WEBVTT 00:01.133 --> 00:02.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - Welcome everyone to  00:01.133 --> 00:02.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We  dnesday Nite @ the Lab. 00:02.600 --> 00:03.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I'm Tom Zinnen. 00:04.000 --> 00:06.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I work here at the UW-Madison Biotechnology Center. 00:06.400 --> 00:08.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I also work for UW-Extension, Cooperative Extension, 00:09.033 --> 00:11.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and on behalf of those folks and our other co-organizers, 00:11.533 --> 00:13.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the Wisconsin Alumni Association, 00:13.933 --> 00:15.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Wisconsin Public Television 00:15.633 --> 00:17.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and the UW-Madison Science Alliance, 00:17.533 --> 00:19.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% thanks again for coming to  00:17.533 --> 00:19.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We  dnesday Nite @ the Lab. 00:20.033 --> 00:24.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We do this every Wednesday night, 50 times a year. 00:24.600 --> 00:26.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Back on September 10th of last year, 00:26.666 --> 00:28.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% I had the pleasure of going to give a talk 00:28.900 --> 00:32.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% at the biotechnology class at the Verona Area High School. 00:32.433 --> 00:34.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It had happened that the news of the discovery 00:34.266 --> 00:39.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% of a new hominin, Homo naledi, had broken just that morning. 00:39.933 --> 00:42.900 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% The UW had played key roles in characterizing 00:43.000 --> 00:44.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and describing this new species, 00:44.966 --> 00:46.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% so I asked the students at Verona 00:46.933 --> 00:49.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% about their take on that story. 00:49.366 --> 00:52.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% They're only about 12 miles from this rather remarkable 00:52.633 --> 00:54.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% public land grant research university. 00:54.966 --> 00:56.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% I wanted to get an idea 00:56.433 --> 00:59.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% of what they had gleaned from the media. 00:59.200 --> 01:01.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% There was one girl in the class, she was a little shy, 01:01.933 --> 01:05.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% but she sure seemed to know a lot about that work. 01:05.366 --> 01:08.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And I asked her how she knew so much about it. 01:08.366 --> 01:11.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And she said, "Well, John Hawks is my dad." 01:11.733 --> 01:16.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% (audience laughs) 01:21.366 --> 01:24.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And she was pretty proud about that. 01:24.200 --> 01:27.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It's a great delight to get to welcome back John Hawks. 01:27.166 --> 01:29.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% This is at least the third time he's been here. 01:29.833 --> 01:31.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% He is the Vilas-Borghesi 01:31.900 --> 01:35.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Distinguished Achievement Professor of Anthropology. 01:35.900 --> 01:37.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And we get to hear tonight 01:37.566 --> 01:39.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% about one of his finest achievements. 01:40.000 --> 01:43.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It's a story that has already become a point of pride 01:43.500 --> 01:46.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 01:46.166 --> 01:50.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But Professor Hawks has an even more splendid achievement: 01:50.800 --> 01:54.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% he has made his daughter proud of her dad. 01:54.166 --> 01:55.300 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (audience laughs) 01:55.400 --> 01:57.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Please join me in welcoming John Hawks 01:57.100 --> 01:58.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% back to  01:57.100 --> 01:58.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We  dnesday Nite @ the Lab. 01:58.766 --> 02:01.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (applause) 02:08.000 --> 02:09.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% - Wow! 02:09.433 --> 02:11.700 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Thank you everybody for coming out tonight. 02:11.800 --> 02:13.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% I see some familiar faces out there. 02:13.433 --> 02:15.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% I see a lot of faces I haven't seen before. 02:15.600 --> 02:18.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% I'm so pleased that all of you have come in to hear 02:18.100 --> 02:20.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% about this work that we're doing here at the university 02:20.866 --> 02:24.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and in collaboration with our colleagues in South Africa. 02:24.566 --> 02:26.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It's really exciting stuff. 02:26.100 --> 02:29.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And this is just the first phase of the research. 02:29.733 --> 02:32.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Tom told you about my daughter Sophie. 02:32.166 --> 02:35.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% She is the only, to my knowledge, high school girl 02:35.333 --> 02:39.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% who's actually helped to pack materials for Homo naledi 02:39.466 --> 02:41.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in the vault in South Africa where they are. 02:41.966 --> 02:44.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, you know, she had a ringside seat during the workshop 02:44.966 --> 02:46.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% when we were describing this stuff. 02:46.633 --> 02:48.900 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% I'll say a couple of words about it 02:49.000 --> 02:51.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and how we came to involve 02:51.866 --> 02:54.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% so many people in this description. 02:54.166 --> 02:56.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But it has been really special for me 02:56.633 --> 02:59.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% to be a part of it from the very beginning. 02:59.433 --> 03:00.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It's been an enormous privilege 03:00.933 --> 03:04.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% to be working on this project at the Rising Star Cave 03:04.633 --> 03:07.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% because our work with National Geographic, 03:07.500 --> 03:10.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% which comes through our project director, Lee Berger, 03:10.500 --> 03:13.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% he's a National Geographic explorer in residence, 03:13.966 --> 03:17.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% has enabled us to have a lot of media resources 03:17.366 --> 03:19.466 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% on site from the very beginning. 03:19.566 --> 03:22.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And actually my project here at the University of Wisconsin, 03:22.900 --> 03:25.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% developing the massive open online course, 03:25.666 --> 03:28.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% we delivered that two years ago now this spring 03:28.700 --> 03:30.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% to 40,000 people around the world. 03:30.933 --> 03:32.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And that was being organized 03:32.700 --> 03:34.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% at the time that this project began. 03:34.766 --> 03:36.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So we actually had a lot of 03:36.700 --> 03:39.033 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% University of Wisconsin video resources on hand. 03:39.133 --> 03:42.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So we have a unique documentation 03:42.300 --> 03:45.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% of the project actually from the very point of discovery. 03:45.933 --> 03:47.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And that's a great privilege for me 03:47.400 --> 03:50.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% because I have the resources to be able to show you 03:50.300 --> 03:52.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% some of these things in people's own words, 03:52.966 --> 03:54.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% so that you can see what's going on 03:54.933 --> 03:56.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% at the site as we're excavating. 03:56.933 --> 04:00.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And the first thing I'd like to show is a word 04:00.733 --> 04:02.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% from one of the cavers who was responsible 04:03.033 --> 04:05.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% for the initial discovery of the bones in the cave. 04:06.066 --> 04:07.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% He gives you a first-hand account 04:08.066 --> 04:11.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of how they came to discover these bones. 04:17.766 --> 04:20.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% - Caving has always been great. 04:20.733 --> 04:22.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Caving, you want to answer the question 04:22.366 --> 04:24.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of what's around the next corner. 04:24.233 --> 04:26.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% That's always the question you want to know. 04:26.300 --> 04:29.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It's mostly fueled by curiosity. 04:29.533 --> 04:32.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But as you get into caving more and more, 04:32.166 --> 04:34.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the scientific side of it comes into it. 04:34.166 --> 04:37.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% You want to know, how did these places form? 04:37.166 --> 04:39.966 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% What happened here millions of years ago? 04:40.066 --> 04:41.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% What happened here billions of years ago? 04:41.733 --> 04:44.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Basically, it creates a fascination 04:44.100 --> 04:45.966 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% with this whole environment. 04:46.066 --> 04:48.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% In my wildest dreams I would never have thought 04:48.166 --> 04:51.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that caving would take me to what's happening here. (laughs) 04:51.733 --> 04:53.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% You could almost call this a bit of an accident. 04:53.800 --> 04:57.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, my caving buddy and me, Rick, 04:57.533 --> 05:01.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we were off exploring this cave on a Friday night. 05:01.800 --> 05:05.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We'd gone into a very remote section of the cave, 05:05.833 --> 05:07.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% a part that I had never been in before. 05:07.933 --> 05:12.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And in that section, we stumbled upon fossils. 05:12.500 --> 05:13.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (laughs) 05:14.000 --> 05:18.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Yeah, at first, we didn't exactly know what fossils yet. 05:18.233 --> 05:20.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We started looking around a bit more 05:20.333 --> 05:22.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% until we found a mandible. 05:22.166 --> 05:24.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And that's when we knew this was probably hominid. 05:24.700 --> 05:27.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% That was when we got excited about it. (laughs) 05:27.533 --> 05:30.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And since this discovery, 05:30.266 --> 05:33.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% it's (laughs) crazy what's happening here. 05:35.566 --> 05:38.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Pedro Boshoff is a geologist. 05:38.833 --> 05:43.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% He's been caving in this country for 50-plus years. 05:43.200 --> 05:47.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And he was asked by Lee to basically go and look for fossils 05:48.000 --> 05:50.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% in deep sort of areas of caves. 05:50.500 --> 05:52.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And he'd then spoken to myself 05:52.700 --> 05:54.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and Rick and a few others and said 05:54.333 --> 05:58.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% he needs us to come start looking for hominids. (laughs) 05:58.966 --> 06:00.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And on this whole expedition, 06:00.266 --> 06:02.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% he has been in charge of the cavers, 06:02.733 --> 06:06.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% coordinating who is here and what we have to do 06:06.166 --> 06:08.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and getting everything organized for us. 06:09.900 --> 06:12.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And since the start of this expedition, 06:12.633 --> 06:15.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% from the cavers' side we've been putting in 06:15.166 --> 06:17.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% over two kilometers of cabling. 06:17.866 --> 06:21.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Those are for cameras and lights, 06:21.400 --> 06:24.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% communications within the cave. 06:24.133 --> 06:26.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And we've also put up safety ropes 06:26.633 --> 06:27.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% straight throughout the cave, 06:28.066 --> 06:30.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% for the safety of the scientists, 06:30.400 --> 06:31.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% making sure there's no injuries. 06:31.733 --> 06:33.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And we're here for backup. 06:33.533 --> 06:34.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% In case something does go wrong, 06:34.933 --> 06:37.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we are here to assist as soon as possible. 06:40.866 --> 06:43.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - This is Lee Berger, who's the director of the project. 06:43.566 --> 06:46.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% These guys were interested in working with Lee 06:46.333 --> 06:48.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% potentially because Lee had been responsible 06:48.833 --> 06:52.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% for the discovery of a fossil named Australopithecus sediba. 06:53.000 --> 06:56.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% That discovery happened in 2008-2009 06:56.966 --> 06:58.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and those results have been published 06:58.566 --> 07:00.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% over the last six years. 07:00.166 --> 07:02.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% They got a lot of attention as creating 07:02.700 --> 07:04.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% a new process of discovery 07:04.766 --> 07:06.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% where people were exploring new caves. 07:06.966 --> 07:08.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And Lee had gone over the ground 07:08.900 --> 07:11.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% across the entire world heritage site, 07:11.266 --> 07:13.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% it's called The Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, 07:13.933 --> 07:16.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% mapping caves that hadn't been previously mapped. 07:16.866 --> 07:19.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So these guys who work underground, 07:19.300 --> 07:22.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% it's their hobby to go into caves on the weekends 07:22.166 --> 07:23.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and try to push the boundaries, 07:23.533 --> 07:26.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% go into parts of caves where they didn't know 07:26.200 --> 07:28.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that anybody had ever been before. 07:28.200 --> 07:31.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And they said, "Sometimes we see bones when we do this. 07:31.733 --> 07:33.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% "Maybe we can work with you 07:33.433 --> 07:35.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% "and we might find something too." 07:35.600 --> 07:38.700 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And of course Lee said, "That's wonderful!" 07:38.800 --> 07:40.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% I've talked to him about it many times. 07:40.500 --> 07:42.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% He did not expect that the first cave 07:42.466 --> 07:46.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that they went into we would make a massive discovery. 07:46.266 --> 07:49.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And yet it was his philosophy 07:49.366 --> 07:52.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that when you're going to start something systematically, 07:52.466 --> 07:54.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% you go into your backyard first. 07:54.100 --> 07:55.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Go to the places that you know. 07:55.733 --> 07:59.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And the Rising Star Cave, which is underneath this hillside, 07:59.366 --> 08:00.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% which is pretty nondescript, 08:00.900 --> 08:04.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% this hillside is basically a chert dolomite hillside, 08:04.466 --> 08:07.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and inside of it are more than a kilometer 08:08.000 --> 08:09.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% of underground passageways 08:09.600 --> 08:12.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that make up the Rising Star Cave system. 08:12.966 --> 08:15.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is a small part of the system map 08:15.133 --> 08:18.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that shows you the area that we're actually working in, 08:18.100 --> 08:19.