On 8th November, the School of Anthropology and Conservation and the University of Kent hosted world famous palaeoanthropologist Professor Lee Berger to give the 2016 Stirling Lecture as part of the university’s Distinguished Lecture Series. Professor Berger is a professor of human evolution and a National Geographic Explorer. He has been searching South Africa and the Cradle of Humankind for over two decades for the fossil evidence of human evolution. In the last 10 years he has discovered two of the most important new fossil human species: Australopithecus sediba (important for its combination of primitive and derived skeletal morphology) and Homo naledi (important for its combination of early human skeletal morphology yet with evidence for deliberate disposal of its dead). For these discoveries he was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2016.
The evening began with a reception at SAC where students, researchers, and staff had the opportunity to meet Professor Berger in an informal setting. Many of the students took this opportunity to pose for pictures and have Professor Berger sign copies of the recent National Geographic article on Homo naledi. After the reception, everyone was invited over to the foyer of Keynes to view an exhibit of fossil casts spanning the whole period of human evolution (from 7 million years ago to present). These casts come from the SAC cast collection which is quickly coming to rival those of other universities around the United Kingdom. In particular, partial skeletons from both of Professor Berger’s recent discoveries were available for viewing and graduate students were there to answer questions from the public. It was very clear that many in the audience were fascinated at the opportunity to touch life size models of these exciting new finds and to have Professor Berger on hand to highlight particularly important aspects of their shape that link them to our own evolutionary history.
Finally, Professor Berger delivered his Stirling Lecture to a captivated audience. He began by highlighting the difficulties palaeoanthropologists face in finding the fossil remains of our ancestors and how he began in the early 2000s to use satellite imaging to find prospective fossil sites on his personal computer. Using this technique he quickly identified 100s of new potential sites that had not been discovered despite decades of searching in the region. Professor Berger then recounted the events surrounding the discovery in the Malapa and Rising Star cave systems and his use of social media to find skilled excavators to extract these precious fossils from deep within the earth. Professor Berger’s enthusiasm is contagious and it was clear from the audience’s reaction to his presentation that many were thinking about how they might explore the unknown to shed light on the mysteries of our evolutionary past.
Report by Dr Matthew Skinner
Images by Matt Wilson
Photographs from this event are available on our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UniKentSAC/