Cave Of Bones - A True Story Of Discovery, Adventure And Human Origins (Paperback)

Reviews

Reviewed by Tanya K. - 7 December 2023

Lee Berger is a palaeoanthropologist and explorer. In other words, the guy does crazy and dangerous things like loose 23 kg (50 pounds) just to (hopefully) be thin enough to squirm and contort his way through the narrow passages of the Rising Star cave system in South Africa, just to look at a bunch of fossil bones. Bergers caving experience is downright claustrophobia-inducing for any armchair explorers tagging along. In addition to Bergers personal account of his caving experience, this book describes the fascinating discovery of Homo naledi: an almost (but not)-human likely to have co-existed with Homo sapiens some 250,000 years ago. Excavations have provided evidence that Homo naledi were only 1.5 metres (5 feet) tall; with small teeth; had brains much smaller than homo sapiens; probably used tools; used fire, made markings on cave walls; and buried their dead. This discovery suggests that Homo sapiens were one of several species experimenting with walking upright, using tools and fire, and had some sort of culture involving marking walls and burial rituals. I would really have loved more information on the analyses of the fossils and environment. Maybe a forthcoming book will provide and update, especially with regards to any forthcoming DNA and proteonomic data. I found the description of the physical aspect of excavating fossils in cave systems particularly informative. The naledi discovery and its wider implications for human evolution was also very interesting. The book includes a nice collection of photographs, sketches and maps, which were particularly useful. YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxgnlSbYLSc