Professor Robert Broom artefacts on display at Maropeng – photo essay
Maropeng recently hosted the Broom Colloquium – a tribute to the life of renowned palaeontologist Professor Robert Broom, who passed away 60 years ago.
Currently on display at Maropeng, until February 2012, is a collection of fossils and geological finds discovered by Broom at Bolt’s Farm, also known as the Kingdom of the Big Cats. Also on display are a number of artefacts representative of Broom’s many achievements and hobbies.
Original newspaper clippings, manuscripts, letters, books, paintings and awards all form part of an exhibition dedicated to the life and work of one of the greatest-ever contributors to the field of palaeontology.
A scrapbook of clippings from The New York Times and The Tribune, 1949. Broom's discoveries made headlines around the world. Photo by: Bianca Bothma
A copy of The South African Fossil Ape-Men: The Australopithecinae by Broom and GWH Schepers, presented to South African artist Walter Battiss in 1946, and containing a sketch by Broom. Photo by: Bianca Bothma
An oil painting by Broom, donated to the Transvaal Museum in 1988. Photo by: Bianca Bothma
A painting of Upington by Broom, completed in 1917. Photo by: Bianca Bothma
Another piece of artwork by Broom, entitled “Old Basotoland Bushman”, completed in 1917. Photo by: Bianca Bothma
A collection of drawings and newspaper clippings, put together in the 1940s by Denise Wagner to mark the discovery of Mrs Ples. Photo by: Bianca Bothma
Written and typed excerpts from Further Evidence of the Structure of the Sterkfontein Ape-Man or Man-like Ape by Broom and John Robinson, 1947. Photo by: Bianca Bothma
Letter from the editor of Nature about the discovery of the first Australopithecine at the Sterkfontein Caves. Photo by: Bianca Bothma
Royal Society medal awarded to Broom in 1928 for his work on fossil reptiles and the origins of mammals. Broom was awarded several prestigious medals during his career. Photo by: Bianca Bothma