An unusual skullcap and thousands of clues have created a southern twist to the story of human ancestors, in research published in Science. The rolling hills northwest of Johannesburg are famous for fossils of human-like creatures called hominins. Because of this, the area is known as the Cradle of Humankind.
Stephanie Baker, who is a researcher and Ph.D. candidate at the Palaeo-Research Institute at the University of Johannesburg and manages research at the Drimolen fossil site in the Cradle of Humankind where the fragments of DNH 134 were found, said:
“During our field school excavations at Drimolen, a student began uncovering a cluster of fragments. We could see that they were parts of a skull. But they weren’t immediately identifiable.”
The international team was led by researchers from La Trobe University in Australia and Washington University in St. Louis in the United States.
Fossil forensics on human ancestors
Fossils that are millions of years old often come out of the soil in fragments. The fragments need to be rebuilt before researchers can confidently identify what kind of animal they came from. Baker said:
“Over the course of the field season, more and more fragments were uncovered. We began piecing them together. No one could decide what this skullcap was from, until one night it all came together — and we realized we were looking at a hominin.”
They named the skullcap DNH 134. One of our direct human ancestors is older than we thought. The Cradle of Humankind northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, has yielded its first Homo erectus fossil, and the oldest found anywhere. Homo erectus experienced a changing climate and moved out of Africa into other continents. The discovery of skullcap DNH 134 pushes the possible origin of Homo erectus back between 150,000 and 200,000 years.
The next question was — what kind of hominin? The Cradle of Humankind has several different species of human ancestors and the Drimolen site had at least two kinds. Baker said:
“This find really challenged us. We compared the assembled skullcap to all of the other examples of hominins in the Cradle area. Eventually, its teardrop shape and relatively big brain cavity meant we were looking at Homo erectus.”
Homo erectus is one of our direct human ancestors and is best known for migrating out of Africa into the rest of the world. These hominins walked upright and were a more human-like species than the other hominins found in the Cradle. They had shorter arms and longer legs. They could walk and run for longer distances over the African grasslands than the others.
How old?
Once the question of “which species?” was answered, two other huge questions presented themselves. How long ago was this individual alive? And how old were they when they died? The researchers knew that no other Homo erectus fossils had ever been found in South Africa before. Even more surprising was the time period suggested by the soil layers that the skull fragments were found in. Baker said:
“Before we found DNH 134, we knew that the oldest Homo erectus in the world was from Dmanisi in Georgia dating to 1.8 million years ago.”
A Homo erectus skullcap found northwest of Johannesburg in South Africa has been identified as the oldest to date, in research published in Science. The hominin is a direct ancestor of modern humans, experienced a changing climate, and moved out of Africa into other continents. The discovery of DNH 134 pushes the possible origin of Homo erectus back between 150,000 and 200,000 years.
Building a 3-D puzzle over time
Trying to figure out how old fossils are from the caves west of Johannesburg is quite tricky. There were no volcanoes during the time of the hominins, so there are no ash layers to give the researchers quick age estimates, such as they use for eastern African sites. But while they were uncovering the fragments at Drimolen, they kept and recorded every clue they could find. This included fragments of small animals like bats and lizards, but also things like soil samples.
They can also tell exactly where in 3-D-space in the Drimolen quarry each little fossil fragment was found. Then the research team used every possible dating technique available to get the most accurate possible date for the deposit. This included Palaeomagnetic dating, Electron spin resonance, Uranium lead dating, and faunal dating.
Possible shifted, earlier origin
Baker said:
“We collated all of the dates from each of these techniques and together they showed that we had a very precise age. We now know that the Drimolen Main Quarry and all of the fossils in it, are dated from 2.04 to 1.95 million years ago.”
That means that DNH 134 is much older than the next oldest Homo erectus in Africa. Professor Andy Herries, who is the project co-director with Ms. Baker, lead researcher, and head of the Department of Archaeology and History at La Trobe University in Australia and an associate in the Palaeo-Research Institute at UJ, said:
“The age of the DNH 134 fossil shows that Homo erectus existed 150,000 to 200,000 years earlier than previously thought.”
The DNH 134 cranium with a stylized projection of the outline of the rest of the skull. (Image: Andy Herries, Jesse Martin, and Renaud Joannes-Boyau)
Because Homo erectus is one of our direct ancestors, the discovery has implications for the origins of modern humans. Baker added:
“Until this find, we always assumed Homo erectus originated from eastern Africa. But DNH 134 shows that Homo erectus, one of our direct ancestors, possibly comes from southern Africa instead. That would mean that they later moved northwards into East Africa. From there they went through North Africa to populate the rest of the world.”
The skull is also unusual because it is the skull of a young Homo erectus. Herries said:
“The Homo erectus skull we found, was likely aged between two and three years old when it died.”
The Drimolen excavations and excavated fossils of human ancestors. (Image: via Andy Herries)
The age of the DNH 134 skullcap shows something else — that three species of early human ancestors lived in southern Africa at the same time at the Drimolen fossil site. Herries added:
“We can now say Homo erectus shared the landscape with two other types of humans in South Africa, Paranthropus and Australopithecus.”
The drimolen fossil site. (Image: via Andy Herries)
This might mean they needed to use different parts of the landscape to avoid competing with one another. For a start, they looked different. Paranthropus robustus hominins were shorter than Homo erectus and Australopithecus, says Baker, adding:
“Paranthropus robustus ate things like roots and tubers, which is why their teeth are really big. They used their enormous teeth for grinding down what we call fall-back foods — tough hard plants.”
Changing weather
In comparison to the other two species, Homo erectus hominins were tall and slender. They ate things that are easier to digest, like fruits and berries. Baker said:
“We also know that they were eating meat, but we aren’t exactly sure how they were getting it yet. We can say that at least these early Homo erectus weren’t hunting with any weaponry yet. We also know that they were able to cover long distances. Which turned out lucky for them, because during their time, the climate changed in southern Africa.
“Paranthropus and Australopithecus evolved in warm and humid climates and were used to that. But then the weather began to shift from warm and humid, to cool and dry.”
Gradually, the tree cover diminished and grasses took their place. Eventually, the forests were replaced with the African savannah grasslands of today. The cooler weather suited the more mobile and social Homo erectus better. But it meant that Paranthropus had to rely on less desirable foods.
Provided by: University of Johannesburg [Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.]
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