Page 51 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - South Africa

THE HIST OR Y OF SOUTH AFRIC A  49

Early Goldsmiths Where to See Prehistoric
Gold ornaments, discovered in South Africa
Mapungubwe grave sites in 1932,
belonged to an Iron Age civil- The KwaZulu-Natal Museum
ization that flourished until the in Pieter maritzburg (p281),
end of the 12th century. the McGregor Museum in
Kimberley (p374) and the
Sanga cattle were intro- National Museum of Natural
duced into South Africa by History in Pre toria (p324) hold
Bantu-speaking tribes. impor tant collections of
rock art, archae ological and
palaeonto logical artifacts.
Rock paintings can be seen
in the Cederberg of the
Western Cape (p219) and in
the Drakens berg in Lesotho
“Mrs Ples” (pp272–3) and KwaZulu-
(2–3 million years). In Natal (pp274–5). Cape Town’s
1947, the skull of an Iziko South African Museum
Australopithecus afric­ (p134) has dio ramas of early
anus found at the Sterk- people. Bloem fontein’s National
fontein Caves was first Museum (p376) and the
thought to belong to a museum in Lydenburg (p334)
species called Plesian­ exhibit fossil finds. The
thropus transvaalensis. Sterkfontein Caves (p322),
where Mrs Ples was found, are
near Krugers dorp. Many of
these museums can assist
visitors with infor mation on
outings to individual sites.

Lydenburg Heads
Seven clay heads found
near Lyden burg (see
p334) in Mpumalanga
date back to AD 700.
Experts believe they
were used in rituals. The Cave Museum is an open-
air San rock art site in the Giant’s
Castle reserve (see pp274–5).

Rock Paintings
South Africa is a
rich storehouse of
prehistoric art. Some
paintings are thought
to date back 10,000 The Sudwala Caves (see p334)
years, while others were feature an interesting timeline
painted as little as display on the evolution of man.
200 years ago.

c. AD 200 Black farm-
c. 8,000 BC ers and iron-workers
Microlithic settle south of the
stone toolkit of Limpopo River and San bow
the San culture plant sorghum crops and arrows
20,000 BC 10,000 BC AD 1 AD 350 AD 700 AD 1050 AD 1400
c. AD 1 Nomadic Khoi herders, c. 1400 Stone settlements
originally from Botswana, Sorghum of Sotho people expand
move southwest into Cape from the Highveld into
coastal territory present-day Free State

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