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% from our entrance to the chamber 08:19.866 --> 08:23.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% where we found the massive fossil deposit. 08:23.733 --> 08:27.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% In this kilometer of underground passageways, 08:27.300 --> 08:29.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% are lots of twisty-turny routes. 08:29.366 --> 08:31.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And you get into them really quickly 08:31.300 --> 08:32.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% after you go into the cave. 08:32.966 --> 08:35.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% How many of you folks have been in a cave? 08:35.300 --> 08:37.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% How many of you have been in a cave? 08:37.533 --> 08:39.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Been in a cave, yeah. Okay, brilliant. 08:39.633 --> 08:41.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% How many of you have been in a cave 08:41.566 --> 08:44.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% where you have to crawl on your hands and knees somewhere? 08:44.833 --> 08:46.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Okay. 08:46.366 --> 08:48.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And how many of you have actually had to squeeze 08:48.733 --> 08:52.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% so that rock was against your front and back? 08:52.233 --> 08:53.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Yeah. 08:53.500 --> 08:55.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% This, if you haven't done it, 08:55.333 --> 08:58.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% can be a really terrifying experience. 08:58.266 --> 08:59.900 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% If you're claustrophobic at all, 09:00.000 --> 09:02.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% this is a real problem situation. 09:02.333 --> 09:05.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But this is the situation that the Rising Star Cave poses. 09:05.500 --> 09:07.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And it's why our cavers like it. 09:07.533 --> 09:09.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Because you can get into those kinds of 09:09.433 --> 09:12.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% really hairy places right after the entrance. 09:12.533 --> 09:15.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, you don't have to spend all day caving underground 09:15.533 --> 09:17.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% to get somewhere really interesting. 09:17.200 --> 09:18.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And it's a great place to bring people 09:18.833 --> 09:21.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% to train them on that kind of caving. 09:21.266 --> 09:23.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, people were really familiar with this cave, 09:24.033 --> 09:26.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and it's been known in the caving community 09:26.100 --> 09:28.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% for more than 50 years. 09:28.233 --> 09:32.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It lies less than a mile-and-a-half 09:32.366 --> 09:36.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% from at least six very famous fossil sites, 09:36.666 --> 09:39.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% including two that have been investigated systematically 09:39.933 --> 09:42.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% for more than 70 years for hominin fossils. 09:42.966 --> 09:46.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, it's in a very fossil-rich environ. 09:46.566 --> 09:50.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But fossils had never been noticed in this cave before. 09:51.033 --> 09:55.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The reason why probably is that these really narrow passages 09:55.100 --> 09:56.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and twists and turns make it 09:56.900 --> 09:59.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% really hard to access these bones. 09:59.800 --> 10:01.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, when you saw these guys sort of squeezing through 10:02.033 --> 10:03.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% that super narrow place, 10:03.933 --> 10:07.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the way that we reach the Dinaledi chamber, 10:07.300 --> 10:10.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% where we are now excavating fossil hominins, 10:10.233 --> 10:13.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is by going down a vertical drop. 10:13.833 --> 10:15.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% You can see it there on the edge of the graph. 10:16.033 --> 10:18.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The Dinaledi chamber is on the far right side. 10:18.433 --> 10:20.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And there's this vertical little drop 10:20.733 --> 10:25.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that is about a 12-meter vertical decent 10:25.266 --> 10:26.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% that has a minimum width in it 10:26.933 --> 10:30.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% of about seven-and-a-half inches, 18 centimeters. 10:30.666 --> 10:32.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So in order to get down that, 10:32.400 --> 10:35.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% you have to have the climbing ability to do it. 10:35.900 --> 10:38.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And Steve, who you saw talking there in the video, 10:38.366 --> 10:40.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% when he initially found this, the reason why 10:40.700 --> 10:43.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is that he had climbed up this dragons back, 10:43.766 --> 10:46.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% which is this ridge of rock-fall 10:46.633 --> 10:48.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that has come down in the distant past. 10:48.633 --> 10:52.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And so you have to climb it, and you get up to the top of it 10:52.266 --> 10:55.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and there this little narrow sort of, I don't know, 10:55.533 --> 10:58.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% entryway that you can sort of hang out in. 10:59.033 --> 11:02.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And he had wedged himself down in this crack to rest, 11:02.333 --> 11:04.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and he noticed that he didn't touch the bottom. 11:04.700 --> 11:06.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And so he did exactly what your or I 11:06.633 --> 11:08.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% would have done in the same situation. 11:08.200 --> 11:10.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% (audience laughs) 11:10.900 --> 11:12.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% He said, "I wonder what's down there?" 11:12.466 --> 11:13.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% (cables swooshing) 11:13.966 --> 11:15.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And he went down 12 meters, 11:15.500 --> 11:17.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and Rick followed him. 11:17.200 --> 11:19.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, that was how the discovery was made. 11:19.900 --> 11:21.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% This was not an obvious place to look. 11:22.033 --> 11:23.700 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It was very difficult to reach. 11:23.800 --> 11:27.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And that created immediately a problem for our team. 11:27.966 --> 11:30.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% How are we gonna excavate in this place? 11:30.933 --> 11:33.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Once they had brought the photos out, 11:33.766 --> 11:36.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and they knocked on Lee's door late at night. 11:36.366 --> 11:38.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And they said, "You're going to want to let us in." 11:38.700 --> 11:41.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And he looked at the photos. He's like, "This is a hominin." 11:41.233 --> 11:42.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And he sent me the photos. 11:42.466 --> 11:44.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% He sent it to a number of our senior colleagues 11:44.700 --> 11:46.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% who've been involved in the project before. 11:46.533 --> 11:48.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% He said, "What do you think of these?" 11:48.500 --> 11:50.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It's a fossil hominin. There it is. 11:50.933 --> 11:53.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It's a jaw bone laying on the floor of a chamber 11:53.400 --> 11:56.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that clearly is a fossil hominin. 11:56.333 --> 11:58.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Not a human, but some earlier form, 11:58.866 --> 12:02.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and all the bones that you saw there to go with it. 12:02.666 --> 12:07.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, it was clear that we had to mobilize immediately. 12:07.500 --> 12:09.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Well, Lee did exactly what you or I 12:09.133 --> 12:12.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% would have done in the same situation. 12:12.366 --> 12:13.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% He put a call on Facebook. 12:13.933 --> 12:16.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (audience laughs) 12:16.100 --> 12:19.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "Dear colleagues: I need the help of the whole community 12:19.566 --> 12:21.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "and for you to reach out to as many 12:21.833 --> 12:23.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "related professional groups as possible. 12:23.566 --> 12:25.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "We need perhaps three or four individuals 12:25.300 --> 12:27.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "with excellent archaeological, paleontological 12:27.966 --> 12:31.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "and excavation skills for a short term project 12:31.166 --> 12:33.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "that may last the month of November 12:33.600 --> 12:34.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "if things go as planned. 12:34.900 --> 12:38.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "The catch is this: the person must be skinny 12:38.266 --> 12:40.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "and preferably small. 12:40.966 --> 12:42.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "They must not be claustrophobic. 12:42.733 --> 12:45.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "They must be fit, they should have some caving experience, 12:45.233 --> 12:48.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "climbing experience would be a bonus." 12:48.600 --> 12:52.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Within a few days Lee had received 57 applications 12:52.100 --> 12:54.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% from qualified people all around the world. 12:54.733 --> 12:57.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And on a basis of looking at their records, 12:57.666 --> 13:00.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% interviewing them over Skype, 13:00.133 --> 13:03.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% he selected six outstanding young women 13:03.400 --> 13:06.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% to be the caving team that would be the people responsible 13:06.866 --> 13:09.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% for excavating in this very challenging place. 13:11.566 --> 13:16.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And so, here's our team. 13:18.333 --> 13:19.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And I'd like to point out 13:19.966 --> 13:22.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% second from the left there is Alia Gurtov, 13:22.100 --> 13:24.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% who's a University of Wisconsin graduate student, 13:24.566 --> 13:27.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% part of our anthropology program. 13:27.100 --> 13:30.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% On the far left is Becca Peixotto, 13:30.100 --> 13:31.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% who is involved in Outward Bound 13:31.633 --> 13:33.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and a master's student in archeology, 13:33.566 --> 13:36.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% now a doctoral student at American University. 13:36.133 --> 13:38.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Elen Feuerriegel is from Australia National University. 13:38.733 --> 13:40.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Marina Elliott, in the right center, 13:40.700 --> 13:43.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is now directing field exploration 13:43.266 --> 13:45.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% in the Cradle for the project. 13:45.366 --> 13:48.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% She was at Simon Fraser University in Canada. 13:48.566 --> 13:50.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Lindsay Eaves. 13:50.100 --> 13:53.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And Hannah Morris, now at the University of Georgia. 13:53.400 --> 13:56.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So our caving underground team, outstanding young women. 13:57.000 --> 14:00.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And over the course of less than three weeks underground, 14:01.066 --> 14:03.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% they excavated what would be 14:03.266 --> 14:05.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the largest single fossil excavation 14:05.900 --> 14:09.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% ever conducted in Africa for hominin fossils. 14:10.533 --> 14:13.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, I'll show you some scenes of the underground work, 14:13.433 --> 14:15.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% it's a challenging situation. 14:15.233 --> 14:18.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Everything that you see us working with underground 14:18.466 --> 14:21.466 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% had to be taken through those narrow passages. 14:21.566 --> 14:23.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And that means the power, the lights, 14:23.966 --> 14:27.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the computers, the scanners that we use. 14:28.466 --> 14:32.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% You see them working there in very closed off, 14:33.033 --> 14:37.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% sort of contorting sort of circumstances. 14:37.100 --> 14:41.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It became really rapidly clear 14:41.833 --> 14:43.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% after very little excavation. 14:43.533 --> 14:45.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% This is me in the cave, right. 14:46.033 --> 14:49.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And I put this up here to remind myself 14:49.200 --> 14:51.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% to tell you guys how worthless I actually am. 14:51.733 --> 14:53.333 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (audience laughs) 14:53.433 --> 14:54.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I don't fit. 14:54.933 --> 14:59.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I will never set foot in the place where these fossils are. 14:59.600 --> 15:01.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Lee will never set foot in that place. 15:01.900 --> 15:04.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is a very special chamber that you can only access 15:05.066 --> 15:07.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% with the right climbing and caving skills 15:07.633 --> 15:10.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and the right physical makeup. 15:10.766 --> 15:13.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And most people don't have it. 15:13.733 --> 15:16.033 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It has been a great privilege to be involved 15:16.133 --> 15:19.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% in the project in the way that I have. 15:19.433 --> 15:21.466 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And I like to tell people, especially kids, 15:21.566 --> 15:25.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% the cool thing about this is, I'm never gonna be there. 15:25.900 --> 15:30.966 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And the only way that I know what I do about this place, 15:31.066 --> 15:33.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and I know as much about this place 15:33.366 --> 15:35.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% as anyone else in the world right now, 15:35.833 --> 15:38.033 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% the only way that I know anything about it 15:38.133 --> 15:40.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% is by doing science on it. 15:40.366 --> 15:42.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And that's pretty cool. 15:42.200 --> 15:43.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We, throughout the project, 15:43.700 --> 15:46.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% compared what we were doing underground to astronauts. 15:46.266 --> 15:49.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Because it is sort of like, I mean, they're not in space. 15:49.366 --> 15:50.900 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But it's sort of like a spacewalk. 15:51.000 --> 15:53.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Because when they're working in there, 15:53.166 --> 15:54.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% we cannot get to them. 15:54.633 --> 15:57.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It took a half an hour for our team to get from the surface 15:57.700 --> 15:59.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% into the chamber to be ready to work, 15:59.666 --> 16:02.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and a half an hour for anything to come back out. 16:02.400 --> 16:04.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So they're really quite remote. 16:04.800 --> 16:07.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And my view from up here on the surface, 16:07.933 --> 16:11.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% from the tents above ground 16:11.300 --> 16:13.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% is entirely virtual. 16:13.500 --> 16:16.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So here's Lee looking at one of our virtual viewpoints. 16:16.300 --> 16:19.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We have cameras underground. 16:19.933 --> 16:21.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And basically this is our view. 16:21.866 --> 16:24.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We're watching the excavation in progress. 16:24.500 --> 16:27.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And we can help to understand what's going on. 16:27.966 --> 16:30.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We can give some expert guidance about what to do. 16:30.800 --> 16:33.