Beschreibung:
A Search for Origins aims to provide an overview of the history of South Africa’s ‘Cradle of Humankind’. Based on fossils found and signs of early human habitation in the area, new light has been shed on the evolution of humankind and on the significant role that southern Africa played in the development of modern humans.
A study of the 'Cradle of Humanity and its history.
The 'Cradle of Humankind' (COH), bordering Gauteng and the North-West Province, was declared a World Heritage Site for the wealth of the human and animal fossils found there. Research based on fossils found in the area as well as signs of early human habitation have shed new light on the evolution of humankind and on the significant role that southern Africa played in the development of modern humans. A Search for Origins aims to provide an overview of the history of the COH, and of the important discoveries that have been made there, for a non-specialist audience. A number of general accounts have been written which have concentrated on the palaeontological discoveries made there. No systematic account written by specialists in their disciplines has, however, been published about the wider history of the COH and surrounding areas. In particular, no overview spanning the evolution of early plant and animal life, human development and recent and colonial history as reflected in discoveries linked to the COH, has been attempted. This edited volume frames the scientific advances that have been made in the COH against the intellectual and political background out of which they emerged. The multi-disciplinary approach - from a wide range of specialists -is innovative and ground-breaking.
FOREWORDPhillip V TobiasPart 1Introduction Africa is seldom what it seemsPhilip BonnerChapter 1 White South Africa and the South Africanisation of science: Humankind or kinds of humans?Saul DubowPart 2Introduction Fossils and genes: A new anthropology of evolutionTrefor JenkinsChapter 2 A history of South African palaeoanthropologyKevin Kuykendall and Goran SˇtrkaljChapter 3 Fossil hominids of the ‘Cradle of Humankind’Kevin KuykendallChapter 4 Unravelling the history of modern humans in southern Africa:The contribution of genetic studiesHimla Soodyall and Trefor JenkinsChapter 5 Fossil plants from the ‘Cradle of Humankind’Marion BamfordPart 3Introduction The Emerging Stone AgeAmanda EsterhuysenChapter 6 The Earlier Stone AgeAmanda EsterhuysenChapter 7 The Middle Stone Age and Later Stone AgeLyn WadleyChapter 8 Rock engravings in the Magaliesberg ValleyDavid PearcePart 4Introduction The myth of the vacant landPhilip BonnerChapter 9 The Early Iron Age at Broederstroom and aroundthe ‘Cradle of Humankind’Thomas N HuffmanChapter 10 Tswana history in the BankenveldSimon HallChapter 11 The early Boer republics: Changing political forces in the ‘Cradle of Humankind’, 1830s to 1890sJane CarruthersPart 5Introduction The racial paradox: Sterkfontein, Smuts and segregationPhilip BonnerChapter 12 The legacy of goldPhilip BonnerChapter 13 The story of Sterkfontein since 1895Phillip V TobiasChapter 14 The SOUTH AFRICAN War OF 1899–1902 in the ‘Cradle of Humankind’Vincent CarruthersChapter 15 White South Africa’s ‘weak sons’: Poor whites and the Hartbeespoort DamTim ClynickEpilogue Voice of politics, voice of science: Politics and science after 1945Philip Bonner, Amanda Esterhuysen and Trefor JenkinsNotes, references and recommended readingNotes on contributorsAcknowledgementsIndex
