Swartkrans

Swartkrans is a location in South Africa, around 20 miles from Johannesburg.

It is a farm near to Sterkfontein, but is notable for being extremely rich in archaeological material, particularly hominid remains. It was purchased by the University of the Witwatersrand in 1968. The oldest deposits present at the site are believed to be between 1.8 and 2 million years old.

Fossils discovered in the limestone of Swartkrans include Telanthropus capensis (a variety of Homo erectus), Paranthropus and Homo habilis

Noted paleontologist Robert Broom was a frequent digger. He was followed by Bob Brain, whose excavations at the site inspired his book: The hunters or the hunted, in which he demonstrates that instead of being bloodthirsty killer apes, the hominin fossils found at the site were themselves victims of predation by big cats.

Swartkrans is part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. Use of fire at Swartkrans has been dated to up to 1 million years BP, and is believed to be the second oldest evidence of fire use known in the world.

References

Brain, C.K., 1981:The hunters or the hunted? An introduction into African cave taphonomy, The University of Chicago Press.