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But honestly, it's up to our team 16:33.400 --> 16:35.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% to do the best work that they can underground, 16:35.466 --> 16:38.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% under some very challenging circumstances. 16:38.500 --> 16:40.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, I mean, there is something mesmerizing 16:40.433 --> 16:41.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% about watching this happen, right? 16:41.900 --> 16:44.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Because you see her working there 16:44.200 --> 16:45.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% with a little plastic spoon. 16:45.800 --> 16:48.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Hannah's working in the background with a little brush. 16:48.233 --> 16:50.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is standard archeological equipment. 16:50.733 --> 16:54.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And what a lot of people are surprised about 16:54.733 --> 16:56.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% with the Rising Star assemblage, 16:57.033 --> 17:01.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is that unlike many fossil sites in southern Africa, 17:01.600 --> 17:05.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% our fossils are not embedded in a hard rock. 17:05.500 --> 17:07.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Most fossil sites that we work with, 17:07.733 --> 17:10.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% the bones are imbedded in a rock that we call breccia, 17:10.900 --> 17:13.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% which is made up of bone, gravel, 17:13.733 --> 17:16.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% stuff from outside the cave that's fallen in 17:16.233 --> 17:21.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and glued together with calcite, so that it's a hard cement. 17:21.433 --> 17:23.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Our bone is in a soft sediment 17:23.500 --> 17:26.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that's basically like a very fine-grained clay. 17:26.966 --> 17:31.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And to work in it we just have to brush it away. 17:31.200 --> 17:35.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% The challenge is that our bones are incredible fragile. 17:35.266 --> 17:37.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And I'll say some more words about that later. 17:37.633 --> 17:40.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% These bones are not hardened into rock. 17:40.100 --> 17:43.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% They are incredibly fragile. 17:43.166 --> 17:46.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And so we come to challenges. 17:46.833 --> 17:51.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Now, when we looked at the photographs from the cave, 17:52.000 --> 17:54.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% all of us pored over those photographs 17:55.066 --> 17:56.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% before we started excavation. 17:56.966 --> 17:58.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And we said, 17:58.366 --> 18:00.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "You know, I don't see anything here that's repeated. 18:00.533 --> 18:04.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "This looks like it's gonna be one hominin skeleton. 18:04.500 --> 18:06.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "I don't see any parts doubled here." 18:06.600 --> 18:09.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And that would be an amazing discovery, right? 18:09.400 --> 18:12.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Because when you think about the most famous discoveries 18:12.100 --> 18:15.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% in my field that have ever been made, things like Lucy, 18:15.233 --> 18:19.033 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Lucy is a skeleton that's about 40% complete, 18:19.133 --> 18:21.466 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and that is one of the most important single pieces 18:21.566 --> 18:25.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% of evidence of our evolutionary history. 18:25.333 --> 18:26.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We expected that we were gonna find 18:26.933 --> 18:29.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% something about that scale. 18:29.166 --> 18:31.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And, of course, that was gonna be tremendously important. 18:31.766 --> 18:34.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We would have probably for the first time 18:34.466 --> 18:37.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% a skeleton associated from an individual 18:37.966 --> 18:39.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% of a South African species 18:39.500 --> 18:40.966 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that we probably already knew about. 18:41.066 --> 18:43.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Something like Australopithecus robustus, 18:43.266 --> 18:45.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% which is found only a half-mile away, 18:45.900 --> 18:47.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% at the site of Swartkrans. 18:47.600 --> 18:49.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, this seemed very likely. 18:49.100 --> 18:51.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It was gonna tell us something that we already knew, 18:51.933 --> 18:53.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% but in much better detail 18:53.800 --> 18:56.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and would give us a first ever look 18:56.333 --> 18:58.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% at the whole anatomy of something. 18:58.466 --> 19:01.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And that was gonna be really exciting. 19:02.066 --> 19:05.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% That feeling lasted until the first day 19:06.000 --> 19:09.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that we sent our team into the cave. 19:09.166 --> 19:11.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Our first day, we got everything arranged. 19:11.433 --> 19:13.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We set up everything do to a run into the cave 19:14.033 --> 19:16.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% to make sure that the equipment worked, 19:16.200 --> 19:18.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to bring out one bone. 19:18.300 --> 19:21.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We targeted that jawbone and we said, 19:21.166 --> 19:22.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "Okay, let's make this happen." 19:23.000 --> 19:25.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The jawbone came out and all of us 19:25.900 --> 19:28.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% who were on the senior part of the team, 19:28.133 --> 19:30.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% who knew the anatomy of all these fossil hominins 19:30.700 --> 19:33.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% like our own children, I've got to tell you, 19:33.233 --> 19:35.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% looked at the jawbone and we said, 19:36.033 --> 19:37.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% "That's not what I thought it was." 19:37.666 --> 19:39.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% (audience laughs) 19:39.733 --> 19:42.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% The next day our team went to work seriously 19:42.766 --> 19:44.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% bringing bone out of the surface of the chamber 19:44.933 --> 19:48.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and brought up three pieces of right thigh bones, 19:48.266 --> 19:50.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% all of different right thigh bones. 19:50.266 --> 19:52.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It was suddenly clear, immediately, 19:52.300 --> 19:54.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that we were looking at multiple skeletons. 19:54.333 --> 19:56.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% This was not the kind of site we thought it was. 19:56.833 --> 19:58.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Suddenly, this was vastly more important 19:58.600 --> 20:00.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% than we suspected it was. 20:00.100 --> 20:02.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And so to give you an idea of what that was like-- 20:02.600 --> 20:04.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% - Today we're working on extracting a skull. 20:04.533 --> 20:06.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% - I'll show you a day at work. 20:06.333 --> 20:08.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% - It's looking to be fairly difficult at the moment 20:08.866 --> 20:10.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% because the skull is very pliable. 20:10.866 --> 20:13.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It's very, very soft, 'cause it's quite damp down there. 20:13.733 --> 20:15.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It's adding to the problem. 20:15.133 --> 20:17.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, I think, at the moment, our current strategy 20:17.766 --> 20:21.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% is to try and remove the skull in one giant block. 20:21.266 --> 20:23.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% As much as we can, anyway, 20:23.200 --> 20:25.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% because there's a lot of underlying bones. 20:25.200 --> 20:27.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We've got two people working on different sides of the skull. 20:27.600 --> 20:28.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So, I think you've got more eyes 20:29.066 --> 20:30.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% on what the actual skull is doing 20:30.833 --> 20:32.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% as we're trying to excavate it. 20:35.133 --> 20:38.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - We are very hopeful that they can get it out in one piece. 20:38.833 --> 20:40.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% There's a good chance that they will. 20:41.066 --> 20:43.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But if they cannot, at least we'll have it 20:43.266 --> 20:45.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% very carefully exposed and we'll be able 20:45.166 --> 20:47.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% to very carefully draw and indicate 20:47.500 --> 20:49.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% where exactly each piece came from. 20:49.400 --> 20:52.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And then we'll deal with it in the science end. 20:52.300 --> 20:54.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We can watch their work very carefully, 20:54.166 --> 20:55.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and that's been very helpful 20:55.700 --> 20:57.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% for us to understand what they're seeing down there. 20:58.066 --> 21:01.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The coolest thing is that I can't get down there, 21:01.600 --> 21:04.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% but it is as close as anyone can get 21:04.266 --> 21:06.300 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to being there to help them. 21:06.400 --> 21:10.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% (machinery rumbling) 21:10.100 --> 21:11.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% - [Voiceover] Hi! 21:15.033 --> 21:19.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% - It's early evening, late, late afternoon. 21:20.433 --> 21:22.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It's time for fossils to come up. 21:22.566 --> 21:24.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - Well, they're supposedly bringing it out right now. 21:24.900 --> 21:28.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - If it's lying on its side--(sound obscured by wind). 21:28.366 --> 21:30.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It'd be really nice. 21:30.266 --> 21:31.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% - It feels completely surreal. 21:31.933 --> 21:33.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% This just doesn't happen. 21:34.000 --> 21:35.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% They're coming to begin up. 21:35.833 --> 21:39.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, if somebody wants to do this, now is the moment. 21:39.433 --> 21:40.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - [Voiceover] It's a big moment again! 21:40.966 --> 21:44.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Every time it's a big moment. 21:44.133 --> 21:45.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% - Is that it? 21:46.000 --> 21:47.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% All right. 21:48.733 --> 21:50.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% - Look at that. 21:53.133 --> 21:54.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Here it comes. 21:54.533 --> 21:56.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% - [Voiceover] There it is. 21:56.333 --> 21:58.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% - Let's go get it. 21:58.500 --> 22:02.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% (people laughing) 22:07.133 --> 22:10.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - We got the large section of the cranium out. 22:11.033 --> 22:12.600 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Glad to be done with that part. 22:12.700 --> 22:14.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% There's a lot more down there. 22:14.166 --> 22:15.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% There's a whole puzzle of long bones, 22:15.866 --> 22:18.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and other bones, down, underneath where that was. 22:18.633 --> 22:19.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% About halfway through the time 22:19.966 --> 22:21.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Marina and I were down there, it was pretty clear 22:21.933 --> 22:23.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that we weren't gonna leave 'til it came out. 22:23.966 --> 22:25.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% There was no way we were stopping. 22:25.766 --> 22:27.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The science tent closed a while ago, 22:27.600 --> 22:31.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and they have something to keep 'em busy in the morning. 22:31.366 --> 22:34.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, that's good. (laughs) 22:35.833 --> 22:40.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - We began digging at that spot because of that skull. 22:40.533 --> 22:41.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We cleared the surface of the chamber. 22:42.066 --> 22:44.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% There were bones scattered on the surface as you saw. 22:44.300 --> 22:46.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We were collecting those from the surface. 22:46.633 --> 22:49.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But there was this skull protruding from the dirt. 22:49.933 --> 22:53.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And so we began working on that to extract it. 22:53.200 --> 22:54.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% As our team began working around it, 22:55.033 --> 22:56.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% they discovered that the skull 22:56.533 --> 22:58.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% is actually sitting upon bones. 22:58.466 --> 23:02.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And those bones are laid like pick-up sticks, 23:02.300 --> 23:06.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% one on top of the other, as far down as we could sense. 23:06.166 --> 23:08.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And so this became a massive undertaking, 23:08.866 --> 23:11.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% just working to get that skull out. 23:11.200 --> 23:15.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And once it was out, working on and gradually exposing 23:15.600 --> 23:18.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% more and more of this layer of bone 23:18.666 --> 23:21.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that was making up the chamber. 23:21.200 --> 23:22.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Every bone that we were finding, 23:22.833 --> 23:25.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% there was a bone of a fossil hominin. 23:25.433 --> 23:29.966 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And they were in exceptional completeness in many cases. 23:30.066 --> 23:32.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So suddenly this was an undertaking 23:32.966 --> 23:35.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that we were working literally, 23:35.600 --> 23:38.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% probably centimeters a day, 23:38.200 --> 23:40.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% just clearing outward and making sure 23:40.366 --> 23:43.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that we were very carefully exposing the bones, 23:43.600 --> 23:45.700 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and then safely bringing them out. 23:45.800 --> 23:48.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Everything that came out of the cave had to be marked, 23:48.866 --> 23:52.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% catalogued on the site, photographed, 23:52.400 --> 23:55.466 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% put into secure watertight bags, 23:55.566 --> 23:58.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% put into a waterproof padded caving bag 23:58.266 --> 24:01.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and had to come out that narrow passageway. 24:01.300 --> 24:05.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, it was enormously stressful, let's say, 24:05.933 --> 24:08.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that we had to do all of this to make sure 24:08.433 --> 24:09.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% that everything came out safely. 24:10.033 --> 24:12.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But it was also enormously elating 24:12.600 --> 24:14.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% every time something would come out of the cave. 24:14.800 --> 24:17.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Because every time we opened up one of these 24:17.400 --> 24:19.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% there was the possibility, and most, 24:19.600 --> 24:21.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I mean, more than half the time, 24:21.533 --> 24:24.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% it was something that nobody had ever seen before. 24:24.166 --> 24:27.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, including bones that we almost never find 24:27.566 --> 24:29.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% at fossil sites, you know? 24:29.266 --> 24:31.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, I'll show you some of these bones in a bit. 24:31.533 --> 24:34.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It is really quite a remarkable achievement. 24:35.000 --> 24:38.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But as a result, that situation of the fossils 24:38.833 --> 24:41.