DOCSLIB.ORG

Little Foot’ Fossil Chiselled out of Stone Yields Secrets Mysterious Ancient Hominin Retrieved After 20-Year Effort Might Be a Distinct Species

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Little Foot’ Fossil Chiselled out of Stone Yields Secrets Mysterious Ancient Hominin Retrieved After 20-Year Effort Might Be a Distinct Species NEWS IN FOCUS HEALTH Mysterious polio- PUBLISHING China gets behind INFECTIOUS DISEASE Ebola NEUROSCIENCE Unlocking like disease probed with bold European open-access cases slip under how the brain makes machine learning p.170 plan p.171 the radar p.174 sense of faces p.176 PATRICK LANDMANN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY LANDMANN/SCIENCE PHOTO PATRICK The unique skeleton was embedded in rock deep inside a South African cave. ARCHAEOLOGY ‘Little Foot’ fossil chiselled out of stone yields secrets Mysterious ancient hominin retrieved after 20-year effort might be a distinct species. BY COLIN BARRAS a musculoskeletal biologist at the University He realized that a handful of small bones in the of Liverpool, UK, who collaborated with the collection belonged to a species of Australo- fter a tortuous 20-year-long excavation, research team that excavated the skeleton. pithecus — ape-like hominins in Africa between an ancient skeleton is starting to reveal The nickname Little Foot, echoing the mythi- about 4 million and 2 million years ago, before new information about early human cal ‘Bigfoot’, refers to the small foot bones that the human genus Homo rose to dominance1. Aevolution. The first of a raft of papers about ‘Lit- were among the first parts of the skeleton to Clarke and his colleagues then found more tle Foot’ suggests that the fossil is a female who be discovered. In 1994, Ronald Clarke, a pal- bones embedded in a matrix of solid rock deep showed some of the earliest signs of human-like, aeoanthropologist at the University of the Wit- in the caves. They began carefully excavating bipedal walking, around 3.67 million years ago. watersrand (Wits University) in Johannesburg, Little Foot, piece by fragile piece, using ham- She might also belong to a distinct species unfa- South Africa, was rifling through boxes of fossils mers and chisels followed by precision tools. miliar to most researchers. “It’s almost a mira- at a field laboratory at the Sterkfontein caves, “The fossilized bone is actually softer than cle it’s come out intact,” says Robin Crompton, about 40 kilometres northwest of Johannesburg. the matrix,” says Crompton. “It’s been an ©2018 Spri nger Nature Li mited. All ri ghts reserve13d. DECEMBER 2018 | VOL 564 | NATURE | 169 NEWS IN FOCUS absolute devil to get it out.” legs are longer than her arms, similar to mod- detailed measurements of the fossil bones. By late last year, Clarke’s team had removed ern humans, making her the oldest hominin “There’s no data — there are almost no meas- enough bones to reconstruct more than 90% for which we can be sure of that feature, says urements of the fossils,” he says. Berger hopes of the skeleton — making it the most complete Crompton. This means that Little Foot was bet- to provide those data in his own publications Australopithecus so far. On 29 November, they ter adapted to walking upright on the ground — although he is still at an early stage of his posted two papers on Little Foot to the bioRxiv than were many other australopiths. analysis of Little Foot. preprint server — one on the age of the speci- Little Foot’s skull, bones and teeth are so unu- Crompton responds that the locomotion men2, the other on the limbs and locomotion3. sual that Clarke and his team have categorized paper is an overview that attempts to recon- On 4–5 December, the team posted third her as the distinct species4 Australopithecus struct how Little Foot moved by drawing on and fourth papers, on the skull and the poten- prometheus, a name first suggested in 1948 the more-solid data in the team’s other papers. tial relationship of the specimen to a known on the basis of a skull fragment found roughly Gabriele Macho, an anthropologist at the Uni- hominin species4, as well as on the arms and an 250 kilometres north of Johannesburg6 and versity of Oxford, UK, agrees that the locomo- injury Little Foot received during her life5. Fur- that remains controversial. They also suggest tion paper is light on solid data, but says the ther papers, on the hand, teeth and inner ear, that A. prometheus is an ancestor of a group team acknowledges the gap. She looks forward are expected in the near future, says Crompton. of hominins called Paranthropus4, which co- to seeing more-detailed papers soon. “The Most will ultimately appear in a special edition existed with early Homo species for about one positive thing is this skeleton is tremendously of the Journal of Human Evolution. million years. important,” she says. “No question about it.” ■ But Lee Berger, an archaeologist also at Wits A NEAR-COMPLETE PUZZLE University, disagrees with the decision to res- 1. Bruxelles, L., Clarke, R. J., Mairee, R., Ortega, R. & Stratford, D. J. Hum. Evol. 70, 36–48 (2014). The bioRxiv papers crystallize ideas that urrect A. prometheus. In a paper scheduled 2. Bruxelles, L. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi. emerged in earlier publications about the age to be published in the American Journal of org/10.1101/482711 (2018). of the fossil. They also cover new ground, sug- Physical Anthropology, he argues that the name 3. Crompton, R. H. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https:// doi.org/10.1101/481556 (2018). gesting that Little Foot was an adult female and A. prometheus was never properly defined. If 4. Clarke, R. J. & Kuman, K. Preprint at bioRxiv https:// stood about 130 centimetres tall — just 10 centi- Little Foot constitutes a distinct species, Berger doi.org/10.1101/483495 (2018). metres shorter than the average woman in some thinks, a new name is needed. 5. Heile, A. J., Pickering, T. R., Heaton, J. L. & Clarke, R. J. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi. modern-human populations. “Little Foot was He is also disappointed by the lack of solid org/10.1101/486076 (2018). quite big,” says Crompton. The paper covering information in the papers on the age and loco- 6. Dart, R. A. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 6, 259–284 limbs and locomotion3 reveals that Little Foot’s motion — he would have liked to have seen (1948). GENETICS Machine learning hunts for cause of paralysing illness Scientists hope that probing the immune system will identify the cause of a polio-like disease. BY SARA REARDON machine-learning analysis. The approach “We’ve never really had a smoking gun,” could lead to better diagnostics and provide says Charles Chiu, an infectious-disease nfectious-disease researchers hunting for hints about new treatments. researcher at the University of California, the cause of a mysterious illness that is par- Host-response diagnostic tests haven’t San Francisco, who is leading the machine- alysing children are combining machine been used in the clinic yet. But researchers learning project. He suspects that if EV-D68 Ilearning with a new gene-sequencing tech- are developing similar tests to help pinpoint causes AFM, it damages the spinal cord nique to pin down the culprit. other conditions that can be tricky to diagnose, quickly and then drops to undetectable levels The disease, called acute flaccid myelitis including tuberculosis in the body. (AFM), causes limb weakness and paralysis “We’ve never and bacterial meningitis. Host-response diagnostics are useful when that resembles the symptoms of polio. The US really had This year’s AFM researchers don’t know what they’re looking Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a smoking outbreak started in for, says Purvesh Khatri, a computational sys- (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, has confirmed gun.” October, and is the third tems immunologist at Stanford University in 134 cases of AFM in the United States so far in a series of outbreaks California. The composition of the immune this year. Many of those who develop the in the United States that have occurred every system’s defences differs depending on which illness never recover. other year since 2014. Researchers have yet to pathogens are present in the body. So instead Most of the evidence suggests that an enter- find a definitive explanation for the pattern. of looking for the agent itself, Khatri says, ovirus called EV-D68 is causing the illness1, It is also taking scientists an unusually long researchers could look at what the immune but researchers haven’t been able to find the time to determine the cause of the illness, says system is seeing. pathogen in the spinal fluid of children with William Weldon, a microbiologist at the CDC. Most attempts to identify mystery illnesses the disease. Scientists are trying to identify Blood samples taken from many of the involve searching for a pathogen’s DNA the culprit by using a combination of host- people with AFM contain the virus. But many or RNA in areas of the body such as tissue response diagnostics — which look at how the people who never developed AFM symptoms or blood. But the host-response technique immune system responds to pathogens — and also have the virus in their blood. takes a blood sample and sequences all of the 170 | NATURE | VOL 564 | 13 DECEMBER 2018©2018 Spri nger Nature Li mited. All ri ghts reserved. ©2018 Spri nger Nature Li mited. All ri ghts reserved. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Partial Skeleton Stw 431 from Sterkfontein – Is It Time to Rethink the Plio-Pleistocene Hominin Diversity in South Africa?
    doie-pub 10.4436/JASS.98020 ahead of print JASs Reports doi: 10.4436/jass.89003 Journal of Anthropological Sciences Vol. 98 (2020), pp. 73-88 The partial skeleton StW 431 from Sterkfontein – Is it time to rethink the Plio-Pleistocene hominin diversity in South Africa? Gabriele A. Macho1, Cinzia Fornai 2, Christine Tardieu3, Philip Hopley4, Martin Haeusler5 & Michel Toussaint6 1) Earth and Planetary Science, Birkbeck, University of London, London WC1E 7HX, England; School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, England email: [email protected]; [email protected] 2) Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland; Department of Anthropology, University of Vienna, Althanstraße 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria 3) Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 55 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France 4) Earth and Planetary Science, Birkbeck, University of London, London WC1E 7HX; Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, England 5) Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland 6) retired palaeoanthropologist, Belgium email: [email protected] Summary - The discovery of the nearly complete Plio-Pleistocene skeleton StW 573 Australopithecus prometheus from Sterkfontein Member 2, South Africa, has intensified debates as to whether Sterkfontein Member 4 contains a hominin species other than Australopithecus africanus. For example, it has recently been suggested that the partial skeleton StW 431 should be removed from the A. africanus hypodigm and be placed into A. prometheus. Here we re-evaluate this latter proposition, using published information and new comparative data. Although both StW 573 and StW 431 are apparently comparable in their arboreal (i.e., climbing) and bipedal adaptations, they also show significant morphological differences.
    [Show full text]
  • Title: Drimolen Crania Indicate Contemporaneity of Australopithecus, Paranthropus and Early Homo Erectus in S
    Submitted Manuscript: Confidential Title: Drimolen crania indicate contemporaneity of Australopithecus, Paranthropus and early Homo erectus in S. Africa Authors: Andy I.R. Herries1,2*†, Jesse M. Martin1†, A.B. Leece1†, Justin W. Adams3,2†, Giovanni Boschian4,2†, Renaud Joannes-Boyau5,2, Tara R. Edwards1, Tom Mallett1, Jason Massey3,6, Ashleigh Murszewski1, Simon Neuebauer7, Robyn Pickering8.9, David Strait10,2, Brian J. Armstrong2, Stephanie Baker2, Matthew V. Caruana2, Tim Denham11, John Hellstrom12, Jacopo Moggi-Cecchi13, Simon Mokobane2, Paul Penzo-Kajewski1, Douglass S. Rovinsky3, Gary T. Schwartz14, Rhiannon C. Stammers1, Coen Wilson1, Jon Woodhead12, Colin Menter13 Affiliations: 1. Palaeoscience Labs, Dept. Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Bundoora, 3086, VIC, Australia. 2. Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. 3. Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, VIC, Australia. 4. Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Italy 5. Geoarchaeology and Archaeometry Research Group (GARG), Southern Cross University, Military Rd, Lismore, 2480, NSW, Australia 6. Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of Minnesota Medical School, USA 7. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany. 8. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa 9. Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa 10. Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, USA 11. Geoarchaeology Research Group, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia 12. Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia 13. Department of Biology, University of Florence, Italy 14. Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, U.S.A.
    [Show full text]
  • Little Foot, a South African Australopithecus As Old As
    Press release Little Foot, a South African Australopithecus as 14 March 2014 old as Lucy? Laurent Bruxelles of Inrap has co-published an article with Ronald Clarke, Richard Maire, Richard Ortega and Dominic Stratford in the Journal of Human Evolution on the dating of Little Foot (StW 573) through stratigraphic analysis (Silberberg Grotto, Sterkfontein, South Africa). Sterkfontein, located to the north-west of Johannesburg in the province of Gauteng, is part of a zone classified by UNESCO in 1999 as a World Heritage Site called the “Cradle of Humankind”. Since its discovery in 1997 in Silberberg Grotto, a skeleton known as Little Foot has been meticulously excavated. Found under exceptional circumstances, this Australopithecine, which is the most complete ever identified, contributes unique elements to our knowledge of human origins. Although its age, somewhere between 2 and 4 million years, is still debated, a team of French researchers, in collaboration with the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg), has contributed new elements to its dating. An exceptional discovery On September 6, 1994, in a box of animal bones, Ronald J. Clarke discovered four left foot bones belonging to a hominid found during an excavation of the lime miners’ rubble in the Sterkfontein cave system. This first discovery was dubbed “Little Foot” by P.V. Tobias, due to the small size of the foot that was identified. In May 1997, in a different box, he identified more bones from the same foot and a fragment of right shin bone.Being certain that these bones belonged to the same individual, Ron Clarke sent his assistants, Stephen Motsumi and Nkwane Molefe, to find the entire skeleton.
    [Show full text]
  • Senior Phase
    1 SENIOR PHASE • Social Sciences 2 • Mathematics 9 • Life Orientation 14 • Natural Sciences 21 • Languages 29 • Technology 37 • EMS 40 2 SENIOR PHASE Social Sciences Senior Phase: Educator Page 3 Learning Area: Social Sciences Theme: World Heritage Sites and Sustainability Grade 8 Pages 3 - 8 Settlement and land use Urban settlements • Land use within urban settlements – including the central business district, zones for light and heavy industry, residential areas (high-, middle- and low-income), shopping centres, services and recreation Rural settlements • Types of rural settlement – including farming, mining, forestry, fishing Land use on aerial photographs and large-scale maps • What aerial photographs look like (oblique and vertical) Information from aerial photos – natural and constructed features • Identifying land uses in urban settlements (aerial photographs and large-scale maps *) Investigation of a settlement (project) • An independent study of a settlement known to the individual learner • Describe the settlement and the different types of land use. • Identify specific features or landmarks (natural and/or human-made). • Suggest reasons for the location of this settlement • Discuss decline and/or growth of population of the settlement and suggest reasons. Background knowledge Africa is the birthplace of humankind. This is where our collective umbilical cord lies buried. Hominids – the ancestors of modern humans – first emerged about 7-million years ago, in Africa. Many significant fossil finds have been made in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, including the famous fossils “Mrs Ples” and “Little Foot”. The first stone tools were made and used in Africa, at least 2.6-million years ago. Let us go and visit.
    [Show full text]
  • Ancient Ape Ruled out of Man's Ancestral Line 7 December 2006
    Ancient ape ruled out of man's ancestral line 7 December 2006 put the age of Little Foot at three to four million years old placing it potentially on a direct line to humans. The first recognisable stone tools appeared in Africa around 2.6 million years ago, but they were not made by Australopiths. Rather it is thought the first tool maker was Homo habilis, whose evolution is believed to have led directly to man. Rather than being older than Homo habilis – and a possible direct ancestor – Little Foot is more likely a distant cousin. &acuteLittle foot,&acute an almost complete hominid skeleton His remains are cemented in hard mineral deposits in the Sterkfontein cave complex which has yielded a number of other ancient finds. It is thought he Ancient remains, once thought to be a key link in either fell down a shaft or somehow got trapped in the evolution of mankind, have now been shown to the cave and died there to be covered by the be 400,000 years too young to be a part of man’s sediment layers from which he is now being slowly family tree. extracted. These sediments are themselves sandwiched between stalagmite layers which The remains of the apeman, dubbed Little Foot, provided the materials for the dating process. were discovered in a cave complex at Sterkfontein by a local South African team in 1997. Its bones Australopithecus walked on two legs, but stood just preserved in sediment layers, it is the most 130cm tall and had a brain comparable in size with complete hominid fossil skeleton ever found.
    [Show full text]
  • Terrestrial Laser Scanning and Photogrammetry Techniques for Documenting Fossil‐Bearing Palaeokarst with an Example from the Drimolen Palaeocave System, South Africa
    Revised: 15 February 2017 Accepted: 11 July 2017 DOI: 10.1002/arp.1580 RESEARCH ARTICLE Terrestrial laser scanning and photogrammetry techniques for documenting fossil‐bearing palaeokarst with an example from the Drimolen Palaeocave System, South Africa Brian J. Armstrong1 | Alex F. Blackwood1 | Paul Penzo‐Kajewski1 | Colin G. Menter2 | Andy I.R. Herries1,2 1 Palaeoscience Laboratories, Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Abstract Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, 3086, Victoria, This paper presents the results of a recent three‐dimensional (3D) survey at the Drimolen Australia Makondo palaeontological deposits in the Hominid Sites of South Africa UNESCO World 2 Centre for Anthropological Research, Heritage site. The Drimolen Makondo is a palaeokarstic feature that consists of a heavily eroded University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, 2.6‐2.0 Ma fossil‐bearing palaeocave remnant. With photogrammetry and a laser scan survey, Gauteng Province, South Africa two 3D site models were created, georectified, and imported into geographical information sys- Correspondence Brian J. Armstrong, Palaeoscience tem software. This paper outlines both of these survey techniques and provides an assessment Laboratories, Department of Archaeology and of the relevant merits of each method and their applicability for detailed recording and archival History, La Trobe University, Melbourne documentation of palaeokarstic palaeontological and archaeological sites. Given the complex Campus, Bundoora, 3086, VIC, Australia. Email: [email protected];
    [Show full text]
  • 'The Age of Fossil Stw573 ('Little Foot'): an Alternative Interpretation
    Scientific Correspondence Page 1 of 3 Comments on ‘The age of fossil StW573 AUTHORS: (‘Little Foot’): An alternative interpretation of Dominic Stratford1 26 10 Darryl E. Granger2 Al/ Be burial data’ Laurent Bruxelles1,3,4 Ron J. Clarke5 StW573, or ‘Little Foot’, is a nearly complete Australopithecus skeleton discovered in 19971, in Member 2 of the 1,5 Kathleen Kuman Sterkfontein Formation – the oldest fossil-bearing member of the cave2. The importance of StW573 lies not only Ryan J. Gibbon6 in its completeness, which provides comprehensive anatomical and locomotor information on one individual, but also in its age and phylogenetic relationships with other hominid species. The age of StW573 was first suggested AFFILIATIONS: to be about 3.5 Ma based on its deep stratigraphic position and the absence of any other hominid fossils which 1Department of Archaeology, are so abundant in the higher Member 4 deposits.3 McKee4 argued on faunal grounds that it should be younger, School of Geography, but Tobias and Clarke5 countered his arguments. Berger et al.6 even suggested that StW573 ‘may be as young as Archaeology and Environmental 1.07–1.95 Ma’. Their arguments were comprehensively countered by Clarke7. A date of 4.17±0.35 Ma was based Studies, University of the on cosmogenic burial dating of the breccia in which the skeleton was found.8 Dating has also been applied to calcite Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, speleothems found in close proximity to the skeleton9-12, but careful stratigraphic mapping13 refined and expanded South Africa in Bruxelles et al.14 shows that the speleothems postdate the skeleton and thus cannot be used to determine more 2Department of Earth, than a minimum age for the specimen.
    [Show full text]
  • U–Pb-Dated Flowstones Restrict South African Early Hominin Record to Dry Climate Phases Robyn Pickering1,2*, Andy I
    LETTER https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0711-0 U–Pb-dated flowstones restrict South African early hominin record to dry climate phases Robyn Pickering1,2*, Andy I. R. Herries3,4, Jon D. Woodhead5, John C. Hellstrom5, Helen E. Green5, Bence Paul5, Terrence Ritzman2,6,7, David S. Strait7, Benjamin J. Schoville2,8 & Phillip J. Hancox9 The Cradle of Humankind (Cradle) in South Africa preserves a of the flowstones. The intervening times represent substantially rich collection of fossil hominins representing Australopithecus, drier phases, during which fossils of hominins and other fossils Paranthropus and Homo1. The ages of these fossils are contentious2–4 accumulated in open caves. Fossil preservation, restricted to and have compromised the degree to which the South African drier intervals, thus biases the view of hominin evolutionary hominin record can be used to test hypotheses of human evolution. history and behaviour, and places the hominins in a community However, uranium–lead (U–Pb) analyses of horizontally bedded of comparatively dry-adapted fauna. Although the periods of cave layers of calcium carbonate (flowstone) provide a potential closure leave temporal gaps in the South African fossil record, the opportunity to obtain a robust chronology5. Flowstones are flowstones themselves provide valuable insights into both local and ubiquitous cave features and provide a palaeoclimatic context, pan-African climate variability. because they grow only during phases of increased effective The early hominin fossil record in South Africa is best represented precipitation6,7, ideally in closed caves. Here we show that flowstones by deposits preserved in a series of dolomite caves 40 km northwest from eight Cradle caves date to six narrow time intervals between of Johannesburg (Fig.
    [Show full text]
  • An Australopithecus Skeleton (Circa 3
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/481556; this version posted November 29, 2018. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. 1 Functional Anatomy, Biomechanical Performance Capabilities and Potential Niche of 2 StW 573: an Australopithecus Skeleton (circa 3.67 Ma) From Sterkfontein Member 2, 3 and its significance for The Last Common Ancestor of the African Apes and for Hominin 4 Origins 5 Authors: 6 Robin Huw Cromptona,b*, Juliet McClymontc, Susannah Thorped, William Sellerse, Jason 7 Heatonf,g, Travis Rayne Pickeringg,h, Todd Patakyi , Dominic Stratfordj, Kristian Carlsong,k, 8 Tea Jashashvilig, l, m, Amélie Beaudetj,n, Laurent Bruxelles,j,o,p Colleen Gohq, Kathleen 9 Kumanj, Ronald Clarkeg 10 11 * corresponding author. 12 13 Affiliations: 14 a Department of Musculoskeletal Biology, Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, 15 University of Liverpool, The William Henry Duncan Building, 6 West Derby Street, Liverpool 16 L7 8TX, email: [email protected]* 17 b Department of Rheumatology, Aintree University NHS Trust, Liverpool L9 7AL, UK 18 c School of Health Sciences, Centre for Health Research, Aldro Building, University of 19 Brighton, Eastbourne, United Kingdom, BN207UR 20 d School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, United 21 Kingdom. 22 e School of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, United 23 Kingdom. 24 f Department of Biology, Birmingham-Southern College, Birmingham, Alabama, 35254, 25 U.S.A. 26 g Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South 27 Africa, WITS 2050.
    [Show full text]
  • Sanitized Apartheid
    CHAPTER 1 Sanitized Apartheid Sanitized: made less offensive by eliminating anything unwholesome, objectionable, incriminating, etc. Apartheid: a system or practice that separates people according to color, ethnicity, caste, etc. As I walked – and crawled – through the cave passages, I bravely ignored my claustrophobia. Pushing through the fear paid off. Buried deep within the cave walls and floor, were the bones of the first human beings to walk the planet. Signs indicated where the remains were found and the estimated time-period of the civilization that lived there. The tour guide was casual. I was dumbstruck. I was in the Cradle of Humankind, a World Heritage site not far from Johan- nesburg, South Africa, renowned as the location of humankind’s origins. The center focuses on the development of the human family over millions of years. In 1924, the first hominid, Australopithecus, was discovered here. The Sterkfontein Caves, occupying one section of the site, is the longest and most continuous paleoanthropological excavation in the world. These caves’ fossil finds include the pre-human skull of “Mrs. Ples” and the complete skeleton of “Little Foot.” The tour included an historical overview tracing the origins of the human species. During my visit, I learned things that not only changed my view of the world, but changed my view of myself. As I made my way out of the museum grounds, I had a breathtaking revelation: The first human beings came from Africa! My ancestors are African! I am a descendant of Black people! I must be Black! But I’m not Black. What happened? It’s complicated.
    [Show full text]
  • The Age of Homo Naledi and Associated Sediments in the Rising
    RESEARCH ARTICLE The age of Homo naledi and associated sediments in the Rising Star Cave, South Africa Paul HGM Dirks1,2*, Eric M Roberts1,2, Hannah Hilbert-Wolf1, Jan D Kramers3, John Hawks2,4, Anthony Dosseto5, Mathieu Duval6,7, Marina Elliott2, Mary Evans8, Rainer Gru¨ n6,9, John Hellstrom10, Andy IR Herries11, Renaud Joannes-Boyau12, Tebogo V Makhubela3, Christa J Placzek1, Jessie Robbins1, Carl Spandler1, Jelle Wiersma1, Jon Woodhead10, Lee R Berger2 1Department of Geoscience, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia; 2Evolutionary Studies Institute and the National Centre for Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa; 3Department of Geology, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa; 4Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States; 5School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia; 6Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Australia; 7Geochronology, Centro Nacional de Investigacio´n sobre la Evolucio´n Humana (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain; 8School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa; 9Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia; 10School of Earth Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; 11The Australian Archaeomagnetism Laboratory, Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia; 12Geoarchaeology
    [Show full text]
  • Multimodal Spatial Mapping and Visualisation of Dinaledi Chamber and Rising Star Cave
    Article Multimodal spatial mapping and visualisation of Dinaledi Chamber and Rising Star Cave Kruger, Ashley, Randolph-Quinney, Patrick, S. and Elliott, Marina Available at http://clok.uclan.ac.uk/16971/ Kruger, Ashley, Randolph-Quinney, Patrick, S. and Elliott, Marina (2016) Multimodal spatial mapping and visualisation of Dinaledi Chamber and Rising Star Cave. South African Journal of Science, 112 (5/6). ISSN 0038-2353 It is advisable to refer to the publisher’s version if you intend to cite from the work. 10.17159/ sajs.2016/20160032 For more information about UCLan’s research in this area go to http://www.uclan.ac.uk/researchgroups/ and search for <name of research Group>. For information about Research generally at UCLan please go to http://www.uclan.ac.uk/research/ All outputs in CLoK are protected by Intellectual Property Rights law, including Copyright law. Copyright, IPR and Moral Rights for the works on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Terms and conditions for use of this material are defined in the http://clok.uclan.ac.uk/policies/ CLoK Central Lancashire online Knowledge www.clok.uclan.ac.uk Research Article Spatial mapping and visualisation of Rising Star Cave Page 1 of 11 Multimodal spatial mapping and visualisation of AUTHORS: Dinaledi Chamber and Rising Star Cave Ashley Kruger1 Patrick Randolph-Quinney1,2* Marina Elliott1 The Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star Cave has yielded 1550 identifiable fossil elements – representing the largest single collection of fossil hominin material found on the African continent to date. The fossil chamber AFFILIATIONS: in which Homo naledi was found was accessible only through a near-vertical chute that presented immense 1Evolutionary Studies Institute, practical and methodological limitations on the excavation and recording methods that could be used within School of Geosciences, the Cave.
    [Show full text]