Maropeng’s intrepid curator, Keneiloe Molopyane, has been part of a team uncovering a mystery at a new fossil site in the Cradle of Humankind. The site is called UW 105 and since September, teams of scientists have been meticulously mapping out the underground area and creating an above-ground replica to analyse their findings thoroughly. She’s penned a piece on the fascinating work going on at the site.
Keneiloe Molopyane could best be described as a bonafide adventurer. The archaeologist and biological anthropology PhD candidate is now also the new curator of the acclaimed museum at the Maropeng Visitor Centre.
The stones and bones discovered in the Cradle of Humankind have taken researchers, students and explorers back in time, providing great historical insight. But now, researchers in the Cradle of Humankind have set their sights on the future by introducing immersive technology in the form of a virtual reality app that offers a palpable experience of the Dinaledi Chamber.
Scientists today announced a groundbreaking new Homo naledi discovery at Maropeng. Watch Rising Star expedition leader Professor Lee Berger explain the new finds.
Photos By Ari Beser Tokyo – “It appears the world-changing event didn’t change anything, and it’s disappointing,”said Pieter Franken, a researcher at Keio University in Japan (Wide Project), the MIT Media Lab (Civic Media Centre), and co-founder of Safecast, a citizen-science network dedicated to the measurement and distribution of accurate levels of radiation around the…
With Africa’s largest hominin fossil find unearthed and in the lab, Lee Berger called in experts and early-career scientists for an innovative workshop to figure out just what they’d found.
Two years after being discovered deep in a South African cave, the 1,500 fossils excavated during the Rising Star Expedition have been identified as belonging to a previously unknown early human relative that scientists have named “Homo naledi.”
The world’s eyes are on Maropeng, where a team of scientists from around the world have announced the discovery of a new species, Homo naledi. An intriguing ancient species, that it seems, was aware of its own mortality, a trait that has been thought to be unique to humans.
By Becca Peixotto, Caver/Scientist. In only eight days of digging, we retrieved more than 320 numbered fossil specimens and an awful lot of sediment. Don’t worry: there’s plenty more.
Principal excavator Becca Peixotto reports back on this week’s activity at the Rising Star hominin fossil cave site.
Discover what’s new about this expedition returning to the hominin fossil chamber at Rising Star.
On the final day of the Rising Star cave excavations in November of 2013, researchers confirmed that a second chamber also contained hominin fossils. Now they return for a closer examination.
Next time you picture a scientist at work on a computer, skip the white-walled laboratory, and think of this instead.
When you’re trying to understand all that a few bones can tell us about our early hominid ancestors, there’s no substitute for hands-on experience with the fossils themselves, says “underground astronaut” Elen Feuerriegel.
After weeks of minute-by-minute updates from the field, Lee Berger finally tells the story of his latest hominid discovery from in its entirety.
This three-week mission is now drawing to a close, but the magnitude of the early hominid discovery on the Rising Star Expedition means this story is far from over. See how the saga will continue.
Lead caver Rick Hunter offers his reflections on the otherworldly journey from daylight to the fossil chamber and back.
The excavators and cavers get a day off to explore the nearby site where Lee Berger discovered the first remains of Australopithecus sediba.
Discover the key features that guide scientists as they work to identify skull pieces recovered on the Rising Star Expedition.
By Elen Feuerriegel 20th November 2013 The day starts (officially) at 6am. I’m up a little earlier this morning. Crawl out of my sleeping bag and tent to the sight of Lee Berger bounding around. Lee is a Morning Person. Marina has been up since the predawn. Typically, she is the one who organises and…