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% posed some very special challenges. 24:41.400 --> 24:46.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% For one thing, we worked for 21 days 24:46.366 --> 24:50.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in this site, excavating an area that is smaller 24:50.666 --> 24:53.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% than the area of this table. 24:53.300 --> 24:56.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Less than a square meter, and to a depth 24:56.100 --> 25:00.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of less than a fourth of a square meter 25:00.500 --> 25:01.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% throughout most of it, 25:02.066 --> 25:03.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% less that a fourth of a meter, excuse me. 25:04.033 --> 25:07.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So less than a foot deep, across less than a square yard. 25:07.466 --> 25:11.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% This is an amazing assemblage to come out of that space. 25:11.900 --> 25:16.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Most of the bone assemblage in the cave is still there. 25:17.733 --> 25:21.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We have excavated only a very tiny fraction of it. 25:21.633 --> 25:25.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Also, the unique situation of the cave, 25:25.333 --> 25:26.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% the cramped situation, 25:26.833 --> 25:29.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% the inability to get straight sight lines 25:29.266 --> 25:30.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and the dense packing of the bone, 25:30.966 --> 25:32.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% meant that we needed to study 25:32.466 --> 25:34.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% the spatial arrangement of this 25:34.200 --> 25:36.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% in a different way than we usually do. 25:36.266 --> 25:38.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Usually, we can set up surveying equipment 25:38.466 --> 25:40.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and very precisely get in the points of things 25:40.866 --> 25:42.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% by setting up a station. 25:42.966 --> 25:44.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% In our case, we couldn't do that. 25:44.933 --> 25:46.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We needed to use a different approach. 25:46.633 --> 25:48.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And the approach that we used was a scanning approach. 25:48.700 --> 25:51.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Here you'll see the results of some of our first scans. 25:51.433 --> 25:54.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We have a scanner that we can take the surface 25:54.200 --> 25:56.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of the excavation at every point. 25:56.466 --> 25:58.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And, in fact, after every bone removal, 25:58.500 --> 26:01.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we take the surface of the excavation 26:01.466 --> 26:04.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% so that we have layer by layer, 26:04.300 --> 26:06.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% everything that we've done in the site 26:06.366 --> 26:09.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% can be reconstructed just back the way that we made it. 26:09.300 --> 26:11.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, it is really pushing the technology 26:11.900 --> 26:14.900 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% to enable us to reconstruct the arrangement of these things. 26:15.000 --> 26:17.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We're already learning things about the spatial arrangement 26:17.300 --> 26:19.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that we wouldn't have recovered otherwise. 26:22.933 --> 26:25.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% One of the other things that we were doing on the site 26:26.000 --> 26:28.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% was we had our underground team. 26:28.566 --> 26:31.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We had a team of more than 20 cavers 26:31.300 --> 26:33.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that were involved in the excavation, 26:33.333 --> 26:36.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% running cabling, as you saw, keeping things safe. 26:36.333 --> 26:38.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We had cavers in the cave at all times 26:38.600 --> 26:40.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% to make sure we could get things out of the cave, 26:40.933 --> 26:43.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and to get people out if it was necessary. 26:43.333 --> 26:45.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% All of these folks were camping above ground. 26:45.566 --> 26:49.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And we needed to, A, allow people to recognize 26:49.900 --> 26:51.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% the importance of what they were doing. 26:51.833 --> 26:54.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So that if they were taking time away from their families, 26:54.500 --> 26:56.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% from their jobs, they could tell people, 26:56.200 --> 26:57.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% "Hey, check this out." 26:57.766 --> 26:59.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, part of the really great thing 26:59.266 --> 27:01.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% about our social media presence, 27:01.300 --> 27:03.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% tweeting from the site, doing Facebook posts, 27:03.700 --> 27:05.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% getting National Geographic video 27:05.333 --> 27:06.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% on YouTube from the site, 27:06.900 --> 27:10.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and here our team Skyping out to schools from the site, 27:10.466 --> 27:13.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% we were Skyping to schools and countries all over the world, 27:13.233 --> 27:16.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% was that it enabled people to really get the sense 27:16.166 --> 27:18.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of something really important that's happening. 27:18.433 --> 27:20.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And it enabled us to share as much as possible 27:20.966 --> 27:22.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the process of this with the public. 27:23.033 --> 27:26.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So while there were aspects of it that we couldn't, 27:26.733 --> 27:29.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we couldn't say because we didn't know. 27:29.233 --> 27:31.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We hadn't studied the bones yet scientifically. 27:31.966 --> 27:34.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We could still tell people what the process was. 27:34.833 --> 27:37.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "Here's what we're doing. Here's what we're finding. 27:37.533 --> 27:40.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "Yeah, we found another thigh bone out of the cave today. 27:40.266 --> 27:41.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "We found another mandible. 27:41.766 --> 27:43.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "And here's how we're doing it. 27:44.066 --> 27:45.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "Here's how we'll study these things. 27:45.900 --> 27:47.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "Here's what we don't know about it." 27:47.800 --> 27:49.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% That turned out to be a massive resource. 27:49.933 --> 27:53.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We reached out, in one of our videos within 36 hours, 27:53.766 --> 27:56.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% it was seen by more than 300,000 people around the world. 27:56.666 --> 27:58.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So, this was really something 27:58.366 --> 28:00.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that people were following everywhere. 28:02.266 --> 28:04.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% The packing up on the site, 28:04.200 --> 28:08.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% it was clear that with this assemblage of fossils, 28:08.133 --> 28:12.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% at the end of November more than 1,200 fossils. 28:12.133 --> 28:14.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% After another week of excavation in March, 28:14.333 --> 28:16.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% which we came back to do some targeted work 28:16.533 --> 28:18.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to bring out a couple of things 28:18.100 --> 28:20.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that we knew were at the bottom of this pit, 28:20.733 --> 28:23.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% but we hadn't been able to get out safely before, 28:23.500 --> 28:26.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we recovered another 300 bone pieces. 28:26.100 --> 28:29.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, we had in all more than 1,500 pieces of bone. 28:30.033 --> 28:32.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We needed a very special way to study that. 28:32.600 --> 28:35.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% That by itself is the largest assemblage 28:35.400 --> 28:38.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% of fossil hominins ever discovered in Africa. 28:38.200 --> 28:39.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% There's only one site in the world 28:39.633 --> 28:41.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that comes close to this, in terms of fossils. 28:41.933 --> 28:46.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It's in Spain and it's an early form of our own genus, homo. 28:46.700 --> 28:52.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, what we did 28:52.166 --> 28:55.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% was to get the word out, again via Facebook, 28:55.766 --> 28:57.600 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% again via social networks. 28:57.700 --> 29:01.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We need people to come and help us to analyze this material. 29:01.633 --> 29:04.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% If we just took the team of senior people 29:04.500 --> 29:07.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% who've been involved in the project for many years to come 29:07.633 --> 29:09.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and describe stuff, it would take us 29:09.566 --> 29:11.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% years and years and years to do it. 29:11.566 --> 29:13.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We didn't want to do it that way. 29:13.466 --> 29:16.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But we also wanted to take advantage of the opportunity 29:16.466 --> 29:18.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% to broaden the involvement of this 29:18.166 --> 29:20.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% to a new generation of people. 29:20.466 --> 29:24.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, we got the word out that we were looking for scientists 29:24.600 --> 29:26.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% who were in their early career. 29:26.366 --> 29:28.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% People who were finishing their Ph.D., 29:28.533 --> 29:30.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% who had already done their research, 29:30.166 --> 29:31.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% who already had data sets, 29:31.766 --> 29:34.033 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% or who had recently finished their Ph.D. 29:34.133 --> 29:36.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% They're in their first position, a post-doc, 29:36.366 --> 29:40.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% an assistant professorship, and you've got data sets, 29:40.666 --> 29:43.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% "Please apply. "Tell us what you've got." 29:43.333 --> 29:45.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And we have resources to bring people 29:45.533 --> 29:47.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% to work on the fossils. 29:47.500 --> 29:48.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And that's exactly what we did. 29:49.033 --> 29:52.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% During June of 2014, May and June of 2014, 29:52.600 --> 29:54.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% we assembled more than 35 29:54.100 --> 29:56.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% early-career researchers in South Africa, 29:56.900 --> 30:00.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% funded by the South African National Research Foundation 30:00.300 --> 30:04.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% to do the primary description and analysis of the fossils. 30:04.333 --> 30:06.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% This was an amazing time, 30:06.300 --> 30:08.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I think for all of them, certainly for me. 30:08.500 --> 30:11.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Because, imagine, right? 30:11.200 --> 30:12.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% You've got people who've been dreaming 30:12.800 --> 30:14.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% about doing this sort of thing 30:14.766 --> 30:17.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% for at least what has been in their careers to date. 30:17.966 --> 30:21.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And I'll never forget, taking the big, 30:21.966 --> 30:24.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% these things are in a vault like a bank vault, right? 30:24.233 --> 30:27.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% With a giant door, and taking the big key 30:27.166 --> 30:30.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and opening the vault and doing the (door opening) 30:30.300 --> 30:33.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and letting these folks into the fossil vault 30:33.300 --> 30:35.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% for the first time and seeing these fossils. 30:35.533 --> 30:37.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It was really quite amazing. 30:37.266 --> 30:42.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And on site here for more than five weeks, 30:42.333 --> 30:44.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% we put more than 10,000 person hours 30:44.600 --> 30:46.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% into the analysis of these fossils. 30:46.700 --> 30:48.466 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We measured them in every way possible. 30:48.566 --> 30:51.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We scanned them. We made surface models of them. 30:51.966 --> 30:55.700 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We described them in relation to every fossil hominin 30:55.800 --> 30:57.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that we had to compare them to. 30:57.866 --> 30:59.466 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And that included not only originals 30:59.566 --> 31:02.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that exist in South Africa, but high quality copies 31:02.933 --> 31:05.700 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% of things that we assembled by getting everybody 31:05.800 --> 31:07.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% around the world who had copies of things 31:07.933 --> 31:10.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% to send them to us so that we could compare them. 31:10.366 --> 31:14.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So we really put together a scientific document 31:14.666 --> 31:16.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that shows the anatomy of something 31:17.033 --> 31:20.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that would turn out to be, after our analysis, 31:21.033 --> 31:25.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% a species that had been totally unknown to us before. 31:25.100 --> 31:28.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% A new species that we named Homo naledi. 31:28.833 --> 31:31.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Naledi in the Sesotho language, 31:31.233 --> 31:32.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% which is one of the local languages 31:32.966 --> 31:35.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% spoken in this area, means star. 31:35.600 --> 31:38.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And we named it star because of the Rising Star Cave 31:38.966 --> 31:40.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that we found them in. 31:40.300 --> 31:42.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And we named the chamber where we found the bones, 31:42.466 --> 31:44.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% the chamber that had not been on the map 31:44.366 --> 31:45.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% before our team went into it, 31:46.033 --> 31:48.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% we named that chamber the Dinaledi Chamber, 31:48.100 --> 31:49.900 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% which means the chamber of stars. 31:50.000 --> 31:55.033 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So Homo naledi turned out to be 31:55.133 --> 31:58.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% similar in some ways to early members 31:58.333 --> 32:00.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% of our own genus, genus homo. 32:00.600 --> 32:03.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But also substantially different from them 32:03.633 --> 32:05.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% in some really interesting ways. 32:05.866 --> 32:08.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It gave us a picture of a species that we didn't expect. 32:10.400 --> 32:12.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% This is a virtual model made from 32:12.700 --> 32:15.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% some of the scans of the bones, 32:15.700 --> 32:17.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% some of the 3-D scans. 32:17.200 --> 32:19.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So this is a 3-D manipulatable model. 32:19.266 --> 32:20.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Here's is the bone layout, 32:20.833 --> 32:22.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that shows you the multiple pieces 32:22.366 --> 32:24.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of each part that we have preserved. 32:24.466 --> 32:27.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% For the first time, we were able to prepare a description 32:27.166 --> 32:31.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of a new species of hominin based on the entire skeleton. 32:32.933 --> 32:35.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Usually we find a jaw. And we compare that jaw. 32:35.966 --> 32:38.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We pour over it, comparing it to everything we know about. 32:38.433 --> 32:40.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And we find a few details that make it different, 32:40.666 --> 32:42.