The Sterkfontein Caves is currently the world's richest Australopithecus-bearing site. Included in Sterkfontein's hominin assemblage is StW 573 (‘Little Foot’), a near-complete Australopithecus ...skeleton discovered in Member 2 in the Silberberg Grotto. Because of its importance to the fossil hominin record, the geological age of StW 573 has been the subject of significant debate. Three main hypotheses have been proposed regarding the formation and age of Member 2 and by association StW 573. The first proposes that Member 2 (as originally defined in the type section in the Silberberg Grotto) started to accumulate at around 2.58 Ma and that the unit is contained within the Silberberg Grotto. The second proposes that Member 2 started forming before 3.67 ± 0.16 Ma and that the deposit extends into the Milner Hall and close to the base of the cave system. The third proposes a ‘two-stage burial scenario’, in which some sediments and StW 573 represent a secondary and mixed-age accumulation reworked from a higher cave. The stratigraphic and sedimentological implications of these hypotheses are tested here through the application of a multiscale investigation of Member 2, with reference to the taphonomy of the StW 573 skeleton. The complete infilling sequence of Member 2 is described across all exposures of the deposit in the Silberberg Grotto and into the Milner Hall. Sediments are generally stratified and conformably deposited in a sequence of silty sands eroded from well-developed lateritic soils on the landscape surface. Voids, clasts and bioclasts are organized consistently across and through Member 2 conforming with the underlying deposit geometry, indicating gradual deposit accretion with no distinct collapse facies evident and only localized intra-unit postdepositional modification. The stratigraphy and sedimentology of Member 2 support a simple single-stage accumulation process of Member 2 and a primary association between the sediments of Member 2 and the StW 573 ‘Little Foot’ skeleton.
Bipedalism is a defining trait of the hominin lineage, associated with a transition from a more arboreal to a more terrestrial environment. While there is debate about when modern human-like ...bipedalism first appeared in hominins, all known South African hominins show morphological adaptations to bipedalism, suggesting that this was their predominant mode of locomotion. Here we present evidence that hominins preserved in the Sterkfontein Caves practiced two different locomotor repertoires. The trabecular structure of a proximal femur (StW 522) attributed to Australopithecus africanus exhibits a modern human-like bipedal locomotor pattern, while that of a geologically younger specimen (StW 311) attributed to either Homo sp. or Paranthropus robustus exhibits a pattern more similar to nonhuman apes, potentially suggesting regular bouts of both climbing and terrestrial bipedalism. Our results demonstrate distinct morphological differences, linked to behavioral differences between Australopithecus and later hominins in South Africa and contribute to the increasing evidence of locomotor diversity within the hominin clade.
The Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site in South Africa is renowned for its karstic cave systems, which have yielded extensive fossil and stone tool assemblages dating to the Plio-Pleistocene ...period. The archaeological record from these caves has provided significant evidence for the evolution of lithic technology in southern Africa. Open-air sites have also been documented in this region, although they rarely receive scientific attention due to their lack of spatial and stratigraphie contexts. However, archaeological research has demonstrated that lithic production strategies were organized through landscape-scale constraints including the availability of raw materials and the energetic costs of their transport. As such, the study of open-air Stone Age sites in the Cradle of Humankind can potentially offer insight into the relationships between raw material procurement and reduction processes in this region. Here, we present a case study from the open-air locality of Elandsdrift Farm, which preserves a palimpsest of Earlier and Middle Stone Age lithic materials. While the chronological and spatial contexts of this locality present significant interpretative challenges, the Elandsdrift Farm lithic materials are not without scientific value. A landscape archaeological approach is employed to explore the influence of raw material transport on toolmaking. Trends in core reduction intensity and flaking efficiency suggest that landform ruggedness and distances traveled to procure raw materials significantly influenced lithic production strategies throughout the Early to Middle Pleistocene. Despite the contextual challenges presented by open-air localities, landscape archaeological methods can inform the economic aspects of lithic scatters in this region, which cannot be easily inferred from archaeological assemblages in cave contexts. Le "Cradle of Humankind" en Afrique du Sud est. renommé pour ses systèmes de cavernes karstiques, qui ont rapporté de vastes assemblages de fossiles et d'outils en pierre datant de la période Plio-Pléistocène. Ces cavernes ont fourni des preuves importantes de l'évolution de la technologie en Afrique australe. Bien que des outils lithiques aient aussi été trouvés dans des sites en plein air, les archéologues ne les ont pris en compte dans l'étude de la technologie et des processus de production d'outils en pierre. Cependant, la recherche archéologique a montré que les stratégies de production lithique étaient organisées par des contraintes liées au paysage incluant la disponibilité des matières premières et les coûts énergétiques de leur transport. En tant que tel., l'étude des sites en plein air dans le Berceau de l'Humanité peut potentiellement offrir un aperçu des relations économiques entre l'approvisionnement en matières premières et les processus de réduction dans cette région. Pour tester cette hypothèse, nous présentons une étude de cas de la localité en plein air de la Elandsdrift Farm, qui conserve un palimpseste de matériaux lithiques du Paléolithique inférieur et moyen. Tandis que les contextes chronologiques et spatiaux de cette localité présentent des défis d'interprétation importants, les matériaux lithiques de la Elandsdrift Farm ne manquent pas de valeur scientifique. Cet article utilize l'approche de l'archéologie du paysage pour explorer l'influence du transport de matières premières sur la fabrication d'outils. Les tendances de l'intensité de la réduction principale et l'efficacité de l'ecaillage suggèrent que l'irrégularité du terrain et les distances pour l'approvisionnement en matières premières ont significativement influencé les stratégies de production lithique au cours du Pléistocene moyen à supérieur. Malgré les défis contextuels présentés par les localités en plein air, les méthodes d'archéologie du paysage peuvent informer sur les aspects économiques des concentrations d'artifacts en pierre dans cette région, un sujet qui ne peut pas être facilement déduit à partir d'assemblages archéologiques provenant de contextes de cavernes.
