Northern Cradle of Humanity. Is Africa the only cradle of humanity? What is the Cradle of Humankind monument?

It seems quite logical from the point of view of the development of history that the World Heritage Site - the Cradle of Humankind, included in the UNESCO list in 1999, is located in a place where some kind of invisible connection with the past still remains. You can see such an outlandish phenomenon by driving about 50 kilometers away.

What is the Cradle of Humankind monument?

The Cradle of Humankind Monument is not just a free-standing monument, as a tourist might think when he first heard this name. It's about about a complex consisting of limestone caves occupying an area of ​​no less than 474 square kilometers. There are a total of 30 caves and each of them is unique in its own way, because it was the site of discoveries of fossil remains of great historical value.

The excavations helped archaeologists find about five hundred remains ancient man, many animal remains and even tools made by African tribes.

11 years ago, a Visitor Reception Center was opened in the complex, but even now, researchers continue to look in this area for something that can reveal the secrets of distant history. Tourists who come here on a tour have a unique opportunity to look at incredible finds and feel the special atmosphere of history created by ancient people, see ancient human sites and incredibly beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. The Visitor Reception Center also broadcasts the evolutionary stages of humanity on special displays. In addition, various exhibitions are also organized here and are available for visiting. Very close to the complex is good hotel where you can stay for the night.

By the way, tourists do not always have time to explore all the caves, and therefore, when going to the Cradle of Humankind and having time restrictions, it is recommended to opt for viewing the most interesting of them:

• Sterkfontein Caves;
• Cave of Miracles;
• Malapa Cave;
• Swartkrans cave;
• cave " Rising star».

The most interesting caves in the Cradle of Humankind

So, once you find yourself in the Cradle of Humankind, you should go to a group of caves. known to those that in 1947, the remains of an Australopithecus were first discovered here by Robert Broome and John Robinson. The caves are approximately 20-30 million years old and cover an area of ​​500 square meters.

The Cave of Miracles is also among the monuments world heritage and is of great interest to tourists. Its size is the third in the entire country, and its age is about one and a half million years. Tourists in the cave are traditionally impressed by the stalactite and stalagmite formations, of which there are a total of 14, reaching a height of 15 meters. An interesting fact is that, according to researchers, 85% of caves continue to grow in size even today.

Another one interesting cave The cave is called Malapa. 8 years ago, in the cave, archaeologists found the remains of skeletons, whose age is 1.9 million years old, and the remains of baboons were also found here, so tourists will definitely have something to see here.

Fragments of ancient people are presented in the Swartkrans Cave and the Rising Star Cave. By the way, in the last of them excavations were carried out not so long ago and covered the period from 2013 to 2014, so tourists can expect completely “fresh” finds of antiquity.

This article or section needs revision. Please improve the article in accordance with the rules for writing articles... Wikipedia

Sterkfontein Caves- Archaeologists in a building above the entrance to Sterkfontein. Sterkfontein Caves are famous for six underground chambers at a depth of more than 40 meters. Located near Johannesburg. In one... Wikipedia

Paleoanthropology- (Greek παλαιανθρωπολογία, from παλαιός ancient and ἄνθρωπος man) a branch of physical anthropology that studies the evolution of hominids based on fossil remains ... Wikipedia

African origins hypothesis- The hypothesis of the African origin of man is a hypothesis according to which the area of ​​human origin is located in Africa. The founders of this hypothesis are famous archaeologists the Leakey family. The hypothesis is based on findings in... ... Wikipedia

N. F. Fedorov

Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov- Portrait of Nikolai Fedorov by Leonid Pasternak Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov (June 7, 1829 December 28, 1903) Russian religious thinker and philosopher, futurist, librarian, teacher innovator. One of the founders of Russian... ... Wikipedia

Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov- Portrait of Nikolai Fedorov by Leonid Pasternak Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov (June 7, 1829 December 28, 1903) Russian religious thinker and philosopher, futurist, librarian, teacher innovator. One of the founders of Russian... ... Wikipedia

Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov- Portrait of Nikolai Fedorov by Leonid Pasternak Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov (June 7, 1829 December 28, 1903) Russian religious thinker and philosopher, futurist, librarian, teacher innovator. One of the founders of Russian... ... Wikipedia

Fedorov, Nikolai Fedorovich- Portrait of Nikolai Fedorov by Leonid Pasternak Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov (June 7, 1829 December 28, 1903) Russian religious thinker and philosopher, futurist, librarian, teacher innovator. One of the founders of Russian... ... Wikipedia

Books

• The cradle of humanity under the lies of world religions, Vadim Kryuk. This book invites the reader to look at the usual generally accepted historical process and established religious trends through the prism of new facts that shift the time frame deeper... Buy for 320 rubles eBook
• Mesopotamia. The Cradle of Humankind, Bardeski Chiara Dezzi. For thousands of years, on the land between the two rivers - the Tigris and the Euphrates - various nationalities coexisted or replaced each other. Historical meaning Mesopotamia as the “cradle of humanity” is difficult...

It is believed that all modern humanity came from Africa. It was on this continent that the most ancient human bone remains were found at the end of the last century. However, in Lately this hypothesis has been shaken by new discoveries. Today, researchers present many arguments both for and against the “African version”.

