Dawn of Humanity, a documentary on finding fossils of a new species of human relative called Homo naledi, was aired on National Geographic Channel. Explorer In Residence lee Berger tells S Mallik about the expedition and discovery
Tell us something about the documentary Dawn of Humanity.
The documentary covers the initial unearthing of a new species of fossil human relative we named Homo naledi. The find took place at the end of 2013 and I led a National Geographic Expedition that was launched in November of the same year. Using sophisticated technology and slender women scientists who could fit down a 17 centimeter slot, nearly forty meters underground, the expedition recovered what would turn out to be the largest primitive fossil hominine discovery in history. The documentary follows the high risk expedition and examines the results of our study of these fossils.
You were involved in the discovery of the Homo naledi. When was thisIJ
November 2013
Does this find change the way we have learnt about human evolutionIJ
The revelation of Homo naledi tells us there is more to be found and sometimes these finds will be unexpected. Homo naledi, it is fair to say, was not predicted by our previous models of human evolution. It opens a window to reinterpret the pathway in which our genus evolved.
Share with us some facts about the species.
Homo naledi is small brained, but surprisingly tall (around 150 cm). It has primitive but small teeth, ape like shoulders, human like arms with a hand that would be useful for tool making but with unique, curved fingers. Its pelvis is like that of the primitive hominine like lucy as are the tops of its thigh bones but its legs are long like ours, with very human like feet.
What are the other questions that will be addressed in the documentaryIJ
The documentary also explores the history of discoveries in South Africa including another find I was involved in — Australopithecus sediba — the documentary is very much an adventure for perhaps for the first time in history, cameras were with our team at the moment of the unearthing and during the entire process of extraction and analysis. It really was a life threatening expedition to recover the fossils and the documentary gives the viewer a chance to be with us during this exciting adventure.