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and we say, "Ah, This is something new!" 32:43.066 --> 32:47.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% In this case, we're able to compare the entire skeleton. 32:47.533 --> 32:50.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And some things really are unique, we've never seen before. 32:50.900 --> 32:54.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And some things overlap with other species. 32:54.166 --> 32:56.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But what was key about this was that the things 32:56.666 --> 32:58.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that overlap with one species, 32:58.966 --> 33:01.966 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% other features would overlap with something else. 33:02.066 --> 33:03.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% This was a new combination of things 33:03.900 --> 33:06.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that we'd never seen before. 33:06.766 --> 33:09.466 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So the skull is the most charismatic part. 33:09.566 --> 33:11.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Everybody loves the skull. 33:11.600 --> 33:15.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We have parts of at least five skulls, 33:15.433 --> 33:17.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and very probably more. 33:17.100 --> 33:19.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% When I say at least five, what I mean is that 33:19.466 --> 33:21.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I can show by laying them out 33:21.333 --> 33:24.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that I have the same part repeated five times. 33:24.600 --> 33:27.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, we have parts of at least five skulls. 33:27.166 --> 33:30.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We have parts of at least 15 individuals' dentitions. 33:30.166 --> 33:32.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I'll show you teeth in a bit. 33:34.066 --> 33:37.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Here's our team working on the teeth, 33:37.133 --> 33:39.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% or on the skull, these early-career people. 33:39.566 --> 33:41.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% My friend Davorka Radovcic on the right 33:41.300 --> 33:44.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% from the Natural History Museum of Croatia. 33:44.766 --> 33:48.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And here's one of 33:48.533 --> 33:50.300 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% the more complete skulls. 33:50.400 --> 33:53.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is DH-3, Dinaledi Hominin 3. 33:53.100 --> 33:54.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is the skull of an old woman. 33:54.733 --> 33:56.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And I'll show you that tooth set 33:56.666 --> 33:57.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% in comparison to the others. 33:58.000 --> 33:59.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We know how old they are from their teeth, 33:59.866 --> 34:01.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% if they preserve them. 34:03.466 --> 34:05.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Here's a couple more of the skulls. 34:06.633 --> 34:09.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Here, I like to show how much we have, right? 34:09.566 --> 34:12.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Here are all pieces of the brow ridge. 34:13.300 --> 34:15.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Here are pieces of the temporal bone, 34:15.966 --> 34:17.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% just in front of the ear. 34:19.100 --> 34:21.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Here are pieces of cheekbones. 34:22.566 --> 34:24.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Here's the back of the skull. 34:25.700 --> 34:28.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But, in addition to this, we can use our scans 34:28.366 --> 34:29.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to virtually reconstruct things. 34:29.900 --> 34:31.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And this gives us a lot of information 34:31.733 --> 34:33.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% about the structure of these things. 34:33.633 --> 34:35.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So, here's DH-3 from the front. 34:35.833 --> 34:39.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And here's a reconstruction of what its endocast was like. 34:39.633 --> 34:42.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The inside of its brain, of its skull, 34:42.400 --> 34:45.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% gives us some indication of the outside of its brain. 34:45.966 --> 34:48.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And that doesn't tell us a lot about the function of the brain, 34:48.700 --> 34:51.466 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% but it does give us a great idea of its size. 34:51.566 --> 34:53.966 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% These hominins had brains about a third 34:54.066 --> 34:56.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% the size of yours and mine. 34:56.366 --> 34:58.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, they're really quite small. 34:59.500 --> 35:02.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And yet their skull is structured 35:02.966 --> 35:05.366 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% very much like homo erectus, 35:05.466 --> 35:07.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% a species that typically has brains 35:07.900 --> 35:09.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% about twice the size of this. 35:09.966 --> 35:14.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, in structure, it's like a more advanced-looking thing. 35:15.000 --> 35:18.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% In size, it's like a more primitive-looking thing. 35:20.733 --> 35:25.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And just a comparison, here's teeth on the X-axis 35:25.766 --> 35:28.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% versus brain size on the Y-axis. 35:28.833 --> 35:31.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Our evolution tends to follow a trend, 35:31.166 --> 35:34.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% where if you go from the lower right to the upper left, 35:34.400 --> 35:36.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% you're going actually forward in time. 35:36.900 --> 35:40.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, that Australopithecus, our primitive ancestors, 35:40.766 --> 35:43.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% had large teeth and small brains. 35:43.600 --> 35:46.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And as we go up closer and closer to us, 35:46.166 --> 35:47.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% through our genus, homo, 35:47.500 --> 35:50.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% you get smaller teeth and bigger brains. 35:50.466 --> 35:53.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So there's this sort of dual set of trends. 35:53.266 --> 35:55.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Homo naledi that you see there, 35:55.200 --> 35:59.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the white bar, is small teeth, small brain. 35:59.566 --> 36:01.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And that's very atypical. 36:01.933 --> 36:04.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% That's not the kind of relation we expect to see. 36:05.933 --> 36:08.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% My friend John Gurche, who's, in my mind, 36:08.800 --> 36:11.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the best art reconstructor of fossils, 36:11.533 --> 36:13.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% has done a reconstruction for us 36:13.266 --> 36:15.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of what our most complete skull, DH-1, 36:15.833 --> 36:19.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% would have looked like in life. 36:19.266 --> 36:23.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, that bust is based on this skull. 36:28.533 --> 36:31.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% DH-2 is the skull that you saw them working on 36:31.466 --> 36:34.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% there in the cave that came up in, ultimately, a cereal bowl. 36:34.933 --> 36:36.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% That was the best thing for it. 36:36.366 --> 36:38.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It laid upside-down in a cereal bowl 36:38.233 --> 36:40.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and we put it inside of that lunch box 36:40.200 --> 36:42.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and it came up through the cave. 36:42.166 --> 36:43.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (audience laughs) 36:43.566 --> 36:46.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And here's DH-1, the most complete of the skulls. 36:50.200 --> 36:53.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Well, I'll say a few words about teeth 36:54.000 --> 36:56.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% because teeth we get a lot of information out of. 36:56.133 --> 36:58.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And we're still getting information out of these teeth. 36:58.533 --> 37:00.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We've done micro-CT scanning 37:00.266 --> 37:02.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% of all of the teeth in the collection. 37:02.500 --> 37:03.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And so we're now studying 37:04.033 --> 37:05.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% the internal structure of the teeth. 37:05.766 --> 37:07.900 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We will go on to study their development. 37:08.000 --> 37:11.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, we'll get some idea of how fast these individuals 37:11.666 --> 37:14.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% may have developed in their lives by studying that way. 37:14.500 --> 37:17.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We will also study their isotopes to get some idea 37:17.466 --> 37:19.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% of what fraction of their diet 37:19.300 --> 37:21.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% may have come from different food sources. 37:21.300 --> 37:23.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, we'll get a lot of information from these teeth. 37:23.866 --> 37:27.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But for me, somebody who's used to working on teeth 37:27.266 --> 37:29.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% from other collections that are large, 37:29.433 --> 37:30.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% the most exciting thing is, 37:30.866 --> 37:33.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is that we can get a picture of what this group 37:33.266 --> 37:35.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% would've been like when it was alive. 37:35.600 --> 37:37.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Because here is an array 37:38.033 --> 37:40.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of the more complete of the dentitions. 37:40.266 --> 37:43.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is six dentitions representing a range of ages. 37:44.000 --> 37:45.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So that, at the upper left, 37:45.866 --> 37:49.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we have a nearly complete set of teeth, upper and lower. 37:49.100 --> 37:50.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% These are all baby teeth 37:51.033 --> 37:52.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% except for the very bottom ones there, 37:53.033 --> 37:54.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% in the upper-left set. 37:54.633 --> 37:56.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Those are the first permanent molars. 37:56.833 --> 37:58.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is a set of teeth from a toddler 37:59.066 --> 38:00.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% around the age of two or three, 38:00.600 --> 38:02.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% if this was human terms, in terms of age. 38:02.666 --> 38:04.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Probably they developed a little faster than we do. 38:04.866 --> 38:06.300 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So, probably a little younger. 38:06.400 --> 38:09.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% At the bottom right, you have the oldest individual. 38:09.200 --> 38:12.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% That individual has almost worn her teeth completely out, 38:12.500 --> 38:15.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% so that they're worn all the way down to the roots. 38:15.100 --> 38:17.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% In fossil terms, that usually means that this individual 38:17.833 --> 38:20.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% is somewhere in their mid-30s. 38:20.766 --> 38:22.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So, if you think old, old, old, 38:22.800 --> 38:25.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that's old, old, old for these folks. 38:25.833 --> 38:27.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And we have everything in between. 38:27.266 --> 38:28.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We have children. 38:28.533 --> 38:30.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We have at least eight children 38:30.100 --> 38:31.966 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% in the collection of a range of ages. 38:32.066 --> 38:34.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We have infants, including one either newborn 38:34.400 --> 38:36.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% or near-term fetus. 38:36.766 --> 38:39.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We have, we have young children. 38:39.300 --> 38:41.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We have older children, adolescents. 38:41.500 --> 38:44.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And we have young adults and one very old adult. 38:44.466 --> 38:48.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, this is a picture of the demography of a population. 38:48.966 --> 38:50.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We've never had that before. 38:50.933 --> 38:52.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Not from one site like this. 38:52.833 --> 38:55.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And certainly not from as primitive a hominin as this is. 38:55.933 --> 38:57.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, this gives us unique information 38:57.733 --> 39:01.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that we're only really starting to be able to work with. 39:01.366 --> 39:04.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is my favorite thing in the whole collection, 39:04.366 --> 39:06.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% because when you have a bunch of loose teeth 39:06.900 --> 39:09.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that you've found in a cave, fitting them together 39:09.400 --> 39:11.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is like the greatest puzzle ever. 39:11.200 --> 39:12.333 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (audience laughs) 39:12.433 --> 39:13.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Because there are biological clues 39:13.900 --> 39:15.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% about which teeth go together and how. 39:15.900 --> 39:17.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And they leave traces on each other 39:17.433 --> 39:19.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% so that you can actually discover, 39:19.233 --> 39:21.366 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "Ah! This tooth goes with this!" 39:21.466 --> 39:22.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Last month, I was there 39:22.733 --> 39:25.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and we had a tooth come out of the cave 39:25.300 --> 39:26.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% because we had to sample another tooth 39:26.900 --> 39:30.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% for some dating methods, and I said, 39:30.300 --> 39:32.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% "Ah! I know exactly where this goes! 39:32.733 --> 39:35.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% "I know whose tooth that is." 39:35.466 --> 39:36.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% The clues are there. 39:36.466 --> 39:37.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, this is my favorite, 39:37.966 --> 39:40.700 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% because it's this beautiful, beautiful condition dentition. 39:40.800 --> 39:43.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% This is the entire set of lower teeth 39:43.200 --> 39:45.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and we have most of the upper teeth 39:45.300 --> 39:47.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% as well of this individual, of what in human terms 39:48.066 --> 39:50.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% would be about a nine- or ten-year-old. 39:54.433 --> 39:57.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But we have not only the skull and the teeth, 39:57.233 --> 39:58.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% which we often have at other sites, 39:59.000 --> 40:00.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we have the rest of the skeleton. 40:00.666 --> 40:02.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And we have lots and lots and lots of parts 40:02.700 --> 40:04.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% of the rest of the skeleton, 40:04.300 --> 40:06.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% including complete articulated parts. 40:07.000 --> 40:11.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, this in the site is the right hand of an individual. 40:12.066 --> 40:14.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The fingers are bent over like this 40:14.733 --> 40:16.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% so that you see the intermediate phalanges, 40:17.066 --> 40:19.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% these middle parts of the fingers bent over like that. 40:19.866 --> 40:22.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is what you call a death pose. 40:22.266 --> 40:25.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Because here's the hand and it's gone like this. 40:25.233 --> 40:27.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And all of the bones are there. 40:27.166 --> 40:29.033 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% The only bone lacking from this hand 40:29.133 --> 40:32.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% is this little one in the wrist, the pisiform bone. 40:32.733 --> 40:35.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% If you fall on the ice, don't do it, 40:35.366 --> 40:38.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% but if you do and you throw your wrist down like this, 40:38.233 --> 40:41.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% this one you might break or at least dislocate. 40:41.300 --> 40:42.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, it's there. 40:42.766 --> 40:44.033 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We don't have that bone. 40:44.133 --> 40:45.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We have every other bone 40:45.500 --> 40:48.