Editing Cradle of Humankind (section)

== History of discoveries ==
{{Human timeline}}

In 1935, Robert Broom found the first human fossils at Sterkfontein and began work at this site. In 1938, a young schoolboy, Gert Terrblanche, brought Raymond Dart fragments of a skull from nearby [[Kromdraai fossil site|Kromdraai]] that later were identified as ''[[Paranthropus robustus]]''. Also in 1938, a single human tooth was found at the [[Cooper's Cave]] site between Kromdraai and Sterkfontein. 

In 1948, the Camp-Peabody Expedition from the United States worked at Bolts Farm and [[Gladysvale Cave|Gladysvale]] looking for fossil hominids, but failed to find any. Later in 1948, Robert Broom identified the first hominid remains from [[Swartkrans]] cave. 

In 1954, [[Charles Kimberlin Brain|C. K. Brain]] began working at sites in the Cradle, including Cooper's Cave. He then initiated his three-decade work at Swartkrans cave, which resulted in the recovery of the second-largest sample of hominid remains from the Cradle. The oldest controlled use of fire by Homo erectus also was discovered at Swartkrans and dated to more than 1 million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Brain|first1=CK|last2=Sillen|first2=A|title=Evidence from the Swartkrans Cave for the earliest use of fire|journal=Nature|volume=336|year=1988|issue=6198|pages=464:466|doi=10.1038/336464a0|bibcode=1988Natur.336..464B|s2cid=4318364}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Hilton Barber|first1=Brett|last2=Berger|first2=Lee R|title=Field Guide to the Cradle of Human Kind: Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai and Environs World Heritage Site.|date=December 2004 |publisher=Penguin Random House|location=Cape Town| isbn=9781770070653 | page=75| edition=First| url=http://www.penguinrandomhouse.co.za/book/field-guide-cradle-humankind/9781770070653|access-date=10 September 2016}}</ref>

In 1966, [[Phillip V. Tobias|Phillip Tobias]] began his excavations of Sterkfontein that are still continuing and are the longest continuously running fossil excavations in the world. 

In 1991, [[Lee R. Berger|Lee Berger]] of the [[University of the Witwatersrand]] discovered the first hominid specimens from the Gladysvale site, making it the first new early hominid site to be discovered in South Africa in 48 years. In 1994, [[Andre Keyser]] discovered fossil hominids at the site of Drimolen. In 1997, Kevin Kuykendall and Colin Menter of the University of the Witwatersrand found two fossil hominid teeth at the site of Gondolin. Also in 1997, the near-complete ''Australopithecus'' skeleton of "[[Little Foot]]", then dated to approximately 3.3&nbsp;million years ago (more recent dating suggests it is closer to 2.5&nbsp;million years ago), was discovered by [[Ronald J. Clarke|Ron Clarke]]. 

In 2001, Steve Churchill of [[Duke University]] and Lee Berger found early modern human remains at Plovers Lake. Also in 2001, the first hominid fossils and stone tools were discovered ''in-situ'' at Cooper's Cave. In 2008, Lee Berger discovered the partial remains of two hominids (''[[Australopithecus sediba]]'') who lived between 1.78 and 1.95&nbsp;million years ago in the [[Malapa Fossil Site, Cradle of Humankind|Malapa Fossil Site]].

