The artifacts which are on display in a South African museum are a symbol of what are believed to be the world's oldest traces of Homo sapiens foot prints some 117,000 years old. This is a simple statement made here that these artifacts are on display in the museum of Cape Town. However, the expected and necessary tail end of this statement; '--believed to be--', is the indisputable evidence of yet another of the world's unsolved mysteries, of where and how we all originated from.
In this instance like all of the others, there is simply no hard evidence. The whole wide world, with every one of her continents, has left many such frustrating clues as to our past, not just South Africa, but of which were pillaged and destroyed by man. Why then is Cape Town singled out for such a special claim, regarding these footprints of the ghosts from its past which have been cast in the mould?
Perhaps it is because South Africa, in terms of our understanding of the meaning of a civilised nation, it is still a young nation, in terms of our measurement of time. Most of the world's civilizations were well documented and proven, and had all gone through their growing pains, long before this part of South Africa was first landed on in 1652AD, by the crew of a Dutch sailing ship who were under orders to establish a base there in the now named Cape Town. It was only then, that mankind's incredibly ancient past was to come face to face with the present and the future.
Thus, this land had been undisturbed from the day of its evolution, and had not been plundered and exploited over centuries like most of the world had been by that time, so much of her history had been undisturbed by 'the grave diggers'. Thus the concentrated and bloodied history of Cape Town is well documented to date from 1652AD, but it is now recognised as one of the foremost multicultural cities and industrial calling points in the world, as well as being the economic centre of the Western Cape Province.
Add to this, (yes, I could go on and on), it proudly boasts one of the top ranked 200 universities in the world, as well as three public universities. Now this is fact and indisputable evidence. So, in just 359 years, it has grown from the dark and mysterious past into the light of a modern future. Yes, I think it is safe to say that Cape Town is now a link that leads to just one womb of many nations.
John B Cooke is an independent writer composing his second book. To find out more information on Cape Town holidays, please see the links for more information on Cape Town.
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