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% from every other individual, it's amazing. 40:51.033 --> 40:55.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Put this together and this hand, by itself, 40:55.333 --> 40:56.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and we have parts of many hands. 40:56.866 --> 41:00.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We have 150 hand and wrist elements in the collection. 41:00.566 --> 41:03.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We have 190 teeth in the collection. 41:03.466 --> 41:04.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It is an amazing sample. 41:04.900 --> 41:09.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But this hand itself has this mixture of features 41:09.900 --> 41:12.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% that indicate different things. 41:12.366 --> 41:16.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Its wrist and its palm is fundamentally 41:16.333 --> 41:19.600 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% a human wrist and palm. 41:19.700 --> 41:24.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But its fingers are very curved 41:24.433 --> 41:26.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% relative to our fingers. 41:26.666 --> 41:29.466 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Its fingertips, you can see them, the fingertips, 41:29.566 --> 41:31.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% they're broad at the end. 41:31.533 --> 41:33.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% A chimpanzee's fingertips or the fingertips 41:33.433 --> 41:34.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% of some of our early ancestors 41:35.033 --> 41:36.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% are very narrow at the end. 41:36.700 --> 41:40.900 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% That's because we use our fingertips to grip things strongly 41:41.000 --> 41:44.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% when we're making and using stone tools. 41:44.300 --> 41:45.966 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% You guys aren't making or using stone tools 41:46.066 --> 41:47.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% but your fingers are still well-made for it. 41:48.033 --> 41:49.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And you grip strongly, powerfully 41:49.466 --> 41:52.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% through your fingertips because of it. 41:52.466 --> 41:56.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% These guys, we've never found a stone tool yet in our site. 41:56.733 --> 41:59.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, I can't say for sure that they were doing that, 41:59.100 --> 42:01.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% but their hands are sure made for it. 42:01.333 --> 42:03.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But those curved fingers mean that their hands 42:03.400 --> 42:06.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% were also well-made for gripping onto things like this 42:06.966 --> 42:08.700 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and suspending weight from them. 42:08.800 --> 42:11.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Which tells us that they were probably climbing. 42:11.200 --> 42:13.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Climbing a great deal, we think. 42:13.766 --> 42:15.466 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But the one thing that's weird about this hand 42:15.566 --> 42:17.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that we've never seen before anywhere 42:17.833 --> 42:20.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% is the bone that connects 42:20.900 --> 42:24.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% the thumb to the wrist. 42:24.133 --> 42:25.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% That bone in the palm of your hand 42:25.733 --> 42:29.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that moves like this because it's a first metacarpal. 42:29.100 --> 42:31.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And it's the one that roots your thumb there. 42:31.333 --> 42:33.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% You can see that this is a powerful thumb. 42:33.666 --> 42:36.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% But that bone in particular, 42:36.266 --> 42:39.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the wrist end of that bone is at the bottom here. 42:39.733 --> 42:42.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The thumb end of that is at the top. 42:42.333 --> 42:44.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And this bone is totally wrong. 42:44.633 --> 42:47.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Because you can see that it is thicker at the distal end, 42:47.466 --> 42:49.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the thumb end, than it is at the wrist end. 42:49.666 --> 42:51.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is like a Popeye thumb, right? 42:51.833 --> 42:54.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% He's got those massive forearms and they're wrong. 42:54.533 --> 42:55.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% This is wrong. 42:55.866 --> 42:57.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We've never seen anything else like this. 42:57.966 --> 42:59.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But I love to show this slide, 42:59.433 --> 43:00.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% because sometimes people will say, 43:00.933 --> 43:03.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% "Well you found something unique, 43:03.300 --> 43:05.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% "that was probably just a weirdo. 43:05.233 --> 43:07.466 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% "That was probably just a strange individual." 43:07.566 --> 43:09.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We've got seven of these! 43:09.100 --> 43:10.900 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% (audience laughs) 43:11.000 --> 43:13.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% They're all morphologically the same. 43:13.300 --> 43:14.900 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% They all have this strange character. 43:15.000 --> 43:17.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And that tells us that this is actually 43:17.200 --> 43:19.600 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% a characteristic of Homo naledi. 43:19.700 --> 43:20.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% This is something about the way 43:21.066 --> 43:23.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that it was adapting to its environment 43:23.533 --> 43:27.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that gave it this unique morphology. 43:27.866 --> 43:30.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% You can see the curvature there of those fingers. 43:33.300 --> 43:37.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And the forearms, the upper limbs let's say, 43:37.366 --> 43:40.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% are actually really slender. 43:40.333 --> 43:41.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% You look at that humorous. 43:41.633 --> 43:43.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I've printed it here. 43:43.600 --> 43:46.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% This is a really slender bone. 43:46.600 --> 43:49.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And when we look at the rest of the post, 43:49.100 --> 43:51.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and we have juveniles of most of these as well. 43:51.100 --> 43:53.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, we can look at that developmental aspect as well. 43:54.000 --> 43:56.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% This is an adult humorous. 43:56.200 --> 43:57.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% This is a juvenile humorous. 43:57.666 --> 43:59.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And on both cases the head of this, 43:59.966 --> 44:02.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that connects to your shoulder is broken off. 44:02.300 --> 44:04.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But the distal end is there here, 44:04.966 --> 44:07.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and just short of there here. 44:07.366 --> 44:10.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, this is the bone of probably a six- or seven-year-old 44:10.500 --> 44:12.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and this is the bone of an adult. 44:12.233 --> 44:16.900 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% These are little, slender, but long 44:17.000 --> 44:19.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% compared to how thin they are. 44:19.766 --> 44:21.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And we're gonna see that throughout. 44:21.933 --> 44:24.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% The shoulders of Homo naledi, 44:24.266 --> 44:27.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% to make a long story short, are like this. 44:27.633 --> 44:31.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% They are oriented on the body of Homo naledi 44:31.333 --> 44:34.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% as if they're made to reach up and climb stuff. 44:34.766 --> 44:37.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% They are not oriented in the way that ours are, 44:38.033 --> 44:41.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% which is fundamentally with our scapulas down here 44:41.200 --> 44:42.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and to the side of our bodies, 44:43.033 --> 44:44.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% well made for winding up 44:44.666 --> 44:49.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and throwing stuff or hitting stuff. 44:50.400 --> 44:55.033 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Homo naledis are made for climbing stuff. 44:55.133 --> 44:58.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And the clavicles match, these long, long collarbones. 45:01.500 --> 45:03.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We've got lots of feet. 45:03.233 --> 45:05.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% My graduate student, my Ph.D. student I should say, 45:05.933 --> 45:08.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% who now is an anatomy professor 45:08.100 --> 45:10.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% at Lincoln-Memorial University, Zach Throckmorton, 45:10.633 --> 45:13.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% came from UW and is one of the experts 45:13.200 --> 45:15.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% working on the feet of Homo naledi. 45:15.333 --> 45:17.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We've got many partial feet, 45:17.300 --> 45:20.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% many of them also found in articulation in the site. 45:21.033 --> 45:25.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The most complete one shows a foot which, in Zach's words, 45:25.300 --> 45:26.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% right, 45:26.966 --> 45:30.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "This is as human as yours and mine." 45:30.333 --> 45:32.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It's got the arches that our feet have. 45:32.833 --> 45:35.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It's got the proportions of the toes that ours do. 45:35.566 --> 45:38.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The lateral toes there, we have most of the bones of those. 45:39.000 --> 45:41.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But it's really hard with little toe bones 45:41.400 --> 45:43.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to know for sure which is which. 45:43.233 --> 45:46.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So we don't show them in the diagram like this. 45:46.333 --> 45:47.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We've got them oriented there 45:47.866 --> 45:49.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% on the cover of the "On Wisconsin." 45:49.833 --> 45:53.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So you can see all the toe bones, and one finger bone. 45:53.400 --> 45:54.700 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It's not my fault. 45:54.800 --> 45:56.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% (audience laughs) 45:56.933 --> 45:59.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% You see all the toe bones. 45:59.933 --> 46:02.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% This is a toe that's made for upright walking, 46:02.233 --> 46:06.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% bipedal striding, but in a essentially human-like way. 46:06.866 --> 46:09.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It is a human foot. 46:09.433 --> 46:12.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And that contrasts with things like the shoulder, 46:12.166 --> 46:14.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% which is not like a human shoulder. 46:16.733 --> 46:18.966 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% The lower limb, here's the tibia. 46:19.066 --> 46:21.966 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Likewise, long and slender, 46:22.066 --> 46:25.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and you start getting a picture for how big those guys are. 46:25.366 --> 46:27.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% You can see that all these bones are slender. 46:27.233 --> 46:28.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% All these bones are skinny. 46:28.800 --> 46:30.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Whatever height they are, 46:30.266 --> 46:32.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% they seem like they're not very thick. 46:32.233 --> 46:34.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% They're not massive for their height. 46:34.266 --> 46:36.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% When we work with these numbers from the long bones, 46:36.833 --> 46:38.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we estimate that these guys stand 46:39.033 --> 46:43.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% about four-and-a-half to five feet tall. 46:43.966 --> 46:46.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So they're human-sized. 46:46.533 --> 46:48.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% They're not big-human-sized 46:48.100 --> 46:51.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% but they're the size of small-bodied human populations. 46:51.333 --> 46:54.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% People like Pygmies, like the Khoisan people 46:54.333 --> 46:56.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% of South Africa, yeah, South Africa, 46:56.966 --> 46:59.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% like the Andaman Islanders. 46:59.700 --> 47:02.966 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Folks around the world who are small-bodied populations, 47:03.066 --> 47:06.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Homo naledi is their size. 47:06.366 --> 47:08.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Again, juvenile tibiae. 47:10.500 --> 47:14.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We've got at least eight adult proximal femora. 47:14.766 --> 47:16.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I've got a bunch of them printed here as well. 47:17.033 --> 47:19.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The femur is different from the rest of the hindlimb. 47:20.000 --> 47:21.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% The feet are human. 47:21.500 --> 47:24.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The tibiae are long and slender, but basically human. 47:24.733 --> 47:27.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The femur, across it, is mostly human. 47:27.400 --> 47:29.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But you get to that proximal femur, 47:29.300 --> 47:30.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and the neck of that proximal femur, 47:31.066 --> 47:34.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% the part that connects to your hip joint, is long. 47:35.033 --> 47:37.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And I'll tell you exactly why that is... 47:38.933 --> 47:40.700 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% when we look at the hip... 47:45.700 --> 47:49.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% which is flared outwards like this. 47:49.666 --> 47:53.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And so if I take a piece of the hip, 47:53.400 --> 47:55.466 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and the hip is a tragedy. 47:55.566 --> 47:57.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% My post-doc here, Caroline Van Sickle, 47:57.666 --> 47:58.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% her specialty is the hip. 47:58.966 --> 48:00.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And she worked with us on the team 48:00.866 --> 48:02.466 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that was working on the hips. 48:02.566 --> 48:04.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Some of you might have gone to her lecture 48:04.533 --> 48:06.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% when she did Wednesday Nite @ the Lab. 48:06.466 --> 48:09.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, I always tell people that the hip is a tragedy. 48:09.633 --> 48:11.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And she's like, "Why is it tragic?" 48:11.666 --> 48:13.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Well, it's tragic because we have, 48:13.300 --> 48:15.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% actually, a lot of broken pieces of it. 48:15.400 --> 48:17.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And we get a lot of anatomical clues from those. 48:18.066 --> 48:19.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And I've just sent her to Madrid 48:19.900 --> 48:22.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% where she's working with specialists who've reconstructed 48:22.933 --> 48:25.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% what this hip might've looked like from the pieces. 48:26.000 --> 48:28.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% But the first clue that we get 48:28.833 --> 48:31.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is that when we orient this properly, 48:31.466 --> 48:34.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% you see that is just flares outwards like this 48:34.233 --> 48:39.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and the femur necks are long to match. 48:39.466 --> 48:41.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is a dynamic that we see in some 48:41.833 --> 48:45.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of the earliest bipedal hominins, the australopiths. 48:45.233 --> 48:47.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It's a dynamic that shows that they have great force 48:48.033 --> 48:49.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to keep their bodies upright. 48:49.766 --> 48:51.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% They have very good leverage for that. 48:51.766 --> 48:55.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And they have a lot of hip swing. 48:55.433 --> 48:58.900 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But it's not very human-like. 48:59.000 --> 49:01.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We have a much more vertically-oriented hip. 49:01.266 --> 49:02.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And ours are much better made 49:02.866 --> 49:05.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% for long-distance walking and running. 49:05.300 --> 49:08.