Cradle of Life: The Story of the Magaliesberg and the Cradle of Humankind

Cradle of Life: The Story of the Magaliesberg and the Cradle of Humankind

By Vincent Carruthers

Penguin. $20

The Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site situated in the heart of the Magaliesberg Biosphere Reserve is the jewel in SA's evolutionary crown: an area ‘of outstanding universal value’, it has attracted world-wide interest and furnished key evidence about where, when and how we came to be. The greater Magaliesberg area is peppered with some 200 caves and has a unique geology, history and biodiversity. For decades now, specialists have been combing the area to uncover evidence of our heritage. In his spectacular new title, Vincent Carruthers guides readers along a timeline, from the birth of our planet through to developments of the twenty first century. Along the way he documents the formation of our landscapes and the emergence of life, the rise of hominins, the stone and iron ages, early settlement, migrations, wars and modern developments in the Magaliesberg – the entire evolution of life up to the present, as we know it.