Darwin, Men and Monkeys

This version is supported, first of all, by the genetic diversity of African peoples. Thus, Africa is home to the most bizarre tribes in the world. For example, among the aborigines there are stories about agogwe - shaggy humanoid creatures. According to legends, you can meet Agogwe in the forests of Ussure and Simbiti, located in the western part of the Wembair plains. Eyewitnesses report that the creatures look like pygmies, but their body is completely covered with reddish hair. Despite the fact that Agogwe’s height does not exceed 120 centimeters, local residents never confuse them with monkeys. Agogwe are upright walkers and live with their offspring in the jungle.

Evidence of various tribes wild people come from East Africa, in particular from Tanzania and Mozambique. But they are called differently everywhere. So, the people of Congo call them kakundakari and ki-lomba. They also walk on two legs, are covered with hair and live in the forest, but their height is much higher than that of the Agogwe (about 168 centimeters).

Residents of the eastern and southeastern regions of Africa claim that there are creatures of normal height, sometimes covered with hair, and sometimes without hair. Locals call them "nanunder". The forehead of these creatures is slightly sloping, and their arms are very long, which gives them some resemblance to monkeys. Nanaunders are found mainly in Zaire and Kenya. They also live in thickets of forests or in the impenetrable tropics of the highlands. They eat mainly plant foods and do not attack humans. Sometimes they were seen with long sticks in their hands, with the help of which the Nanaunders probably defend themselves from predators. According to scientists, these gentle creatures once lived in the savannah, but were then driven out by humans into the jungle.

In their primitive lifestyle, Agogwe and their “relatives” resemble both Australopithecines and Homo erectus. But the latter lived, respectively, 800,000 and 200,000 years ago. Some experts even suggest that Australopithecus had speech and knew how to use fire. However, there is no evidence of this. Perhaps the rumors about forest “men” owe their origin to the Australopithecus tribe that survived in the wilderness of virgin forests?

But there are also the results of archaeological research. In archeology, it is an axiom that the most ancient people modern type lived in an era Upper Paleolithic. On African continent no traces of Upper Paleolithic cultures have yet been found. The first people appeared there only in the Neolithic era ( VII millennium BC). It follows from this that Africa modern man conquered later than all other territories, excluding, of course, Antarctica... The finds of ancient remains belonging to the so-called Olduvai culture, which existed two million years ago, are not associated with the modern branch of humanity.

Recently, the object of research has been a fragment of a skeleton discovered by Russian archaeologists in the Denisova Cave in Altai. It was part of the finger of a child aged five to seven years old who lived approximately 44 thousand years ago.

A fragment of a finger from a prehistoric child (which, upon closer examination, turned out to be a girl) was sent to the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Director of the Department of Evolutionary Genetics Svante Pääbo said that “the data obtained exceeded all expectations.” “This seems too fantastic to be true,” he added. “We are apparently talking about a new species of man that was previously unknown to world science.”

Simultaneously with the fragment of the phalanx of the finger, other artifacts were found, indicating sufficient high level human development of that era. Thus, among the finds there are jewelry, including a stone bracelet and a ring carved from marble. In the manufacture of these products, techniques such as stone boring, machine drilling, grinding were used... Again, no traces of such technologies associated with such distant eras were found in Africa...

However, these are not the only finds that tarnished the reputation of the “African version”. In the territory Northern China, during excavations at the famous “Wall of China”, they found the mummy of a woman. Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, having studied remains that are approximately 40 thousand years old, came to the conclusion that humanity appeared simultaneously on all continents, and did not spread throughout the planet from a single center - Africa...

The cave complex of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai, Makapan, Taung, where fossil remains dating back 2.3 million years were discovered, and the surrounding area are known as the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. This area covers an area of ​​over 47,000 hectares and is located northwest of Johannesburg. More than 17,000 fossils have been found here.

The area is of outstanding value as it contains a complex of paleo-anthropological sites that have provided valuable evidence of the origins of modern humans - hence its name "Cradle of Humankind". Currently, more than 200 caves have been discovered in the park (among which 13 have already been well studied), where fossils of human ancestors and wild animals that went extinct several million years ago have been found. A variety of stone tools used by ancient people, such as axes and scrapers, have been found here. Fossils of ancient extinct animals such as the short-necked giraffe, giant buffalo, giant hyena and several species of saber-toothed tigers have been discovered. Numerous fossils of living animals such as leopard and tora antelope have also been found.

In 1935, Robert Broome found the first fossils in a cave in Sterkfontein. Here, evidence was obtained of the existence of Australopithecus africanus, who lived about 4-2 million years ago. Scientists believe that these hominids (upright walking apes) were the ancestors of humans. Hominids may have lived throughout Africa, but their remains are only found in places where there were suitable conditions for preserving the remains.

The fossilized remains of another hominid species were also found in this area - the massive Paranthropus, which is considered an extinct branch family tree human development. Homo sapiens, who lived about 1,000,000 years ago, is more likely a direct ancestor of Homo sapiens than Australopithecus, with a very close resemblance to modern people.

The Cradle of Humankind is one of the most visited attractions in South Africa.