Because of its exceptional degree of preservation and its geological age of ∼3.67 Ma, StW 573 makes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of early hominin evolution and paleobiology. The ...morphology of the bony labyrinth has the potential to provide information about extinct primate taxonomic diversity, phylogenetic relationships and locomotor behaviour. In this context, we virtually reconstruct and comparatively assess the bony labyrinth morphology in StW 573. As comparative material, we investigate 17 southern African hominin specimens from Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Makapansgat (plus published data from two specimens from Kromdraai B), attributed to Australopithecus, early Homo or Paranthropus, as well as 10 extant human and 10 extant chimpanzee specimens. We apply a landmark-based geometric morphometric method for quantitatively assessing labyrinthine morphology. Morphology of the inner ear in StW 573 most closely resembles that of another Australopithecus individual from Sterkfontein, StW 578, recovered from the Jacovec Cavern. Within the limits of our sample, we observe a certain degree of morphological variation in the Australopithecus assemblage of Sterkfontein Member 4. Cochlear morphology in StW 573 is similar to that of other Australopithecus as well as to Paranthropus specimens included in this study, but it is substantially different from early Homo. Interestingly, the configuration of semicircular canals in Paranthropus specimens from Swartkrans differs from other fossil hominins, including StW 573. Given the role of the cochlea in the sensory-driven interactions with the surrounding environment, our results offer new perspectives for interpreting early hominin behaviour and ecology. Finally, our study provides additional evidence for discussing the phylogenetic polarity of labyrinthine traits in southern African hominins.
One of the most crucial debates in human paleoneurology concerns the timing and mode of the emergence of the derived cerebral features in the hominin fossil record. Given its exceptional degree of ...preservation and geological age (i.e., 3.67 Ma), StW 573 (‘Little Foot’) has the potential to shed new light on hominin brain evolution. Here we present the first detailed comparative description of the external neuroanatomy of StW 573. The endocast was virtually reconstructed and compared to ten southern African hominin specimens from Makapansgat, Malapa, Sterkfontein and Swartkrans attributed to Australopithecus and Paranthropus. We apply an automatic method for the detection of sulcal and vascular imprints. The endocranial surface of StW 573 is crushed and plastically deformed in a number of locations. The uncorrected and therefore minimum cranial capacity estimate is 408 cm3 and plots at the lower end of Australopithecus variation. The endocast of StW 573 approximates the rostrocaudally elongated and dorsoventrally flattened endocranial shape seen in Australopithecus and displays a distinct left occipital petalia. StW 573 and the comparative early hominin specimens share a similar sulcal pattern in the inferior region of the frontal lobes that also resembles the pattern observed in extant chimpanzees. The presumed lunate sulcus in StW 573 is located above the sigmoid sinus, as in extant chimpanzees, while it is more caudally positioned in SK 1585 and StW 505. The middle branch of the middle meningeal vessels derives from the anterior branch, as in MH 1, MLD 37/38, StW 578. Overall, the cortical anatomy of StW 573 displays a less derived condition compared to the late Pliocene/early Pleistocene southern African hominins (e.g., StW 505, SK 1585).
The Cradle of Humankind is known for sites such as Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Drimolen and Kromdraai, among others, that offer a detailed understanding of the Plio-Pleistocene. However, the ‘Tswana’ ...stone-walled structures that are found in this landscape have seen comparatively less research. We present preliminary results from an ongoing mapping and research programme on the farm Project 58 where a multi-component settlement is located. The site is composed of several distinct areas, a partially crenated boundary wall design, kraals located inside and outside the settlement, and internal housing and grain bin structures. Based on the architecture of the stone-walled structure, the site was most likely occupied between AD 1450 and 1700 and appears similar to Taylor’s (1979) Group I sites. Studying the more recent past of this region reclaims a history that has been disarticulated from the landscape.
