Visiting Africa: The Cradle of Mankind?

Africa has been hailed as the continent where all life began. This continent is the single greatest place to visit if you want to understand the evolution theory and everything that comes with it. So, whether you are an explorer, archeologist, or even historian, you definitely have to visit Africa to understand why all life started from here. Even as a tourist, as you visit the Savannas, have game drives and even enjoy the pleasant climate of Africa, take some time and fit into your itinerary the many museums that tell the story of the beginning of man. Here are 5 places you can visit to know more about Africa as the Cradle of Mankind.

Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania

Olduvai Gorge is an archeology site in Tanzania which holds the proven evidence of the earliest existence of human ancestors. Paleoanthropologists have over time found very many fossilized bones (hundreds) and stone tools in that particular area. These discoveries dated back to millions of years, helping conclusively draw the fact that Africa is the cradle of mankind. It is a beautiful place to visit as new discoveries are being made to prove further the fact that human life did start here.

Blombos Private Nature Reserve in South Africa

Blombos Cave is an archaeological site located in Blomboschfontein Nature Reserve near Cape Town, South Africa. This cave contains Middle Stone Age deposits currently dated to as far as 700,000 years back. These deposits prove the existence of organized human life as back as then with a few modern-day inventions having preexisted before rediscovery. Archeologists believe the cave was sealed off after the middle stone age by a natural occurrence and later reopened itself to human occupancy around 3,000 to 5,000 years ago.

Sibudu Cave in South Africa

Sibudu, a rock shelter in South Africa, is one of the greatest evidences of Africa being the cradle of mankind. Cultural and technological genesis can be rooted back to this cave. It is believed that the earliest modern humans with associative symbolic behavior and complex thought patterns and in southern Africa. It is in Sibudu that we get some of the earliest examples of hunting gear such as bone arrowheads, sea-shell beads, bone tools, herbal medicine practice among other cultures and innovations close to 100,000 years old. This is definitely a place to visit, especially if you love the human thought process.

Laas Geel in Somaliland

Laas Geel is one of the oldest and most important rock art sites in the world dating back to thousands of years. It is referred to in some quotas as the genesis of modern art. The site is on a granite outcrop that rises from a plateau almost 950 meters above sea level. This fact, coupled with the fact that it is found at the convergence of two seasonal rivers, explains the existence of rock art right there. This art site proves that pastoralism did generate from the Horn of Africa because the paintings, tombs marked with stelae and mounds, as discovered lithic tools scattered all over paint a picture of a pastoralist community. The paintings are very artistic and quite colorful having a range of colors used separately and together to give phenomenal artwork. This not only gives the site an edge in terms of being a cradle of mankind but is an inspiration to even modern-day artwork. Painters from all over the world visit this place to get to understand the cradle of artwork as well.

Is Africa the cradle of mankind? Science and evidence prove that. is Africa the cradle of art? Science proves that. Is Africa the cradle of innovation and technology? Science proves that.