Long before diamonds were discovered at Kimberly it had been in use by ancient man.

Ancient tools litter the area and are on display in the visitors center museum.

These tools as most often attributable to Homo Ergaster.

By No machine-readable author provided. Luna04~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). - No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY 2.5, Link

Later, the area was well frequented by others, who left their permanent marks.

These rock etchings are most often attributed to the Khoisan hunter gatherers.

IMG Source

The discovery of mineral wealth in the form of Diamonds in Kimberley and Gold on the Rand quickly focused British imperial interests on the previously isolated interior of South Africa.

This quickly escalated to the Boer Wars of 1880 and 1889.

Kimberley was subject to siege during the beginning of the second war and later housed one of the "concentration camps" used to detain Boer women and children.

It is now home to the honored dead memorial in remembrance of the battles and lives lost.

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Other posts in this series:

The Big Hole. What is the big hole and where is it?
The Big Hole: Part of a greater whole
The Big Hole: Kimberlites, how do they form.
The Big Hole: Diamonds are a girls best friend...
The Big Hole: The other beauty in kimberlites and a wealth of information.
The Big Hole: Information capsules from the deep.
The Big Hole: Setting and Suspension - from busy.org
The Big Hole: Digging the hole.
​The Big Hole: Digging back into time
The Big Hole: Becoming Mechanised
The Big Hole: Moving underground.