Taung

---

title: "Taung" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["archaeological-sites-in-south-africa", "pliocene-paleontological-sites-of-africa", "caves-of-south-africa", "limestone-caves", "landforms-of-north-west-(south-african-province)", "populated-places-in-the-greater-taung-local-municipality", "paleoanthropological-sites", "archaeological-sites-of-southern-africa"] description: "Town in North West Province, South Africa" topic_path: "philosophy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taung" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Town in North West Province, South Africa ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Taung
pushpin_map	South Africa North West#South Africa
coordinates
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	South Africa
subdivision_type1	Province
subdivision_name1	North West
subdivision_type2	District
subdivision_name2	Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati
subdivision_type3	Municipality
subdivision_name3	Greater Taung
subdivision_type4	Main Place
established_title	Established
leader_title	Councillor
area_footnotes
area_total_km2	20.75
population_footnotes
population_total	18289
population_as_of	2011
population_density_km2	auto
demographics_type1	Racial makeup (2011)
demographics1_footnotes
demographics1_title1	Black African
demographics1_info1	98.8%
demographics1_title2	Coloured
demographics1_info2	0.4%
demographics1_title3	Indian/Asian
demographics1_info3	0.5%
demographics1_title4	White
demographics1_info4	0.1%
demographics1_title5	Other
demographics1_info5	0.2%
demographics_type2	First languages (2011)
demographics2_footnotes
demographics2_title1	Tswana
demographics2_info1	89.6%
demographics2_title2	Xhosa
demographics2_info2	2.8%
demographics2_title3	English
demographics2_info3	1.5%
demographics2_title4	Sotho
demographics2_info4	1.1%
demographics2_title5	Other
demographics2_info5	5.0%
timezone1	SAST
utc_offset1	+2
postal_code_type	Postal code (street)
postal_code	8584
postal2_code_type	PO box
postal2_code	8584
area_code_type	Area code
area_code	053
module	{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
child	yes
official_name	Taung Skull Fossil Site
part_of	Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa
criteria	(iii)(vi)
ID	915bis-003
coordinates
year	1999
extension	2005
area	158.7429 ha
buffer_zone	3,387 ha
::

| name = Taung | pushpin_map = South Africa North West#South Africa | coordinates = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = South Africa | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = North West | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati | subdivision_type3 = Municipality | subdivision_name3 = Greater Taung | subdivision_type4 = Main Place | established_title = Established | leader_title = Councillor | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 20.75 | population_footnotes = | population_total = 18289 | population_as_of = 2011 | population_density_km2 = auto | demographics_type1 = Racial makeup (2011) | demographics1_footnotes = | demographics1_title1 = Black African | demographics1_info1 = 98.8% | demographics1_title2 = Coloured | demographics1_info2 = 0.4% | demographics1_title3 = Indian/Asian | demographics1_info3 = 0.5% | demographics1_title4 = White | demographics1_info4 = 0.1% | demographics1_title5 = Other | demographics1_info5 = 0.2% | demographics_type2 = First languages (2011) | demographics2_footnotes = | demographics2_title1 = Tswana | demographics2_info1 = 89.6% | demographics2_title2 = Xhosa | demographics2_info2 = 2.8% | demographics2_title3 = English | demographics2_info3 = 1.5% | demographics2_title4 = Sotho | demographics2_info4 = 1.1% | demographics2_title5 = Other | demographics2_info5 = 5.0% | timezone1 = SAST | utc_offset1 = +2 | postal_code_type = Postal code (street) | postal_code = 8584 | postal2_code_type = PO box | postal2_code = 8584 | area_code_type = Area code | area_code = 053 | module = {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site |child = yes |official_name = Taung Skull Fossil Site |part_of = Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa |criteria = (iii)(vi) |ID = 915bis-003 |coordinates = |year = 1999 |extension = 2005 |area = 158.7429 ha |buffer_zone = 3,387 ha Taung is a small town situated in the North West Province of South Africa. The name means place of the lion and was named after Tau, the King of the Barolong people. Tau is the Tswana word for lion.

Taung skull fossil site

In 1924, a skull (later named the Taung Child) was discovered by a quarry-worker in the nearby Buxton-limestone quarry. It was described by Raymond Dart in 1925 as the type specimen of Australopithecus africanus after he received a shipment of mostly fossil baboons, but also containing the skull and face of the child. Surprisingly, it would be many years before Dart would visit Taung to determine the exact location of the find. By that time, lime-mining had destroyed much of the area. Later in-situ excavations were conducted under the direction of Phillip Tobias and Jeffrey McKee of the University of the Witwatersrand, who worked at the site from approximately 1989 until 1993. Although they failed to find additional hominid specimens, they did recover many important fossil baboons and increased the understanding of the Taung geology and taphonomy significantly.

Unlike the dolomitic caves near Johannesburg, South Africa and the site of Makapansgat, the Taung fossil sites are found in caves formed in a gigantic tufa flow coming off the dolomitic bedrock of the Kalahari escarpment.

