterkfontein Caves to visitors on 15 April 2025.
The photograph (13 October 2015) was taken at the Maropeng Visitor Centre and looks across dry grassland to a low wooded rise on the left and a hazy line of distant hills under a clear sky.
Maropeng, the official visitor center of the World Heritage Site, presents an exhibition on human evolution and shows stone tools up to a million years old. Wits University, which has managed the Sterkfontein site since 1966, reopened the caves to the public on 15 April 2025 with tours that bring visitors close to live research.
Amazing facts
-
The name Maropeng means "returning to the place of origin"!
Maropeng, the official visitor center, has a Setswana name meaning "returning to the place of origin".
Maropeng, the official visitor center of the World Heritage Site, takes its name from the Setswana for "returning to the place of origin".
-
Some caves here were found by people digging for lime!
Some of the fossil caves were discovered because of lime mining, which has since stopped.
ICOMOS notes that some of the caves were discovered as a result of lime-mining activities, now discontinued.
-
Burned bones in one cave tell scientists that early humans used fire long, long ago!
At Swartkrans, charred bones are taken as evidence that early humans controlled fire 1.8 to 1 million years ago.
Swartkrans holds evidence, from charred bones, for the controlled use of fire 1.8 to 1 million years ago.
Words to know
- fossil
- the remains of a plant or animal from long ago, kept in rock
- evolution
- the slow change of living things over many, many generations
- australopithecine
- an early relative of humans that walked upright and had a small brain
- dolomite
- a kind of rock, like limestone, in which caves can form
- breccia
- rock made of broken pieces cemented together, which can fill a cave
- World Heritage Site
- a place UNESCO lists as important for all people
Discovery challenge
-
What have scientists found in the caves here?
What have the Cradle of Humankind's caves given scientists?
What have the cave fillings at Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Kromdraai yielded?
- Fossils
- Gold coins
- Old ships
Show the answer
Fossils
Fossils of early human relatives and animals!
Fossils of early human relatives, other animals, and stone tools.
Hominid and animal fossils, plant remains, pollen and stone tools.
-
In which country is the Cradle of Humankind?
The Cradle of Humankind lies near Johannesburg in which country?
In which country are the Fossil Hominid Sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Kromdraai?
- South Africa
- Brazil
- Japan
Show the answer
South Africa
South Africa!
South Africa.
South Africa.
-
What is the nickname of a fossil found here?
Which nickname was given to the fossil found at Sterkfontein in 1947?
Which Australopithecus africanus fossil from Sterkfontein (1947) is known by a nickname?
- Mrs Ples
- Big Tom
- Lucky Star
Show the answer
Mrs Ples
Mrs Ples!
Mrs Ples.
Mrs Ples.
-
What did early humans use, which burned bones in a cave show?
Charred bones at Swartkrans are taken as evidence that early humans controlled what?
What do the charred bones at Swartkrans (1.8 to 1 million years ago) give evidence for the controlled use of?
- Fire
- Boats
- Metal
Show the answer
Fire
Fire!
Fire.
Fire.
-
In which year did the Cradle of Humankind become a World Heritage Site?
In which year did UNESCO first list the Cradle of Humankind?
In which year were the Fossil Hominid Sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai and Environs inscribed?
- 1999
- 1949
- 1899
Show the answer
1999
1999!
1999 (it was extended in 2005).
1999; the property was extended in 2005.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Explain how bones can become fossils inside caves.
- Describe what scientists can learn from fossils of early human relatives.
- Explain why some places are listed as World Heritage Sites.
Recommended ages: 4 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might caves be good places for fossils to be kept safe for a very long time?
- Some scientists once doubted these fossils were human relatives. What changed their minds?
- Why do you think mining is not allowed in the World Heritage Site today?
Try at home or in class
- Press a leaf or shell into modeling clay to make a print, like a fossil.
- Find Johannesburg on a map of South Africa, then find the hills to its northwest.
Key vocabulary: fossil, evolution, australopithecine, dolomite, breccia, World Heritage Site
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa , UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Advisory Body Evaluation: Sterkfontein (South Africa), No 915 , ICOMOS / UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- World renowned Wits Sterkfontein Caves reopen , Wits University
- An Introduction to the fossils of Sterkfontein , Wits University
- Welcome to Maropeng , Maropeng, official visitor centre of the Cradle of Humankind
- Maropeng Tour , Maropeng
- Other attractions: WITS Sterkfontein Caves , Maropeng
- File:Cradle of Humankind at from Maropeng Visitor Centre.jpg , Wikimedia Commons
- UNESCO World Heritage List , UNESCO World Heritage Centre (Linked as a reference; site facts come from Wikidata)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.