Throughout the past century and a half, scientists studying human origins have described a number of new hominids whose stories of discovery are as compelling as their scientific importance. Some of the better known examples include Neanderthal Man in 1856, the Taung Child in 1924, and Lucy in 1974.
In 2008 a team led by palaeoanthropologist Lee Berger and aided by Berger’ nine-year-old son Matthew added to this list with the discovery of a new hominid at the Cradle of Mankind World Heritage Site. The true nature of this creature and its relationship to other hominids, including humans, is hotly debated. But no matter how scientists interpret these relationships, the story of the discovery is nonetheless fascinating.
The Early Life of Palaeoanthropologist Lee Berger
Lee Berger was born December 22, 1965 in Shawnee Mission, Kansas and grew up in Georgia, graduating from Screven County High School. As a youth he was involved in groups such as 4-H and Boy Scouts of America and earned honors such as the Georgia Youth Conservationist of the Year in 1984.
At the age of 20, while working as a cameraman at a Savannah television station, Berger jumped in the Savannah River and saved a woman from drowning, earning him the Boy Scouts’ National Honor.
Berger attended Vanderbilt University and later Georgia Southern, graduating in 1989 with a degree in Anthropology/Archaeology. Following the advice of his hero, Lucy discoverer Donald Johanson, he then moved to South Africa to study under palaeoanthropologist Philip Tobias at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits), earning his PhD in 1994.
Berger remained in South Africa and began participating in various fossil-collecting expeditions while working at his alma mater. In 2004 he was named Reader in Human Evolution and Public Understanding of Science at Wits, a position he still holds.
Searching for Fossil Hominids at the Cradle of Mankind World Heritage Site
In 2008 Berger began a project with Paul Dirks of Wit’s School of Geosciences to survey potential fossil-rich caves at the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site. This 180 square-mile area, about 30 miles northwest of Johannesburg, was long a source for fossil hominids that were often discovered in caves. Berger and Dirks realized that more discoveries could be made if they found caves that had not yet been explored. To do this, they used Google Earth to find clusters of certain types of trees typically found in limestone deposits near caves.
Using this ingenious technique, the team located hundreds of caves, many of which were previously unknown to scientists. One of these, Malapa (a Sesotho word meaning “homestead”) Cave, was located only about nine miles from the famous hominid-bearing caves at Sterkfontein.
On August 1, 2008 Dirks took his usual field companion – the family dog Tau – to explore the area around Malapa. The cave opening was a small shaft surrounded by rocks apparently blasted out years ago by miners. Berger found some fossils, representing the first of more than two dozen species eventually identified here that included antelopes, sabre-toothed cat, horses, hyenas and, ultimately, hominids.
Berger’s initial discovery at the site was enough to warrant a more comprehensive survey.
Australopithecus sediba Discovered at Malapa Cave
On August 15 Berger did revisit the area, along with his son Matthew, postdoc Job Kibii and Tau. While Lee and Job examined the shaft to plan out how they would excavate the site, Matthew wandered off.
Soon Mathew found a piece of rock that contained what looked like a fossil. He called his dad over, who immediately realized not only that the rock did indeed have a fossil, but that it was a hominid clavicle. Lee also found a partial jaw with tooth in the rock. After further study, Berger determined the bones were from a juvenile, somewhere between 9 to 13 years old.
Excited about the find, Berger planned another trip for September 4th, this time inviting workers from the Bernard Price Institute and the Institute for Human Evolution. Ignoring the shaft itself and instead looking in the area where Matthew had stumbled upon the fossil-bearing chunk of rock, these professionals carefully examined countless rock fragments. However, after more than four hours of dedicated searching, they didn’t find any more hominid bones.
But then Berger made the effort worthwhile as he was standing near the shaft while taking a break. Glancing inside, he noticed something sticking out of the wall. After looking closer, he realized it was the humerus of a hominid, an adult female. He then found a couple hominid teeth in the wall, a discovery which encouraged him to excavate the rock for further fossils.
Berger and colleagues went on to discover more than 130 hominid bones, resulting in the recovery of some of the most complete hominid skeletal remains ever found. Using a variety of dating techniques, they determined the fossil-bearing rocks to be 1.95-1.78 million years old.
In the April 9, 2010 issue of Science, Berger and his team described the fossils, introducing the name Australopithecus sediba (Australopithecus from Latin words meaning “southern ape” and sediba from the Sotho language meaning “natural spring’ or ‘wellspring”).
Sources
Berger, Lee et. al. 2010. "Australopithecus sediba: A new species of Homo-like Australopith from South Africa". Science Volume 328, Issue 5975.
Lloyd, Julia. 2011. "Malapa Cave: Australopithecus sediba's place of discovery". Maropeng website.
Kevin Schindler - I have worked at scientific institutions for more than 20 years written more than 200 articles about science, history, and baseball.
Join the Conversation