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, this is a very primitive confirmation 49:08.833 --> 49:11.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% to go with that very human-like foot. 49:11.833 --> 49:13.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And that's a bit of a puzzle for us. 49:13.766 --> 49:15.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We haven't worked it out yet. 49:18.933 --> 49:23.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, when you look across the whole body, Homo naledi, 49:23.400 --> 49:25.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and this is John's drawing of this, 49:25.700 --> 49:28.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and I think he's done just a great job. 49:28.300 --> 49:31.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% On the very left, we have Lucy. 49:31.333 --> 49:33.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Her species is Australopithecus afarensis. 49:34.033 --> 49:36.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It's one of the most primitive bipedal hominins. 49:36.700 --> 49:37.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Afarensis is small. 49:38.033 --> 49:41.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Lucy stood just a bit over three feet tall. 49:41.566 --> 49:44.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Next to her is the most complete skeleton 49:44.400 --> 49:46.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% of Homo erectus, reconstructed. 49:46.600 --> 49:48.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% This is a skeleton from Kenya. 49:48.900 --> 49:50.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It's called the stripling youth, 49:50.633 --> 49:52.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% or the boy from Nariokotome. 49:52.533 --> 49:55.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And people always remember how to say Nariokotome 49:55.833 --> 49:57.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% because it's pronounced like frontal lobotomy. 49:58.033 --> 50:00.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (audience laughs) 50:00.566 --> 50:02.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I will never forget when I was taught that. 50:02.600 --> 50:05.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So, now I'm transmitting it. 50:05.866 --> 50:08.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And on the right you see Homo naledi. 50:08.766 --> 50:10.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Homo naledi's in between these two 50:10.866 --> 50:14.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in stature, the size of a small-bodied human. 50:14.200 --> 50:16.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But I think John has done the shoulders especially well. 50:16.900 --> 50:18.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% He's done the thinness well. 50:18.533 --> 50:20.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% He's done the stance, I think, well. 50:20.200 --> 50:22.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It is a very human-like stance. 50:22.600 --> 50:26.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But it doesn't look quite like us. 50:26.166 --> 50:29.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And that's what you get with Homo naledi. 50:29.366 --> 50:33.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We do not know how old the fossil assemblage is. 50:35.500 --> 50:39.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We have excavated it from a very uncommon setting. 50:39.300 --> 50:42.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It does not have the bone embedded in rock. 50:42.400 --> 50:45.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We do not have as clear of indicators 50:45.733 --> 50:47.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% of the antiquity of the bone. 50:48.000 --> 50:50.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And you might say, "Well, the bone's probably young." 50:50.466 --> 50:51.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And that's a possibility. 50:51.900 --> 50:53.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% This bone could actually be 50:53.833 --> 50:55.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% relatively young in fossil terms. 50:55.933 --> 50:57.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% That would still be tens of thousands, 50:57.666 --> 50:59.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% hundreds of thousands of years old, 50:59.500 --> 51:01.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% but it might be very different in age 51:01.400 --> 51:03.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% from other things in the area. 51:03.466 --> 51:06.033 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But I have worked on hominin collections, 51:06.133 --> 51:08.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia for instance, 51:08.900 --> 51:11.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% where the bone is two million years old nearly, 51:11.333 --> 51:15.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% but is also very fragile and not embedded in hard rock. 51:15.333 --> 51:16.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So we don't know for sure 51:16.933 --> 51:19.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% the age of this from the condition. 51:19.266 --> 51:21.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We are working in the site to discover 51:21.900 --> 51:24.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% the age of the fossils by bracketing them 51:24.833 --> 51:26.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% with flow stone deposits. 51:26.866 --> 51:30.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We have flowstones that are above our fossil deposit. 51:30.366 --> 51:31.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We're working to discover 51:31.666 --> 51:33.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% what is at the bottom of the fossil deposit. 51:33.933 --> 51:35.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And the density of bone means that 51:35.833 --> 51:38.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we don't just dig right through with a drill, right? 51:38.533 --> 51:40.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So we actually have to be very careful about this. 51:40.633 --> 51:43.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And that is holding us up on determining a date. 51:43.233 --> 51:46.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But you can see the possibilities. 51:46.166 --> 51:49.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It is a very primitive member of our genus. 51:49.200 --> 51:51.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It's like maybe the earliest examples 51:51.700 --> 51:54.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% of Homo erectus with a smaller brain. 51:54.366 --> 51:57.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It's like Homo habilis, a very primitive member 51:57.466 --> 52:00.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of our genus, with a smaller brain 52:00.466 --> 52:02.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% but with more advanced aspects 52:02.600 --> 52:04.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of the feet and hands, for instance. 52:04.700 --> 52:08.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, it looks like it's rooted in our family tree 52:08.966 --> 52:11.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% around the time that our genus originated, 52:11.400 --> 52:13.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% maybe two to two-and-a-half million years ago, 52:13.966 --> 52:15.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% possibly earlier. 52:16.066 --> 52:19.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But the fossils may be much younger than that. 52:19.433 --> 52:20.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% They could be that age, right? 52:20.766 --> 52:23.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It could be, "Wow! This is our ancestor." 52:23.266 --> 52:26.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Or it could be that the fossils have survived 52:26.766 --> 52:30.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% alongside other species that evolved more similar to us. 52:31.000 --> 52:32.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And we don't know. 52:32.666 --> 52:34.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, when we draw the family tree, 52:34.500 --> 52:36.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% you can say that homo here is the bottom branch, 52:36.700 --> 52:39.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and these orange species are different kinds of homo. 52:39.266 --> 52:40.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Homo naledi is this green one. 52:41.000 --> 52:42.333 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And maybe it's very recent. 52:42.433 --> 52:44.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Maybe it lived alongside of even modern humans. 52:44.833 --> 52:46.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% That's a possibility. 52:46.566 --> 52:48.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Maybe it's the age we think it is. 52:48.866 --> 52:50.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It's even a possibility it's much older 52:50.766 --> 52:52.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% than it sort of ought to be. 52:52.333 --> 52:54.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% In which case it would establish an earlier date 52:54.733 --> 52:57.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% for the origin of our genus than we thought. 52:57.433 --> 53:00.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, discovering the date takes on some primary importance 53:00.366 --> 53:03.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in understanding what happened to lead 53:03.600 --> 53:07.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% to the evolution of humans and other species of homo. 53:09.066 --> 53:11.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Well as Tom indicated, 53:11.266 --> 53:14.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we had a lot of news with this discovery. 53:14.166 --> 53:17.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is my photo on the New York Times, just wonderful. 53:17.633 --> 53:20.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The international attention to this has been just enormous. 53:21.033 --> 53:23.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It has been really, really great to see 53:23.266 --> 53:26.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that our science has gotten this kind of attention. 53:26.500 --> 53:27.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% This is the skull right? 53:27.966 --> 53:29.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I'm the one who made away 53:29.500 --> 53:31.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% with the one the vice president kissed. 53:31.166 --> 53:33.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is the vice president of South Africa 53:33.700 --> 53:35.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% who appeared at our announcement 53:35.233 --> 53:37.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and was really nice about this. 53:37.833 --> 53:42.466 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% I just, it is so neat to be in South Africa, 53:42.566 --> 53:44.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% in many ways still a developing country, 53:45.033 --> 53:47.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% still investing in its strategic areas 53:47.600 --> 53:49.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% of scientific advantage. 53:49.100 --> 53:51.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% Fossils, obviously, a huge area 53:51.300 --> 53:53.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% where they are pushing their science 53:53.333 --> 53:55.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and to have, at the highest levels of government 53:55.833 --> 53:58.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that recognize the importance of this. 53:58.766 --> 54:03.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% At our announcement, the vice president said, 54:03.633 --> 54:06.066 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% "This work demonstrates the scientific basis 54:06.166 --> 54:09.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% "for a common humanity." 54:09.666 --> 54:11.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And that is what it does. 54:11.500 --> 54:14.633 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% This is showing our ancestry. 54:14.733 --> 54:17.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% The things that tie us together, historically, 54:17.433 --> 54:21.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% are things that came from these ancient species. 54:21.233 --> 54:22.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And discovering how they lived 54:22.966 --> 54:25.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is telling us about that shared history 54:26.066 --> 54:28.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that every human around the world has, 54:28.166 --> 54:30.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% especially in countries like South Africa 54:30.700 --> 54:33.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% where you have this huge human diversity 54:33.333 --> 54:35.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that has had a history of great troubles. 54:35.566 --> 54:37.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Being able to contribute on the scientific side 54:37.766 --> 54:41.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% to showing the common humanity is incredibly important. 54:42.433 --> 54:44.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Of course, any time there's a great discovery, 54:44.566 --> 54:46.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% you get in the comics. 54:46.500 --> 54:50.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (audience laughs) 54:50.600 --> 54:51.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "Fossils of New Human Species 54:51.966 --> 54:53.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "Found in African Cave" is the headline. 54:53.733 --> 54:55.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "Did we discover an extinct caveman too? 54:55.433 --> 54:56.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "Not quite." 54:56.933 --> 54:59.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% He's got the artifacts of our political campaigns, 54:59.866 --> 55:03.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Trump has a club, Donald was here. 55:05.400 --> 55:07.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But in South Africa, this took on 55:07.366 --> 55:09.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% a really, sort of more spirited view. 55:09.633 --> 55:11.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This was when the Rugby World Cup was happening. 55:11.933 --> 55:13.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And as you can see here Homo naledi 55:13.866 --> 55:16.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% was ready to join the team, the Springboks. 55:16.533 --> 55:20.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% If you guys have seen that movie with the Springboks. 55:21.066 --> 55:23.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It really is like that there. They're crazy for their rugby. 55:23.733 --> 55:25.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And, it's neat to be, 55:25.133 --> 55:26.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "This is the most experienced Bok Team ever, 55:26.933 --> 55:28.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "with a million years between them." 55:28.433 --> 55:32.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (audience laughs) 55:32.200 --> 55:33.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% But when it comes down to it, 55:33.900 --> 55:37.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we have just an enormous amount of work left to do. 55:37.666 --> 55:39.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We've done as much, I think, 55:39.233 --> 55:42.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% as possible to get this out to the public. 55:42.900 --> 55:45.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Not only through our participation in social media, 55:45.533 --> 55:48.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% but also here we put the fossils on exhibit. 55:48.200 --> 55:50.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% For the first time ever, a new fossil discovery 55:50.300 --> 55:52.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of hominins on exhibit for the public. 55:53.033 --> 55:56.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And record-breaking 10 times the ordinary visitation 55:56.400 --> 55:58.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% to the visitor center of the World Heritage Site 55:58.866 --> 56:00.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to see these fossils. 56:00.266 --> 56:01.900 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% As you can see, school groups, 56:02.000 --> 56:04.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% people of all ages coming out. 56:04.300 --> 56:05.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It was just a unique thing. 56:05.633 --> 56:08.966 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% When they left they put on a farewell concert 56:09.066 --> 56:10.700 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and they had some of the greatest acts 56:10.800 --> 56:14.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in South Africa on stage to salute Homo naledi. 56:14.600 --> 56:16.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It was really something. 56:16.833 --> 56:19.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So, that was really special. 56:20.066 --> 56:22.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But we've also made great strides 56:22.400 --> 56:25.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in sharing the scientific results more broadly. 56:25.666 --> 56:28.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% In paleoanthropology it is... 56:28.300 --> 56:29.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% From my point of view, 56:29.833 --> 56:31.700 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% I've been in the field for 20 years, 56:31.800 --> 56:33.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% from my point of view, 56:33.500 --> 56:37.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% sad that our students cannot handle 56:37.200 --> 56:39.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% fossil casts from some of the most famous 56:39.633 --> 56:41.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% fossils in the world. 56:41.233 --> 56:43.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% You can't get a cast of Lucy now. 56:43.900 --> 56:46.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% You cannot get copies of these fossils 56:46.166 --> 56:48.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to show to your students. 56:48.166 --> 56:49.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We want to change that. 56:49.633 --> 56:51.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We made our priority to share 56:51.133 --> 56:53.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% this information as broadly as possible. 56:53.266 --> 56:57.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We published our work in eLife, an open access journal. 56:57.233 --> 57:00.966 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And we put our fossil scans on the web 57:01.066 --> 57:03.033 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% so that anyone can download them. 57:03.133 --> 57:05.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We, to date, have had nearly 10,000 downloads 57:05.866 --> 57:07.