ANT-1430 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Rising Star Cave, Homo Naledi, Lee Rogers Berger
Document Summary
Homo naledi: the making of a human species. First publication, open access, large team of junior scholars. No dates, suggestion of intentional disposal of the bodies. No suggestions to age or time of death. A rorschach test for many issues in human evolution. Published in elife, completely open to public. September 2013 found a new chamber in the. Cavers found bones and brought them to the attention of lee berger, who immediately recognized their potential importance. Berger assembled a team and contacted national geographic for funding- the rising star expedition. Put out a call for underground astronauts . All female team of biological anthropologists and cavers was selected. Involved underground astronauts climbing into the dinaledi chamber, recording and collecting samples. As soon as bones were pulled out, immediately went to testing and cleaning. Skeletons of at least 15 individuals have been found so far. Small brain size (~500 cc)- similar to australopithecines.
