[LISTEN] Rethinking the human evolution concept
The U3A is an international movement that aims to educate and stimulate the mains of the retired and semi-retired in the community – those in their ‘third’ age of life.
The Benoni University of the Third Age (U3A) were treated to an archaeological discovery at the Northfield Methodist Church on October 16.
This month, the group were lectured on the discovery of the Homo Naledi fossil remains excavated by researcher at the University of Witwatersrand Dr Marina Elliott and her team in 2013.
The term Homo Naledi came from fossils found in the cave proposed to represent a previously unknown extinct species of hominin (group consisting of modern humans), first found in the Dinaledi Chamber which is in the vicinity of the Cradle of Humankind.
Elliott, who addressed the group, did a slideshow presentation to help understand the excavation process and all it entailed.
“The excavation unit is the size of a child’s sandbox,” explained Elliott.
“You walk along a 200-metre distance to retrieve the material (fossils) but the spaces (80cm by 80cm and 20cm deep at times are extremely confined.
“Upper body strength is imperative to these expeditions as sometimes you only have your arms to navigate around the chamber because there is no support for your legs.”
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After three weeks of searching, Elliott confirmed that 1 500 fossil fragments were discovered, which she cited as one of the largest in the world.
These included five partial feet, a hand that is one bone short from completion and three ear bones with only two previously discovered on a global scale.“The Naledi fossil weighs around 40-50kg, is slimly built with a narrow structure.
“A shorter species, their heads were relatively small as well. They have a unique set of features never seen before and are different to the South African fossil record,” she explained.
Dr Marina Elliott is from Calgary, Canada. She completed her Masters of Arts and PhD in Biological Anthropology and Archaeology at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. Elliott has excavated ancient human remains in Western Canada, the USA and Siberia during her academic career.
Elliott suggests due to the findings (limited space for movement and ruling out predator, occupancy and scavenger activity), it is believed the Homo Naledi species deliberately left bodies in the chamber.
“There’s no evidence to suggest a sinkhole or flash flood swept them into the chamber so we believe this was a conscious decision to “memorialise” the dead.
“However, we change the hypothesis to suit the evidence and welcome new findings as such.”
Further findings included a fossil named Neo in the Lesedi Chamber, not far from the Dinaledi Chamber (a larger male with 32 teeth), similar to that of the modern human.
The teeth were used to establish the date of the fossils which revealed they date back to roughly 335-236 thousand years ago, suggesting they could have co-existed with the modern human.
Elliott stated limited examples of paintings and architecture are found with fossils in SA, posing a challenge to determine what exactly sets the modern human apart from other species.
“The origins of humanity are in South Africa and that is a fact to be proud of,” she concluded.
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