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% of these from around the world. 57:07.400 --> 57:10.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And people are using those to print out fossils everywhere. 57:10.100 --> 57:11.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% I show up places to give a talk 57:11.700 --> 57:13.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and they'll say, "Here's our naledi!" 57:13.500 --> 57:15.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It's amazing! (audience laughs) 57:15.600 --> 57:17.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% I've been printing them in my lab like crazy, right? 57:17.700 --> 57:20.700 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, I've got fossils to bring in. 57:20.800 --> 57:23.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But for us the important thing 57:23.100 --> 57:26.566 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% is that this is a South African discovery. 57:26.666 --> 57:29.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And so the chancellor of Wits University, 57:29.966 --> 57:32.900 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% the university that hosts our work and hosts the fossils, 57:33.000 --> 57:34.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% at our announcement said these words. 57:34.600 --> 57:36.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And I think they're really important. 57:36.133 --> 57:40.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Because they show the way the world of science is changing. 57:40.200 --> 57:42.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "We often talk about science as having no boundaries, 57:42.766 --> 57:44.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "but in our world scientific knowledge 57:44.500 --> 57:47.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "has become commodified, and too often, 57:47.633 --> 57:49.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "what should be the bequest of the world, 57:50.000 --> 57:51.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "the bequest of a common humanity, 57:51.633 --> 57:54.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "is locked up under pay walls that postgraduate students 57:54.666 --> 57:56.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "and researchers cannot get access to." 57:56.700 --> 57:58.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We're at a tremendous advantage 57:58.166 --> 57:59.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% here at the University of Wisconsin 57:59.866 --> 58:01.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% because almost anything that I want to read, 58:02.033 --> 58:03.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% the library will get for me. 58:03.733 --> 58:06.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is not the case in most of the world. 58:06.333 --> 58:08.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It is not the case in South Africa. 58:08.500 --> 58:10.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And so to be able to do this work 58:10.466 --> 58:13.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in South Africa and give it to the world. 58:13.100 --> 58:15.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% As he said, "What we did when we made this discovery, 58:15.666 --> 58:17.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "was we put the cameras in the cave, 58:17.533 --> 58:18.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "we streamed it live. 58:19.033 --> 58:21.600 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% "We partnered with eLife, an open access journal, 58:21.700 --> 58:23.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% "to make sure that the discovery 58:23.300 --> 58:25.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% "was available to all of humanity. 58:25.600 --> 58:27.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "And what we did in that practice, 58:27.100 --> 58:30.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "is create the first elements of a common global academy. 58:30.833 --> 58:33.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "We're not simply going to be beneficiaries 58:33.200 --> 58:35.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "of open access, but we are going to be 58:35.466 --> 58:37.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "contributors to open access." 58:38.066 --> 58:40.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This isn't Africa coming with its hands out 58:40.566 --> 58:42.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% looking for people to give stuff. 58:42.933 --> 58:45.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is Africa providing the best that it has 58:46.033 --> 58:47.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% to the rest of the world as a bequest 58:47.900 --> 58:49.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% of a common humanity. 58:50.000 --> 58:52.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And so, to be a part of that project, with that priority, 58:52.900 --> 58:55.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% for me, is tremendously important. 58:57.500 --> 59:01.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% You guys are gonna want to know, how did the bodies get in there? 59:04.400 --> 59:07.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We have a very unique situation. 59:07.600 --> 59:11.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% A situation in which we have no other 59:11.966 --> 59:16.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% medium or large mammals other than hominins. 59:16.366 --> 59:19.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Aside from the hominin bones, 59:19.533 --> 59:24.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we have six pieces of a bird's leg 59:24.966 --> 59:29.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and some teeth and a couple of other bones from mice. 59:29.833 --> 59:32.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And those mice teeth and bones, we think, 59:32.200 --> 59:34.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we're pretty confident, were there before our hominins. 59:34.766 --> 59:36.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% They're in a different deposit than our hominins. 59:36.766 --> 59:39.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Our hominins are there in what look like 59:39.333 --> 59:42.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% at least two different depositional events. 59:42.800 --> 59:44.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The bird we think probably came in later, 59:44.733 --> 59:46.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% 'cause it's on the surface, 59:46.200 --> 59:48.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% it's preserved differently from the hominin bone. 59:48.333 --> 59:50.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% That's what we got. 59:50.533 --> 59:52.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% This chamber is where it is. 59:52.833 --> 59:54.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It is remote. 59:54.366 --> 59:57.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It's, for our team, very difficult to reach. 59:57.633 --> 59:59.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We do not believe it would've been 59:59.133 --> 01:00:01.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% as difficult to reach in the past. 01:00:01.733 --> 01:00:02.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Caves change over time. 01:00:03.066 --> 01:00:04.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And we think the geology of this cave 01:00:05.033 --> 01:00:07.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% probably made it easier to access in the past. 01:00:07.533 --> 01:00:10.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But we can tell from the sediments in this chamber 01:00:10.333 --> 01:00:13.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that this chamber was never open to the surface. 01:00:13.400 --> 01:00:15.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% These hominins didn't fall in. 01:00:15.900 --> 01:00:17.166 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% They were not washed in. 01:00:17.266 --> 01:00:18.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% There's no, there's nothing in there 01:00:18.766 --> 01:00:20.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that's indicative of water of the strength 01:00:20.766 --> 01:00:23.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that it would take to move bone. 01:00:23.300 --> 01:00:27.200 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And we've got parts of bodies that are fully articulated. 01:00:27.300 --> 01:00:30.400 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It's clear that the bodies entered this chamber whole. 01:00:30.500 --> 01:00:32.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We've got great traces of what happened 01:00:33.033 --> 01:00:35.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% to these bones at the time of decomposition. 01:00:35.866 --> 01:00:37.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We've got the little traces 01:00:37.366 --> 01:00:39.266 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that beetle mandibles make on it. 01:00:39.366 --> 01:00:42.433 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But in all of this, on no bone do we have something 01:00:42.533 --> 01:00:46.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that is a mark made by a carnivore. 01:00:48.600 --> 01:00:50.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So, there we have it. 01:00:50.866 --> 01:00:52.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% They weren't dragged in by carnivores. 01:00:52.566 --> 01:00:54.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% They were not subject to predation. 01:00:54.100 --> 01:00:56.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% There's no carnivore that only eats hominins anyway, 01:00:56.700 --> 01:00:58.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% not 15 of them. 01:00:58.300 --> 01:01:00.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% (audience laughs) They're of all ages. 01:01:00.800 --> 01:01:02.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This isn't people that were exploring a cave 01:01:02.933 --> 01:01:04.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and got unluckily trapped there, right? 01:01:04.766 --> 01:01:07.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Unless they were exploring with babes in arms. 01:01:07.966 --> 01:01:09.366 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% They were not living there. 01:01:09.466 --> 01:01:11.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% There's no sign of detritus that they would've, you know, 01:01:11.766 --> 01:01:14.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of the stuff that they ate, they left in there. 01:01:14.666 --> 01:01:17.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% They were clearly not using this chamber. 01:01:17.600 --> 01:01:19.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% They may have been using other chambers. 01:01:19.166 --> 01:01:20.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We're investigating this, 01:01:20.766 --> 01:01:22.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% but they weren't using this chamber to be in, 01:01:23.033 --> 01:01:26.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% except to have their bodies in it. 01:01:26.766 --> 01:01:28.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We think the most likely scenario 01:01:28.666 --> 01:01:32.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is that Homo naledi deliberately deposited them there. 01:01:34.100 --> 01:01:37.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This species with a brain a third the size of ours 01:01:37.566 --> 01:01:41.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% was collecting its dead and putting them in this place. 01:01:43.166 --> 01:01:45.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% That tells us something really interesting, 01:01:45.733 --> 01:01:47.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% really important I think. 01:01:48.400 --> 01:01:50.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% A lot of people come away with that and say, 01:01:50.766 --> 01:01:52.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% "Well, did they have religion? 01:01:52.366 --> 01:01:54.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "Was there some belief system that they had?" 01:01:54.466 --> 01:01:55.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We don't think that. 01:01:55.800 --> 01:01:57.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I think it's not a scientific question, 01:01:57.400 --> 01:01:58.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% at this stage, obviously. 01:01:58.733 --> 01:02:00.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We don't think that. 01:02:00.100 --> 01:02:02.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We think that what they had was emotion. 01:02:02.666 --> 01:02:05.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We think that they had feeling for other social beings. 01:02:05.566 --> 01:02:07.833 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We see this among other primates. 01:02:07.933 --> 01:02:12.133 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So we know that this is something that's not a stretch. 01:02:12.233 --> 01:02:13.866 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% What's different is that Homo naledi 01:02:13.966 --> 01:02:17.000 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% had a culture that said, 01:02:17.100 --> 01:02:19.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% "When the bodies are dead, put them here." 01:02:19.466 --> 01:02:20.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% That's a minimum. 01:02:21.033 --> 01:02:23.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% That's all that it took, we think. 01:02:23.200 --> 01:02:24.533 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But that does tell us a lot. 01:02:24.633 --> 01:02:27.500 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It tells us that these were cultural creatures. 01:02:27.600 --> 01:02:29.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We can't find a better explanation 01:02:29.900 --> 01:02:32.366 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% at this moment for what happened. 01:02:32.466 --> 01:02:34.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But we're still investigating. 01:02:36.133 --> 01:02:40.100 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% I can tell you that there are other hominin remains 01:02:40.200 --> 01:02:43.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% inside the Rising Star Cave in different places. 01:02:43.566 --> 01:02:46.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, we will learn more about what happened here. 01:02:46.666 --> 01:02:48.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We may discover other species of things, 01:02:48.600 --> 01:02:50.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% or species we already know about. 01:02:50.366 --> 01:02:53.333 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We may find more of Homo naledi. 01:02:53.433 --> 01:02:56.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Just this week, from a nearby cave, 01:02:56.500 --> 01:02:59.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Sterkfontein, was reported a new area. 01:02:59.133 --> 01:03:00.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This cave is one of the most famous 01:03:01.000 --> 01:03:03.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in the world for producing hominin fossils, 01:03:03.233 --> 01:03:05.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% but a team was working in a different area of the cave 01:03:05.933 --> 01:03:08.666 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% and recovered a tooth and a finger. 01:03:08.766 --> 01:03:11.900 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% And that tooth could be Homo naledi. 01:03:12.000 --> 01:03:14.333 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% It looks a lot like it. We're not sure. 01:03:14.433 --> 01:03:15.966 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% We have to look at it in person. 01:03:16.066 --> 01:03:18.933 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% But one of the people working on it is Travis Pickering, 01:03:19.033 --> 01:03:20.766 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% here in the department of anthropology. 01:03:20.866 --> 01:03:22.800 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% So, we've really got the corner on the market 01:03:22.900 --> 01:03:24.733 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% of Homo naledi at the moment. 01:03:24.833 --> 01:03:27.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It's exciting because anywhere we look, 01:03:27.333 --> 01:03:29.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% we could turn this up and discover 01:03:29.466 --> 01:03:31.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% the next piece of evidence. 01:03:31.500 --> 01:03:34.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But what this cave tells us more than anything else... 01:03:36.533 --> 01:03:39.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% it's less than two miles from some 01:03:39.200 --> 01:03:41.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of the most famous fossil sites in the world, 01:03:41.700 --> 01:03:44.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and there it was, with the largest assemblage 01:03:44.866 --> 01:03:48.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of fossil hominins ever in Africa waiting to be found. 01:03:50.433 --> 01:03:54.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The next place we look could have something just as cool. 01:03:55.766 --> 01:03:58.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It's clear that we've only begun to scratch the surface 01:03:58.166 --> 01:04:00.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% of what there is to discover. 01:04:00.666 --> 01:04:01.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% In a place where people thought, 01:04:02.033 --> 01:04:03.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "Well, people have been looking for 70 years, 01:04:03.833 --> 01:04:06.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% "what more could there be to find?" 01:04:06.633 --> 01:04:08.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% When you find something like this, 01:04:08.233 --> 01:04:11.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and realize that the rest of the continent is there, 01:04:11.466 --> 01:04:15.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% unexplored at that level of detail. 01:04:16.066 --> 01:04:18.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Our science is going to change a lot 01:04:18.633 --> 01:04:22.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in the next several years, and this is just the beginning. 01:04:22.633 --> 01:04:24.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So keep watching. 01:04:24.166 --> 01:04:25.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is gonna be an exciting time. 01:04:25.866 --> 01:04:27.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We're discovering new things all the time. 01:04:27.733 --> 01:04:29.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% We're going to have more new things 01:04:29.633 --> 01:04:32.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% out of Rising Star and within, I'd say, a year, 01:04:32.400 --> 01:04:34.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% you're going to hear some really crazy stuff. 01:04:34.733 --> 01:04:36.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% So, keep watching. 01:04:36.966 --> 01:04:38.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Thank you everybody for coming out. 01:04:38.300 --> 01:04:41.300 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% (applause)