Photo: Flowcomm, Visitors’ Center
The Maropeng Visitors Centre – maropeng.co.za – opened in 2005. The site comprises the Sterkfontein Caves, where about 35% of the world’s hominid fossils have been found. Maropeng means “the place where we come from.”
The Cradle of Humankind is a paleoanthropological site 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 currently occupies 47,000 hectares (180 sq mi) and contains a complex of limestone caves.
Nearby the site, but not in the site, the Rising Star Cave system contains the Dinaledi Chamber, in which were discovered fifteen fossil skeletons of an extinct species of hominin, provisionally named Homo naledi.
Key Links
maropeng.co.za
@MaropengSA
thecradleofhumankind.net
@cradlehumankind
Google Maps
goo.gl/maps/bxWV8BGcNibV6JfL8
Photos
Wikipedia
Cradle of Humankind
Planeta.com
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)