In October 2013, Berger commissioned geologist Pedro Boshoff to investigate cave systems in the Cradle of Humankind for the express purpose of discovering more fossil hominin sites. Cavers Rick Hunter and Steven Tucker discovered hominid fossils in a previously unexplored area of the Rising Star-Westminster Cave System that is assigned site designation UW-101. In November 2013, Berger led a joint expedition of the University of the Witwatersrand and National Geographic Society to the Rising Star Cave System near Swartkrans. In just three weeks of excavation, the six-woman international team of advance [[speleological]] scientists (K. Lindsay Eaves, Marina Elliott, [[Elen Feuerriegel]], Alia Gurtov, Hannah Morris, and Becca Peixotto), chosen for their paleoanthropological and caving skills, as well as their small size, recovered more than 1,200 fossil specimens of an unidentified hominin species. As of 2015, the site remained in the process of being dated. In September 2015, Berger, in collaboration with National Geographic, announced the discovery of a new species of human relative, named ''[[Homo naledi]]'', from UW-101.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/newly-discovered-human-ancestor-likely-ritualistically-disposed-its-dead|title=New Species of Human Discovered in South Africa|work=IFLScience|access-date=10 September 2015|archive-date=24 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160524163630/http://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/newly-discovered-human-ancestor-likely-ritualistically-disposed-its-dead|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150910-human-evolution-change/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910155237/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150910-human-evolution-change/|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 September 2015|title=This Face Changes the Human Story. But How?|author=Photograph Mark Thiessen, National Geographic|work=National Geographic|date=10 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Homo naledi, a new species of the genus Homo from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa|journal=eLife|volume=4|doi=10.7554/eLife.09560|pmid=26354291|pmc=4559886|year=2015|last1=Berger|first1=Lee R.|last2=Hawks|first2=John|last3=De Ruiter|first3=Darryl J.|last4=Churchill|first4=Steven E.|last5=Schmid|first5=Peter|last6=Delezene|first6=Lucas K.|last7=Kivell|first7=Tracy L.|last8=Garvin|first8=Heather M.|last9=Williams|first9=Scott A.|last10=Desilva|first10=Jeremy M.|last11=Skinner|first11=Matthew M.|last12=Musiba|first12=Charles M.|last13=Cameron|first13=Noel|last14=Holliday|first14=Trenton W.|last15=Harcourt-Smith|first15=William|last16=Ackermann|first16=Rebecca R.|last17=Bastir|first17=Markus|last18=Bogin|first18=Barry|last19=Bolter|first19=Debra|last20=Brophy|first20=Juliet|last21=Cofran|first21=Zachary D.|last22=Congdon|first22=Kimberly A.|last23=Deane|first23=Andrew S.|last24=Dembo|first24=Mana|last25=Drapeau|first25=Michelle|last26=Elliott|first26=Marina C.|last27=Feuerriegel|first27=Elen M.|last28=Garcia-Martinez|first28=Daniel|last29=Green|first29=David J.|last30=Gurtov|first30=Alia|display-authors=29 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Most remarkably, besides shedding light on the origins and diversity of the Homo genus, ''H. naledi'' also appears to have intentionally deposited bodies of its dead in a remote cave chamber, a behaviour previously thought limited to later Homo species.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wits.ac.za/homonaledi/|title=Homo naledi - Wits University|first=The University of the Witwatersrand|last=Johannesburg|website=www.wits.ac.za}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Geological and taphonomic context for the new hominin species Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa|journal=eLife|volume=4|doi=10.7554/eLife.09561|pmid=26354289|pmc=4559842|year=2015|last1=Dirks|first1=Paul HGM|last2=Berger|first2=Lee R.|last3=Roberts|first3=Eric M.|last4=Kramers|first4=Jan D.|last5=Hawks|first5=John|last6=Randolph-Quinney|first6=Patrick S.|last7=Elliott|first7=Marina|last8=Musiba|first8=Charles M.|last9=Churchill|first9=Steven E.|last10=De Ruiter|first10=Darryl J.|last11=Schmid|first11=Peter|last12=Backwell|first12=Lucinda R.|last13=Belyanin|first13=Georgy A.|last14=Boshoff|first14=Pedro|last15=Hunter|first15=K. Lindsay|last16=Feuerriegel|first16=Elen M.|last17=Gurtov|first17=Alia|last18=Harrison|first18=James du G.|last19=Hunter|first19=Rick|last20=Kruger|first20=Ashley|last21=Morris|first21=Hannah|last22=Makhubela|first22=Tebogo V.|last23=Peixotto|first23=Becca|last24=Tucker|first24=Steven |doi-access=free }}</ref> In the last days of the Rising Star Expedition, cavers Rick Hunter and Steven Tucker discovered additional fossil hominid material in another portion of the cave system. Preliminary excavations at this site, designated UW-102, had begun by 2013 and yielded complete hominid fossil material of its own. The relationship of site 101 to 102 is not known.<ref name = "RisingStar">{{cite news|url = http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/tag/rising-star-expedition/|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131107202308/http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/tag/rising-star-expedition/|url-status = dead|archive-date = 7 November 2013|title = Rising Star Expedition}}</ref><ref name = "ScientistsBag">{{cite news|url = http://mg.co.za/article/2013-11-26-scientists-bag-more-than-1000-fossils-at-cradle-treasure-trove|title = Scientists bag more than 1000 fossils at Cradle 'treasure trove'}}</ref><ref name = "Johannesburg Update">{{cite news|url = http://johnhawks.net/weblog/hawks/travel/johannesburg-update-feb-2014.html| title = Johannesburg Update}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Australopithecus africanus - Cast of taung child Face.jpg|''[[Australopithecus africanus]]'' (reconstruction)
File:Australopithecus sediba.JPG|''Australopithecus sediba''
</gallery>