Geological and taphonomic context for the new hominin species Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa.
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2015-09
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We describe the physical context of the Dinaledi Chamber within the Rising Star cave, South Africa, which contains the fossils of Homo naledi. Approximately 1550 specimens of hominin remains have been recovered from at least 15 individuals, representing a small portion of the total fossil content. Macro-vertebrate fossils are exclusively H. naledi, and occur within clay-rich sediments derived from in situ weathering, and exogenous clay and silt, which entered the chamber through fractures that prevented passage of coarser-grained material. The chamber was always in the dark zone, and not accessible to non-hominins. Bone taphonomy indicates that hominin individuals reached the chamber complete, with disarticulation occurring during/after deposition. Hominins accumulated over time as older laminated mudstone units and sediment along the cave floor were eroded. Preliminary evidence is consistent with deliberate body disposal in a single location, by a hominin species other than Homo sapiens, at an as-yet unknown date.
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Dirks, Paul HGM, Lee R Berger, Eric M Roberts, Jan D Kramers, John Hawks, Patrick S Randolph-Quinney, Marina Elliott, Charles M Musiba, et al. (2015). Geological and taphonomic context for the new hominin species Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa. eLife, 4(September2015). 10.7554/elife.09561 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/31266.
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Charles M Musiba
Dr. Charles Musiba is a Professor of Biological Anthropology at Duke University in the department of Evolutionary Anthropology. He is also a research professor at the Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, and the Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI) at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Charles Musiba is a Montgomery and Carnegie African Diaspora fellow with research focus on human origins in eastern Africa. His work covers the following areas: taphonomy and paleoecology of Laetoli, evolution of upright posture and bipedalism, hominin behavior ecology at Olduvai Gorge, conservation of hominin footprints and animal trackways at Laetoli, and the evolution of the genus Homo in Eastern and Southern Africa (Laetoli, Isimila and Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, and the Rising Star Cave in South Africa). Charles Musiba is interested in reconstructing past environments (4 million years ago to 250,000 years ago) using multiple proxy data and he is actively involved in conservation efforts and sustainable use of paleoanthropological resources in Tanzania through education and cultural exchange programs. Charles Musiba has extensively worked on the evolution of upright posture and bipedal gait in humans with emphasis on the interpretation of the 3.6 million years old fossil hominin footprints from Laetoli in northern Tanzania.
Steven E. Churchill
I am a human paleontologist studying morphological and behavioral adaptation in the genus Homo. Through comparative functional-morphological analysis of human fossil remains, coupled with investigation of the archeological record of prehistoric human behavior, my students and I conduct research in the following inter-related areas:
1) The ecology, energetics and adaptive strategies of premodern members of the genus Homo (especially the Neandertals [Homo neanderthalensis] of Europe and western Asia and Middle Pleistocene archaic humans of Africa [variously attributed to H. heidelbergensis, H. rhodesiensis or H. helmei] ) and early members of our own species [H. sapiens] in Africa, the Near East and Europe.
2) Adaptive evolution during the emergence of the genus Homo, focusing on the functional morphology of Australopithecus sediba, H. naledi, and H. erectus.
3) The evolution of human subsistence strategies across the Middle and Late Pleistocene, with an emphasis on the nature of the hunting methods employed by various groups.
4) The evolution of subsistence technology, especially the origins of true long-range projectile weaponry.
5) The community ecology of humans and large-bodied carnivores in Pleistocene Europe and Africa.
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