Homo naledi fossils dated (South Africa)

[Oxytropidoceras]

"Cradle of Humankind" fossils can now be dated

Maddie Bender, Earth Magazine, February 5, 2019

https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/cradle-humankind-fossils-can-now-be-dated

 

The paper is:

 

Pickering, R., Herries, A.I., Woodhead, J.D., Hellstrom, 

J.C., Green, H.E., Paul, B., Ritzman, T., Strait, D.S., 

Schoville, B.J. and Hancox, P.J., 2019. U–Pb-dated 

flowstones restrict South African early hominin record 

to dry climate phases. Nature, 565(7738), p.226.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0711-0

 

A related paper is:

 

Dirks, P.H., Berger, L.R., Roberts, E.M., Kramers, J.D.,

Hawks, J., Randolph-Quinney, P.S., Elliott, M., Musiba,

C.M., Churchill, S.E., de Ruiter, D.J. and Schmid, P., 2015.

Geological and taphonomic context for the new

hominin species Homo naledi from the Dinaledi

Chamber, South Africa. Elife, 4, p.e09561.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/09561/elife-09561-v1.pdf

 

Yours,

 

Paul H.

[BobWill]

This good news. Not just to get a better idea of the age of Homo naledi but a new tool for age dating a material commonly found in caves. It also provides hope for even more useful tools from future research into dating other deposits.