10 Incredible Archaeological Sites in Africa

While many of the riddles of human history have been solved by Africa’s archeological sites, many remain enigmatic to contemporary scholars.

This is because it wasn’t intended for these prehistoric societies to be that developed.

The top ten amazing archeological sites in Africa are listed below.

Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

One of the most significant archeological sites in the world, if not all of Africa, is Olduvai Gorge.

This is because it illustrates how far human evolution has come. The fossils discovered here show that man was a scavenger, hunter, and social entity more than 1.9 million years ago.

Additionally, a variety of tools have been found.

Valley of the Kings, Egypt

Tombs built in the Valley of the Kings were used to inter Egyptian pharaohs and some nobles between the middle and end of the second millennium BC.

Greek and Latin inscriptions on the walls prove that the location has been visited since antiquity.

Regretfully, not every visitor was a tourist, and over the ages, the majority of the 63 tombs in the region have been plundered.

Gedi Ruins, Kenya

From the 13th to the start of the 17th century, Gedi, a city on the Kenyan coast, experienced great prosperity.

The archaeologists who excavated the site in the 1940s found several extremely fascinating objects.

These include goods from far-off places like China, India, Spain, and Venice.

The city boasted magnificent stone homes, a sizable mosque, and an elegant palace.

Laetoli, Tanzania

In Laetoli, famous British paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey found hominid footprints in 1976.

There were footprints in the volcanic ash, indicating that this early man walked erect.

There were other footprints from baboons, birds, hyenas, rhinos, and even gazelles.

Since the Laetoli discovery demonstrated that early humans were walking upright some 3.6 million years ago, the scientific community has been in disbelief.

Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa

Since no other location on Earth has as many hominid fossils as the Sterkfontein Caves, it is commonly referred to as the Cradle of Humankind.

Paleoanthropologists have excavated the site and found about 500 hominids noted as Mrs. Ples and Little Foot by the mid-1930s

Little Foot is one of the world’s most complete early hominid skeletons, while Mrs. Ples is the most complete Australopithecus cranium ever discovered.

Blombos Cave, South Africa

Numerous inquiries concerning the Homo sapiens who lived in the region approximately 100,000 years ago have been addressed by the Blombos Cave.

Here, the riddle of early man’s cultural origins and behavioral patterns is gradually being solved. The site was discovered in 1991.

Meroe, Sudan

One of the wealthiest cities in the former Kingdom of Kush was Meroe. The city, which dates back to 800 BC, was heavily impacted by the nearby Egyptian culture.

However, the Egyptian writing system, language, and art started to vanish in the third century BC.

Meroe began to deteriorate in the third and fourth centuries AD, primarily as a result of the collapse of external trade.

Still, the more than 200 pyramids that remain from this ancient city’s ruins serve as a reminder of its previous grandeur.

Nok, Nigeria

Nigeria’s Nok village and archeological site are well-known globally for their terracotta sculptures.

According to some, the site dates to the middle of the 4th millennium BC, and it gave rise to the Nok culture.

This ancient society, which began to flourish in Nigeria in the eleventh century BC, fell apart for unclear causes around 300 AD.

Notwithstanding the widespread belief that West African nations at the time were primitive, archaeological discoveries show that the Nok culture was extremely developed.

Koobi Fora, Kenya

Sandstones and siltstones in the vicinity of Koobi Fora are widely known for holding the remarkably preserved bones of hominins and terrestrial animals from as far back as 4.2 million years ago.

Fossils of Australopithecus anamensis, Australopithecus boisei, Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, and Homo ergaster have all been found in Koobi Fora.

Numerous stone tools were also discovered; most of these, though, are unrelated to hominins.