The Taung Child is among the most important early human fossils ever discovered. It was the first hominid to be discovered in Africa, a species later named Australopithecus africanus, supporting Charles Darwin's concepts that the closest living relatives of humans are the African apes. It furthermore demonstrated significant differences between reality and the fake skull of a proposed human ancestor from England known as the Piltdown Man or Eoanthropus. The little skull is hypothesized to be from an approximately three- to three-and-a-half-year-old child. The cast of the brain is preserved by the filling of the skull with limestone breccia. The skull is housed at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Taung Child was at first proposed to have been killed by other hominids as part of Raymond Dart's Osteo-Dento-Keratic Culture hypothesis. However, later work by C.K. "Bob" Brain demonstrated that the child was probably killed by some sort of mammalian carnivore such as a leopard. Recently, however, studies of the associated baboons by Ron Clarke and Lee Berger, and identification of specific marks on the Taung Child skull have demonstrated that the Taung Child may have been killed and eaten by a large bird of prey.

Taung child.jpg|The Taung Child skull as seen when it was exhibited at the Maropeng visitor's centre at the Cradle of Humankind in early 2007 Taung1.jpg|The Taung Child skull with arrows pointing to possible Eagle-caused damage

Climate

|metric first=y |single line=y |collapsed = Y |location = Taung, elevation 1100 m, (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1998–2023) |Jan record high C = 44.6 |Feb record high C = 40.1 |Mar record high C = 38.1 |Apr record high C = 35.3 |May record high C = 33.8 |Jun record high C = 30.3 |Jul record high C = 29.0 |Aug record high C = 33.2 |Sep record high C = 37.0 |Oct record high C = 40.1 |Nov record high C = 40.1 |Dec record high C = 43.5 |Jan record low C = 8.4 |Feb record low C = 8.3 |Mar record low C = 3.8 |Apr record low C = 0.0 |May record low C = -4.6 |Jun record low C = -6.2 |Jul record low C = -6.4 |Aug record low C = -4.5 |Sep record low C = -2.2 |Oct record low C = 1.5 |Nov record low C = 4.4 |Dec record low C = 9.9 |Jan high C = 34.7 |Feb high C = 33.2 |Mar high C = 31.8 |Apr high C = 28.5 |May high C = 25.7 |Jun high C = 22.9 |Jul high C = 22.9 |Aug high C = 26.1 |Sep high C = 30.0 |Oct high C = 32.8 |Nov high C = 33.3 |Dec high C = 35.0 | year high C = |Jan mean C = 26.3 |Feb mean C = 25.4 |Mar mean C = 23.5 |Apr mean C = 19.8 |May mean C = 16.0 |Jun mean C = 12.5 |Jul mean C = 12.3 |Aug mean C = 15.3 |Sep mean C = 19.2 |Oct mean C = 22.8 |Nov mean C = 24.0 |Dec mean C = 26.3 | year mean C = |Jan low C = 18.0 |Feb low C = 17.6 |Mar low C = 15.2 |Apr low C = 11.0 |May low C = 6.2 |Jun low C = 2.1 |Jul low C = 1.8 |Aug low C = 4.4 |Sep low C = 8.4 |Oct low C = 12.8 |Nov low C = 14.6 |Dec low C = 17.5 | year low C = |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 77.5 |Feb precipitation mm = 74.2 |Mar precipitation mm = 77.1 |Apr precipitation mm = 35.4 |May precipitation mm = 12.5 |Jun precipitation mm = 5.5 |Jul precipitation mm = 3.9 |Aug precipitation mm = 5.8 |Sep precipitation mm = 12.8 |Oct precipitation mm = 25.6 |Nov precipitation mm = 45.1 |Dec precipitation mm = 60.0 |year precipitation mm = |unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm | Jan precipitation days = 5.9 | Feb precipitation days = 5.3 | Mar precipitation days = 5.5 | Apr precipitation days = 2.9 | May precipitation days = 1.3 | Jun precipitation days = 0.5 | Jul precipitation days = 0.6 | Aug precipitation days = 0.6 | Sep precipitation days = 1.0 | Oct precipitation days = 2.5 | Nov precipitation days = 3.7 | Dec precipitation days = 4.5 | year precipitation days = |source 1 = Starlings Roost Weather (precipitation 1898–2023){{cite web |url=http://starlingsroost.ddns.net/weather/worldclimate/graphs.php?climate=9120&code=SF003605120 |title= TAUNG, SF Climate: 1991–2020 |publisher=Starlings Roost Weather |access-date= 27 December 2024}}{{cite web |url=http://starlingsroost.ddns.net/weather/worldclimate/graphs.php?climate=allyears&code=SF003605120 |title= TAUNG, SF Climate: All Years |publisher=Starlings Roost Weather |access-date= 27 December 2024}}

References

Sources

• P.V. Tobias, Dart Taung and the Missing Link (Inst. for the Study of Man in Africa, 1984)
• L.R. Berger and B. Hilton-Barber, In the Footsteps of Eve (National Geographic Press, 2001)
• L.R. Berger and B. Hilton-Barber, Field Guide to the Cradle of Humankind (Struik, 2001)
• L.R. Berger Am. J.Phys. Anth. 131:166-168 (2006)

References

1. "Main Place Taung". Census 2011.
2. "Taung".
3. (2014-01-22). "Jeffrey McKee".
4. "Taung fossil site".
5. "Fossil sites in the Cradle of Humankind – Maropeng and Sterkfontein Caves". Official Visitor Centres for the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.
6. Mafika. (2006-01-13). "Who killed the Taung child?".
7. Armstrong, Sue. "Taung Child 'fell from the sky'".

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