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The Cradle of Humankind and Mapungubwe

The Cradle of Humankind and Mapungubwe: fossils, gold, trade and World Heritage Sites. Read one part at a time and tap “I know this”. Then test yourself in the quiz.

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Where are they?

MapungubweCradle of HumankindN
The Cradle of Humankind in Gauteng and Mapungubwe in Limpopo.
  • A palaeoanthropologist studies human origins; fossils tell of times long before writing.
  • At Mapungubwe the leaders lived on top of the hill; the graves show some people were richer and more powerful. By about 1300 the people moved away.
  • Mapungubwe lies where the Limpopo and Shashe rivers meet, near the borders of Botswana and Zimbabwe. In 1933 a small golden rhinoceros, made of thin gold foil nailed onto a wooden core, was found in a royal grave on Mapungubwe Hill, with a gold bowl and a gold sceptre. Gold and ivory went to the east coast and were traded for glass beads and cloth from Arabia, India and China.
  • Robben Island in the Western Cape is also a World Heritage Site. Countries preserve heritage for later generations.
The Cradle of Humankind: fossils in the caves.
The Cradle of Humankind: fossils in the caves.
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Remember this: your summary
  • The Cradle of Humankind (Gauteng) has some of the earliest human fossils; World Heritage Site since 1999.
  • In the Sterkfontein Caves Robert Broom and John Robinson found Mrs Ples in 1947: a skull about 2.1 million years old. Visitor centre: Maropeng.
  • Mapungubwe (Limpopo) was strongest about 1220 to 1290; World Heritage Site since 2003.
  • The Golden Rhinoceros was a symbol of leadership; Mapungubwe traded gold and ivory with Asia and Arabia.
  • A fossil is a remain preserved in rock; an artefact was made by people.

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Memory trick

Gauteng = Grottoes (Sterkfontein) and bones. Limpopo = Leaders and gold (Mapungubwe).

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Important words

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