How old is the cradle of humankind

There are stalagmites which grow up from the floors, and stalactites that hang down from the ceilings. As drip water in the cave flows along the floor, rocks known as flowstones form — and as they do, the mineral uranium is locked up inside them, crystal by crystal. We collected these flowstones from the various cave sites in the Cradle, took them back to the lab, then extracted and concentrated the tiny amount of uranium present inside then, as well as the even tinier amount of lead which has been produced from the uranium decay.

This Uranium-lead dating is not new. My colleagues and I had to adapt the existing uranium-lead dating method specifically for the South African flowstones. In our recent Nature paper , we put together the biggest ever data set of ages for the Cradle caves and were able to thoroughly analyse these and look for patterns.

Specifically, we asked whether all the caves were open to the surface for fossils to wash into them and collecting fossils at the same time — or if each acted as its own little ecosystem.

Today, the Cradle of Humankind area continues to attract experts from around the world who are eager to add their names to the already illustrious list of scientists who have made contributions to the field.

Who would have thought that studying the past would be so cutting-edge? This is a pity because it used to be quite simple, like in the famous diagram of an ape morphing into a modern human: Apes became Australopithecus, which became Homo habilis, which became Homo erectus, which became Homo sapiens.

The fossils found in the Cradle of Humankind and Eastern Africa have shown that there were often several different species of hominids living in the same area at the same time. What caused one species to survive while others died out? Wits Art Museum — part of the University of the Witwatersrand — houses an African art collection that was started in the s and includes masks, photographs, paintings and more. There are many well-known historic and contemporary art works on display in art museums and galleries in each of South Africa's 9 provinces, with many important permanent art collections centred in the country's major cities.

We can start on Twitter before going to the art galleries South Africa has an abundance of artists and creators across all our provinces. Discover the many flavours of South Africa foun…. Let's ShareSouthAfrica!

A perfect visit for the upcoming festive season. The beauty is overwhelming and it is worthwhile to enjoy the sublime views. South African summers are for fun, happy people and enjoyment. Global English. Choose your country and language:.

Back Sign Up Sign In. Sign Up. Enter your email address. Create a password. Confirm your password. Create account. Sign up with Facebook Sign up with LinkedIn. Sign In. At Haasgat there are fossils of monkeys that lived in the forest nearby about 2.

Proof of the earliest use of fire, about 1. The skeleton of bear-dog found at Gladysvale. The Sterkfonten landscape was chosen as a world heritage site because it shows how man and nature have existed and changed over millions of years.

It is a source of heritage for the whole world and has very large and scientifically important sites that tell us about the earliest ancestors of the human race. Clarke, J. Fossil find brings our roots clsoer. The next link in the chain. Mail and Guardian , 18 - 19 Govender, P.