Cradle of Humankind Human Ancestors Dig

The Cradle of Humankind is a world-renowned site for hominid discoveries and is a UNESCO World Heritage site that is considered to be the birthplace of humankind. With over 40% of the world’s human ancestor fossils found here, it’s a must-visit destination for anyone interested in human evolution. Join us on this incredible opportunity to dig at this location. We’ll journey through time and discover the fascinating story of our origins.
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The cornerstone of this once-in-a-lifetime, exclusive itinerary is the distinction of working side-by-side on excavation and labwork with esteemed archaeologists Jose Braga, Berhnard Zipfel and Dominic Stratford. These are the scientists leading hominid excavations at the world renowned Kromdraai and Sterkfontein archaeological sites at the Cradle of Humankind in South Africa.

It is at the Cradle of Humankind that thousands of hominid remains from 2 to 4 million years ago have been found. In addition, the remains of habitation from early stone-age, middle stone-age, later stone-age, early and late iron-age are present. All told, these fossils show how our human ancestors lived, what they ate and what animals and plants existed with them.

At Kromdraai: All participants who join this dig will be hands-on during the five days of excavation. Kromdraai is very rich in fossils and as a result, each participant has a 100% chance of finding both hominid and animal fossils with a high potential for discovering significant specimens.

At Sterkfontein: For the first two days, you’ll be working under the close guidance of Prof. Dominic Stratford, You will be working at the Sterkfontein site where you will learn about the geology and paleontology of the location. The majority of your time onsite will be spent assisting in the important sorting of microfauna found at the site which adds to our knowledge of the animals that called this site home over the millennia.

During the lab days, you will contribute to the collections, documentation and taphonomy identification process of the finds of six-million-year-old fossils of monkeys, antelope and carnivores.