Stone tools uncovered in the Kalahari Basin tell us that individuals shared knowledge and supported each other. HERI postdoc Dr Precious Chiwara-Maenzanise writes about her research in this area to dispel the myth of isolation in ancient southern Africa.

A rare update of the state of U–Th and U–Pb dating in palaeoscience has been published with HERI’s Dr Rieneke Weij as lead author. The review highlights the advances in accuracy and precision, and the range of future potential for carbonate geochronology.

The study, led by HERI’s Georgina Luti, counters arguments that flowstones from the Cradle of Humankind are uniform and intrusive, adding support for their role in dating fossils from the region.

Unburied Season 2: The Taung Child, produced by HERI in partnership with ARC, reveals the story of the world’s most important fossil and the legacy it has left for human evolution in Africa and globally.

A new study of fossil antelope teeth from South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind has challenged a decades-old hypothesis about a dramatic ancient environmental shift that may have shaped early human evolution.

Palaeoanthropology asks profound questions: Who are we? What makes us human? Too often, answering these answers has been done by a privileged few. HERi Co-director Prof Rebecca Ackermann calls for that to change - toward feminist palaeoanthropology.

Researchers including HERI's Dr Palesa Madupe experienced a breakthrough when they extracted ancient proteins from the enamel of the 2-million-year-old teeth of four P. robustus fossils. The results mark an exciting future for early hominin research.

Using a technique called palaeoproteomics, researchers extracted 2-million-year-old protein remains from Paranthropus robustus teeth to reveal biological sex and genetic variability. 

Manthi, a palaeontologist from Kenya, he's the only African scientist elected as an international member in 2024 and the second Kenyan ever to receive the recognition.

Keebine opens up about her experience earning an honours degree in geology from UCT, and why she wants to be an inspiration for other young African women in science.

Contributed by HERI researchers and colleagues, the entry in the Wiley International recognises leadership in decolonising palaeoanthropology and human evolution research.

PhD candidate Georgina Luti has been named a 2024 Francis H. Brown African Scholar, the third time the Kenyan has been given the award for her research of sites in the Cradle of Humankind.

To commemorate 100 years since the Taung Child discovery, leaders from the South African palaeoscience community held a webinar to examine how the fossil impacted history, science, and the community where it was found.

Hominin heads can tell us how hominins interacted with their environments and how they evolved over time, says Dr Amélie Beaudet, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Poitiers. She recently visited HERI and described her work in the South African Journal of Science (SAJS)special issue commemorating the Taung Child centenary.

South African researchers are hosting a series of public events to commemorate the Taung Child fossil discovery and the role it played in centring Africa as the birthplace of humankind.

Join the South African palaeoanthropology community for a special webinar to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the Taung Child on Friday 7 February at 15.00 SAST (08.00 EST).

Awarded the UCT 2024 Creative Works Award, the exhibition is a partnership between HERI and the Iziko Museums of South Africa that sets a benchmark for museum practice.

The award signals international investment in decolonisation in Africa, enabling the co-creation of best practices for socially responsive practice that scientists can use to transform the discipline.

HERI archaeology PhD candidate Malefeu Lethuba steps into the #HERIspotlight.

At HERI’s final Winter Seminar, Dr Robyn Pickering unpacks neo-colonialism in geoscience, and how we can counter its resulting unequal and extractive practices.