Archaeology is not only about stones and bones: it is mainly about the people of the past. DNA is one way to get from the stones and the bones to the people and their stories.
Research of ancient DNA has tended to ignore previous studies about the bones themselves.
Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
A rush of ancient DNA projects in Africa has presented the curators of archaeological skeletons with ethical issues because research requires the destruction of human bone.
This picture of a reconstruction of a hominin skull is one of a variety of multimedia that can be experienced in the Origins Virtual Reality experience.
Wits University
Good science isn’t rooted in chance. It’s based on people with expertise being in the right place at the right time, equipped with enough knowledge to know what they’re looking at.
A 3D model of the long-lost Scalopocynodon gracilis skull.
Evolutionary Studies Unit, Wits University
An old technique to explore the inside of fossils unfortunately ended up destroying some unique specimens. New technology has been used to reconstruct one such fossil.
Ochre is still used throughout parts of Africa as a form of sunscreen. Its uses go back 285,000 years.
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