Maropeng Virtual Lab: LIVE
Virtual Lab
Resources
Malapa
Death of Sediba
Site History
Technology and Fossil Preparation
Excavations
Field Schools & Scouts
Rising Star
Gladysvale
Hominin Species
Australopithecus sediba
Homo naledi
Partners
Fossil of the Day
Prehisto
r
y in the Making
Watch and comment as researchers reveal fossils of early human-like relatives before your eyes.
Enter the Lab
VIRTUAL LAB
See for yourself as fossil preparators chip away to reveal the bones in the stones.
MALAPA
Peek into the excavations at the site where
Australopithecus sediba
was first discovered.
RISING STAR
Re-live the excitement in the Dinaledi Chamber through video feeds recorded during the historic 2013 excavation of
Homo naledi
.
Latest News
New Human Ancestor Discovered: Homo naledi (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO) | National Geographic
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About This Site
Recent discoveries in the Cradle of Humankind near Johannesburg, South Africa, have shown that the greatest era of discovery for early hominin fossils is far from over, and that it may, in fact, just be beginning.
National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Lee Berger, of the University of the Witwatersrand, has led expeditions at the sites of Malapa and Rising Star, discovering some of the largest and most complete fossil hominin collections anywhere.
To bring these discoveries to people as directly as possible, whether they be armchair archaeologists or heads of departments at major universities, cameras have been set up at both sites, as well as at a specialized processing lab. Researchers are ready to answer your questions. So, go ahead: Be a part of prehistory in the making!
This project is supported, in part, by the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, where Lee Berger is Research Professor in Human Evolution and the Public Understanding of Science.
This project is supported, in part, by the National Geographic Society, which has awarded more than a dozen grants to Lee Berger since 1990. In 2013, Lee Berger was named a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence.
We would like to thank our partners for assisting us in making this a reality.