Malapa
| Malapa Fossil Site, Cradle of Humankind | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Gauteng, South Africa |
| Nearest city | Muldersdrift, South Africa |
| Coordinates | 25°53′42″S 27°48′05″E / 25.8951°S 27.8013°ECoordinates: 25°53′42″S 27°48′05″E / 25.8951°S 27.8013°E |
| Established | Discovered 2008 |
| Governing body | Cradle of Humankind Management Authority and Private Landowner |
Malapa is a fossil-bearing cave located about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) Northeast of the well known South African hominid-bearing sites of Sterkfontein and Swartkrans and about 45 kilometres (28 mi) North-Northwest of the City of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is situated within the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.
In March 2008, Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, undertook an exploration project in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site outside of Johannesburg, in order to map the known caves identified by him and his colleagues over the past several decades, and to place known fossil sites onto Google Earth so that information could be shared with colleagues. The area is important as nearly a third of the entire evidence for human origins in Africa comes from just a few sites in this region, and the region is arguably one of the most explored areas in Africa for evidence of human origins, having been investigated continuously since the first discoveries were made there in 1935.
At the beginning of this project, there were approximately 130 known cave sites in the region and around twenty fossil deposits. By July 2008, the pattern of cave distribution seen on Google Earth by Berger as well as the recognition of what these deposits looked like from satellites and significant amounts of searching on the ground had led Berger to discover almost 500 caves that scientists had not plotted or identified previously. Included in this were more than 25 fossil sites that had been unknown to science, all in probably the most explored region in Africa. Berger brought in geologist Paul Dirks, at that time Head of the School of GeoSciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, to lead the geological aspects of this exploratory project.
In late July, Prof. Berger noted in Google Earth a series of caves running along a fault that pointed to a blank area in the region, an area that appeared to have clusters of trees that typically marked cave deposits. On 1 August he dropped off Prof. Dirks to map the recognized cave system and proceeded into the uninvestigated area with his dog Tau, a ridgeback who accompanied him on almost all his explorations. Almost immediately he discovered a rich fossil site that was unknown to science, in the vicinity of more than three dozen caves that had been apparently unrecognized by previous researchers.
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Wikipedia