Abstract
A skull with numerous Homo features was discovered at Sterkfontein, near Krugersdorp, Transvaal, in August 1976. It stems from member 5 of the Sterkfontein Formation, with stone tools and with fauna pointing to an age of 2.0–1.5 Myr. The underlying member 4 contains Australopithecus africanus, no stone tools, and fauna dated 3.0–2.5 Myr. The new find supports the view that the Sterkfontein toolmaker was not the earlier A. africanus, but a later hominid related to Homo habilis.
By a remarkable double coincidence, the first pieces of the new skull, Stw 53, were found on August 9, 1976, 40 years to the day after Robert Broom's first visit to Sterkfontein, while the last part came to light on August 17, the 40th anniversary of Broom's first discovery of a hominid cranium at Sterkfontein. Although most of the fragments were found in a decalcified pocket of cave earth, one large part of the calvaria was still present in the calcified wall of the pocket, thus establishing indisputably the provenance of the specimen.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Tobias, P. V., and Hughes, A. R., S. Afr. archaeol. Bull., 24, 158–169 (1969).
Leakey, L. S. B., Tobias, P. V., and Napier, J. R., Nature, 202, 7–9 (1964).
Robinson, J. T., S. Afr. J. Sci., 57, 3–16 (1961).
Vrba, E. S., Nature, 250, 19–23 (1974).
Vrba, E. S., Nature, 254, 301–304 (1975).
Robinson, J. T., S. Afr. archaeol. Bull., 17, 87–107 (1962).
Tobias, P. V., S. Afr. archaeol. Bull., 20, 167–192 (1965).
Robinson, J. T., A. J. phys. Anthrop., 11 (n.s.), 445–502 (1953).
Clarke, R. J., and Howell, F. C., Am. J. phys. Anthrop., 37, 319–336 (1972).
Sperber, G., thesis, Univ. Witwatersrand (1973).
Howell, F. C., and Coppens, Y., in Earliest Man, and Environments in the Lake Rudolph Basin (edit. by Coppens, Y., Howell, F. C., Isaac, G.L., and Leakey, R.E.F.) (Chicago University Press, 1976).
Curtis, G. H., Drake, R. E., Cerling, T. E., Cerling, B. L., and Hampel, J. H., Nature, 258, 395–398 (1975).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hughes, A., Tobias, P. A fossil skull probably of the genus Homo from Sterkfontein, Transvaal. Nature 265, 310–312 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/265310a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/265310a0
This article is cited by
-
Dental morphology in Homo habilis and its implications for the evolution of early Homo
Nature Communications (2024)