Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Cradle of Human Culture sites a sight to experience
RETHINK tourism this Heritage Month by immersing yourself in the experience of humanity’s earliest use of symbolism, art, and technology at the Cradle of Human Culture.
Serving as evidence of how the first inhabitants began to innovate socially, behaviourally, and culturally along the province’s coastlines, the site allows you to journey back in time to trace the origins and development of human culture over the past 100 000 years, and uncover the mysteries of what it means to be human.
As a Western Cape Government initiative, marketed by Wesgro, the Cradle of Human Culture sites encircles a vast area such as Diepkloof Rock
Shelter on the Cape West Coast, Blombos Cave near Stilbaai and Pinnacle Point near Mossel Bay.
West Coast Fossil Park director Pippa Haarhoff said that as Heritage month held great significance, exploring the Cradle of Human Culture would contribute to sustaining the establishments along the sites and provide continued employment.
“Three important archaeological sites reveal how our ancestors started to innovate as the Cradle of Human Culture is a journey through the Western Cape and consists of key archaeological sites and two routes. The Artists Journey and the Coastal Journey.
“With the initiative being a journey through the province, it benefits the Western Cape in terms of packaging the destination. Another benefit is the increase in spend will sustain the establishments along the sites and provide continued employment to the
workforce in the hospitality sector.”
From human origins to contemporary San life experiences at !Khwa ttu, which sits within a historical and archaeological landscape along the West Coast, Michael Daiber, the general manager said there were archaeological sites near !Khwa ttu, such as Yzerfontein, that played a key role in the story of human origins.
“Our historical exhibitions draw particular attention to the longevity of San history and its links to human origins, issues of colonial genocide and discrimination against San.
“At the heart of our heritage centre lies recognition that to really understand San lifeways, we must move away from traditional, colonising museum approaches toward new and innovative curation strategies. It is our aim to remind visitors there are different, yet familiar, ways of being in the world,” said Daiber.