Experience Paleoanthropology in South Africa
·
Largest sample (> 126 individuals) of Paranthropus robustus in the world;
·
First evidence for the co-existence of two different hominin
lineages
o Homo erectus (direct
ancestor of modern humans)
o Paranthropus robustus
(extinct “cousin” of the genus Homo)
·
First and earliest evidence for controlled use of fire found
anywhere c. 1.0 million years ago;
·
First and earliest evidence of tool use with non-stone material
(i.e. bone tools) c. 2.0 million years ago.
This four-week program offers you the opportunity to participate
in a paleoanthropology fieldschool at the famous fossil human locality of
Swartkrans, South Africa (http://swartkrans.org/). Swartkrans, a cave site
approximately twenty miles from Johannesburg, is recognized as one of the
world's most important archaeological and fossil localities for the study of
human evolution, and is part of the “Cradle of Humankind” World Heritage Site (http://www.gauteng.net/cradleofhumankind). The site's geological deposits
span millions of years and sample several important events in human evolution.
The oldest finds at the site date between 2.0 and 1.0 million
years old -- a time period during which our immediate ancestor, Homo erectus, shared the landscape with
the extinct ape-man species Paranthropus robustus. In addition to
fossils of these species, Swartkrans also preserves an abundant archaeological
record of their behavior in the form of stone and bone tools, as well as
butchered animal bones. Most spectacularly, the site contains evidence of the
earliest known use of fire by human ancestors, dated to about 1.0 million years
old. Younger deposits at the site sample the Middle Stone Age archaeological
traces of early Homo sapiens.
You will learn about these fascinating ancestors through a hands-on course that
includes instruction in archaeological survey, site mapping, excavation,
recording, artifact and fossil analysis (human and animal), and laboratory
techniques. Fieldwork will be supplemented with occasional lectures, workshops
and fossil locality tours with internationally recognized paleoanthropologists
working at nearby sites.
The program is directed by Dr. Travis Pickering, Professor of Anthropology at UW-Madison.
Over his seventeen years of working in South Africa, Professor Pickering has
cultivated strong relationships with researchers in the area ensuring that
students in this program will see original fossils and artifacts and receive
site tours from the primary researchers in the field. The program is very
comprehensive and expands beyond the bounds of simply excavating for four weeks
at one site, including: visits to other nearby early hominin sites, such as
Sterkfontein, Kromdraai, Drimolen and Malapa; visits to view important original
fossils at the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, in Pretoria (http://www.ditsong.org.za/naturalhistory.htm), and on the
campus of the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg (http://www.wits.ac.za/); a three-day ecology (lots of
elephants and giraffes!) and Iron Age archaeology tour of Mapungubwe National
Park (http://www.sanparks.org/parks/mapungubwe/); guest lectures
by leading figures in African paleoanthropology, such as Professors Ron Clarke
(discoverer of the famous “Little Foot” skeleton) and Francis Thackeray
(director of the Institute for Human Evolution); and shopping days at the
African Craft Market in Johannesburg (http://www.gauteng.net/attractions/entry/the_african_craft_market_of_rosebank/). The fieldschool is also privileged to
stay at the n’Gomo Safari Lodge (http://www.ngomolodge.co.za/), where students
live in permanent tents with flush toilets and hot showers. The lodge is at the back of the Rhino
and Lion Nature Reserve (http://www.rhinolion.co.za/home), where
participants will see rhinos, zebra, and lots of other African animals everyday
on the way to Swartkrans. Students
will also have the opportunity to ride through the reserve on horseback and to
play with baby lions and other big cats.
To apply or for more information contact:
or:
