In the age of the African Renaissance, southern Africa has needed to reinterpret the past in fresh and more appropriate ways. The last 500 years represent a strikingly unexplored and misrepresented period which remains disfigured by colonial/apartheid assumptions, most notably in the way that African societies are depicted as fixed, passive, isolated, un-enterprising and unenlightened. This period is one the most formative in relation to southern Africa's past while remaining, in many ways, the least known. Key cultural contours of the sub-continent took shape, while in a jagged and uneven fashion some of the features of modern identities emerged. Enormous internal economic innovation and political experimentation was taking place at the same time as expanding European mercantile forces started to press upon southern African shores and its hinterlands. This suggests that interaction, flux and mixing were a strong feature of the period, rather than the homogeneity and fixity proposed in standard historical and archaeological writings. Five Hundred Years Rediscovered represents the first step, taken by a group of archaeologists and historians, to collectively reframe, revitalise and re-examine the last 500 years. By integrating research and developing trans-frontier research networks, the group hopes to challenge thinking about the region's expanding internal and colonial frontiers, and to broaden current perceptions about southern Africa's colonial past.

The 'Cradle of Humankind' (COH), bordering Gauteng and the North-West Province, was declared a World Heritage Site for the wealth of the human and animal fossils found there. Research based on fossils found in the area as well as signs of early human habitation have shed new light on the evolution of humankind and on the significant role that southern Africa played in the development of modern humans.;"A Search for Origins" aims to provide an overview of the history of the COH, and of the important discoveries that have been made there, for a non-specialist audience. A number of general accounts have been written which have concentrated on the palaeontological discoveries made there. No systematic account written by specialists in their disciplines has, however, been published about the wider history of the COH and surrounding areas. In particular, no overview spanning the evolution of early plant and animal life, human development, and recent and colonial history as reflected in discoveries linked to the COH, has been attempted. In this sense alone the book will fill a niche.;This edited volume frames the scientific advances that have been made in the COH against the intellectual and political background out of which they emerged. It places the COH within a recognisable South African context, which renders it a great deal more meaningful for both South African visitors and international tourists. The multi-disciplinary approach - from a wide range of specialists - is innovative and ground-breaking.

"Sterkfontein" provides an easy-to-read overview of the geological and fossil history of the Sterkfontein Valley in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. Most famous for "Mrs. Ples" and "Little Foot," the Sterkfontein Caves have produced more australopithecines than any other site in the world since excavations began in the 1930s. The fossil record--comprising thousands of animals, plants and hominids--is simply presented and current debates are explained. An overview of the pioneers in the field, and of the role played by the discovery of gold, provides an informative historical context to the early discoveries, while the use of visual markers from Sterkfontein Caves enables visitors to identify essential features and formations.

"Amanda Esterhuysen" is a lecturer in archaeology at the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa).

The series was created to be used in teaching South African history in the national curriculum statement grades 10 - 12. It comprises six titles and a teacher's guide, housed in a sturdy. Each volume focuses on a dynamic and significant phase in South Africa's history: ancient civilisations and global trade; the impact and limitations of colonialism; migration, land and minerals in the making of South Africa; industrialisation, rural change and nationalism; people, places and apartheid and negotiation, transition and freedom.