St Dominic’s Newcastle matrics embark on biology tour

Maropeng: a Tswana word meaning ‘you always go back to your origins’.

This word is appropriate to describe a museum with the secrets of human evolution entombed within it.

On July 21 and 22, the St Dominic’s Newcastle Grade 12 Life Science class had the privilege of visiting Maropeng (the Cradle of Humankind).

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This is a vast area consisting of a museum and multiple caves, including Sterkfontein and the Rising Star Cave, which continue to write the stories of various geological epochs with their rich stores of fossils.

On this tour, the class experienced the different elements of nature and evolution in a thrilling boat ride, learnt more about the various human species in informative exhibits, and explored Sterkfontein, seeing multiple active excavation sites where fossils continue to be extracted from the earth.

The most interesting exhibit was that of homo naledi.

This is a human species discovered in 2013, and believed to have roamed the earth about 200 000 years ago.

It differs from other specimens on display in two main ways: it is not one of the species from which homo sapiens, but is rather a species with which humans co-existed.

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Secondly, it is the first species to be given a name taken from the language of the native peoples inhabiting the area of its discovery. It thus showcases the rich scientific knowledge South Africa has to offer the world.

This enlightening trip was rounded off with a fair dose of fun, banter, bonding and debate the class routinely engages in.

This, coupled with the informative exhibits and a natural thirst for knowledge, made for an exhilarating experience which will stay with the class for years to come.

It is safe to say the exhibits came alive for them, and they could feel the hominids walk among them.

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