Wonderwerk Cave (link) stretches over 140 meters deep into the Kuruman Hills. It contains an astonishingly long sequence of human activity and has been inscribed on the South Africa’s Tentative List of World Heritage Sites (link), and has recently been listed as a National Heritage Site as well. The cave has been the focus of archaeological study since the 1940s by many different teams of scientists. Currently the site is being investigated by an international team headed by Professor Michael Chazan from the University of Toronto, Canada; Dr. Liora Horwitz of the Hebrew University, Israel; and David Morris from the McGregor Museum in Kimberley.
The reason for this intensive study is that the cave has an extremely rare, if not unique, record of human occupation. Almost no sites in the world contain continuous deposits of arefacts beginning in the Earlier Stone Age (ESA) and continuing through the Middle Stone Age (MSA), the Later Stone Age (LSA) all the way to the Colonial Period. The oldest deposits have been recently dated to as old as 2 million years. Significant findings from the deposits include some of the earliest dated LSA art mobilier (portable art), early evidence for fire use during the ESA, and evidence of early symbolic behavior during the ESA. The spectacular preservation of organic material in the cave has also facilitated environmental reconstructions to better understand past climates.
As a visitor you will get to enjoy a wealth of rock paintings in the front portion of the cave. The site also has a small museum to learn more about the cave, the people who lived there, and the people who have worked in the cave.
The cache itself is outside the gate, requiring no entrance fee, but if you visit the cache, you should visit the cave, fee was R7 last I checked. 0830-1300, 1400-1700, seven days a week. Enjoy your visit!