Burial Grounds

The Taung Heritage Site is of enormous scientific importance. It was at these limestone diggings at the old Buxton quarry in 1924 that the lime encrusted skull of a child was unearthed. Prof Raymond Dart, who discovered the skull belonging to an early hominid, named it "Australopithecus africanus" meaning the "southern ape of Africa". The Taung Heritage Site is dedicated to the discovery of this skull. A monument to the discovery is at the site and an old mine tunnel has been opened for exploration.

The discovery of the Taung child skull at the Buxton quarry was heralded as one of the most significant archaeological events of the time and caused an enormous amount of discussion, both in support of, and against the scientific classification given by Dr Raymond Dart. The find effectively advanced the evidence of the existence of early man in Africa by more than a million years, leading many scientists to believe that the origin of early man was indeed initiated on the African continent.

The Buxton quarry, which is no longer being mined, remains an important scientific research site and is also a place of great peace and tranquillity.

The Taung site is not only of archaeological importance. From the limestone cliffs at the head of the valley, a constant flow of clear water flows through a succession of attractive pools (the Blue Pools) in descent down to this ancient valley. The azure Blue Pools are surrounded by picturesque caves and streams. This is a popular hiking, abseiling and picnic venue.

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 by Dr Robert Broom in 1936. 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, a period of time which spans the early development of the family of man-the hominids. In addition to almost 500 skull, jaw, teeth and skeletal fossils of these early hominids, there are many thousands of other animal fossils, over 300 fragments of fossils wood, and over 9,000 stone tools which include some of the earliest manifestations of human culture on earth. Some of the youngest deposits in the cave also contain fossils and tools from the period just prior to the emergence of modern humans, the period ca. 100.000 to 250,000 years ago, most widespread of which are the dolomites of the Transvaal Supergroup. Dolomite, as well as limestone, is slightly soluble in acidic groundwater (groundwater that contains carbon dioxide in solution) and readily forms caves and sinkholes.

Although the dolomites were deposited more than 2000 million years ago, the caves were formed relatively recently, within the past few million years. Older caves have been gradually destroyed by erosion.

The environment inside caves is fragile, and the locations of many caves are kept secret in order to protect them. Some systems, such as the Echo Caves in Mpumalanga and the Cango Caves near Oudtshoorn, are notable for their beautiful limestone formations and are major tourist attractions. Others are sites of major scientific importance, owing to their accumulation of fossil remains, which include some of humankind's earliest ancestors.