Mrs Ples is 2.7 million years old, but don't tell: it's impolite to discuss a woman's age, particularly someone who has aged so much. Little Foot is a child fossil over 4 million years' old. Poor child fell through a hole in the roof of the caves, died and was fossilized to be found in the present day. Thousands of other hominid and animal fossils have been found here, and the caves and museum are fascinating to see.
Updated Apr 4, 2011
Address: Just off the R563 or off the Kromdraai road
Phone: +27 (0)14 577 9000
Sterkfontein is one of the world's most productive and important palaeoanthropological sites. It is the place where the very fist adult ape-man was found.
This ancient cave system has over the years revealed a sequence of deposits with fossils dating from about 3.5 to 1.5 million years ago. If you go there you will be able to see the remains of the Sabre Tooth Tiger , the 1st human skulls (the story of Evolution) and many more.
Updated Apr 4, 2011
Address: www.sterkfontein-caves.co.za/visitus.htm
Phone: +27 11 956-6342
Close to Johannesburg, there’s a valley known as the “Cradle of Humankind”, because the oldest known human remains were found in this place. A visitors center with a small museum is located at Sterkfontein Caves. Here, you have the chance to learn about the evolution of humankind and afterwards visit the Sterkfontein Caves. The guided tours through this cave system take place every 30 minutes and have two main themes: The skeletons as well as the formation of caves. The bust of a gentleman in one of the first caves is the one of anthropologist Philip Tobias. A bronze statue of Robert Bloom, the man who discovered the Australophiticus Africanus, is located towards the end of the tour. It is said that touching his nose will make you smarter.
The “Cradle of Humankind” is an UNESCO World Heritage site. All in all, it was a good experience, although I expected more than what I saw.
Written Aug 20, 2009
Website: http://www.cradleofhumankind.co.za/
Fifty kilometres west of the city, among nondescript koppies, scattered shrubs and trees, is a 47 000 hectare valley known as the Cradle of Humankind. Three million years of human activity have taken place in and around these caves, including man's earliest-known mastery of fire, and forty percent of all the world's human ancestor fossils have been found here.
Written Oct 7, 2005
Don't get tempted. This landscape hides 500-meter deep inside. Some Stalactite have the shape of a hanged elephant. You should prepare your camera with a big flash, It's dark underground.
If you'd like to go further than 500 meter, you'd need to go by your own for lack of oxgyn.
Entry ticket: ZAR15
Written Mar 9, 2004
Address: Sterkfontein, JHB
Sterkfontein is a palaeontological and archaeological site. It is the place where the very fist adult ape-man was found: "Little Foot", the 3.3m year old hominid skeleton that could be the missing link between hominids (human beings) and apes. You can visit the nice caves where it was found, outside the cave there is a small museum. Unfortunately it is not possible to see those Australopithecus bones, and most of the interesting pieces found there are in Pretoria or in other museums., anyway it´s a nice place to go.
Updated Sep 20, 2002
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Sterkfontein is a palaeontological and archaeological site. It is the place where the very fist adult ape-man was found: "Little Foot", the 3.3m year old...
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