Sterkfontein Caves, in South Africa, are the site of some of the world’s most important paleontological discoveries. The limestone caves lie about 9 miles (15 kilometers) northwest of Krugersdorp, a town west of Johannesburg. They are within the Isaac Edwin Stegmann Nature Reserve.
In 1947, Robert Broom, a Scottish-born South African paleontologist (scientist who studies prehistoric life), discovered a skull estimated to be 11/2 million years old. He named the skull “Mrs. Ples”. The skull belonged to an adult, female, humanlike creature known as Australopithecus africanus (see Australopithecus ).
Scientists have found ancient remains of animals, including saber-toothed cats, hyenas, warthogs, and antelopes, in the caves, as well as crude stone tools. Most of the remains were in pieces of breccia (rock that became cemented together) on the cave floor.
See also Broom, Robert .
