The Leakey Foundation

Archives for South Africa

12.07.21

Fossil spine suggests ancient human relative walked like us, but climbed like an ape

s ago an ancient human relative, Australopithecus sediba, lived in what is today South Africa, near a cave called Malapa that’s a part of the Cradle of Humankind. Until recently, it was not clear how much the species spent climbing in trees and walking on two legs on the ground.

11.05.21

I was part of the team that found the Homo naledi child’s skull: how we did it

An international team of researchers, led by Professor Lee Berger, a palaeoanthropologist from South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand, has revealed the first partial skull of a Homo naledi child from the Rising Star cave.

04.03.20

In South Africa, Three Hominins, Including Earliest Homo erectus, Lived during the Same Period

Journal Article

Nearly 2 million years ago, three hominin genera - Australopithecus, Paranthropus and the earliest Homo erectus lineage - lived as contemporaries in the karst landscape of what is now South Africa, according to a new geochronological evaluation of the hominin fossil-rich Drimolen Paleocave complex.

06.05.19

From the Field: Brenna Henn, South Africa

From the Field

Most of human genetic diversity is found in Sub-Saharan Africa -- and among Sub-Saharan Africans. The most genetically diverse people are the KhoeSan populations of Southern Africa. With the help of The Leakey Foundation, I went to the Cederberg Mountains in the Western Cape of South Africa to expand what we know about KhoeSan genetic diversity.

04.01.16

World Heritage Gone: South African Diamond Mining Destroys Archaeological Sites Daily

Guest Post

George M. Leader of the University of Pennsylvania describes the importance of long term archaeological research at South Africa’s Cantee Kopje, one of many world heritage sites threatened by diamond mining. Archaeologists working in South Africa are fighting a war on multiple fronts. While the whole world continues its love affair with its favorite stone, the diamond, archaeologists are fighting… more »