The Namib Sand Sea (NSS) in Namibia is known to preserve a wide variety of Pleistocene-age archaeological sites. However, few Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites in this region have been systematically ...investigated and basic questions around chronology and technological organization remain open. Here we examine Narabeb, an open air MSA surface site exposed in an interdune pan, ∼30 km into the northern NSS. Narabeb was first documented in the 1970s, and then re-examined in 2021 and 2022 by members of this team. Lithic technological analysis combined with a geomorphological description of the site, palaeoenvironmental interpretation of fine-grain water-lain sediments, and luminescence ages from northern and southern locations on the Narabeb pan provide some of the first understanding of human-environmental interactions and estimates of chronology from the later-Middle and Late Pleistocene in the NSS. In addition, we apply a quantitative approach to aeolian linear dune accumulation and extension to explore possible scenarios for landscape development at this site, in order to better understand the former water course(s) affecting the area. The new chronology suggests this site contained standing water at, or just after, the MIS 7/6 transition, and again at, or just after, the end of MIS 6 into early MIS 5. The timing of greater phases of water availability have some overlap with the speleothem growth record at Rössing Cave, situated ∼90 km north of the NSS (and ∼135 km north of Narabeb). Our results provide the foundation for larger, regional-scale analyses of early human adaptive strategies in this unique environment within Southern Africa.
The fossiliferous deposits within the lower-lying Jacovec Cavern in the locality of Sterkfontein yielded valuable hominin remains, including the StW 578 specimen. Because StW 578 mainly preserves the ...calotte, the taxonomic status of this specimen has been a matter of discussion. Within this context, here we employed high-resolution microtomography and a landmark-free registration method to explore taxonomically diagnostic features in the external surface of the StW 578 calotte. Our comparative sample included adult humans and common chimpanzees as well as one Australopithecus africanus specimen (Sts 5). We par tially restored the StW 578 calotte digitally and compared it to extant specimens and Sts 5 using a landmark-free registration based on smooth and inver tible surface deformation. Our comparative shape analysis reveals morphological differences with extant humans, especially in the frontal bones, and with extant chimpanzees, as well as intriguing specificities in the morphology of the StW 578 parietal bones. Lastly, our study suggests morphological proximity between StW 578 and Sts 5. Given the intimate relationship between the brain and the braincase, as well as the integration of the hominin face and neurocranium, we suggest that cranial vault shape differences between StW 578 and extant humans, if confirmed by fur ther analyses, could be either explained by differences in brain surface morphology or in the face. Besides providing additional information about the morphology of the Jacovec calotte that will be useful in future taxonomic discussion, this study introduces a new protocol for the landmark-free analysis of fossil hominin cranial shape.Significance: • We provide further information on the enigmatic fossil specimen StW 578. • We introduce a new approach for the morphological study of fossil hominin crania. • We highlight morphological similarities between StW 578 and ‘Mrs Ples’.
Numerous aspects of early hominin biology remain debated or simply unknown. However, recent developments in high-resolution imaging techniques have opened new avenues in the field of ...paleoanthropology. More specifically, X-ray synchrotron-based analytical imaging techniques have the potential to provide crucial details on the ontogeny, physiology, biomechanics, and biological identity of fossil specimens. Here we present preliminary results of our X-ray synchrotron-based investigation of the skull of the 3.67-million-year-old
specimen StW 573 ('Little Foot') at the I12 beamline of the Diamond Light Source (United Kingdom). Besides showing fine details of the enamel (i.e., hypoplasias) and cementum (i.e., incremental lines), as well as of the cranial bone microarchitecture (e.g., diploic channels), our synchrotron-based investigation reveals for the first time the 3D spatial organization of the Haversian systems in the mandibular symphysis of an early hominin.
Pickering et al. (Nature 2018;565:226–229) utilised calcium carbonate flowstone deposits (i.e. speleothems) from eight Pliocene and Pleistocene South African Cradle of Humankind cave sites to propose ...that biases were created within the fossil record due to absent clastic sedimentation phases during wet periods, when caves were closed and only speleothems accumulated. Such a scenario has significant implications for our understanding of variability in hominin mobility, resource exploitation, functional repertoires and interactions with competitors in changing environmental and ecological contexts. We find considerable issues with the article. First, Pickering et al.’s contribution omits crucial fossil evidence from various stratigraphic units of the Sterkfontein Caves that indicates conditions were not always arid when the caves were open and sediments were deposited. Second, Pickering et al.’s proposal that clastic and speleothemic deposits (including faunal and floral material) form mutually exclusively is an overly simplified, binary depositional (and in this case environmental) framework that demonstrates an inherent bias in the sampling of cave deposits for dating. This creates the impression that either speleothems or clastic sediments are deposited and does not take into account the full spectrum of sedimentary complexity in karst caves. Third, closure of the caves across the Cradle of Humankind landscape during wet periods is not substantiated geomorphologically or speleologically; identification of the responsible process is critical to the proposed infilling scenario.Significance:• We propose that Pickering et al.’s interpretation of the environmental context of the South African early hominin record is problematic in that it omits crucial faunal and floral fossil evidence associating hominins with non-arid climates, is geomorphologically unsupported, and perpetuates biases against temporally and climatically representative clastic sediments due to challenges related to their dating.
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